State

Experts attribute the growth of tick-related illnesses to climate change and more frequent tick-human contact.

Experts weigh in on what may be in store for this summer.

H.740 would give the Agency of Natural Resources more authority to source data for its greenhouse gas inventory.

The former lieutenant governor met with business owners and community leaders last month.

H.657 passed the House on April 1

Pages deliver messages throughout the State House

A Senate bill has proposed a study group of Vermont officials to evaluate state water quality. 

H.326 was supposed to regulate the state’s usage of pellet poison

Two bills could change the way electronics are used in schools

H.46 aims to improve diagnosis and care, but officials say support would be limited

Participants dipped slightly after the pandemic but have rebounded since.

A manual for developers would provide guidance to accelerate the permitting process under the Agency of Natural Resources

S.210 would allow people to petition a judge for the document

The seasonal shift adds a whiff to the air that signals the start of spring.

NOFA-VT is lobbying to include the program in this year’s budget bill.

H.817 would also help educators learn how to support students with substance abuse challenges.

S.183 aims to hold fraudulent contractors accountable, while some urge caution

Public access television is looking to the state government for additional funding to preserve programming.

A dam safety bill passed in the House Committee on Environment on Feb. 20.

Increased ICE presence has caused a ripple effect across the entire state, according to Winooski Superintendent Wilmer Chavarria.

After almost six years of lobbying, faith-based activists have added a new piece to their annual tradition.

Despite challenges, visiting nurses continue to be “neighbors helping neighbors.”

A new bill that would allow customers to install plug-in solar systems without a previously required middle man passes the Senate

Supporters say S.208 would build public trust while officials raised questions about enforcement and exceptions.

The Clark Sawmill Dam collapsed during the flooding that hit Vermont in 2023, punctuating years of back-and-forths about its future. 

But there are ways to improve those roads that reduce pollution and strengthen against floods. 

Quebec’s first case since 2015 was found just a mile across the border from a rabid raccoon in Highgate.

According to Curt Lindberg, chair of the Waitsfield Conservation Commission, the project spans a cumulative 260 worksites across the region.

When Canada geese molt their flying feathers in the summer, scientists see a key window to study and track them.

A corner kick zipped past the goal and landed for a close-range volley 74 minutes in, delivering the Green a 4–0 final.

Amanda Wheeler hopes to show you don’t have to leave home to make an impact.

Someone’s grandparents always seem to remember one, and sometimes you can still find the scuffs and scrapes of shoes and boots on the floors. But where’d those hoedowns go?

Walleye season started this month. Almost 5 million of the fish have been stocked in Vermont’s waters since 2009, the state says.

Lawmakers earlier this month listened to the report.

The state’s agriculture industries are paying close attention to prices on products they use.

In Randolph and Rutland, bowling centers are keeping up the sport — and the camaraderie it inspires.

A House committee recently heard the introduction of seven new bills covering five topics legislators hope to tackle.

Yellow buoys mark the wrecks’ locations, and divers can follow their lines down to submerged signage identifying each.

Under the bill, fathers in prison would be able to take parenting classes, visit with their children in a child-friendly space and talk to them via free video calls.

Neither version of the bill will get voted out of the Legislature this year, but lawmakers are making moves to develop the proposals ahead of the second half of the biennium.

It comes from the House Committee on Energy and Digital Infrastructure, newly formed this session in part to prioritize digital technology initiatives that had been overshadowed.

Volunteers across Vermont gather to help herps traverse the roads. Most often, that entails people scooping critters into their hands and shuttling them to safety. 

Via Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship When one of Vermont’s oldest lumber mills, run by the A. Johnson Company in Bristol, shut down its saws in 2023 after 117 years in business, it seemed like another sign of a waning timber industry.  Now, a sweeping executive order from President Donald Trump […]

Vermont native and Olympic Rugby star Ilona Maher captivated the world with her athleticism, bronze medal and social media prowess. Now she is joined by her two sisters in a new podcast called “House of Maher.”

A company with Rutland ties has developed a way to transform human urine into useable fertilizer in a process they refer to as “pee-cycling.”

It looks like a mobile home park. The state says it isn’t. The folks in this Williston neighborhood are frustrated they can’t access the help that classification would afford them.

