Rutland station continues to be hub connecting Vermonter to train networks nationwide The Vermont Agency of Transportation has announced that the Amtrak Ethan Allen Express train will begin the highly-anticipated expanded passenger rail service to Burlington, Vergennes, and Middlebury on July 29, 2022. This service culminates the Agency’s extensive planning and infrastructure work to upgrade…

By Victoria Gaither Work is in full bloom at the Chaffee Art Center on South Main Street in Rutland on the new pollinator gardens. In March, the Rutland County Audubon Society or RCAS received word that a 2022 collaborative grant from the National Audubon Society to help establish pollinator gardens on the grounds was approved.…

The Killington World Cup Foundation (KWCF) awarded 31 grants totaling $289,000 to Northeast area nonprofits in eight states. KWCF also donated $160,000 to support athlete housing at the Killington Cup. These grants were made possible as a result of the 2021 Homelight Killington Cup. In the last four years KWCF has donated almost $2 million…

By Ethan Weinstein/VTDigger Democratic candidates Ryan Palmer and Thomas Battista are vying to oust longtime incumbent Michael Chamberlain, a Republican who was first elected sheriff in 1978, and has been sheriff continuously since 1998. The Aug. 9 primary pits the insider, Battista — a deputy in the department for nearly 20 years  — against Palmer, a…

By Curt Peterson Killington is hoping to hire a paid fire chief for the first time in the organization’s history. The salaried position was advertised in the Mountain Times on June 15 and 22. Gary Roth, who has been a volunteer fire chief for 10 years, said he thinks the town's owning and managing the…

Jim Harrison of Chittenden announced his candidacy for a new term as state representative for the new Rutland-11 district (Chittenden, Killington, Mendon and Pittsfield). He was first appointed to the Legislature in 2017 by Governor Phil Scott and was elected to new terms in 2018 and 2020. Harrison is a member of the House Appropriations…

By Jacob Knipes It will be a quick end for Devon Neary’s time as a Rutland City Alderman, and a new beginning for his time with the Rutland Region Planning Commission. In a press release on June 21, the RRPC announced that Neary would become its next executive director and step away from the Board…

By Alan J. Keays/VTDigger The victim in a deadly shooting outside a home in downtown Woodstock on Tuesday, June 14, was a 67-year-old New Hampshire man who had showed up to support a woman in a dispute with her adult son over money, police said. “The son and the mother had an issue over finances…

June 24 - 26 —WOODSTOCK — Michael DeSanto and Renee Reiner have been chosen as the joint recipients of the 2022 Bookstock Vermont Literary Inspiration Award for their “outstanding inspiration to the literary prosperity and traditions of Vermont.” For more than two decades, Desanto and Reiner have been a vital force in community bookstores in…

Many Bookstock 2022 events and activities will appeal to children and young adults. Here are ten attractions: 1. Meet an author. Our authors are as young as a ten-year-old illustrator to a renowned children’s’ author more than 80. Meet an author and get your book signed. Here are a few: “Co-authoring Covid: Rethinking Children’s Literature…

Yearlong effort has raised more than $17,000 to benefit Vermont kids Randy Crossman, the 63-year-old director of facilities at Castleton University and seventh-generation Vermonter, completed his 365th summit of Pico Mountain in 362 days on Saturday, June 18 to raise awareness and funding for Building Bright Futures, where his daughter, Morgan Crossman, serves as executive…

By Curt Peterson According to the Killington Hazard Mitigation Planning Team, the four possible natural disasters to which the town is most vulnerable are, extreme cold, snow, and ice association with winter storms, high winds, thunder/tropical storms, tornadoes, and severe winter storms, wildlife, flash flooding and fluvial erosion associated with thunder/tropical storms. All four are…

June 24-26 & June 30 - July 3— BARNARD — Barn Arts will host outdoor performances at the old Feast & Field location across from Fable Farm Orchard on Royalton Turnpike in Barnard this weekend and next weekend. Please allow 5-10 minutes to walk from parking to performance location. Drop off and handicapped parking available.…

June 24-26—WOODSTOCK— Bookstock, "the premier literary festival with a boutique feel and a big heart" will take over downtown Woodstock this weekend showcasing literary luminaries and cross-cultural voices, including Pulitzer Prize winners, poets laureate, National Book Award winners, plus debut and best-selling authors from Vermont and beyond. Features a huge sale of used, rare, and…

Killington Resort has purchased the Hillside Inn as a second employee housing location after renting it for the 2021-22 winter season. In 2018, Killington Resort purchased the Mendon Mountain View Lodge to begin offering housing to employees. This lodge consists of 39 rooms, a full kitchen, a lounge and community space. Due to the increased…