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This commentary is by Katrina Menard of Strafford. She is state policy fellow at the Public Assets Institute. As Vermont recovers from yet another round of flooding, it may come as no surprise that Vermont is ranked seventh in the nation — tied with Kentucky and South Dakota — for the most federal disaster declarations…

Mary Lacy and Corrine Yonce (left to right) piece together a wall-size mosaic in downtown Brattleboro’s Pliny Park. Photo by Kevin O’Connor/VTDigger BRATTLEBORO — Talk to longtime locals who’ve witnessed a rising number of Main Street closures and crimes and they’ll tell you the community they remember is cracking. Mary Lacy and Corrine Yonce, armed…

This commentary is by Allen Gilbert of Worcester, a former journalist, teacher and ACLU-VT executive director. He chaired his school board in Worcester when it joined the education funding lawsuit that resulted in the Brigham v. State decision by the Vermont Supreme Court. Don Keelan’s commentary of July 24 — “The ‘welcome to Vermont’ tax”…

Nereyda Urbina makes a sandwich while working at the Red Hen Baking Co. in Middlesex on Thursday, June 20. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger Editor’s note: Interviews with Nicaraguan sources were conducted in Spanish and later translated into English. Behind the customers ordering pastries at the counter, somewhere among the movement of bakers, cooks and delivery…

A fallen tree limb shattered a car windshield in South Burlington on Friday evening, August 10, 2024. Courtesy photo by Elizabeth Tansey. Updated at 9:34 a.m. Nearly 25,000 customers remained without power Saturday morning after high winds tore through Vermont Friday evening.  The remnants of Tropical Storm Debby didn’t bring the flooding that many in…

The Winooski River in Richmond is well below flood stage as rain falls on Friday, August 9. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger Updated at 8:32 p.m. As the brunt of Tropical Depression Debby hit Vermont on Friday evening, more than 48,000 customers had lost power around 8:30 p.m.  VT Outages, which tracks utilities statewide, reported the…

A female Culex restuans mosquito that was collected in Maryland. This type of mosquito is a proven vector associated with the transmission of West Nile virus and eastern equine encephalitis. Photo via the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases A man in his 40s from Chittenden County is the first detected human case of…

A cyclist travels down Main Street in the rain in Richmond on Friday, August 9, 2024. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger Yet another round of heavy rain began in Vermont overnight as the remnants of Tropical Storm Debby — now a post-tropical cyclone — arrived in the region.  By 7 a.m. Friday, up to 2 inches…

LiHigh School in Poultney on Friday, July 26, 2024. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger In March, the LiHigh School, a private, for-profit therapeutic school in Poultney, announced that it would be closing this summer.  LiHigh’s owners, Greg and Daniela Rosenthal, retired last year, LiHigh administrators announced in a blog post earlier this year. And a state…

This commentary is by Elizabeth Mauch of Cornwall, chancellor of the Vermont State Colleges System. I began my tenure at the start of the year with the intent to lead this system “for the benefit of Vermont,” as our mission statement declares. These past seven months have been long, short, great, exhilarating, fascinating and challenging…

This commentary is by Charlene Webster of Arlington and Dorrine Dorfman of Plainfield.  Charlene has taught grades 3-6, special education and structured literacy in southwestern Vermont over her 40-year career. Dorrine teaches reading to grades 5-8 at Barre Town Middle and Elementary School, and has served as principal of Leland and Gray Union High School…

Born October 13, 1930 Burlington, Vermont Died August, 5 2024 Shelburne, Vermont Details of services Celebration of Life to be held Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024 from 2-4 p.m. at the Community Sailing Center on the Waterfront in Burlington. Burlington lost one of its most illustrious public servants on Monday, August 5, 2024, with the death of William…

Windsor County Senate district. Map by Erin Petenko/VTDigger A version of this story, by Patrick Adrian, was first published in the Valley News on Aug. 2. Voters in the Windsor County Senate district have plenty of options to choose from in next week’s primary elections as they determine who will represent them in the Vermont…

Rep. Kelly Pajala, I-Londonderry, listens as the House Human Services Committee considers a budget measure during a meeting at the Statehouse in Montpelier on Wednesday, March 1, 2023. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger Londonderry is seeking a town clerk and state legislator with the resignation of dual officeholder Kelly Pajala, who has taken a job with…

Peter Edelmann, owner of the Essex mall, chatted with Kayla Silver on July 31, 2024 at the new business there. Silver owns the Salt & Bubbles wine bar and a new cafe and market called Leo and Company in the plaza. Photo by Auditi Guha/VTDigger ESSEX — With the Essex Experience shopping complex at capacity,…

This commentary is by Brianne Goodspeed of Hartford. My heart aches for the Ziporyn family as they fight for their son, Noah, to secure a free appropriate public education in the state of Vermont. Like the Ziporyns, I understand firsthand how “the whole system is designed not to educate a certain subset of the population.”…

This commentary is by Brenna Galdenzi of Stowe, president and co-founder of Protect Our Wildlife. A new peer-reviewed paper, “Best Management Practices for Furbearer Trapping Derived from Poor and Misleading Science,” was recently published that debunks the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department’s attempt to convince the public that “best management practices” for trapping result in…

This commentary is by Alyssa May, of East Burke. She is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, serving the Orleans Federated Church and volunteering on behalf of Kingdom United Resilience & Recovery Effort. It feels like a hard time to be hopeful here in the Northeast Kingdom, even for me, and I…

Born June 14, 1943 St. Louis, Missouri Died July 18, 2024 Burlington, Vermont Details of services Two commemorative events are planned. Visitation/calling hours will be held on Sunday, August 11th, from 2pm – 4pm at the Ready Funeral Home, 261 Shelburne St, Burlington, hosted by Donna Fellinger and close friend Paul Rocheleau. A celebration of…

Rick DeAngelis, co-executive director of Good Samaritan Haven, looks down at Gunners Brook on August 1, 2024. The brook runs adjacent to Good Sam’s low-barrier shelter on Seminary Street. Photo by Carly Berlin/VTDigger and Vermont Public This story, by Report for America corps member Carly Berlin, was produced through a partnership between VTDigger and Vermont…

Traffic on Williston Road at the intersection with Dorset Street in South Burlington on May 14, 2024. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger This story by Liberty Darr was first published in the Other Paper on August 1. South Burlington is eyeing a city green. As the city continues to expand and grow, it’s exploring a place…