The Trump administration paused access to more than $16 million sent to Vermont through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program. 

Mohsen Mahdawi, a Columbia University student and Vermont resident, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in Colchester this month.

Farmers say it helps secure their bottom line, and officials in and outside the Legislature say it’s vital to curbing hunger. 

Most witnessed have supported the bill, but a few concerns have come up about free speech and news media’s liabilities.

Lawmakers and officials agree it isn’t ideal to imprison Vermonters out of state, but they say bringing them back would put in-state prisons dangerously over capacity. 

Here are four groups across the state that are fighting for a safer, more just Vermont.

The sport, in which people paddle in 40-foot-long canoes decorated to look like dragons, originated in China over 2,000 years ago.

The program lives in a space distinct from the cold surfaces of the rest of the prison. In the room two green couches sit atop a patterned rug, with a shelf of toys stacked against the wall.

Thousands gather in Montpelier as part of nationwide action.

Silas Loomis, who has been the Castleton constable since Richard Nixon was in the White House, is calling it quits and sharing lots of wild stories from his more than five decades in the position.

Wallingford area residents who fear the country is losing its democracy have been holding weekly rallies to raise awareness.

The federal government matches every dollar donated to the program roughly threefold so that the $15 stamp purchase turns into $60.

The bill would guarantee employees can take two weeks of unpaid time off from work after the death of a family member.

For over 25 years, Stowe ski patroller has been collecting, documenting and archiving the history of the resort

With a background in environmental law, she steps into the role at a crucial time for the lake’s health.

It’s too late to pass this year, but the bill has gained bipartisan support and excited trail advocates.

The bills focus on age-appropriate design, more guards on consumer data and stricter regulations for data brokers.

A perfect storm — that’s how industry leaders describe the challenges Vermont developers face in 2025. 

Said a South Burlington teacher: “There has to be a balance, right? I don’t want this to be my only focus because the more the student feels embroiled in this situation, the more unsteady they’re going to feel.”

Young Vermonters often decide to leave their small hometowns for jobs elsewhere, but siblings Martin and Whitney VanBuren decided to stay put and make a difference in Poultney.

It was the third-highest snowpack reading for that date since 1954, when the stake was installed, making this winter one of the snowiest on record.

Pam Arel couldn’t stay retired. The Castleton Free Library librarian has had a variety of careers, but loves her current role, in part because she loves kids. She recently sat down with report Emily Ely to talk about her life and her role among the books.

Two House bills would bar service providers from deceptive business practices and require them to offer cheap broadband plans.

The Sparkle Barn, Wallingford’s artsy gift shop, has added an eye-popping “Bloom Room” event space and will soon be offering a mobile version.

Munger Road in Fair Haven will once again be maintained as a class-four town road after town officials recently cracked a six-decade mystery.

In a state where about 47% of adults never attend religious ceremonies, spirituality is still fostered amid yoga studios, apothecaries, mindfulness retreats and in nature itself through pagan practices.

Former Rutland firefighter Ray Mooney now fills his days curating and sharing Rutland’s history through his Facebook page and YouTube videos.

The bill is modeled after California’s 2024 School Food Safety Act.

Kenneth Hart is 104 years old and currently resides in The Pines nursing home in Rutland. He spoke about all the changes he’s seen in his life and what keeps him going.

“I don’t think it’s a partisan issue,” Copeland Hanzas said. “It’s really just to make sure that elections are honest and accurate and fair.”

Rutland Regional Medical Center has installed a Mamava lactation pod providing hospital workers and the public a comfortable, private place for mothers to pump.

“It’s a really gut-wrenching situation for all the parties involved,” said the commission’s executive director.

Vermont State University’s DEI leader answers a variety of questions regarding new DEI challenges and personal questions about his life in Vermont.

Crumby the kitten was rescued by volunteers in Rutland and will be featured at halftime of Sunday’s annual Puppy Bowl on Animal Plant.

Legislators in both chambers have been in talks about chloride’s impact on waterways.

As safeguards to ensure a degree of local input, Scott is calling for the creation of local school advisory councils, which his proposal states will “promote high levels of community engagement.”

Usually up to 20 detainees from Immigration and Customs Enforcement are held in state prisons on a given day.

“This event is a way to help people with a little bit more background to show them the tools and give them the opportunity to use the tools without having to purchase things and not know what’s going on,” staff said. 

