Vermont news

• Carroll Peters ordered held on murder charge in fatal shooting of estranged wife in 1993

  21-09-2024 00:08 via vtdigger.org
  
  Carroll Peters, 70. Vermont State Police photoHYDE PARK — While arguing that Carroll Peters should be held in prison without bail on a charge of first-degree murder, a prosecutor told a Vermont judge on Friday that he killed his estranged wife “execution-style” more than 30 years ago in Morrisville. Peters, 70, appeared by video from Northeast Regional Correctional Facility for his arraignment on the murder charge in the September 1993 death of 42-year-old Cheryl Peters. H
  
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• Vermont’s only national park may expand

  20-09-2024 23:48 via vtdigger.org
  
  King Farm in Woodstock. Photo courtesy of Caleb Kenna via the Vermont Land TrustVermont’s only national park is in the running for an expansion. On Thursday, U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Peter Welch, D-Vt., and U.S. Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt. introduced a bill to redraw the boundaries of Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park in Woodstock to include King Farm, a neighboring 154-acre property with a rich agricultural history. The Vermont Land Trust has owned King F
  
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• ‘Leave us alone’: administrators, officials push back on recommendations for hospital restructuring

  20-09-2024 23:27 via vtdigger.org
  
  A sign of support greets health care workers outside Grace Cottage Hospital in Townshend. Photo by Kevin O’Connor/VTDiggerSome hospital administrators and elected officials reacted with dismay to a report this week that recommended a significant restructuring of hospitals across Vermont. The sprawling report, released Wednesday by consultancy Oliver Wyman, recommends a slate of reforms to the state’s beleaguered hospitals and health care systems — reforms that are necessar
  
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• New graduate school would bring dozens of dentists-in-training to Vermont by 2027

  20-09-2024 23:02 via vtdigger.org
  
  A dentist checks a boy’s teeth. Stock photo via PexelsA new dental school and clinic is slated to bring dozens of dental students to Vermont by 2027, thanks in part to an anticipated multi-million dollar earmark from Congress. Over the ensuing two years, the students would finish their training and begin practicing on patients in a state notoriously lacking in dental practitioners.At a press conference Friday, representatives of the Vermont State Dental Society, Vermont’s congression
  
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• It’s not too late: VTDigger’s Fall Member Drive ends Sunday, Sep. 22

  20-09-2024 23:00 via vtdigger.org
  
  Dear reader,Vermont has lost 75% of its journalism jobs in the past quarter-century. The goal of our Fall Member Drive is to support critical election coverage this fall, and reinvest in Vermont’s press corps. We only have one day left to raise as much as we can for news that serves Vermont. All gifts today and tomorrow will be MATCHED dollar-for-dollar by a group of generous Vermont donors. Will you join us?Double your donationWhen you read our stories, you see the result of countles
  
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• St. Albans City questions needle exchange programs amid growing public safety concerns

  20-09-2024 22:46 via vtdigger.org
  
  St. Albans City Hall. Photo by Peng Chen/VTDiggerAs the St. Albans City community continues to confront a severe substance use crisis, officials there have begun questioning whether state-sponsored needle exchange programs should be operating within city boundaries.Frustration over petty crime, substance use, and the growing number of littered syringes throughout the city has brought the community to a boil. It spilled over during a tense council meeting earlier this month, when officials from t
  
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• Police arrest relative in Pawlet triple murder

  20-09-2024 21:39 via vtdigger.org
  
  Brain Crossman Jr., 22, of Glens Falls, New York, Crossman Jr. is being held without bail on a Vermont arrest warrant for three counts of aggravated murder arising from the Sept. 15, 2024, triple homicide of his father, stepmother and stepbrother in Pawlet, Vermont. Photo provided by the Warren County JailVermont State Police said they have arrested the 22-year-old son of a Pawlet Selectboard member, who with his wife and her 13-year-old son was found fatally shot in their Pawlet home early Sund
  
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• Police arrest family member in murder of three in Pawlet

