Positions are currently open in Addison, Bennington and Windsor counties In Vermont, the Fish and Wildlife Board (FWB) makes regulations for hunting, trapping and fishing. While they are given advice and recommendations from the State Fish & Wildlife Department (FWD), they are not required to implement those recommendations. “A trapper’s request to extend the bobcat…

 Covid’s risk to students mental health is now greater than physical health, governor says By Polly Mikula Masking in schools — among the last remaining Covid mitigation measures in place for students — will soon be optional for schools with a student vaccination rate of over 80%, Governor Phil Scott announced at his regular press…

Seven species and three critical habitats received updated conservation designations on Vermont’s endangered and threatened species list, including the highly anticipated de-listing of the bald eagle after over a decade of restoration efforts. “The bald eagle’s de-listing is a milestone for Vermont,” said Wildlife Division Director Mark Scott. “This reflects more than a decade of…

By Rep. Jim Harrison Last week saw the first veto of the session by Governor Phil Scott. The legislation was H.157, which creates a new registry for home contractors. Given some of the bills headed his way, this may not be the only veto this session. And with Republicans only holding 46 seats in the…

By Mike Dougherty/VTDigger Recent trends in Vermont’s Covid-19 case counts have officials and experts feeling optimistic about the course of the pandemic — but all warn it would be premature to brush off the Omicron threat just yet. As of Friday, Jan. 28, the state’s seven-day average for daily new cases had fallen by more…

By Rep. Jim Harrison While six more weeks of winter may be the prediction of Punxsutawney Phil when he came out last week to see if he had a shadow, it’s almost a guarantee that the Vermont Legislature probably has double that to finish its 2022 session. Entering week 6 of a normal 18-week session,…

By Sen. Alison Clarkson Every 10 years the results of the national census requires each state to review the impact of any population change on their electoral districts. Our Vermont Constitution requires that our state’s population must be fairly distributed to afford “equality of representation.” Covid delayed the national Census returns and, as a result,…

By Sarah Mearhoff/VTDigger The Vermont House on Tuesday approved Proposal 5, sending the question of whether to amend the state Constitution to guarantee sexual and reproductive freedoms to voters come November. The vote was 107-41. Also known as the Reproductive Liberty Amendment, Prop 5 would amend the state constitution to guarantee Vermonters access to abortion,…

By Rep. Jim Harrison Since returning in person two weeks ago, our committee began a daily ritual of sharing a riddle just prior to the official start of our deliberations. One of my favorites from last week was “Why do seagulls live at sea? Well, if they lived in the bay, they would be baygulls…

By Kevin O’Connor/VTDigger Two Vermont-trained gold medalists will join almost two dozen other athletes with ties to the Green Mountain State at the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing. Mikaela Shiffrin, who learned alpine skiing at Burke Mountain Academy, and Jessie Diggins, who trains for cross-country in Stratton, are set to compete at the event Feb.…

By Erin Petenko/VTDigger A new subvariant of the now-dominant Omicron strain was detected in Vermont last week as part of genomic sequencing, the Department of Health reported Friday, Jan. 28. The Broad Institute identified the subvariant in a sample sent to them as part of Vermont’s “ongoing sequencing efforts,” according to health department spokesperson Ben…

The 2022 tax season officially opened Monday, Jan. 24 at both the federal and state levels. This is the date that the IRS and Vermont begin accepting and processing personal income tax returns for tax year 2021. The Vermont Dept. of Taxes offers the following tips to make filing and getting your refund easier and…

By Liora Engel-Smith, Erin Petenko and Ethan Weinstein/VTDigger RUTLAND — Asked what it’s like to do her job right now amid a staffing crisis and surging Covid-19 hospitalizations, a nurse heading home from Rutland Regional Medical Center on Monday, Jan. 17, was moved to tears. “It’s a lot. It’s just a lot. It’s really difficult…

By Fred Thys/VTDigger During his annual budget address on Tuesday, Jan. 18, Gov. Phil Scott proposed taking advantage of federal money pouring into Vermont to encourage more people to move into the state and to train Vermonters to fill thousands of vacant jobs. “We all see the ‘now hiring’ signs, reduced hours at local businesses…

By Sen. Alison Clarkson When the Pension Benefits, Design, and Funding Task Force was created last year, I was relieved. Our public pension system was in crisis. If we did nothing to fix the problems, Vermont taxpayers were looking at an unfunded pension liability of $4.5 billion dollars, with that liability growing for the teachers…