Vermont news

Follow @NewsVermont_

• Vermont inmate dies at Pennsylvania prison

  16-10-2017 22:24 via vtdigger.org
  Block J at the Camp Hill prison in Pennsylvania, where Vermonters are housed. File photo by Jasper Craven/VTDiggerThe state is looking into the death of a Vermont inmate early Sunday at a prison in Pennsylvania.Roger Brown, 68, was pronounced dead about 5:45 a.m. of what appeared to be a medical issue, the Vermont Department of Corrections said Monday.He was being held at the SCI Camp Hill facility, which houses Vermont inmates under a contract with the state.
  In keeping with policy, the Vermont
  
  Read more

• Final Reading: Year after year, lawmakers consider Vermont’s continued use of out-of-state prisons

  04-04-2025 00:30 via vtdigger.org
  
  Rep. Conor Casey, D-Montpelier, center, talks with Steve Howard, executive director of the Vermont State Empoyee’s Union, at the Statehouse in Montpelier on Friday, Jan. 10. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger“I think it’s below contempt.”Rep. Conor Casey, D-Montpelier, did not mince words describing Vermont’s use of a for-profit, out-of-state prison to hold more than 100 people: “I know it’s cheaper, and it’s cheaper for a reason.”The prison, Ta
  
  Read more

• Vermont Supreme Court’s chief justice, attorneys speak out against threats to rule of law

  04-04-2025 00:11 via vtdigger.org
  
  Donald Trump and Paul Reiber. Photos by Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons and Glenn Russell/VTDiggerVermont Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul Reiber stood before a gathering of the state’s lawyers last week and detailed his concerns with the Trump administration’s efforts to undermine the rule of law. He ended his remarks to a resounding standing ovation, according to several people in attendance. “Currently, it appears there is an effort in Washington, D.C., to destroy t
  
  Read more

• What do Trump’s ‘reciprocal tariffs’ mean for Vermont?

  03-04-2025 23:50 via vtdigger.org
  
  President Donald Trump on Wednesday declared sweeping tariffs on imports from most nations, escalating a trade war that state officials and business leaders have warned could have dire consequences on Vermont’s economy.At a glance, the Green Mountain State was spared the worst of what Trump has called “Liberation Day,” owing to Canada’s exemption from the president’s comprehensive reciprocal tariff package. In the early weeks of his presidency, Trump declared &
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Federal government slashes staffers at critical heating program for Vermont

  03-04-2025 23:36 via vtdigger.org
  
  A person adjusts the temperature on a thermostat. Photo illustration by Natalie Williams/VTDiggerVermont officials are assessing how residents may be affected after the mass firing of federal workers who administer the LIHEAP program, which provides millions of dollars in heating assistance to low-income households in the state. The cuts, reported by national news outlets Wednesday, won’t immediately affect Vermonters receiving the federal assistance, according to the state Agency of
  
  Read more

• Still at odds over motel program, Senate sends another spending bill to Phil Scott

  03-04-2025 23:17 via vtdigger.org
  
  Senate Minority Leader Sen. Scott Beck, R-Caledonia, speaks during an earlier debate on the state’s motel housing program at the Statehouse on March 28, 2025. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerThe Legislature has once again sent a midyear spending bill to Gov. Phil Scott’s desk, but a partisan standoff over Vermont’s motel voucher program continues to unfold.On Thursday afternoon, the Senate gave final approval to its second attempt at an annual budget adjustment bill, after Scott
  
  Read more

• South Burlington child care faces state violations

  03-04-2025 22:05 via vtdigger.org
  
  Photo via Adobe StockThis story by Liberty Darr was first published in the Other Paper on April 3.South Burlington child care center Little Beginnings Early Learning Center had its license degraded by the Vermont Department for Children and Families after it found the center in violation of several areas of state regulations.Violations cited by the department include the program’s director allegedly grabbing at children to move them and slamming a child down on the toilet while they were b
  
