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• 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
  
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• Miro Weinberger: If Vermont wants a future of abundance, we must choose to build

  24-04-2025 13:01 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Miro Weinberger of Burlington. He was the mayor of Burlington from 2012 to 2024. He is currently serving as the executive chair of Let’s Build Homes and as a visiting fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government Taubman Center for State and Local Government.If you’ve turned on a podcast, watched a late-night show, or scrolled social media in the past month, you’ve probably heard something about “Abundance,” the new book by Ezra Klein and
  
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• FEMA ended a grant program designed to help communities prevent disaster damages. Here’s where that leaves Vermont.  

  24-04-2025 00:56 via vtdigger.org
  
  Workers remove a toilet from a flood-damaged home on Third Street in Barre on July 12, 2024. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerIn 2023 and 2024, Linda Martin, chair of the Wolcott Selectboard, saw what happens when Flat Iron Road fills with water.Where Route 15 crosses the Lamoille River, a bridge forces the wide flow of the river to narrow, bending its path around big abutments in the water. When the river surges from heavy rains, water spills over its banks, washing across the surrounding la
  
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• Final Reading: Lawmakers press health care leaders on cost savings

  24-04-2025 00:30 via vtdigger.org
  
  Demonstrators outside the Central Vermont Medical Center in Berlin to protest against proposed health care service cuts on Nov. 21, 2024. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger$200 million.That’s the figure Vermont’s health care system needs to save — very quickly — in order to hold Vermont health insurance premium increases to around 5% next year, according to the Green Mountain Care Board. If those savings don’t materialize in the next few months, insuranc
  
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• Vermont, 11 other states sue Trump Administration over tariff policies

  23-04-2025 23:35 via vtdigger.org
  
  President Donald Trump, left, and Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark. Photos by Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons and Glenn Russell/VTDiggerVermont Attorney General Charity Clark is joining the top prosecutors of 11 other states in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of President Donald Trump’s tariff policies, the Attorney General’s office announced Wednesday.The attorneys general, who filed the lawsuit Wednesday in the U.S. Court of International Trade in New York Cit
  
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• Vermont Conversation: Journalist Jeff Sharlet on American fascism and how a civil war is speeding up 

  23-04-2025 22:00 via vtdigger.org
  
  
  Jeff Sharlet. Photo courtesy of the intervieweeThe 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.Jeff Sharlet spends a lot of time going where most peoplefear to tread: into the heart of militant right-wing movements, where he comes back with unforgettable stories and personal insights about conspiracy theo
  
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• Federal government appeals ruling ordering detained Tufts’ students return to Vermont

  23-04-2025 19:40 via vtdigger.org
  
  The federal government is appealing a judge’s ruling ordering the transfer of Rümeysa Öztürk, a Tufts University student currently detained in Louisiana at an U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement detention center, to a Vermont facility.Federal Judge William K. Sessions III issued his ruling Friday in U.S. District Court in Burlington ordering that Öztürk, who is Turkish and was in the United States on a student visa, be transferred back to a Vermont facility by
  
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• Mount Everest guide Ang Dawa Sherpa moves to Vermont and earns his CDL with support from VSAC

  23-04-2025 16:35 via vtdigger.org
  Newly arrived Vermonter Ang Dawa Sherpa leads a group up Mount Everest.According to modern historical records, 7,269 recorded individuals have summited Mount Everest, from Edmund Hillary’s history-making climb in 1953 through the end of 2024. Not only is Ang Dawa Sherpa one of those people, but he’s stood at the top 10 times. Ang, who is originally from Nepal and now lives in South Burlington, is a Sherpa—a name that is both an ethnic group and a job. The Sherpa people, wh
  
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• Mount Everest guide Ang Dawa Sherpa moves to Vermont and earns his CDL with support from VSA