  20-09-2024 21:39 via vtdigger.org
  
  Pawlet Town Hall seen on Sunday, March 14, 2021. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerVermont State Police said they have arrested the 23-year-old son of a Pawlet Selectboard member, who with his wife and her 13-year-old son was found fatally shot in their Pawlet home early Sunday morning.Brian Crossman Jr., 23, of Granville, New York, faces three counts of aggravated murder in the shooting deaths, state police said in a press release Friday afternoon.New York State Police took the younger Crossman in
  
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• Richard Butz: A zero-interest loan fund could help fund community solar

  20-09-2024 14:00 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Richard Butz of Bristol. Aside from the obvious environmental and job benefits, community solar, properly structured, can offer significant benefits for low- and middle-income participants.Community solar provides the opportunity to benefit from clean, sustainable power that is not subject to global price pressures that affect fossil fuels and electricity that is provided by the grid. It also impacts public buy-in. Unlike large-scale projects where NIMBY opposition oft
  
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• Testing shows declining PFAS levels after National Guard foam spill

  20-09-2024 13:00 via vtdigger.org
  
  The scene outside the Army Aviation Support Facility at 3 p.m. on June 21. Photo by Emma Cotton/VTDiggerThis story by Liberty Darr was first published in the Other Paper on Sept. 19.The levels of PFAS in effluent at the South Burlington Wastewater treatment facility have been steadily declining since a toxic chemical spill in June.The 800-gallon chemical foam spill at the Vermont National Guard’s aviation facility that partially leaked into the city’s treatment facility hav
  
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• Police make arrest in 1993 fatal shooting of Cheryl Peters in Morrisville

  20-09-2024 03:38 via vtdigger.org
  
  A Morristown police cruiser on Oct. 22, 2023. File photo by Natalie Williams/VTDiggerMore than 30 years after Cheryl Peters was found shot to death in her Morrisville home, Vermont State Police say they have arrested her estranged husband on a charge of first-degree murder.Morristown and state police took 70-year-old Carroll Peters of Morrisville into custody on Thursday, police said in a press release Thursday night. “According to the findings of VSP’s 31-year investigation,&rd
  
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• We have until Sunday! All Fall Member Drive gifts matched

  20-09-2024 00:00 via vtdigger.org
  
  Dear reader,As our Sunday deadline for VTDigger’s Fall Member Drive rapidly approaches, a generous group of Vermont donors is matching all gifts received dollar for dollar.And if you sign up for a recurring monthly donation, they’ll double that gift every month through the end of the year. This is the best way for you, our readers, to support our nonprofit newsroom. Will you join the drive with a one-time or monthly contribution?Double your donationIn today’s rapidly changing w
  
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• State announces pending sale of Caledonia County Airport to group founded by Beta CEO

  19-09-2024 23:29 via vtdigger.org
  
  The Caledonia County State Airport in Lyndon is seen on April 24, 2023. File photo by Shaun Robinson/VTDiggerVermont’s Agency of Transportation is poised to sell the Caledonia County Airport to CRAFTVT, a group founded by Kyle Clark, the CEO of Beta Technologies.The agency announced on Wednesday that it had entered into a purchase and sale agreement with the company. “We are excited about the opportunities for infrastructure improvements and economic development under new, priva
  
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• After losing their motel room, a family of four prepares to pitch a tent

  19-09-2024 23:20 via vtdigger.org
  
  Teala Ouimette and her daughters prepare to leave the Harbor Place hotel in Shelburne as their emergency housing voucher expires on Sept. 19, 2024. Photo by Carly Berlin/VTDigger and Vermont PublicThis story, by Report for America corps member Carly Berlin, was produced through a partnership between VTDigger and Vermont Public.James and Teala Ouimette began their day at the Harbor Place hotel in Shelburne getting their two daughters off to school. The two girls, ages four and five, both have aut
  
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• The mysterious origins of a tiny Vermont village called Mosquitoville

  19-09-2024 21:57 via vtdigger.org
  
  Tony Faris walks across Mosquitoville Road in Barnet on Wednesday, Sept. 11. The fourth-generation Mosquitoville resident has lived there for most of his 77 years, though he notes he was “away for five years” in South Peacham, less than four miles north. Photo by Maggie Cassidy for VTDiggerMOSQUITOVILLE — Though a handful of outdoor events were canceled in Vermont in recent weeks to prevent the spread of a rare but serious mosquito-borne illness, none were crossed off the calen
  