  Read more

• Vermont protests against Trump presidency see rising participation

  03-04-2025 19:46 via vtdigger.org
  
  Protesters against the presidency of Donald Trump hold signs on an Interstate 91 overpass at Brattleboro’s Exit 2. Photo by Kevin O’Connor/VTDiggerVermont activist Nancy Braus recalls standing up and speaking out ever since she opposed the Vietnam War as a high schooler a half-century ago. But when Donald Trump won the presidency last fall, the now 71-year-old Guilford resident wondered if she should hit mute and move on.“If it looks like people like me are being sent to prison
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Curtis Clough: To protect Vermont’s essential workers, pass the extreme temperature worker protection bill

  03-04-2025 13:07 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Curtis Clough, president of Teamsters Local 597.Vermont is no stranger to extreme weather. In the summer, heat waves bake our roads and fields, pushing outdoor workers to their limits. In the winter, bitter cold and heavy snowfall make everyday tasks dangerous. As climate change affects the entire planet, these problems are only going to increase. Despite these harsh conditions, too many employers fail to provide the most basic protection for the workers who keep our s
  
  Read more

• Eric Peterson: The good old days of Bernie

  03-04-2025 13:03 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Eric Peterson of Bennington. He was a longtime columnist for the Bennington Banner and Berkshire Eagle and has written columns for the Albany Times Union and VTDigger.You’re Bernie Sanders. You’re 83 years old. You’re in your final term as a U.S. senator. In 1981 you were elected mayor of Burlington. Ten years later you were first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Then, in 2007 you became a U.S. Senator. You ran for the Democratic nomination fo
  
  Read more

• The feds are increasingly relying on Vermont’s prisons for immigration detention

  03-04-2025 12:55 via vtdigger.org
  
  Razor wire lines the perimeter fences at the Northwest State Correctional Facility in St. Albans Town on Feb. 4, 2022. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerVermont’s state prisons are part of a growing constellation of federal, state and county facilities in New England used to house people detained by federal immigration authorities. That role appears to be ramping up two months into the second term of President Donald Trump, who has made pursuing undocumented immigrants a central focus of
  
  Read more

• Next 48 hours: All gifts doubled!

  03-04-2025 02:30 via vtdigger.org
  
  Dear Reader,A group of generous donors are matching all gifts to help us stay on track during our Spring Member Drive — but only for the next 48 hours. If you can, please help us make the most of this opportunity and double the impact of your contribution now.2X your donationIn my work at VTDigger, I have the privilege of speaking with Vermonters who see their support for this newsroom as more than just a donation. They see it as an investment in their community.Their generosity and belief
  
  Read more

• All gifts doubled until April 4 at midnight!

  03-04-2025 02:30 via vtdigger.org
  
  Dear Reader,A group of generous donors are matching all gifts to help us stay on track during our Spring Member Drive — but only until Friday, April 4 at 11:59 p.m. If you can, please help us make the most of this opportunity and double the impact of your contribution now.2X your donationIn my work at VTDigger, I have the privilege of speaking with Vermonters who see their support for this newsroom as more than just a donation. They see it as an investment in their community.Their generosi
  
  Read more

• Final Reading: Lawmakers look to reform Human Services Board

  03-04-2025 00:30 via vtdigger.org
  
  Rep. Francis “Topper” McFaun, R-Barre Town, listens to testimony before the House Health Care Committee on a bill that would provide health insurance to first responders at the Statehouse in Montpelier on Wednesday, March 22, 2023. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerUnhappy that the Agency of Human Services has denied your application for housing assistance, Medicaid, food stamps or another matter?In theory, Vermont provides an outlet for your concerns: the Human Services Board, a seven-
  
  Read more

• Local group expected to acquire Burke Mountain ski resort

  02-04-2025 23:22 via vtdigger.org
  
  Burke Mountain Ski Resort. Photo by Patrick McCaffrey via Wikimedia CommonsA local group that includes longtime Burke Mountain benefactors and community stakeholders is on the cusp of acquiring the Northeast Kingdom ski resort, according to people familiar with the deal. The group, Bear Den Partners LLC, includes members of the Graham family, who have previously invested heavily in the mountain, as well as Willy Booker, head of Burke Mountain Academy, an elite training school for skiers in
  