“Our whole mission is trails that go somewhere,” one org director said. “The whole point is that you could use it to commute.” 

The lieutenant governor-elect sits down with the Winooski News to talk about his upset victory, path in politics and what he wants to prioritize come January.

The state advisory group plans to keep monitoring research and policy around psilocybin nationwide.

Following a population dip in the 1960s and 1970s, the muskellunge were seemingly wiped out after an untreated waste spill.

The third such expo hosted nearly 1,000 visitors to celebrate steampunk culture, said an organizer.

The cycling crew that organizes bike rides around the city from mid-April to the end of September.

Hundreds of enthusiasts come every year in search of supernatural experiences.

Check out vignettes from polling places around Chittenden County.

“I don’t want to be a single-issue person in the Statehouse because of my background, so I always want to prioritize what’s important to Winooski.”

South Burlington City Cerk Holly Rees assures voters that numerous steps are taken to make the voting process a secure one.

“Anecdotally, it does increase voter participation because it puts the ballot in front of every voter and they have the opportunity to return the ballot early if they aren’t able to make it on Election Day,” the town clerk said.

Both farmers with long histories of public service, O’Brien and Post are running to represent the Windsor-Orange 2 House district.

Incumbent Democrat Carl Demrow and Republican challenger Michael Tagliavia will face off on housing affordability, public safety and education this Election Day.

Beck, a Republican representing the Caledonia 3 House district, is vying for a seat in the Senate.

Amanda Cochrane is running as a Democrat for the Caledonia Senate district, advocating investment on mental health and housing to bring young residents to Vermont.

Since 2016, the number of Vermont schools serving as polling places has decreased by more than half.

The July 2024 flooding was more destructive downstream while the December 2023 flooding resulted in higher flow because it involved snow and rain, said one scientist.

“Prisons are the least transparent and most understudied public institutions in the country. So doing research inside prisons — people just don’t do it, and therefore they’re like these black boxes.”

Tomlinson is running for one of two seats to represent Winooski in the House as a member of the Vermont Progressive and Democratic parties.

A judge in August sided with the cannabis and duck farmer, but his neighbors are pursuing an appeal of that decision.

The survey, done with the University of Massachusetts Amherst Labor Center, focused on 212 Spanish-speaking migrants working on farms.

CNS journalists plan to delve into the data to tease out trends and provide Vermonters with a deeper understanding of the state’s vote-by-mail system.

“The only way we know a lot of this stuff is because thousands of people have helped us collect data across the landscape,” one Vermont expert said.

The event marked the first Abenaki log burn in the delta in over 300 years, said a member of the Nulhegan Abenaki tribe.

The salon’s next gender-affirming haircut event is Oct. 6.

Here are answers to frequently asked voting questions.

Here is how to be vote-ready in Vermont, including a unique voter’s oath that originated with adoption of the state’s 1777 Constitution.

More than 60 units are planned in total across the two towns. Both project planners say state brownfield grants have helped get the ball rolling.

The ancient spear-throwing tool predates the bow and arrow and was used by Indigenous people all over the world for hunting. It lets someone launch the spear like a mini-catapult.

“You can control a lot of things — but the one thing you can’t control is if the fish is gonna bite,” said the coach of last year’s state champs.

The over $28 million project began in April and is slated to continue into 2026. Officials say it’s an investment for the city’s future.

Another approach to addressing climate crisis in Vermont? One grounded in spirituality.

The stockpile can reimburse search and rescue efforts in the Green Mountain National Forest, said the state treasurer.

Any Brattleboroean can benefit from MicroMoo2 but the influx of resettled refugees made the need even more urgent.

With their own kits, groups measure E.coli bacteria levels, the marker used by the EPA to measure how safe water is to swim in.

Backed by $7 million in grants, the center aims to study and grow partnerships between higher education and news outlets.

The Vermont Mountaineers went 30–11, tops in the league, boasting a .732 winning percentage during the regular season before bowing out to their rivals in the playoff semifinals.

The mission is to reduce the distance pollinators like bees and butterflies must go to get nectar and pollen. The gardens, in effect, form a highway.

The federally funded aviation group undertakes search and rescue missions, helps after disasters and collects landscape data from the skies.

