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• Mom of two goes to school to strengthen kids’ mental health

  04-04-2025 18:25 via vtdigger.org
  
  “My going back to school for counseling was a big decision for us,” says Emily Aiken of Fairfax. “My husband owns a landscaping and excavation company, where he’s been successful without a college degree. And while he can buy a piece of equipment and make money on it immediately, it’s a lot less certain to spend time and money on a degree without a guarantee that you’ll make that money back.”But for Emily, the calling to study mental health counseling wa
  
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• State police probe deaths of two people found inside Eden home

  10-04-2025 02:50 via vtdigger.org
  
  A Vermont State Police cruiser seen in Burlington on Thursday, January 23, 2025. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerAn investigation by Vermont State Police is underway into the deaths of two people found inside a home Wednesday afternoon in Eden.The bodies of the two deceased are expected to be taken to Vermont Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington for autopsies to determine the cause and manner of death, Vermont State Police stated in a press release Wednesday evening.The names of th
  
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• Final Reading: Lawmakers ponder overlapping authorities over county courthouses

  10-04-2025 00:30 via vtdigger.org
  
  The Essex County Courthouse in Guildhall on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023. Photo by Natalie Williams/VTDiggerVermont’s county courthouses are a funny thing. The state judicial branch runs the court system, hosting trials and hearings in buildings across the state. But county courts aren’t state buildings — county governments own and are supposed to maintain the facilities. In a pinch, though, the counties, via the judicial branch, ask the Legislature to fork up funds. This year,
  
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• Has Vermont Medicaid been underpaying primary care clinics?

  10-04-2025 00:17 via vtdigger.org
  
  The headquarters of Community Health Centers of the Rutland Region on July 23, 2021. File photo by Emma Cotton/VTDiggerTwo years ago, an organization of primary care clinics sent a legal memo to the state of Vermont containing a troubling allegation: Vermont Medicaid had effectively been underpaying them for years. The Bi-State Primary Care Association, which represents federally qualified health centers in Vermont and New Hampshire, had retained the services of a law firm to check whether
  
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• Trump executive order targets Vermont’s first-in-the-nation ‘climate superfund’ 

  09-04-2025 22:53 via vtdigger.org
  
  President Donald Trump during an executive order signing ceremony in the White House in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, April 8, 2025. Trump is moving to expand the mining and use of coal inside the U.S., a bid to power the boom in energy-hungry data centers while seeking to revive a declining fossil fuel industry. Photo by Andrew Thomas/NurPhoto via APPresident Donald Trump singled out Vermont and New York state’s climate superfund laws in an executive order signed late Tuesday aimed at gut
  
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• Lawmakers look to expand unpaid time off 

  09-04-2025 22:39 via vtdigger.org
  
  The Vermont Statehouse. Photo courtesy of CNSCharlotte Oliver is a reporter with the Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship.Early last month, legislators sat around their committee table and shared stories of loss. Rep. Mary Howard, D-Rutland, said she would wipe tears from her eyes on her morning drive to work after the death of her husband. Other lawmakers joined in — and no one was off topic. They were discussing a bill, H. 461, which could
  
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• Vermont Conversation: Journalist Garrett Graff on the rise of authoritarianism and how Covid changed Vermont

  09-04-2025 22:21 via vtdigger.org
  
  
  Photo courtesy of Garrett Graff The 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 podcasts.Journalist Garrett Graff is sounding increasingly urgent alarms about America’s slide into authoritarianism.He said that what is happening under the Trump administration is not a constitutional crisis, which “
  
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• Vermont Supreme Court Associate Justice Karen Carroll set to retire in August

  09-04-2025 16:20 via vtdigger.org
  
  Vermont Supreme Court Associate Justice Karen Carroll speaks during a hearing in Montpelier on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerVermont Supreme Court Associate Justice Karen Carroll has announced she will be retiring after serving more than eight years on the high court bench.The state’s Court Administrator’s Office stated in a press release Wednesday morning that Carroll, 62, had notified Gov. Phil Scott that she plans to step off the court in August. Ca
  
