With the unfortunate discovery of a deceased bald eagle in North Hero and one ill bald eagle in Shelburne on March 29, Vermont joined 33 other states across the country in detecting highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in the environment.  The bald eagles were found near Lake Champlain in both towns.  Sampling was conducted by…

The Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation (FPR) is reminding the public that it is mud season and many trails around the state are closed through Memorial Day weekend.  Mud season is the time period (typically the duration of April and May), when hiking and biking trails are extremely wet and muddy due to…

By Rep. Jim Harrison Last Friday was the last day for the second group of State House pages. The eight students were recognized before the House and Senate and given a standing ovation for their six weeks of service at the State House.  Serving as a page is both an honor and a great experience.…

By Sen. Alison Clarkson After many long Floor sessions debating and passing bills to the other body, the Legislature has pretty much completed cross over. This is the point in the session where all bills which have any chance of making it into law have to be passed from the House to the Senate or…

By Sarah Mearhoff/VTDigger Rep. Becca White, D-Hartford, is looking for a promotion. The two-term state representative on Monday, April 4, launched her candidacy for one of Windsor County’s three state Senate seats.  Unless any of the delegation’s incumbent senators — Alison Clarkson, Dick McCormack and Alice Nitka, all Democrats — decide to retire, White’s candidacy sets up an unusual…

By Liora Engel-Smith/VTDigger When Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital’s chief executive talks about the challenges facing his organization, housing is near the top of the list. “It’s really astounding,” Shawn Tester, who heads the hospital in St. Johnsbury, said last month. “ We ended up having to rent a dorm from one of our local high schools…

By Fred Thys/VTDigger Senators have offered a compromise to Gov. Phil Scott on a registry of home contractors — an issue that has been holding up a bill, S.226, intended to create more housing. Scott vetoed a contractor registry earlier this year, explaining that he does not think it is needed. He has since indicated that, if the registry…

High prices are here to stay, market was undervalued, experts say By Polly Mikula The average home in Killington sold for over $1 million in the first quarter of 2022 — the highest evaluation ever — and those prices are indicative of the town’s, region’s and state’s growing value, say local real estate agents who…

By Rep. Jim Harrison Last fall I had the opportunity to meet up with our son, Ben, and two of our grandsons, Luke and Graham, for a golf weekend. During round two of the excursion, Ben and I were teamed against the grandsons (12 and 10). Putting aside that their tee box was often 50-100…

By Peter D’Auria/VTDigger On March 1, voters in the Otter Valley School District went to the polls and, by a margin of 60 votes, turned down the budget for the upcoming school year. The unexpected rejection of the $22.7 million proposal, which came amid a steep drop in voter turnout in the district, has thrown…

By Emma Cotton/VTDigger Vermont is experiencing parallel crises: The state needs more development as Vermonters struggle to find and afford housing, and development is also increasingly encroaching on forests and habitats that are important for ensuring the state’s resilience to climate change. Sen. Chris Bray, D-Addison, said lawmakers sought to address both problems in S.234,…

By Sarah Mearhoff/VTDigger With hardly any debate, the Vermont Senate in a series of votes Friday, March 25, unanimously approved the House and Senate’s newly drawn legislative district lines. If approved and signed into law, the maps would stand for the next 10 years. In the upper chamber, senators debated how to fairly divide representation…

Vermont had the lowest gender-based wage gap of any state in the U.S., according to the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. But still, women on average were paid $4,600 less than men. Wyoming had the highest gap with men earning on average $21,676 more than women for equal work. Overall, the gender gap in the…

By Peter D’Auria/VTDigger Once they complete the sixth grade, students in the towns of Dover and Wardsboro must leave their school district to attend class. The small River Valleys school district, in rural Windham County like many rural schools in the state, does not operate a high school or a middle school. Under Vermont’s school…

By Christopher Ross/Addison County Independent BRISTOL — It took just six presentation slides by Vermont State Auditor Doug Hoffer to astonish the audience of a virtual healthcare talk hosted by Bristol Democrats earlier this month. State healthcare costs are soaring, transparency is declining and the University of Vermont Health Network (UVMHN) exerts outsize influence on…