Mejia was working with her legal team to file for asylum and apply for a visa for human trafficking victims, said Migrant Justice.

A number of Vermont vineyards and wineries practice regenerative agriculture — that goes beyond minimizing farming’s costs on land to instead help restore it.

Tent City, as the encampment was known, sat tucked in a patch of woods behind the downtown train station and Food City grocery store.

“We’re not on the level of having gigantic fires in Vermont yet,” Dillner said. But officials believe Vermonters should pay attention and prepare to protect their homes and health.

Where can you buy a cheap hardware desk, find an antique embalming machine and pick up the pocket knife you had to give to security officials when you flew from the airport?

The gals in green will face off in a friendly match against Quebec’s FC Laval at 6 p.m. Saturday. In donning the jersey, they have a chance to inspire fans with a high-level showcase of the women’s game

A land trust in Vermont has a program to help people of color make a down payment on their house.

Close to 500 landowners have expressed interest in being paid around $300 an acre, dispersed over a 20-year period, for preserving forestland.

The products, the Wisemans say, can boost immune systems, improve memory and energy and spur a range of other healthy body functions.

The trend has accelerated since the peak of the pandemic, data shows. More and more people are trekking off-path without being prepared, increasing the danger, say those in the field.

The best player in Vermont girl’s hoops this year is set to play college baseball — get to know Elise Berger.

Staffing shortages in Waterbury are among post office problems across Vermont that have disrupted deliveries and inconvenienced residents.

While these big wins sound alluring, very few sports bettors leave with any profit. The average sports bettor has lost around 8 cents for every dollar they spent since 2018, according to a review of sportsbooks’ earnings last year.

The bill seeks to ensure better legal protections for donors.

Part of the bill aimed to ban hunters from using dogs and bait — without a trappers’ license — to hunt coyotes in the state.

In recent years, libraries across the country have come under fire for housing books that focus on gender, sexual and racial identity, especially those for children.

Though psychedelics are illegal in the state, that isn’t stopping Vermonters from using them. 

The storytimes give parents a chance to do a chore while their kids learn. Organizers hope people will turn out for the next event May 30.

The hope is to train volunteers in planting and caring for the 50-plus trees set to occupy the green space over the next two years.

It’s a conundrum with many variables and few easy answers. As Murdoch put it, “What other tools do we have in our toolkit?”

Legislators added the original bill’s language to H.878, which deals with “miscellaneous judiciary procedures.”

The honor caps his time as the youngest son in the state’s most-storied basketball family — and it comes in a year that marks the 25th anniversary of his father’s death. 

The bill would target shoplifters who steal multiple things in one county within a two-week period. If the combined value of the goods exceeds $900, an offender would face the same fines and imprisonment as the current felony.

The institute, its partners and others in the sustainability industry see the practice — dubbed “peecycling” — as a cheap, easy and less-destructive method than synthetic fertilizer.

If cameras catch you driving more than 10 mph over the limit, the rig takes a photo of your license plate and you’ll get a ticket in the mail. 

The bill says companies that distribute PCBs must pay for the testing and removal of the chemicals in Vermont’s schools.

Under the bill, companies would be barred from the sale, lease, or disclosure of people’s biometric identification unless it is necessary for the service or the person gives consent. 

Researchers have concerns about the relation between the bald eagles’ rise and a receding blue heron population in the state.

Lawmakers made the changes after hearing testimony from state officials that called the bill’s language vague and lacking in precedent.

Scheer is an actor, puppeteer, clown, acrobat — and one of the first openly trans women and nonbinary people to puppeteer in American television.

The bill would fill what supporters say is a gap in the law. 

The bill says if people agree to use protection before or during sex, neither party can remove or tamper with the condom without the other’s consent. The bill would allow survivors to seek damages in court.

Reapportionment occurs every 10 years and is based on census data.

The bill would hold drug sellers responsible for deaths caused by their distribution of laced drugs, even if doing so was down to mere carelessness.

In response to the challenges faced by asylum-seekers and others with special immigration statuses as vulnerable people, volunteer-based organizations in Vermont have a solution: raising money through the arts. 

He can’t fly or shoot lasers out his eyes, but he can do what many dread and few understand: taxes.