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• Faith Learned Pepe

  19-09-2024 20:52 via vtdigger.org
  
  Born July 31, 1935Hartford, CTDied Aug. 6, 2024Englewood, NJDetails of serviceMemorial ServiceSaturday, October 19 at 11 a.m.Westminster West Community Church, Westminster West, VermontFaith Learned Pepe died on August 6th in Englewood, NJ at the Actors Fund Home after a short illness. Born in Hartford Connecticut to Susan Taylor (Goodwin) and John Cheney Learned, she was raised in Manchester and Avon, CT, and attended the Oxford School. After graduating Sarah Lawrence College in 1957, she studi
  
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• Marshfield erupts after learning of apparent camping event advertised for ‘minor-attracted persons’

  19-09-2024 20:24 via vtdigger.org
  
  A website advertising an event called MAP Camp has since been taken down. ScreenshotA since-deleted website advertising a three-night event for “minor-attracted persons” has  ignited fury and fear in Marshfield and Plainfield, though local leaders say there’s no evidence such a gathering is going to take place in those communities. The outrage boiled over at Tuesday night’s Marshfield Selectboard meeting, during which more than 100 people gathered online and in
  
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• Titan Potter: There is no such thing as a trauma-informed prison

  19-09-2024 15:41 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Titan Potter, a farmer and former environmental justice coordinator at the Vermont Agency of National Resources, who spent six years as a policy analyst with the Council of State Governments Justice Center. In 2021, The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics released data showing that, over a 6-month period, 20% of incarcerated people “reported experiencing some form of physical violence, measured in terms of being hit, slapped, kicked, bit, choked, beat up, or hit wi
  
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• USPS announces plan to keep some local mail processing in Burlington

  19-09-2024 15:37 via vtdigger.org
  
  The Post Office in Burlington seen on Feb. 1, 2022. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerThe United States Postal Service now plans to keep some local mail processing operations at its facility in Burlington, the organization announced on Wednesday.The development, part of a USPS operational strategy proposal, comes four months after the organization said it would delay plans to move sorting operations from facilities in White River Junction and Burlington to Connecticut, following concerns from
  
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• Vermont Conversation: CNN’s Elle Reeve on how far-right extremism became the Republican mainstream

  19-09-2024 14:40 via vtdigger.org
  
  
  Author Elle Reeve and her new book, “Black Pill.” Photos courtesy of Elle ReeveThe Vermont Conversation with David Goodman is a VTDigger podcast that features in-depth interviews on local and national issues with politicians, activists, artists, changemakers and citizens who are making a difference. Listen below, and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or Spotify to hear more.What do Nazis, fascists, incels, skinheads, misogynists, insurrectioni
  
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• Fall Member Drive: All Gifts Matched

  19-09-2024 02:00 via vtdigger.org
  
  Dear reader, This is Paul Heintz, editor-in-chief of VTDigger. I’ve been told we’re very close to reaching our Fall Member Drive goal of $75,000 by the Sept. 22 deadline. To help us down the final stretch, a group of generous Vermont donors has offered to match all gifts dollar for dollar. This means that your contribution today will have twice the impact on our election coverage, daily news and investigative journalism. And if you sign up for a monthly recurring donation, it wi
  
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• John “Jack” McDonald

  19-09-2024 01:13 via vtdigger.org
  
  Born April 21, 1942Williamsport, PADied Sept. 15, 2024Essex Junction, VTDetails of serviceServices will be held at Holy Family Church in Essex Junction at 11 a.m. on Friday, September 20th. In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to: Edmundite Missions, 1401 Broad St. Selma, AL 36701-4314Those wishing to express online condolences may do so at www.guareandsons.com.Jack is dead.  That’s what he told us he wanted as his obituary — always no-nonsense, our father — but there
  
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• In heated meeting, lawmakers hear about working conditions at Vermont’s prisons