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• Jan K. Carney: This National Public Health Week, support science and support health

  09-04-2025 13:07 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Jan K. Carney. She is associate dean for public health and health policy and a professor of medicine at the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine.Today, we are experiencing a national health crisis, faced with new challenges unfolding daily, uncertainty, and questions about the importance of science, research and public health. As a lifelong educator and researcher, I am fortunate to witness the positive impact of science and research — locally, reg
  
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• Christine Hallquist and Tee Thomas: How broadband can tackle Vermont’s workforce shortage and deliver clean water

  09-04-2025 13:06 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Christine Hallquist and Tee Thomas. Christine Hallquist is executive director of the Vermont Community Broadband Board. She was the Democratic nominee for Vermont governor in 2018 and was CEO of the Vermont Electric Cooperative for 13 years. Tee Thomas is CEO of Quantified Ventures, a certified woman-owned enterprise and a B Corporation that is a national leader in implementing innovative funding and financing strategies for climate, health and social impact.When you think
  
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• A new Vermont law is expanding access to restorative justice statewide, but it’s left Chittenden County’s community justice centers in limbo

  09-04-2025 12:52 via vtdigger.org
  
  Josef Lavanway, director of South Burlington’s Community Justice Center, seen on Wednesday, April 2, 2025. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerJosef Lavanway began working with South Burlington’s Community Justice Center in 2016, volunteering for several years before becoming a paid employee and, eventually, the center’s director.There, he saw firsthand the benefits of pre-charge diversion, a type of restorative justice practice that has a rich history in Chittenden County, but is l
  
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• A note from our CEO: Your gift will do double the good

  09-04-2025 01:08 via vtdigger.org
  
  Dear Reader,Although you may have seen a few snow flurries recently, spring in Vermont always brings a sense of renewal and possibility. This year, our Spring Membership Drive is fully embracing that spirit.I’m thrilled that VTDigger is partnering with Vermont Adaptive Ski & Sports, a nonprofit that empowers people of all abilities through inclusive sports and recreation. When you donate today, your gift will do double the good: it fuels independent journalism and sends $5 to Verm
  
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• Invasive zebra mussels discovered in Lake Memphremagog

  09-04-2025 00:57 via vtdigger.org
  
  View of Lake Memphremagog from a hill near Mansonville, Eastern Townships, Quebec. Photo by Kevstan/Wikimedia CommonsScientists have found invasive zebra mussels in Vermont’s section of Lake Memphremagog, sparking concern among state officials, according to Vermont’s Department of Environmental Conservation.Zebra mussels, which scientists have detected in only two other water bodies of Vermont — Lake Champlain and Lake Bomoseen — are considered a harmful species by the U.
  
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• Final Reading: House advances changes to its ethics panel’s procedures spurred by bag-soaking scandal

  09-04-2025 00:31 via vtdigger.org
  
  Rep. Jim Carroll, D-Bennington, left, and Rep. Mary Morrissey, R-Bennington, addressing legislators on June 17, 2024. File photos by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerThe bag-soaking scandal that catapulted the Vermont House into national headlines last year — and put eyes on the chamber’s internal panel that investigated the incident — has prompted lawmakers to tweak the rules guiding inquiries into their colleagues’ alleged bad behavior.The full House gave preliminary approval Tues
  
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• House Democrats present their version of education funding and property tax reform

  09-04-2025 00:24 via vtdigger.org
  
  Rep. Emilie Kornheiser, D-Brattleboro, chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, speaks as the committee is briefed on the proposed 2026 state budget at the Statehouse in Montpelier on Wednesday, February 5. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerDemocrats in the Vermont House put forward another key piece of their education reform proposal, their alternative to the wide-ranging plan unveiled earlier this year by Republican Gov. Phil Scott.The new portion of the bill approved Tuesday by the chamber&r
  
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• UVM’s interim president selected to become University of Arizona’s new provost

