Submitted Vermont’s per-pupil expenditure continues to rise despite a decrease in student population, due to no corresponding cuts in teachers and staff. By Art McGrath and Bruce Parker, Vermont Watchdog If Tuesday night’s committee vote is any indication, then it looks like the 2 percent annual spending cap on school budgets mandated by Act 46…

By Mike Polhamus, VTDigger.org The Public Service Board on Tuesday, Jan. 5, approved a $1.2 billion utility transmission project from Canada to Ludlow. TDI New England plans to build a 1,000-megawatt transmission line under Lake Champlain that will feed the southern New England power grid. The board said it issued a certificate of public good…

By Mark Johnson, VTDigger.org The top two political leaders at the Vermont Statehouse share a concern about balancing the state budget while still protecting Vermonters and neither are high on the idea of legalizing marijuana but won’t stand in the way of its being passed. Medicaid and Marijuana, that might well sum up the key…

By Bruce Parker, Vermont Watchdog As state lawmakers return for the start of the 2016 legislative session, a fight is already raging over the spending caps in Vermont’s new education reform law — and property taxpayers have a big stake in the outcome. In 2013, Vermont’s per-pupil education spending was $16,377 — the sixth highest…

John Pacht, Mary Morrissey, Michael Kainen, and Michael Harris appointed trial judges Gov. Peter Shumlin announced four judicial appointments on Monday, Jan. 4. Burlington attorney John Pacht will fill a judgeship recently funded to help address increasing caseloads related to child protection and opiate-abuse across Vermont. Chittenden County Deputy State’s Attorney Mary Morrissey will fill the…

Submitted Photo One: A map showing the 139 counties at risk. Photo Two: A map of bee abundance across the U.S. Photo Three: Taylor Ricketts and Insu Koh The first national study to map U.S. wild bees suggests they’re disappearing in many of the country’s most important farmlands — including California’s Central Valley, the Midwest’s…

Courtesy of VermontVacation.com Vermont’s New Year’s Eve celebrations often include vibrant fireworks displays. STATEWIDE — The Green Mountain State is host to traditional New Year’s Eve festivals full of fireworks, torchlight parades and fanfare, but there’s also an array of unconventional celebrations. From VermontVacation.com, here are Vermont’s top 16 events to ring in 2016. (Please check…

By Morgan True, VTDigger State Police process the scene at 101 Elmwood Avenue in Burlington where officers fatally shot a man during a drug raid. By Morgan True, VTDigger BURLINGTON — Police shot and killed a man during a drug raid at an apartment just north of downtown Tuesday evening, Dec 22, according to Vermont…

Vermont’s minimum wage will increase from $9.15 to $9.60 on Jan. 1. The measure is part of legislation that Gov. Peter Shumlin signed to raise the wage each year until it reaches $10.50 in 2018. The legislation signed in June 2014 raised the minimum wage from $8.73 to $9.15 in 2015. After rising to $9.60…

By Erin Mansfield, VTDigger Bruce Lisman Gubernatorial candidate urges others running to disclose financial records By Jasper Craven, VTDigger.org Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Lisman is worth $50.9 million, according to newly released tax and financial data from the campaign. Lisman spent four decades on Wall Street, primarily with Bear Stearns, and ended his career as…

By Tiffany Danitz Pache, VTDigger.org Three Act 46 school district mergers were approved Tuesday, Dec. 15, by the State Board of Education (SBE) at a meeting in North Clarendon. The Agency of Education expects citizens to vote on 15 mergers before July 1, 2016. Unification plans put forward by the Rutland South Supervisory Union, the…

By Christopher Biddle Annie Lees, age 74, at Lisa Rumrill’s Wreath Barn, in Cuttingsville, Vt. By Christopher Biddle CUTTINGSVILLE — If you need to find Annie Lees, of Cuttingsville, Vt. any time between the first of November and a week after Christmas, look no further than what’s become known as Lisa Rumrill’s Wreath Barn, where…

By Jasper Craven, VTDigger.org So far this year, Bernie Sanders has been on ABC “World News Tonight” for a total of 20 seconds. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has received 81 minutes of coverage on the same program. During a recent speech here in a crowded college gymnasium, it was unclear who the Vermont senator…

Katie Hunt and Gov. Peter Shumlin were wed on Dec. 15, 2015. By Anne Galloway, VTDigger.org Gov. Peter Shumlin, 59, married his longtime girlfriend Katie Hunt, 31, in a small, private ceremony Tuesday night, Dec. 15. The couple made the announcement in an email to friends and family with the subject line “happy and hitched.” The…

Agreement guarantees admission to select Castleton graduates CASTLETON – Castleton University announced Friday, Dec. 18, that an articulation agreement has been reached with Vermont Law School (VLS), home to the country’s top-rated environmental law program. The agreement states that any Castleton University student with a GPA of 3.0 or higher is guaranteed admission into any…