By Katy Savage After extensive renovations, the Birch Ridge Inn reopened over Christmas week as a vacation rental and corporate retreat. The inn closed over the summer, after Jacob McGrath and Dave McComb bought the property for $1.35 million on June 30, 2022. “We spent a lot of time renovating and getting things ready,” McComb…

By Julia Purdy The day after Christmas, in Vermont’s Washington County a woodstove ignited the wall behind it as the family was watching television, reported WPTZ. The previous week, WCAX reported a pre-dawn, total house fire in Bethel that killed an elderly couple. The attached woodshed was “full of wood, so that was all fully…

Staff report The Castleton Police Department has identified a woman who died in front of her home by a falling tree in a high wind storm on Dec. 23. Castleton Police Chief Peter Mantello said Joyce Ricard, 51, died of blunt force trauma from a 60-foot-tall maple tree that fell when she was outside her…

The Homeless Prevention Center held its 23rd annual candlelight vigil on Dec. 21 in Rutland. The vigil is held each year on the winter solstice, along with hundreds of other communities across the country. HPC’s vision is to eliminate hopelessness and homelessness within the community. In the past three years, HPC has helped re-house over…

The Fox U.S. Open of Mountain Biking race festival is returning to Killington Resort again this year. The 2023 race will take place Sept. 21-24, following the event’s successful return to the east coast in 2022. Professional and amateur athletes from around the world are anticipated to compete in the open class downhill for one…

Killington Resort gave $300,000 in cash and in-kind charitable donations through its Play Forever corporate responsibility commitment in 2022. Beneficiaries of Killington Resort’s donations included a wide variety of causes ranging from global interests such as the American Red Cross’s Ukrainian war relief efforts to hyper local efforts such as installing a new ice rink…

By Karen D. Lorentz Editor’s note: This is part three in a three-part series on former ski areas in Vermont.  “Not the Biggest, But One of The Best” was the slogan the late Bill Jenkins came up with for the High Pond Ski Area, which opened to the public in winter 1951. High Pond was…

Killington has a new winter attraction: An ice skating rink at the Johnson Recreation Center tennis courts opened just before the new year. This addition to the town's recreation department will bring new programs to the community and provide another way to enjoy the winter season. The idea started back in October. It began as…

By Karen D. Lorentz A highly revered pioneer in the world of ski education and adaptive skiing, Mendon resident Gwen Allard has been elected to the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame Class of 2022, which will be inducted in March at Big Sky, Montana. Allard’s career spans five decades of teaching skiing and…

By Karen D. Lorentz Born in Wilmington, Delaware, Anne Reynolds grew up in Elkton, Maryland and graduated from the Wilmington Friends School in 1989. Not knowing what she wanted to do after earning a college degree in art history, Reynolds chose warm weather living and working in Florida where she could enjoy “lots of beautiful…

By Alan J. Keays/VTDigger A former teacher at Green Mountain Union High School in Chester has pleaded guilty to possession of child sexual abuse materials and faces up to 10 years in prison. Norman Merrill II, 46, of Chester entered his guilty plea to the federal charge Tuesday, Dec. 20, during a video hearing held…

By Karen D. Lorentz Editor’s note: This is part two in a three-part series about the Rutland Region’s “lost” ski areas. The formation of early ski areas was significant for driving the popularity of skiing and contributed to the post World War II ski boom of the 1950s and 1960s and the ensuing economic boost…

Kathleen (Kathy) Ann Judge (née Garahan) passed away peacefully on Sunday, Dec. 11 in Dallas, Texas.  She was predeceased by her husband of 52 years, James (Jim) J. Judge, in August 2020.  Kathy was born at Fort Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina on July 20, 1943, the first child of Tom and Kate Garahan.  During…

Sunday, Jan. 1 — RUTLAND — Walleye fishing restrictions on Chittenden Reservoir have been modified to help improve fishing opportunities and natural reproduction of the walleye population, according to the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department. Starting Jan. 1, walleye fishing on Chittenden Reservoir will be as follows: Legal Length Limit: 18 to 20 inches. All…

Once the foliage photos started flooding the Killington Locals+ page on Facebook this fall, so did the queries for seasonal housing. Securing one of the approximately 1,800 jobs on the mountain isn’t the challenge. Finding a place to rest one’s head is the chore. While Killington Resort, with the recent purchase of the Hillside Inn…