On Aug. 30, the American Red Cross announced it would be deploying Vermont and New Hampshire’s chief communications officer Lloyd Ziel to work in Wenatchee, Washington in response to the raging wildfires that plague the area. Ziel will work with the public affairs team, working with local and national media as well as working interdepartmentally keeping…

Courtesy of VF&W Bears are attracted to human-created food sources, so steps must be taken to reduce problems between bears and people. Bears are already thinking about winter and are currently in search of easy calories to fatten up. Because bears make a habit of feeding on human food sources once they find them, Forrest…

On Sunday, Aug. 23, at approximately 8:33 p.m., Hardwick Police Department responded to a residence on The Bend Road in Greensboro, Vt., to a report of a shooting. Upon arrival, they discovered Lou Ron Schneider, age 68, suffering from an apparent gunshot wound. Schneider was transported to Copley Hospital where he later died.  Subjects at the residence…

By Sarah Olsen, www.VTDigger.org Mary Brown-Guillory, president of the Champlain area National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), told a statewide civil rights panel Monday that her organization has received an “avalanche” of discrimination complaints. In the month since they’ve been open for business, Vermont’s first NAACP chapter has received at least 50…

By Erin Mansfield, VTDigger.org The local president of FairPoint Communications says the new settlement with Vermont’s ratepayer advocates will be a win for customers and help the company “reboot.” Beth Fastiggi, the Vermont president for FairPoint, said the company’s agreement to pour money into bringing broadband to 28,399 homes, issue retroactive credits to thousands of…

By Sarah Olsen, VTDigger.org The EPA released new pollution limits for Lake Champlain on Friday, Aug. 14. Gov. Peter Shumlin and federal officials announced Friday the new phosphorus limits at a press conference on North Beach in Burlington. Vermont is in the process of implementing new water quality legislation, which Shumlin signed into law on…

By Elizabeth Hewitt, VTDigger.org Police are investigating the death of a woman who was being detained at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility, Vermont’s only women’s correctional facility. Kristine L. Brennan, 49, died at the facility Monday, Aug. 17, following her arrest Saturday Aug. 15, on charges of retail theft and misdemeanors. In a press release…

First poll showing Bernie Sanders in the lead By Anne Galloway, VTDigger.org A Boston Herald-Franklin Pierce University poll conducted on Monday puts Sen. Bernie Sanders ahead of Hillary Clinton. According to that poll, 44 percent of respondents said they would vote for Sanders, while 37 percent would cast ballots for Clinton. In March, Sanders was…

On Aug. 11, Gov. Peter Shumlin and officials at Vermont Health Connect (VHC) announced that the change of circumstance functionality deployed at the end of May has allowed staff to reduce by more than half the backlog of customers waiting for changes to their health plans to be processed. The backlog currently stands below 4,500,…

Courtesy of Tom Rogers, Vt Fish & Wildlife Vermont’s wildlife biologists are watching endangered timber rattlesnakes for signs they’ve been stricken with a newly discovered infection called “snake fungal disease.” Vermont conservationists are battling a new obstacle in the effort to conserve the state’s timber rattlesnakes and other snake species–a recently discovered infection referred to…

The Towns of Rutland and West Rutland will be jointly sponsoring the first of several public work sessions focusing on potential improvements to the Route 4A/Business Route 4 corridor between the two towns. The first session is scheduled to take place on Monday, Aug. 31 at 6:30 p.m. in the West Rutland town auditorium. The…

By Stephen Seitz WOODSTOCK—There are smiles all around the business community for the summer tourist season this year. Beth Finlayson, director of the Woodstock Area Chamber of Commerce, said she was seeing a banner year. “Things are going really well,” she said. “A new restaurant, Ruth’s, has opened, and another restaurant has changed hands.” Finlayson…

By Anne Galloway, VTDigger.org House Speaker Shap Smith and Matt Dunne, a Google executive, have both registered paperwork as candidates for governor with the Secretary of State’s office. Smith has served seven terms as a lawmaker, and became speaker in 2009. Smith has only said he didn’t see himself “running for the House again.” The…

By Elizabeth Hewitt and Erin Mansfield, VTDigger.org An employee of the Department for Children and Families was shot twice and killed in Barre on Friday afternoon, Aug. 7, allegedly by a mother who had recently lost custody of her 9-year-old child in July, police say. Three relatives of the accused were also found dead in a…

A girls holds up a chicken at Green Mountain Girls Farm in Northfield, Vt. Vermont’s Open Farm Week ended Sunday, Aug. 9 after a week of mostly sunny skies and a break from the heat with temperatures in the 70s. Participants were invited to sample foods and drinks like wine, cider, fruits and cheese; enjoy…