The bill would limit Vermont police interrogators from lying to detainees. But lawmakers doubled down on details that got last year’s version of the plan shot down.

In a survey by the state after last summer’s flooding, 70% of farmers said they didn’t have crop or livestock insurance. Another 10% said the insurance didn’t apply to their industry — meaning only around one in five had coverage for those losses.

With this winter’s relatively weak snowfall, more people may have turned to birding as an outdoor activity for the season.

Expungement entirely wipes someone’s conviction from the official record — the goal being to see them treated as if they had never been convicted.

By meeting a slew of conditions, producers wouldn’t need inspections to sell raw chicken products from the farm, at farmers markets or to restaurants in Vermont.

‘It was a constant battle’ to keep JetBlue in the Green Mountain State — a conflict that started long before the airline pulled out in 2023.

Washington district constituents approached their senator after they were turned away from a business because they only carried cash.

The bill would rebrand the board that sets rules for implementing Act 250.

So far the bill has been well received and the University of Vermont is expected to present a new draft for legislators to chew on next week. 

Several towns asked Vermonters to authorize cannabis retailers Tuesday during annual town meetings.

The changes address problems prompted by education officials.

One drone operator understands the lawmakers’ concern, but said he thinks details in the bill are too arbitrary.

But companies like Meta and TikTok would be responsible for assessing their data protection policies under the bill — and for determining whether they are in compliance with the law.

Management last year rolled out parking fees, carpooling incentives and bus service improvements — but it may not be doing enough. 

Nationwide, 27 other states have a maximum fine for towing, but Vermont doesn’t.

The lead sponsor of the bill says the legislation is important for residents in areas likely to suffer flooding in the future.

The garden metaphor has brought seven artists from different backgrounds to share and indulge in interpretations of paradise, privilege, boundaries and cultivation.

The Burlington lounge’s latest endeavor, the Emerging Songwriters Contest, has drawn musicians from across the state. The last semifinals show is Feb. 20.

That money would make up what lawmakers are calling a climate superfund to help pay for natural disaster recovery in Vermont. 

The bill aims to prevent Vermont from becoming a place for puppy farms or mills — commercial dog breeding operations that raise animals in poor conditions.

The bill would dramatically limit the use of electronic devices, digital platforms and more in all Vermont schools.

About 75 cows died after a fire broke Jan. 20 and turned a 400-foot-long barn into a pile of rubble and ash. 

The crowd included families with young children, experienced anglers, locals and visitors, all there for a day out on the ice.

Under current law, first responders employed by the state don’t have to prove PTSD is related to work when seeking workers’ compensation. The new bill would give that presumption to more state workers.

Ghost guns are firearms built at home using kits that come with all the parts needed for a gun. The unassembled parts aren’t considered guns by federal law and have no serial number.

Eleven judges reported supplemental rental income over the past four years, totaling $341,953 from 2019 to 2022. While some judges only reported a couple thousand in rental income annually, other judges reported over $20,000 in some years.

The bill seeks to update the state endangered species list more frequently, establish critical habitat spaces, prohibit the sale of species and curtail rules that allow endangered animals to be taken from the land. 

If a business is culpable, H.614 allows police to seize any equipment it used for illegal activity. Furthermore, the bill increases fines and limits the logging activities of businesses with two or more outstanding fines or judgements.

‘It’s not necessarily doing anything to reinvent restorative justice or restorative approaches; it is making it so it is more streamlined access across the state,’ Dolan said. ‘This is trying to get some consistency and also respect the uniqueness of each county.’

The bill aims to expand the legal definition of mobile home parks to include communities of mobile home owners who own their own lots. Currently, state law defines mobile home parks as land with at least two mobile homes or mobile home lots, or adjacent land owned by the same person.

“What does it hurt to do this? What if you’re a student who, for the first time, is getting a period, and you forgot something?” said the bill sponsor.

Vermont State Police announced last week that troopers had finished an investigation into the incident and that no criminal charges would be filed. 

Vermont Huts is reaching out to groups and “saying, ‘Look, we have accommodation out there, and we have funding, and we can help you achieve whatever your goals are to access the space that is out there.’”

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Green Mountain Transit rides have been free.

Meanwhile, a state police investigation lingers and the boy’s family is in touch with an attorney.

