Bill strengthens environmental protections, sustainable trail development, growth in downtown Staff report The Vermont House of Representatives passed H.926, an Act 250 modernization bill, 88 to 52 with tripartisan support on Friday, Feb. 28. The bill passed almost three years after lawmakers formally began a review of how to “modernize” Act 250 in advance of its…

By Rep. Jim Harrison Last week saw a significant amount of floor time in the Vermont House, including a rare evening session, as major legislation was debated and/or amended ahead of the Town Meeting week recess. First up on Tuesday, Feb.25 was a vote to override the governor’s veto on increasing the minimum wage to…

Once valued at $200 million, Tough Mudder was formerly considered the dominant player in the field Staff report Less than two months after Tough Mudder’s creditors forced it into filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the extreme obstacle race operator may be nearing a finish line of sorts. Tough Mudder’s chief rival, Spartan Race, has reportedly agreed…

By Lisa Lynn/Ski+RideVt At 3:20 p.m. on Saturday, February 29, Andrew Hyrb, 36, of Darien, Connecticut, and his brother Alexander, 35, of Norwalk, Connecticut, boarded the Sensation Quad, planning to ski a backcountry zone off Stowe Mountain Resort’s Spruce Peak. More than 35 inches had fallen in the area over the last four days and everywhere skiers…

By Kit Norton/VTDigger Sen. Bernie Sanders will be in Vermont on Super Tuesday. As the results from primary contests in 14 states across the country roll in, Sanders will hold a rally at the Champlain Valley Exposition location in Essex Junction on the evening of March 3, his campaign announced Tuesday. Seven Days first reported on the Vermont…

By John Walters/VTDigger Members of the Abenaki Nation delivered moving testimony Wednesday morning, Feb. 19, on the lasting impact of forced sterilizations carried out as a result of Vermont’s Eugenics Survey. The House Committee on General, Housing and Military Affairs is considering J.R.H.7, which would deliver an official apology to those affected by Vermont’s sterilization program,…

By Christopher Ross, Addison Independent To get a sense of why the Electoral College is criticized so heavily these days, one need only consider that Republican Donald Trump was elected president in 2016 despite losing the popular vote by 2,868,686 ballots. In other words, the Electoral College system had the equivalent effect of erasing every…

A new poll conducted by Public Policy Polling and commissioned by the Marijuana Policy Project found that an overwhelming 76% of Vermont residents support allowing adults 21 and over to purchase cannabis from regulated, tax-paying small businesses. These results come just before the Vermont House is expected to vote on S. 54, a bill that…

Eight months after a law went into effect requiring Vermont schools to test their drinking water taps for lead, most are finding at least one tap with elevated lead levels – results that health officials say are in line with expectations. Of the 168 schools that have received their water test results to date, 79%…

By Lola Duffort/VTDigger Since the state put a moratorium on school construction aid a decade ago, Vermont’s preK-12 districts have bonded on their own for local projects to the tune of about $350 million. But that number could more than double in the next couple years as schools begin addressing long-deferred capital needs. An ad-hoc group…

By Xander Landen/VTDigger The Vermont House on Tuesday, Feb. 25, voted to override Gov. Phil Scott’s veto of a bill that would raise the minimum wage from $10.96 to $12.55 by 2022. In a 100-49 vote, Democrats were able to just meet the two-thirds majority needed to counteract Scott’s veto pen. The Senate successfully voted to…

By Erin Petenko/VTDigger A little-known proposed change to how the Census reports data could have a major impact on Vermont’s small communities, changing population totals in some towns by 10% or more. Michael Moser, who heads the Vermont State Data Center, is among a group pushing back against a proposal that would alter Census data…

By Sen. Dick McCormack “Half-baked idea” usually refers, insultingly, to an idea that hasn’t been thought through. But I offer an idea that I admit is half baked. Because no one in Vermont is talking about it, because the idea contradicts the largely unchallenged assumption that folks, regardless of ideology, party or cultural background, consider…

By Rep. Jim Harrison Last Monday, Feb. 10, Gov. Phil Scott vetoed a bill to raise the minimum wage in Vermont to $12.55. In his veto message, Scott said, “Despite S.23’s good intentions, the reality is there are too many unintended consequences and we cannot grow the economy or make Vermont more affordable by arbitrarily…

By Colin Meyn and Grace Elletson/VTDigger Gov. Phil Scott was once again talking about Vermont’s workforce woes during his weekly press conference, but the circumstances were less predictable than usual. The federal government is having a tough time finding people to conduct the census in Vermont. Scott said he got a call from federal officials informing him that…