  23-04-2025 16:35 via vtdigger.org
  
  Newly arrived Vermonter Ang Dawa Sherpa leads a group up Mount Everest.According to modern historical records, 7,269 recorded individuals have summited Mount Everest, from Edmund Hillary’s history-making climb in 1953 through the end of 2024. Not only is Ang Dawa Sherpa one of those people, but he’s stood at the top 10 times. Ang, who is originally from Nepal and now lives in South Burlington, is a Sherpa—a name that is both an ethnic group and a job. The Sherpa people, wh
  
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• Mohsen Mahdawi, detained Vermonter and Palestinian activist, appears in federal court

  23-04-2025 16:11 via vtdigger.org
  Protestors gathered outside federal court in Burlington Wednesday to support Mohsen Mahdawi. Photo by Neal Goswami/VTDiggerUpdated at 4:33 p.m.BURLINGTON — Lawyers for Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian activist arrested in Vermont last week, argued in federal court Wednesday that the Upper Valley resident had been unlawfully detained by federal immigration authorities and should be released.  “Mohsen Mahdawi sits in a jail cell,” Luna Droubi, one of his attorneys, said at
  
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• Lawyers for Mohsen Mahdawi, detained Palestinian Vermonter, argue for his release

  23-04-2025 16:11 via vtdigger.org
  
  Protestors gathered outside federal court in Burlington Wednesday to support Mohsen Mahdawi. Photo by Neal Goswami/VTDiggerBURLINGTON — Lawyers for Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian activist detained in Vermont last week, argued in federal court Wednesday that the Upper Valley resident had been unlawfully detained by federal immigration authorities. Mahdawi, a student organizer at Columbia University, was arrested by federal agents in Colchester during an interview for U.S. citizenship. M
  
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• Rev. Devon Thomas: Our nation needs a resurrection

  23-04-2025 13:06 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Rev. Devon Thomas, pastor of the Ascension Lutheran Church in South Burlington.Last week was Holy Week, and the detainment of both Rümeysa Öztürk and Mohsen Mahdawi, as well as the refusal to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the United States, took up the headlines. It may feel coincidental that this was all happening as Christians remembered the unjust detainment, trial and execution of our Lord and Savior, but it is not insignificant.Many Vermonters believe o
  
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• Matthew Hall: An open letter to Sen. Pat Brennan

  23-04-2025 13:03 via vtdigger.org
  
  Dear Sen. Brennan,When you ran for state senate, you sidestepped questions regarding your stance on then-candidate Trump, stating, “I’m running for Vermont.”Recent developments are casting a dark shadow over our Colchester community in Vermont, as legal residents face threats of detention. The actions of the current president and party leadership have become a stark reality, with a Columbia University student recently detained by federal agents in Vermont. READ MOREAs a re
  
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• Rep. Laura Sibilia: Due Process, Free Speech and Legal Presence

  23-04-2025 13:01 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Rep. Laura Sibilia, I-Dover. She serves on the House Energy and Technology Committee and is Co-Chair of the Vermont General Assembly’s Rural Caucus and Vermont National Guard and Veterans Affairs Caucus.Our Systems Are in TroubleRecent detentions of legally present individuals — including a Turkish doctoral student and a Palestinian resident of Vermont — raise urgent questions about whether our institutions are upholding core American principles like due p
  
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• Final Reading: Local forester, TikTok-celeb and punk rocker opens Earth Day session at the Vermont House

  23-04-2025 01:26 via vtdigger.org
  
  Forester Ethan Tapper delivers the daily benediction to the House of Representatives at the Statehouse in Montpelier on Earth Day, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerOn the first Earth Day in 1970, pockets of student groups and activists organized more than 12,000 teach-ins and events across the country that marked the beginning of a new era of federal environmental regulations, like the Clean Air Act, and the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency.Fifty-five years
  
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• State leaders defend climate change initiatives despite Trump administration’s threats