  08-04-2025 22:32 via vtdigger.org
  
  University of Vermont Provost Patty Prelock answers a question about the university’s response to Covid-19 at a press conference in Burlington on August 18th, 2020. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerUniversity of Vermont interim President Patty Prelock is set to become the new provost at the University of Arizona on May 19, according to a letter from Cynthia Barnhart, the chair of UVM’s board of trustees.Prelock was selected out of four finalists for the role and accepted Arizona&r
  
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• Brattleboro’s cornerstone Brooks House block up for sale

  08-04-2025 19:56 via vtdigger.org
  
  Brattleboro’s Brooks House has anchored the corner of Main and High streets for a century and a half. Photo by Kevin O’Connor/VTDiggerBRATTLEBORO — U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes slept in one of its bedrooms in 1877. Writer Rudyard Kipling drank lager in its basement bar and played poker in its penthouse suite from 1892 to 1896. Broadcaster Lowell Thomas presented the NBC national radio news live from its ballroom in 1946. And if current owners have their way, someone new w
  
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• Planned Parenthood to close St. Johnsbury clinic this summer

  08-04-2025 19:43 via vtdigger.org
  
  Planned Parenthood of Northern New England plans to permanently close its St. Johnsbury health center on June 3 the organization announced Tuesday. The closure stems from an array of challenges that have caused the location to operate at a loss in recent years, including repeated flood damage and skyrocketing health care costs, according to Jessica Barquist, vice president of public affairs for Planned Parenthood Vermont.“This is a really intentional step that we’re taking to en
  
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• Michael Hurley, folk legend who once called Vermont home, dies at 83

  08-04-2025 17:42 via vtdigger.org
  
  Michael Hurley recording the album Armchair Boogie at home in Brookline, Massachusetts in 1971. Photo courtesy of Michele Bessett and Bob IwasciewiczMichael Hurley, an underground folk icon who spent some of his most productive years in Vermont, died last week. He was 83.According to multiple obituaries, Hurley, a cancer survivor, was feeling ill while touring in Tennessee and died shortly after returning to his home state of Oregon. No official cause of death has been publicized.“It is wi
  
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• A pedestrian’s death, a settlement, and lingering questions 

  08-04-2025 14:04 via vtdigger.org
  
  The intersection of Shelburne Road with Fayette Drive and McIntosh Avenue in South Burlington where Chriss Zuckerman was struck and killed in June of 2024 seen on Wednesday, March 5. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerBURLINGTON — On the evening of September 25, 2023, Chriss Zuckerman went out walking along Shelburne Road, the north-south artery that runs from Burlington to Shelburne.At the time, Zuckerman was living at a community care home on St. Paul Street operated by the Howard Center, a
  
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• Ben Clark: Cellphone-free schools for our students’ future

  08-04-2025 13:02 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Ben Clark of Moretown. He is a board member at the Harwood Union Unified School District, a special educator at the South Burlington School District and a member of the VT Coalition for Phone and Social Media-Free Schools.I want to share my vision for our Vermont schools — one that uplifts our community and honors the promise of every child. I strongly support the phone-and-social-media-free schools bill as written in H.54 and S.21 because it stands as a beacon for a
  
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• Office space real estate takes a further hit amid lease terminations by feds

  08-04-2025 12:52 via vtdigger.org
  
  A. C. Blanchard Block, 14 N Main St, Barre, where a NOAA lease is cancelled. Photo courtesy Kenneth Zirkel/Wikimedia CommonsHelen Argraves is a reporter with the Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship.The federal government’s efforts to cut expenditures have not skipped Vermont. The Elon Musk–led Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, has terminated leases for three federal office buildings here since the second Trump administration’s
  
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• ‘Hitman’ details fatal shooting of Vermont man as prosecution rests in murder-for-hire case

  07-04-2025 23:34 via vtdigger.org
  
  Serhat Gumrukcu in 2014. Photo via InstagramBURLINGTON — A former Colorado man calmly described to a jury how he posed as a U.S. marshal, complete with badges, tactical vest and flashing lights attached to his vehicle, to kidnap and then kill a Vermont man on a snowy night more than seven years ago.Jerry Banks, who has repeatedly been called by other witnesses in the now three-week trial as the “hitman,” was the final person to testify for the government as prosecutors rested t
  
