On Monday, Oct. 4, the state of Vermont distributed resources and information to all Vermont public and independent schools to enable them to establish Covid-19 response testing. The state is bolstering existing testing tools with rapid testing to help keep more kids in school. These resources are provided free of charge to Vermont schools. “We…

The U.S. Mint officially announced the designs for the 2022 American Innovation $1 Coin Program, on Monday, Oct. 4. This multi-year series that started in 2018 honors innovation and innovators by issuing $1 coins for each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the five U.S. territories. The Mint works with the governors'…

By Emma Cotton/VTDigger Lawmakers from across the Northeast are urging U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to strengthen enforcement and close loopholes in the National Organic Program that put regional farms at a disadvantage. A bicameral, bipartisan letter from lawmakers, sent to Vilsack on Wednesday, said that the industry is vital to the region and…

By Mike Dougherty/VTDigger As the pace of vaccinations slowed this spring, some experts began floating a new vision of Covid-19’s future as endemic. Rather than focusing on herd immunity — the threshold at which enough people had been vaccinated or previously infected that the full population would be protected against the disease — endemicity provided…

With a wide array of resources available, access to mental health services in Vermont continues to be ranked first in the nation, according to the annual report, State of Mental Health in America. “It’s an achievement Vermonters should be proud of,” said Emily Hawes, commissioner of the Dept. of Mental Health for Vermont. “Having equitable…

By Jim Harrison Fall is a good time to start planning for the upcoming session (begins in January) with the sharing of ideas and concerns. I hope you will stop by during one of my upcoming “office hours” (sometimes referred to as “dump and donuts”), especially while we can still enjoy being outside. Friday, Oct.…

Down slightly over last week’s record By Erin Petenko/VTDigger and Polly Mikula Vermont reported 1,448 Covid-19 cases within the past week, a slight decline from 1,520 the week before but far higher than the 1,050 cases reported just two weeks ago, according to a state data presentation. It was still the second highest week of Covid cases ever…

By Grace Benninghoff/VTDigger Vermont’s legislative leadership has called off plans to reconvene this October due to substantial delays to President Biden’s federal infrastructure bill. The decision likely forecloses the possibility that the Legislature could seek to enact more stringent Covid-19 protocols this fall, as some Democrats have urged. As the 2021 session wound down in…

Vermonters 65+ and 18+ with underlying medical conditions or who work in certain occupational settings are eligible Staff report Vermonters 75 years of age and older are now eligible to schedule and receive Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine booster doses. Registration started Monday, Sept. 27. Beginning on Wednesday, Sept. 29, that eligibility expands to any Vermonters 70…

By Jackie O’Brien/VTDigger Authorities are investigating why a Stowe Mountain Resort employee crashed and died while riding a zip line on Thursday. Scott Lewis, 53, of Stowe crashed into the anchoring platform that holds up a zip line at the resort just after 3 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 21, police said. Lewis was working at…

By Liz Dimarco Weinmann For most of my four decades in Vermont, I worked for large marketing agencies and nonprofits based in New York City and Washington, traveling from Rutland throughout the country. For most of 2020 and 2021, I hunkered down here, a Zoomer Boomer working remotely, and I have had more opportunities to…

Board of trustees to make decision on name, Sept. 29 By Tiffany Tan/VTDigger The Vermont State Colleges System’s board of trustees will consider public comments before deciding whether to adopt “Vermont State University” as the new name for the planned consolidation of Castleton University, Northern Vermont University and Vermont Tech. About a thousand Castleton alumni, for…

By Fred Thys/VTDigger More than 22,000 Vermonters who filed for unemployment last year could get a tax refund, according to the Dept. of Taxes. The state announced on Sept. 14 that it has begun sending checks to people who collected unemployment in 2020 and filed their taxes electronically before April 1 of this year. The…

By Ethan Weinstein Despite a call from Lt. Gov. Molly Gray to issue stricter pandemic measures, Gov. Scott remained firm during his press conference Tuesday, Sept. 21, that he would not provide pandemic measures such as an indoor mask mandate without a state of emergency. “I know there are some who would like to see…

By Lola Duffort/VTDigger Amid a rise in cases, Lt. Gov. Molly Gray on Sept. 16 called on the Scott administration to take “greater measures” to dampen the spread of Covid-19. The Vermont Dept. of Health reported a record-setting 314 cases Thursday but said an IT problem might be partly to blame for the day’s spike…