Staff report At-home antigen or LAMP Covid-19 tests will now be provided at state-run testing sites, rather than PCR tests, according to state officials. Health Commissioner Mark Levine said PCR tests — which are administered at the testing site and take longer to produce results — will still be available for certain situations, such as…

By Christopher Ross/ Addison County Independent Roughly 14% of Middlebury College students have tested positive for Covid-19 since arriving for the spring semester last month, but the cases have not been severe or persistent enough to warrant a change in campus policies, officials said. Middlebury currently has 2,626 residential students and has logged 383 cases,…

The v voted Wednesday, March 23, to advance legislation that would set limits on public money going to private and religious schools. The final vote on the bill, S.219, then passed Thursday, March 24. Now the measure moves to the House. Vermont students living in “choice towns” — municipalities across the state that don’t operate…

Staff report The Canadian government announced March 17 that fully vaccinated travelers will no longer need Covid-19 test results to enter Canada by air, land or water, effective April 1. “After a challenging two years, we all want the Canadian economy, including the tourism sector, to rebound and grow,” said Randy Boissonnault, PC MP, the…

Innovative program providing free local restaurant meals continues Vermont Everyone Eats (VEE), the unique Covid-19 recovery program that provides Vermonters impacted by Covid-19 with prepared meals made by Vermont restaurants using locally grown and produced ingredients, will continue through July 1, 2022. The program had previously been set to end on March 31 but will…

By Rep. Jim Harrison It’s important to have deadlines to help discipline the legislative process. Without them, the session would likely extend longer than it does. Deadlines mean that the House Appropriations Committee must not only finish its work on the budget, but also act on any bills sent to the committee from House policy…

By Jack Lyons/VTDigger A 30-year effort to reintroduce passenger rail service to Burlington is scheduled to succeed this summer. Rail travelers will be able to board in Rutland and travel to Burlington on the trail, and Burlington residents will be able to travel south — all the way to New York City and points beyond…

By Liz DiMarco Employers from Vermont to Vancouver are facing unforeseen difficulties in attracting qualified workers, but there are jobhunters over 55 who know all too well the challenges of finding meaningful employment. Ageism is more pervasive than ever, and harsh reality is difficult to deny. Accelerated technology, plus political and socioeconomic factors, tend to…

By Julia Purdy Just as Californians hail the return of the swallows to San Juan Capistrano, here in Vermont the return of the peregrine falcon to its breeding grounds is a cause for pride and excitement. This year, peregrine falcons have already returned to their nesting cliffs throughout the state. To protect nesting peregrine falcons…

By Liora Engel-Smith/VTDigger The state is moving away from third-party contact tracing as Omicron cases continue to drop in Vermont.  Last spring, the Vermont Department of Health outsourced the bulk of Covid-19 contact tracing to AM Trace, a contractor in Leesburg, Virginia. Vermont has paid the company — now called AM — almost $15 million since…

By Erin Petenko/VTDigger Vermont’s seven-day Covid-19 average hit its lowest point since last fall, one of several indicators that the Omicron variant surge is trending down. Health department Commissioner Mark Levine said the numbers “continue to reinforce the improving picture of Covid-19 here in Vermont.”  Officials have cautioned that cases could be an unreliable indicator…

By Erin Petenko/VTDigger   At least 20 Vermont communities have repealed their local mask mandates or allowed them to expire in recent weeks. Only a handful of communities — including Waitsfield, Williston and Winooski — still have mask mandates in effect, although they may not be in effect for much longer.  Waitsfield, for example, planned…

Hospitalizations and capacity now main factors, CDC focuses on preventing worst outcomes By Polly Mikula The Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) rolled out new guidance qualifying nearly 70% of the nation to unmask, on Feb. 25. Prior to the changes, only about a third of the counties were assessed as low or medium…

By Polly Mikula “If we look back two years to March 13, when I signed the emergency declaration here in Vermont, I never expected that it would last two years, not just the state of emergency, but I didn’t think the pandemic was going to last two years,” Gov. Phil Scott said at a recent…

In continuation of Vermont’s efforts to support the Ukrainian people in response to the Russian invasion of peaceful Ukraine, Vermont law enforcement agencies are coordinating an effort to donate used and expired body-armor vests to military units in Ukraine. “As I’ve said, the bravery and resolve of the Ukrainian people is heroic and inspiring. This…