  23-04-2025 01:23 via vtdigger.org
  
  Ministers attend a press conference called to denounce last week’s detention of Palestinian activist Mohsen Mahdawi by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Statehouse in Montpelier on Tuesday, April 22. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerState leaders and environmental organization members spent the 55th anniversary of Earth Day defending Vermont’s climate change initiatives in the face of threats to such policies from President Donald Trump.The Trump administration’s actions
  
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• Vermont Legislature passes bill to erase medical debt

  23-04-2025 00:56 via vtdigger.org
  Rep. Woodman Page, R-Newport City, explains details of a medical debt relief bill on the floor of the House the Statehouse in Montpelier on Friday, April 18. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerThousands of Vermonters could see their medical debt wiped away under a bill headed to the governor’s desk. The legislation, S. 27, would use $1 million in funds appropriated to the Treasurer’s Office to erase $100 million in Vermonters’ medical debt. It would also prohibit credit report
  
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• Legislature passes bill to erase medical debt

  23-04-2025 00:56 via vtdigger.org
  
  Rep. Woodman Page, R-Newport City, explains details of a medical debt relief bill on the floor of the House the Statehouse in Montpelier on Friday, April 18. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerThousands of Vermonters could see their medical debt wiped away under a bill headed to the governor’s desk. The legislation, S. 27, would use $1 million in funds appropriated to the Treasurer’s Office to erase $100 million in Vermonters’ medical debt. It would also prohibit credit report
  
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• U.S. Border Patrol arrests 8 migrant workers at Berkshire dairy

  22-04-2025 23:47 via vtdigger.org
  
  U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents on Monday arrested eight migrant workers at Pleasant Valley Farms, a dairy in Berkshire, according to state and federal officials.Border agents were responding to a call from a concerned citizen who had observed “two individuals carrying backpacks exiting a wooded area and crossing … into private farmland,” according to Ryan Brisette, a spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. “Agents apprehended one of the indiv
  
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• Police call death of Rutland man in apartment building a homicide; no one in custody

  22-04-2025 23:29 via vtdigger.org
  
  Vermont State Police and Rutland City Police respond to a reported shooting on Summer Street in Rutland City on Tuesday, April 22. Photo By Greta Solsaa/VTDiggerRUTLAND — Rutland City Police are investigating the death of a man found after a shooting early Tuesday morning on Summer Street, calling it a homicide.Police said 26-year-old Austin Rodrigues of Rutland was pronounced dead at the scene of the shooting inside an apartment building. His body was expected to be taken to Vermont Chief
  
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• Day after Sen. Welch visits Mohsen Mahdawi, rally at statehouse calls for his release

  22-04-2025 22:57 via vtdigger.org
  
  U.S. Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., with Mohsen Mahdawi at the Northwest State Correctional Facility in St. Albans on Monday, April 21. Courtesy office of Sen. WelchU.S. Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., visited Mohsen Mahdawi in a Vermont jail Monday, sharing a snippet of their conversation to social media.And on Tuesday, more than 100 people rallied at the Statehouse to call for his release and what they characterized as the federal government’s circumvention of due process. “I’m stayi
  
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• Day after Sen. Peter Welch visits Mohsen Mahdawi, rally at Statehouse calls for his release

  22-04-2025 22:57 via vtdigger.org
  
  U.S. Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., with Mohsen Mahdawi at the Northwest State Correctional Facility in St. Albans on Monday, April 21. Photo courtesy of the office of Sen. WelchU.S. Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., visited Mohsen Mahdawi in a Vermont jail Monday, sharing a snippet of their conversation to social media.And on Tuesday, more than 100 people rallied at the Statehouse to call for his release and what they characterized as the federal government’s circumvention of due process. “I&
  
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• Vermont Habitat for Humanity programs lose AmeriCorps volunteers after federal cuts

  22-04-2025 19:13 via vtdigger.org
  
  A Habitat for Humanity home under construction in 2019 in Rutland. Two Habitat chapters in the state have been affected by reductions in the federal AmeriCorps volunteer program this month. Photo by Elodie Reed/Vermont PublicThis story, by Report for America corps member Carly Berlin, was produced through a partnership between VTDigger and Vermont Public.This spring, a dozen young adults from across the country decamped to southwest Vermont to help build sorely-needed new homes. They were beginn
  