  Read more

• Legislative lawyer calls Phil Scott’s executive order on motels unconstitutional 

  02-04-2025 23:22 via vtdigger.org
  
  Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Baruth, D/P-Chittenden Central, urges senators to move the budget adjustment act forward without amendment at the Statehouse in Montpelier on Wednesday, April 2, 2025. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerThis story, by Report for America corps member Carly Berlin, was produced through a partnership between VTDigger and Vermont Public.The Legislature’s chief lawyer has deemed Gov. Phil Scott’s move to extend motel voucher eligibility for a narrow segment o
  
  Read more

• Vermont Conversation: Retiring Health Commissioner Dr. Mark Levine on the state of public health in Vermont

  02-04-2025 22:23 via vtdigger.org
  
  
  Health Commissioner Dr. Mark Levine briefs a joint meeting of the House Agriculture, Food Resilience and Forestry Committee and the House Health Care Committees on bird flu at the Statehouse in Montpelier on Tuesday, February 11. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerThe Vermont Conversation with David Goodman is a VTDigger podcast that features in-depth interviews on local and national issues. Listen below and subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get podcas
  
  Read more

• Hundreds of Vermont schools and child care facilities do not meet herd immunity threshold for measles

  02-04-2025 20:29 via vtdigger.org
  
  The United States is in the midst of a surge in measles cases driven by unvaccinated children. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported 483 measles cases so far in 2025. If the current pace of spread were to continue, it would make this year the worst for measles in the 21st century. About 97% of cases have been in unvaccinated people or people with unknown vaccine status, the CDC reported. Three-quarters of cases have been in people under the age of 20. Seventy
  
  Read more

• Learning to use art, to heal

  02-04-2025 18:11 via vtdigger.org
  
  In the 12 years Lydia Littwin worked as an educator at a South Burlington art studio, she taught hundreds of children in afterschool classes and summer camps. But the adult students intrigued her the most: the retired professional feeling adrift in retirement, the man recovering from a catastrophic injury.“They weren’t there only to learn art. Yes, they wanted to paint, but on the foundation of an entire life already lived,” Lydia says. While children follow an intrinsic desire
  
  Read more

• Tufts PhD student was transported to Vermont after arrest in Massachusetts by immigration officials, court records show

  02-04-2025 18:00 via vtdigger.org
  
  Hundreds of people gather in Somerville, Massachusetts, on March 26, 2025, to demand the release of Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish student at Tufts University, who was arrested by federal agents. Photo by Michael Casey/APA Turkish doctoral student at Tufts University who was detained by federal agents in Massachusetts last week — and whose case has since drawn national attention — was later taken to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in St. Albans and held there overnight
  
  Read more

• Tufts graduate student was held in Vermont after arrest in Massachusetts by immigration agents, feds say

  02-04-2025 18:00 via vtdigger.org
  
  Hundreds of people gather in Somerville, Massachusetts, on March 26, 2025, to demand the release of Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish student at Tufts University, who was arrested by federal agents. Photo by Michael Casey/APUpdated at3:26 p.m.A Turkish graduate student at Tufts University who was detained by federal agents in Massachusetts last week — and whose case has since drawn national attention — was later taken to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Vermont and held
  
  Read more

• Mental health professionals support law enforcement to build safer communities

  02-04-2025 17:44 via vtdigger.org
  
  Crisis Intervention Specialist Rob Condolora of UCS talks with Cpl. David Faden of the Bennington Police Department.Bridging the GapA mental health professional and a law enforcement officer may seem an unlikely partnership, but the practice of pairing these professionals together has been in existence in Vermont for over a decade and is more recently gaining increased traction in Bennington County and across Vermont. United Counseling Service of Bennington County (UCS) embeds crisis interv
  
  Read more

• Kathleen (Katra) Faust

  02-04-2025 17:15 via vtdigger.org
  
  Born June 1, 1949Jamestown, New YorkDied March 30, 2025Keene, New HampshireDetails of servicesA celebration of life will be held to honor her vibrant spirit. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in her memory.Kathleen (Katra) Marie Faust, born June 1, 1949, passed away peacefully on March 30, 2025 at Covenant Living in Keene, New Hampshire, after a courageous journey with Alzheimer’s disease.Born to Helen Peterson Faust and Kenneth Faust, Katra
  
