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BlueCross BlueShield of Vt seeks to raise insurance rates further
July 24, 2024
If accepted, the new request would increase premiums for individual health plans by 21% and small group plans by 24% in 2025 By Peter D'Auria/VTDigger BlueCross BlueShield of Vermont is seeking to raise health insurance premiums by an additional 4.3% next year, further increasing a request for already near-record-high rate hikes. The proposed increase would increase premiums for individual…
Gravel rides tell Vermont’s story top to bottom on VTXL cycling route
July 24, 2024
By Charlotte Oliver/Community News Service Editor’s note: The Community News Service is a program in which University of Vermont students work with professional editors to provide content for local news outlets at no cost. From the top of the Northeast Kingdom down toward the Berkshires, the VTXL carves a path the length of Vermont. The biking route takes…
Living with wildlife: Bats in your house?
July 24, 2024
Bats are everywhere! It may feel that way to some of Vermont’s human residents. Summer is when some species of bats gather in colonies to raise their young in human-made structures such as houses, barns, office buildings, and bat houses, but fall is the safe time to get them out. “Summer is the time of…
Annual count shows rise in homelessness
July 24, 2024
The 2024 census recorded 3,458 people homeless in Vermont, a nearly 5% increase over the number tallied in January 2023 By Carly Berlin Editor’s note: This story, by Report for America corps member Carly Berlin, was produced through a partnership between VTDigger and Vermont Public. The number of unhoused Vermonters living without shelter jumped last year,…
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AG Clark sues pharmacy benefit managers for illegally driving up prescription drug costs
July 24, 2024
Attorney General Charity Clark filed a lawsuit July 17 against pharmacy benefit managers Evernorth (owner of Express Scripts) and CVS as well as nearly two dozen affiliated entities for unfairly and deceptively driving up prescription drug prices in Vermont. Pharmacy benefit managers (sometimes referred to as PBMs) are the middlemen who negotiate contracts with pharmaceutical…
Report: State road construction this week
July 24, 2024
The Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) published its weekly report of planned construction activities that will impact traffic on state highways and interstates throughout Vermont, July 22-26 and ongoing. I-89 Royalton: Work continues on the northbound and southbound I-89 bridges near Exit 3 in Royalton. A new traffic pattern is in effect until fall 2025.…
Floods to fires, officials warn Vermonters should to protect their lungs with Quebec fires expected again
July 17, 2024
By Kate Kampner, Community News Service The warning came Monday: The most extreme wildfires on Earth are on the rise — more frequent, more intense. A study in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution found that across the planet wildfires have doubled in the last two decades. As neighbors to some of the most intense wildfires reported, Vermonters might…
Where is the state road construction this week?
July 17, 2024
The Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) published its weekly report of planned construction activities that will impact traffic on state highways and interstates throughout Vermont, July 15-19 and ongoing. I-91 Springfield-Hartland: Multiple single-lane closures will be in place along I-91 southbound from north of Exit 9 to just south of Exit 7 while a paving…
Hartland seeks donations for conservation land
July 10, 2024
By Curt Peterson On July 5 Rob Anderegg, chair of the Hartland Conservation Commission, posted an update regarding the “Pohl Property Conservation Project” on the local listserv. “We are getting close to the goal,” Anderegg wrote. “Only $17,000 needs to be raised to finish the job.” The Hartland Conservation Commission added an article to the…
Vermont selected for new federal model to improve health care affordability and quality
July 10, 2024
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced July 2 that it has accepted Vermont’s application to participate in the states advancing All-Payer Health Equity Approaches and Development (AHEAD) program. AHEAD offers Vermont an opportunity to collaborate with the federal government to impact how Medicare, the health insurer for 24% of Vermonters, pays for…
Program to store carbon in forests grows in the Green Mountain State
June 19, 2024
By Cecilia Larson/Community News Service Editor’s note: The Community News Service is a program in which University of Vermont students work with professional editors to provide content for local news outlets at no cost. Forged by the American Forest Foundation and the Nature Conservancy, a program that pays people to set aside forest to store carbon…
Two prescription drug bills aim to lower pharmaceutical prices
June 19, 2024
Governor Scott signed both into law By Peter D’Auria/VTDigger New legislation signed by Gov. Phil Scott May 30 will help patients afford prescription drugs, as rising pharmaceutical prices push up health care costs across the state. As legislators scrambled to wrap up the legislative session earlier this month, they passed two bills that aim to reform…
Gov. Scott announces $1.7m in transportation fund grants
June 19, 2024
Three projects in Windsor County are among the 11 to receive awards Governor Phil Scott and the Vermont Downtown Development Board announced Monday, June 17, the allocation of $1,787,989 in Downtown Transportation Fund grants to support projects to improve safety, access, and transportation in 11 Vermont downtowns and villages across seven counties. “Revitalizing our downtowns is important…
Money available to protect against future flooding, no cost to towns
June 19, 2024
On Monday, June 3, Governor Scott and Vermont Emergency Management announced $90 million of federal funding is now available to Vermont municipalities to implement hazard mitigation measures that reduce future flood risk. These funds are available to all Vermont towns with no local match requirement. The federal Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) provides funds to…
Protect nesting loons and loon chicks by keeping your distance
June 19, 2024
Few birding experiences rival hearing the haunting call of the loon or seeing them glide by in protected coves on a lake. However, for the birds’ protection, Vermont Fish & Wildlife (VTF&W) is asking boaters and anglers to enjoy loons from a safe distance this summer. “Loons were removed from Vermont’s endangered species list in…
Back to the State House, June 17
June 5, 2024
The full Legislature will return to Montpelier on June 17 to take up any bills the governor has vetoed. Leaders will be deciding in the next few weeks which of those vetoed they will attempt to override, (two thirds required for an override), which will be rewritten to address some of Scott’s objections. The rest…
Former Democratic lawmaker John Rodgers to run for lieutenant governor as a Republican
May 29, 2024
By Ethan Weinstein/VTDigger John Rodgers, a former Vermont House and Senate Democrat from Glover, is running for lieutenant governor as a Republican. “I don’t feel like I left the party. I feel like the party left me,” Rodgers said in an interview Friday, describing himself as a moderate. “I feel closer to Phil Scott than I…
Gov. Scott signs budget, vetoes renewable energy standard bill
May 29, 2024
On Thursday, May 23, Governor Phil Scott, as expected, signed the budget bill into law H.833, while vetoing H.289, An Act Relating to the Renewable Energy Standard. Scott has long voiced his opposition to the renewable energy bill because of the cost and complexity in how the law could be carried out and the ultimate cost…
Gov. Scott vetoes bill that would’ve restricted bee-killing pesticide
May 22, 2024
Staff report On Monday, May 20, World Bee Day, Gov. Phil Scott vetoed legislation meant to protect bees and other pollinators from a widely-used neuorotoxic pesticide. The bill (H.706) would eliminate most uses of neonicotinoid pesticides (neonics) in Vermont, which have been associated with alarming losses of managed and wild bee populations. Neonic insecticides are used on…
