By Lola Duffort and Sarah Mearhoff/VTDigger After eight terms and nearly five decades in office, U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy is retiring. He announced his decision during a press conference at the Statehouse Monday morning that was attended by members of the media and his supporters, including his wife, Marcelle. “While I will continue to serve…

By Ethan Weinstein Following a week of record cases, Gov. Phil Scott will call the Legislature back for a special session, allowing them to pass a law granting municipalities to install local mask mandates — but only on his terms. Scott called his decision an “olive branch” and a “compromise.” Vermont currently has the fifth…

The Dept. for Children and Families announced Nov. 12 that, to enhance predictability and stability for program participants, the adverse weather conditions policy for the General Assistance Emergency Housing Program will be applied for a 100-day period from Nov. 22, 2021, through March 1, 2022. The adverse weather conditions policy has historically been applied on…

With Vermont’s 16-day rifle deer season beginning Saturday, Nov. 13, officials at the Green Mountain National Forest (GMNF) are encouraging the public to use caution and to be visible and mindful of their surroundings in the coming weeks. Saturday marks the opening day of the white-tailed deer rifle hunt in Vermont, a lifelong tradition for…

By Sarah Mearhoff/VTDigger With Congress’s long-awaited passage of a $1 trillion nationwide infrastructure package, Vermont is set to receive about $2.2 billion to invest in roads, bridges, broadband, sewer systems and more. After months of negotiations, the U.S. House late Friday, Nov. 5, voted 228-206 to give final approval to the package meant to revitalize…

By Shane Spence Editor's note: Shayne Spence was a candidate for the Vermont House in 2020, and is a justice of the peace in Johnson. The tripartisan legislative apportionment board voted this month to recommend a new map for legislative seats, which is required every 10 years following the census. Its new map would eliminate…

By Ethan Weinstein As the state sets new records in both its seven day average case count and its single day case count, Governor Phil Scott and his administration addressed Vermonters while wearing masks for the first time in months but did not issue any substantive changes to Covid policy. Scott touted the over 14,000…

By Ethan Weinstein If, as experts expect, the CDC endorses Pfizer’s vaccine for children 5-11 on Nov. 2 or 3, Vermonters in that age group will be able to receive their first shot this week, Gov. Phil Scott said at the press conference Tuesday, Nov. 2. “We want you to know: Vermont is ready,” Scott…

In mid-October, Ethan Allen Extension Amtrak qualification trips began to operate between Rutland and Burlington in advance of the start of regular passenger service. Qualification runs are used to familiarize railroaders with how to run over a new or unfamiliar route, according to a Vermont Rail Systems (VRS) Facebook post, Oct. 18. These trips included…

By Tiffany Tan and Alan J. Keays/VTDigger State health officials learned something in October: An animal sedative is increasingly contributing to opioid overdose deaths among Vermonters. The drug, xylazine, is used as a sedative, muscle relaxant and pain reliever in animals such as horses and cattle. It is not approved for human use. In people,…

Panel goes all in on single-member House districts By Lola Duffort & Erin Petenko/VTDigger and Polly Mikula Not for the first time, a special panel advising state lawmakers about how to redraw House and Senate district maps has proposed the wholesale elimination of multimember districts. But whether the seven-member Legislative Apportionment Board sticks to its…

As local officials enter budget discussions in preparation for Town Meeting, some wonder if online municipal meetings will ever end? By Kevin O’Connor, VTDigger Local officials in every town across Vermont are set to spend a long winter drafting budget proposals for March town meeting. The Brattleboro Select Board had planned to do so in…

By Curt Peterson A group of lawmakers and healthcare professionals, confused by Governor Phil Scott’s failure to take more aggressive action to stem the recent surge in Covid hospitalizations and deaths, which equal last winter’s rates, publicly urged him to declare a health emergency, to mandate indoor mask-wearing, social distancing enforcement and other anti-Covid measures…

A partnership between the Dept. of Veterans Affairs and the state will alleviate some strain in the mental health system Agency of Human Services Secretary Mike Smith announced Oct. 27 that the Dept. of Veterans Affairs (VA) will temporarily offer some available mental health inpatient beds at the White River Junction VA Medical Center to…

Reapportionment in Legislature could split up local district By Jim Harrison I want to thank all that took a moment to visit during my recent “Office Hours” a.k.a. “Dump & Donuts” tour through the district recently. It was good to be out and see many of you. And just to be sure that I don’t…