  Read more

• Brady Fox: Let’s expand employee stock ownership programs

  02-04-2025 13:05 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Brady Fox of Winooski. He is an engineer in the leadership development program at PC Construction in South Burlington.I recently heard about a report from Gallup that found overall job satisfaction across America has matched a record low and employees are seeking new jobs at the highest rate since 2015. Workers have grown so frustrated by their jobs that Gallup has even given this moment a name — the “Great Detachment.”I have a lot of sympathy for my peers
  
  Read more

• Rep. Mike Mrowicki: Know who believes in climate change?

  02-04-2025 13:01 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Rep. Mike Mrowicki, D-Putney.The costs of climate change keep growing and any mention of making Vermont more affordable without addressing the climate chaos we’re experiencing is shortsighted.So, for those still in denial that climate change is real and that it requires action: know who believes in climate change? Your insurance company! Rates all over are rising to cover nationwide losses. And in some places companies are packing up and leaving states to fi
  
  Read more

• Final Reading: Some important changes to your favorite Vermont Statehouse newsletter 

  02-04-2025 00:30 via vtdigger.org
  
  Photo illustration by Natalie Williams. Photos by Mike Doughterty/VTDigger and Ketut Subiyanto/Pexels Step aside, policy nerds: This is now a basketball newsletter.Emboldened by my top-10 ranking — at least for now — in the Statehouse’s March Madness NCAA Championship bracket pool, I’ll be shifting from covering the ins and outs of Vermont politics to the happenings on and off the court, finally getting a chance to show the world my exhaustive, intricate knowledge of ball
  
  Read more

• Winhall to revote on selectboard seat expansion after decisive Town Meeting Day vote

  02-04-2025 00:05 via vtdigger.org
  
  Residents listen to discussion during town meeting on Tuesday, March 4. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerIn the small town of Winhall in the northeast corner of Bennington County, beneath the shadow of Stratton Mountain, a debate has ensued over the number of residents who should serve on the selectboard and steer the town forward. On Town Meeting Day last month, Winhall residents, after a lengthy dialogue on the meeting floor, voted 47-27 to expand the three-seat selectboard to a five-member
  
  Read more

• End of winter motel season means hundreds of unhoused people must move out

  01-04-2025 22:58 via vtdigger.org
  
  E.J. Bressette and Abbie Lawrence pause as they prepare to leave the Travelodge motel in South Burlington on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. The pair plan to live in their car starting Wednesday when they exhaust their 80-day stay as part of the state’s motel housing program. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerThis story, by Report for America corps member Carly Berlin and Vermont Public reporter Elodie Reed, was produced through a partnership between VTDigger and Vermont Public.A chilly wind swirled
  
  Read more

• Should Vermont’s Catholic Church pay retirement benefits to clergy facing abuse claims?

  01-04-2025 22:26 via vtdigger.org
  
  The steeple of Saint Michael’s Catholic Church in Brattleboro. Photo by Kevin O’Connor/VTDiggerAccusers with unresolved clergy misconduct lawsuits are trying to stop the Vermont Roman Catholic Diocese from paying monthly pensions to two unidentified priests who the church acknowledges face credible allegations of sexual abuse.A committee representing more than 30 people with pending civil cases discovered the retirement benefits when the state’s largest religious denomination f
  
  Read more

• Gov. Phil Scott and New England governors explore cutting-edge nuclear technology

  01-04-2025 21:56 via vtdigger.org
  
  Spent nuclear fuel casks are stored at the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon on Thursday, July 11, 2019. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerLast month, Gov. Scott slipped a subtle mention of plans to explore new nuclear energy production in a low-key social media post that has so far drawn little attention from the public and lawmakers.In the March 21 post on X, Scott expressed some familiar talking points: Vermont and New England’s electricity prices are “much too high,&rdquo
  
  Read more

Follow @NewsVermont_ on Twitter!