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• Frank Knaack: How to address Vermont’s housing and homelessness crises

  22-04-2025 13:03 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Frank Knaack, executive director of the Housing and Homelessness Alliance of Vermont.Over 3,400. That’s the estimated number of unhoused Vermonters on any given night, including over 730 children. And, we know this number is an undercount, as it reflects only the people who engaged with our state’s dedicated and perpetually under-resourced shelter service providers. To give some perspective on how large of a problem this is, Vermont’s statewide shelte
  
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• Kristy Bohannon: A life lost from cardiac arrest

  22-04-2025 13:01 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Kristy Bohannon of Alburgh. She has worked in health care for the past six years.My 14-year-old daughter lost her life to a cardiac arrest at school, and I’m calling on the Vermont Legislature to ensure no other family suffers that loss. Imagine getting a call from your child’s school that your child is unresponsive. As a parent, phone calls from school usually mean that your kids are getting into trouble or they’re in the nurse’s office with a
  
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• Windsor snow globe business fears Trump tariffs

  22-04-2025 12:52 via vtdigger.org
  
  Examples of the snow globes sold by CoolSnowGlobes in Windsor. Co-owner Liz Ross said President Trump’s tariffs will put the company out of business. Photo courtesy of CoolSnowGlobesThis story by Patrick O’Grady was first published in the Valley News on April 20.WINDSOR — Liz Ross and her husband, David Westby, had been eagerly anticipating the 25th anniversary of their business, CoolSnowGlobes, with Ross planning to celebrate the occasion with a coffee table book featuring the
  
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• Defining DEI in Champlain Valley School District

  21-04-2025 23:28 via vtdigger.org
  
  Christina Daudelin and Bageshree Blasius, Champlain Valley Union student and community engagement facilitators, often meet with students and faculty in their office.This story by Briana Brady was first published in The Citizen on April 17.Bageshree Blasius and Christina Daudelin, staff members at Champlain Valley School District, only recently had their titles changed.While they might be currently known as student and community engagement learning facilitators, for the last few years, the pair h
  
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• Burke Mountain receiver seeks final court approval for $11.5 million sale to local group

  21-04-2025 22:40 via vtdigger.org
  
  Burke Mountain Ski Resort. Photo by Patrick McCaffrey via Wikimedia CommonsMichael Goldberg, the court-appointed receiver overseeing Burke Mountain Resort, has asked a federal judge to sign off on the sale of the Northeast Kingdom ski resort to a local group for $11.5 million. In a Friday court filing, Goldberg asked Judge Darrin P. Gayles — who has presided over the mountain’s receivership in federal court in Miami for almost a decade — to grant final approval for the dea
  
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• Jury convicts Burlington man of second-degree murder in 2022 fatal stabbing in restaurant

  21-04-2025 22:36 via vtdigger.org
  
  Chittenden County Courthouse. Photo via Wikimedia CommonsA Chittenden County jury has convicted a Burlington man of second-degree murder in the stabbing death of another city resident inside a downtown restaurant more than two years ago.The jury returned the guilty verdict against Von Simmonds, 42, on Friday following a trial that began earlier in the week. The jury, which was selected Monday, April 14, had also been given the option of finding Simmonds guilty of a lesser charge of voluntary man
  
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• Under new ownership, WDEV seeks a second wind

  21-04-2025 22:15 via vtdigger.org
  
  WDEV in Waterbury on Friday, April 11. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerOn its face, the partnership between The Nation magazine and Myers Mermel, the new owner of WDEV-AM, is an unlikely one. Earlier this year, Mermel, who previously served as president of the conservative Ethan Allen Institute and once ran for the U.S. Senate as a Republican, entered the fabled Vermont radio station into an exclusive deal with the progressive monthly and online publication. Every weekday afternoon, WDE
  
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