Parkour offers an out-of-the-ordinary outlet that costs nothing. The sport builds on intuitive human movement — running, climbing, rolling, swinging — to move between two points in the most creative and efficient way possible.

Support from migrant rights activists is competing with concerns about the legality of the proposed policy change and, from law enforcement, wariness about restrictions on their jobs.  

The group’s numbers have expanded to 150 women. “I was all by myself for 30 years, fly fishing,” one co-founder said. No longer.

The Spartans bested previously unbeaten and no. 1 seed Twin Valley 1-0 at Applejack Stadium in Manchester on Nov. 4. 

Now the Vermont Department for Children and Families is perhaps two months away from setting up temporary quarters in Middlesex in a state complex most recently used for inpatient mental health.

Committee members are confused on what their vote meant — and now need to revote, a Criminal Justice Council admin told CNS.

The building now has sections for woodworking, pottery, a variety of glasswork, textiles, metal machining, welding, printing and metal engraving.

People in the industry believe the problems caused by the floods will worsen with winter weather soon setting in and, within the next few months, artists could be left wondering what they’ll do without accessible indoor spaces.

“We rely on that water for training, and if those beaches are closed because of the quality of the water, that really impacts us,” said the Burlington diving center’s co-owner.

Our journalists interviewed 16 lawmakers about their environmental priorities ahead of the session.

Maya Porter reported this story on assignment from the Barre-Montpelier Times Argus. The Community News Service is a program in which University of Vermont students work with professional editors to provide content for local news outlets at no cost. The capital of an often self-styled progressive state might be one of the last places you’d […]

Adjusting after a natural disaster takes many forms, and for Vermonters in the wake of this summer’s flooding, that includes changes to used car purchases. 

Earlier this month, In a backyard overlooking Spear Street, dozens of Vermont Republicans watched a four-part performed history of patriotic songs and munched on barbecue beneath an American flag the width of a two-car garage in the leadup to Independence Day. 

The Vermont Journalism Exchange Conference last Thursday kicked off with news from University of Vermont Provost Patricia Prelock.

As the state pushes toward its solar goals, what environmental questions must be examined?

South Burlington officials want to eliminate 60 percent of the city’s carbon footprint by 2030, and with transportation accounting for two-thirds of that figure, the city’s climate action plan finalized last October is pushing for more electric vehicles and charging infrastructure.

The Vermont Agency of Digital Services banned use of the popular app TikTok on all state-owned devices, joining more than half the states and the federal government as concerns about the app’s Chinese ownership continue to swirl.

When scientists detected a small, bug-eyed gray fish two years ago at the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson rivers in New York, it set off alarms everywhere along the waters of Lake Champlain.

Vermont lawmakers are seeking to give workers increased protections when it comes to collective bargaining and union organizing through a bill that has passed in the Senate with a number of changes since it was introduced. 

Vermont is the only state in the country where farmers cannot readily access a program meant to pay them back for restoring habitats around their farms.

Vermont’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, formed by legislators last year to document and examine state-sanctioned discrimination against historically oppressed groups, is in the process of hiring an executive director, legal counsel, an administrative assistant and research staff.

The bill, H.483, looks to implement a nondiscriminatory admissions process for prospective students on public tuition.

Vermont continues to see spikes in housing prices with the median home price rising 15% in 2022, according to the Vermont Housing Finance Agency. Communities and state officials alike have spent a lot of time discussing how the growth of short-term rentals in Vermont has contributed to the state’s housing crisis.

House legislators passed a bill that would legalize mobile sports betting last week, putting Vermont on the road to joining other states in legalizing the practice.

Mandating and strengthening Holocaust education in schools has been brought up by lawmakers for the past few years, but the proposed bills are typically left untouched. This year, many representatives and senators are hoping that will change. 

Officials hope a new state fund can sway landlords to rent to people who might otherwise lack housing.

With the rise of politicized medical procedures in recent years, some liberal-majority legislatures like Vermont’s are trying to protect patients who receive reproductive and gender-affirming care — and their providers.

MONTPELIER — The Montpelier Roxbury Public School district is partnering with Talkspace, an online therapy platform, to deal with the growing need for mental health services in Vermont, particularly among youth. Superintendent Libby Bonesteel said the partnership came about after community members expressed concerns that there weren’t enough mental health providers in the area, especially […]