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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Vermonters are again facing steep upward premium growth for 2025 due to the cumulative impact of hospital costs, drug prices and state health care policy choices. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont projects that these trends will continue and will require rate increases of 16.3% for individual health plans and 19.1% for the small group…

As part of his investigation into the outrageously high price of Ozempic and Wegovy in the U.S., U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released a stunning new report May 15 exposing the potential of weight loss drugs to bankrupt American health care. In the report, HELP…