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• Vermont judge says more evidence needed before ruling on fate of detained Tufts student’s case

  07-04-2025 23:19 via vtdigger.org
  
  This contributed photo shows Rumeysa Ozturk on an apple picking trip in 2021. AP PhotoA federal judge in Vermont said Monday he needs to hear more evidence before ruling on whether Rümeysa Öztürk — a Turkish graduate student arrested by federal agents in Massachusetts late last month, and then briefly detained in a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in St. Albans — should be released from ICE custody. Judge William Sessions penciled in a hearing for
  
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• Man charged with the attempted murder of former boss, the chef of Brandon’s Café Provence

  07-04-2025 23:14 via vtdigger.org
  
  The Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield seen on Friday, October 25, 2024. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerA Hancock man pleaded not guilty Monday to charges of attempted second-degree murder and unlawful trespass in the stabbing of a chef at a local restaurant.Jozef Eller, 32, was arrested Saturday in Rochester after he fled the stabbing of Robert Barral, the chef and owner of Café Provence in Brandon, according to a Vermont State Police press release.Barral, Eller’s
  
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• Vermont man incarcerated in Newport prison dies 

  07-04-2025 22:51 via vtdigger.org
  
  The Northern State Correctional Facility in Newport. Photo courtesy Vermont Department of CorrectionsJames Ingerson, a 54-year-old man from Hartford, died Saturday while incarcerated at Northern State Correctional Facility in Newport. Ingerson had reported not feeling well and was receiving care for an unspecified medical issue prior to his cellmate discovering him unresponsive Saturday morning, according to a Vermont State Police press release. Medical interventions by corrections officers
  
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• Then Again: An impassioned plea for maple sugaring

  07-04-2025 18:32 via vtdigger.org
  
  An etching from an 1879 edition of Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper shows men collecting sap outside Rutland, Vermont. Vermonters originally made maple sugar, rather than syrup, because it kept longer. After state-by-state production figures started being recorded in the mid-1800s, Vermont was recognized as the leading producer of maple sugar. Later, the industry switched to making mostly syrup, and Vermont again became the top producer, as it remains today. Photo courtesy of Mark Bush
  
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• Vermont Agency of Education walks back request that school districts report compliance with President Trump’s anti-DEI directive

  07-04-2025 16:22 via vtdigger.org
  
  Education Secretary Zoie Saunders speaks during Gov. Phil Scott’s weekly press conference at the Statehouse in Montpelier on Wednesday, Feb. 12. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerUpdated at6:00 p.m.Following a federal directive that schools ban “illegal” diversity, equity and inclusion-related programs, the Vermont Agency of Education last Friday asked school districts to submit compliance certifications. But just three days later, after initially defending and clarifying the
  
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• Vermont Agency of Education asks school districts to report compliance with President Trump’s DEI ban

  07-04-2025 16:22 via vtdigger.org
  
  Education Secretary Zoie Saunders speaks during Gov. Phil Scott’s weekly press conference at the Statehouse in Montpelier on Wednesday, February 12, 2025. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerFollowing a federal order that schools ban diversity, equity and inclusion-related programs, the Vermont Agency of Education is asking school districts to submit compliance certifications. Education Secretary Zoie Saunders told school district leaders in a letter on Friday that they had 10 days to subm
  
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• Vermont Agency of Education asks school districts to certify compliance with Trump Diversity, Equity and Inclusion ban

  07-04-2025 16:22 via vtdigger.org
  
  Education Secretary Zoie Saunders speaks during Gov. Phil Scott’s weekly press conference at the Statehouse in Montpelier on Wednesday, February 12, 2025. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerFollowing a federal order that schools ban diversity, equity and inclusion-related programs, the Vermont Agency of Education is asking school districts to submit compliance certifications. Education Secretary Zoie Saunders told school district leaders in a letter on Friday that they had 10 days to subm
  
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