  19-09-2024 00:02 via vtdigger.org
  
  Razor wire lines the recreation yard at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington on Monday, August 27, 2024. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerEmotions ran high at a legislative hearing Wednesday morning, where lawmakers heard from Vermont’s Department of Corrections, as well as the state employees’ union and correctional officers, themselves, about working conditions in Vermont’s prisons.Those testifying before the Joint Legislative Justice Oversight Comm
  
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• Vermont towns urge state to open up shelters, camping options for unhoused residents leaving motels

  18-09-2024 23:07 via vtdigger.org
  
  Barre City Manager Nicolas Storellicastro speaks as local municipal leaders issue a call to the state to take immediate action on the homeless issue in Montpelier on Wednesday, September 18, 2024. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerThis story, by Report for America corps member Carly Berlin, was produced through a partnership between VTDigger and Vermont Public.As hundreds of unhoused people in Vermont lose their motel vouchers, municipal leaders are sending a loud and clear message to all branches
  
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• Consultant says 4 hospitals need ‘major restructuring,’ recommends consolidating services around the state

  18-09-2024 22:26 via vtdigger.org
  
  Springfield Hospital in Springfield on June 9, 2022. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerA consultant is urging the state to make dramatic changes to its health care system, including repurposing inpatient units at four hospitals, consolidating services at others and reforming how and how much facilities are paid for care.If fully enacted, the recommendations, contained in a 144-page report published Wednesday, would lead to a sweeping transformation of Vermont’s health care landscape. The
  
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• Consultant says 4 hospitals need ‘major restructuring,’ recommends consolidating health care services across Vermont

  18-09-2024 22:26 via vtdigger.org
  
  Springfield Hospital in Springfield on June 9, 2022. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerA consultant is urging the state to make dramatic changes to its health care system, including repurposing inpatient units at four hospitals, consolidating services at others and reforming how and how much facilities are paid for care.If fully enacted, the recommendations, contained in a 144-page report published Wednesday, would lead to a sweeping transformation of Vermont’s health care landscape. The
  
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• Brattleboro to hire more police in hopes of curbing rising crime

  18-09-2024 22:17 via vtdigger.org
  
  Brattleboro Police Department cruisers at Black Mountain Road headquarters. Photo by Kevin O’Connor/VTDiggerBRATTLEBORO — Facing residents’ competing requests for accountability, compassion and affordability, this town’s selectboard voted 3-2 on Tuesday to hire more police to address a community-wide rise in crime.“We need to recognize that what we have is an emergency,” board member Elizabeth McLoughlin said at a standing-room-only meeting that featured more
  
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• Heating up: Debate over clean heat standard is simmering, months ahead of a decision

  18-09-2024 20:45 via vtdigger.org
  
  Clockwise from top left: Laura Sibelia, Phil Scott, Julie Moore, Jared Duval, and Chris Bray. Photos by Glenn Russell/VTDigger, Mike Dougherty/VTDigger and courtesy of Joan Javier-DuvalGov. Phil Scott and members of his administration are using a new state-commissioned study to double down on their opposition to both the clean heat standard and the state’s global warming law.Advocates have responded by saying Scott and others have misused the figures in the study to incorrectly claim that
  
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• As last unapproved budget passes, school officials brace for another year of financial pressure

  18-09-2024 18:22 via vtdigger.org
  
  The Barre City Elementary and Middle School seen on Tuesday, August 8, 2023.Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerAll of Vermont’s school districts have now approved budgets for this year, after voters in Barre finally signed off on a school spending plan Tuesday.But already, officials throughout the state are bracing for another rough annual budget cycle, with health insurance premiums for staff and other fixed costs driving up the price of education. As school boards drafted spending plans
  
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• For 25 years (and counting), VSAC’s GEAR UP program supports Vermonters’ college dreams

  18-09-2024 16:08 via vtdigger.org
  
  (Left to Right) Lizzie Vaughan, Amon Chumba, Cooper Hodgeman, Tate ParkerEvery September, VSAC celebrates National GEAR UP Week to make more Vermont families aware of the resources offered through the GEAR UP program—which stands for Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs. This federally funded program, which VSAC has administered in Vermont for the last 25 years, helps students from modest-income backgrounds find interest in, and prepare for, post-secondary educa
  
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