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This commentary is by Melinda Moulton of Huntington. She is a writer, filmmaker, social and climate activist, and community leader. Many of us have lovely memories about Burlington. We shopped at the locally owned stores run by our friends, received excellent medical care at the hospital on the top of the hill, attended the schools…

This commentary is by Lauren Hierl, executive director of the Vermont Natural Resources Council  As 2024 draws to a close, I resolve to start the new year with both optimism and determination to protect the things we care about. At the heart of Vermont’s identity lies our shared connection to the natural world. We love…

This north tract of the O’Brien’s 175-acre property has been used by local farmer and Shelburne resident Maggie O’Brien for years as an essential haying field. She says the plans to develop directly impede her farming operations. Photo by Maggie O’Brien This story by Patrick Bilow was first published in the Shelburne News on Dec.…

The signatories to this open letter are listed below the text. To our Lamoille community, We, the undersigned, have learned that Copley Hospital’s leadership has proposed closing its birthing center and eliminating all pregnancy care and births here in order to cut costs. We feel that the public has a right to know about this…

This commentary is by Mike Mrowicki, democratic state representative for the Windham-4 district. As we head into the 2025 legislative session in January, I want to first offer congratulations to Gov. Scott, Jason Maalucci and the Republican campaign effort. They sure got it right about affordability.  Yes, property taxes / education funding are on people’s…

Co-owner Doni Cain lights candles to illuminate the interior of Foxy’s, a new cafe-restaurant-bar in Barre on Tuesday, December 17. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger How would Foxy’s co-owner describe the feel of their newest addition to Barre’s downtown nightlife? “Eclectic, for sure,” said Liv Dunton. Like if reputedly queer poet Emily Dickinson had a “saloon.”…

Kesha Ram Hinsdale is a Chittenden-Southeast district state senator and the incoming Senate Democratic majority leader. One of Vermont’s greatest attributes has long been the spirit of neighborliness that underlies our politics. We are arguably more connected and have a more united sense of purpose with the small scale of our communities, and it has…

Dear Editor, I am brimming with giggles after having read Sally Giddings Smith’s recent commentary on the imminent demolition of Burlington’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. To compare that lifeless monstrosity to Notre Dame de Paris — for half the piece, for God’s sake — is a level of absurd that I could not beat…

A kettle of broad-winged hawks in September. Photo courtesy Putney Mountain Hawkwatch Kate Kampner is a reporter with Community News Service, part of the University of Vermont’s Reporting & Documentary Storytelling program. Theresa Armata remembers the scene atop Putney Mountain the first time she came to join her local hawk-watching crew in 2010.   “There were…

Dear Editor, In response to your story about Vermont English Bulldog Rescue (I am the founder of the rescue): I could not have asked for better legal representation for myself, my family and for the rescue. I say that not because we prevailed, but rather because good lawyering — based on fact, matched with the…

Donna Murphy and Nancy Dutil, right, navigate the mud in front of Dutil’s home on Second Street in Barre on Thursday, July 11, after overnight flooding. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger Last Tuesday, the National Weather Service issued a flood watch that set off a cascade of preparations across Vermont.  On that same day, Vermont Department…

University of Vermont fans watch as the UVM men’s soccer team scores the winning goal in overtime to defeat Marshall University in the Division I national championship at Nectar’s in Burlington on Monday, Dec. 16. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger BURLINGTON — The University of Vermont men’s soccer team lived up to its “Cardiac Cats” nickname Monday…

Again, I am neither a Catholic nor a lawyer, but how bitter it will still be to witness the demolition of Burlington’s most illustrious building and park at the same time as we witness the reopening of Notre Dame de Paris. The five-year effort to rebuild Notre Dame involved people and organisations from all around…

In response to Dr. Nat Mulkey’s recent commentary, “It’s time for a new narrative on the UVM Health Network vs. Green Mountain Care Board dispute,” all I can say is that I wholeheartedly agree with Dr. Mulkey on the need for a new narrative. I am also not a health care economist, whatever that is,…

Photo courtesy of The Citizen This story by Patrick Bilow was first published in The Citizen on Dec. 12 Hinesburg is a small rural town with rolling hills, a few remaining dairy farms and longtime neighbors, but despite the community feel, crime has been steadily rising over the last three years and one infraction stands…

A large police presence surrounded a house on Portland Street in St. Johnsbury following the shooting of a police officer on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. Photo by K. Fiegenbaum/VTDigger. Updated at 8:13 a.m. In the end, Scott Mason didn’t make it very far.  The suspect in the Friday shooting of a St. Johnsbury police officer…

The latest statewide count for unsheltered Vermonters is 3,458, a nearly 5% increase over 2023, the second highest rate in the country, and this is deemed by experts to be a significant undercount. Meanwhile, discussions of homelessness are overshadowed by our governor’s headline focus on “affordability,” which has led to steep cuts in the motel…

It’s an epidemic. Among the cohort of my friends and relatives who consider themselves liberal, there is an almost universal reaction to the 2024 election: “I just can’t look at the news.” Conversations overheard in town express the same sentiment. The voice and image of the president-elect are so repugnant to many people that they…

A large police presence surrounded a house on Portland Street in St. Johnsbury — two buildings down from the House of Pizza — following a shooting on Friday, Dec. 13. Photo by K. Fiegenbaum/VTDigger. Scott Mason, 38, of St. Johnsbury. Courtesy Vermont State Police Updated Dec. 14, at 7:51 a.m. ST. JOHNSBURY — A local police…

A Canada lynx spotted in Addison County. Courtesy of the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department. Six years had passed without a confirmed sighting of a Canada lynx in Vermont. That all changed Aug. 17. Over the summer, several Rutland County residents spotted what the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department confirmed was a juvenile male Canada…

Photo submitted by Kaci O’Rourke Kaci O’Rourke tried reining — the western style equestrian sport where riders guide horses through a series of precise movements like circles, spins and stops — for the first time when she was 10 years old at her parents’ family-run farm Pond Hill Ranch in Castleton. Two decades later, she…

A sign at downtown Brattleboro’s Transportation Center lists prohibited behaviors. Photo by Kevin O’Connor/VTDigger BRATTLEBORO — In a 76-55 vote Thursday night, a citizen-petitioned special Town Meeting rescinded new municipal rules that supporters said would help rehabilitate offenders through civil rather than criminal penalties for such acts as illegal drug use and dealing, physical threats…