Vermont News

ALSO: A national survey ranks Vermont fifth in the nation for overall child well-being, but indicates there’s been a decline in key child mental health indicators in the state; Housing is so tight in Vermont that some job-seekers are turning down employment offers because they cannot find a place to live; Vermonters buying health insurance through the state’s Obamacare portal, Vermont Health Connect, will likely face much higher premiums next year, as state regulators have voted to allow double-digit increases.

ALSO: Across the country, private equity firms and real-estate investment trusts are buying up manufactured home communities from local owners and charging residents more to remain there; Fifteen Vermonters fatally overdosed on opioids in April, bringing the year’s total to 61; Amid a nationwide shortage of responders, southern Vermont’s largest emergency medical service provider is launching the state’s first EMS-specific training school.

ALSO: Voters looking to consider climate change have options for Vermont's U.S. House seat, with six candidates running; In March, Organic Valley announced it would take on many of the farmers dropped by Horizon and by Maple Hill and on Wednesday, the group celebrated the beginning of those contracts; About a dozen Isle La Motte residents spoke at a town selectboard meeting in response to the burning of two LGBTQ+ flags.

ALSO: A Republican candidate for lieutenant governor sees the race as a referendum on the future of the Grand Old Party in Vermont; A federal judge on Tuesday denied Nathan Carman’s request to be released on bail while awaiting trial for fraud in his grandfather's death and murder on the high seas in his mother's death; The Vermont state government has hired a design firm to plan a new women’s prison and reentry facility.

ALSO: If you haven’t mailed in your Vermont primary election ballot yet, the Secretary of State’s Office said it’s probably best if you hand-deliver it; A project by Yale and Harvard researchers says that Vermont’s Covid cases are actually five times higher than the official case count; Sen. Patrick Leahy announced that he had included more than $212 million in earmarks in a series of spending bills up for consideration in Congress.

ALSO: A nonprofit based at the Franklin County State Airport is developing an apprenticeship program teaching young people how to repair and maintain aircraft; U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders went on a three-stop tour in support of U.S. House hopeful Becca Balint; Vermont will be eligible to receive $37 million for transportation projects that would make the state more resilient in a changing climate.

ALSO: Three Progressive city councilors in Burlington are urging state lawmakers to pass charter changes related to guns that have been waiting since 2014; U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy has cast his ballot for Lt. Gov. Molly Gray in her Democratic bid for the U.S. House; Homelessness continues to rise in Vermont since pandemic’s onset, despite increased spending

ALSO: A new poll from the University of New Hampshire suggests that the Democratic primary for the state’s sole U.S. House seat could be a blowout win for Vermont Senate President Becca Balint; Jennifer Morrison has been appointed by Gov. Phil Scott to lead the Vermont Department of Public Safety; Winooski’s $60 million school reconstruction project should be ready when school starts this fall, but the work needed to wrap up the project will extend into late October.

ALSO: Chittenden County report shows more diversity, but persistent inequities; LandAir trucking company has filed for bankruptcy; U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine to headline fundraiser for U.S. Senate candidate Christina Nolan.

ALSO: Isle La Motte has seen several anti-LGBTQ+ incidents in the last few months; BA.5 is the dominant Covid strain in New England; Burlington city councilors are again attempting to allowed noncitizen voting.

ALSO: According to autopsy results released Thursday evening, a central Massachusetts woman whose body was found in her truck in Brattleboro died of a gunshot wound to the head; A Texas woman accused in the May 11 killing of a world-class cyclist from Vermont has pleaded not guilty to a charge of first-degree murder; Lawmakers are creating a record of how much water is regularly extracted from the state’s streams and rivers.

ALSO: Vermont State Police said officers fatally shot Matthew Davis Tuesday night after a short foot chase and after he pulled a knife and lunged at officers; Burlington police have named a 19-year-old facing multiple criminal charges as a person of interest in the fatal July 7 shooting in the city’s Old North End; More than a week after a black and red school bus, repurposed as a mobile dwelling, first appeared in the Jake’s ONE Market parking lot on North Winooski Avenue in Burlington, a group of community members rallied to get it running.

ALSO: VTDigger's printable how-to-vote guide is available for free in 14 languages; Police fatally shot the ex-boyfriend of a woman who’d been found dead inside her truck near downtown Brattleboro; Louis Meyers is running for Vermont’s seat in the U.S. House as a moderate Democrat; So far in 2022, there have been 700 bear encounters in Vermont.

ALSO: An environmental group’s petition to create a formal set of rules to govern Vermont’s public lands has been denied; The Democratic candidates for attorney general are pitching their past experiences to Vermont voters; Burlington's beaches are closed again after reopening after cyanobacteria.

ALSO: Vermont navigates its second year of a spongy moth outbreak; Londonderry enlists the help of Norwich University students to explore creating a community center; State Sen. Becca Balint outraised Lt. Gov. Molly Gray in the most recent quarter by nearly $43,000.

ALSO: Vermont school officials are trying to tackle the question of how to respond to rising misbehavior; A new program will offer funds to landowners who manage their forests for carbon; Hospital budget writers are taking a gamble that Vermont won't see another big Covid wave; Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger tested positive for Covid-19 while on vacation in Italy with his family.

ALSO: Women of color running for office in Vermont are pushing for inclusion and advocacy for marginalized groups; The fourth study in nearly 30 years is looking at trucking in downtown Vergennes; Weathersfield residents turned out en masse to dissuade the Selectboard from approving new zoning bylaws.

ALSO: The Bennington police chief told the selectboard that violent crime has increased markedly in the last six months, and he asked citizens to help police keep up with it; Opponents of the Champlain Parkway project dispute the claim that Burlington would face an expensive penalty if the project isn’t completed.

ALSO: The University of Vermont Health Network has inked a deal with a staffing agency that helps place workers facing systemic barriers; State and local crews worked quickly to contain a 2,200-gallon tar spill in Springfield on Monday; Amid the hundreds of millions of dollars Vermont is investing to address the state’s housing crisis, about half a million dollars is going to fund zoning bylaw modernization.

ALSO: A flurry of climate-related energy policies are up for discussion; The town of Plymouth will need another million dollars to complete its town office renovations; Government officials have no idea why the Covid-19 wastewater data municipalities across Vermont are collecting isn’t showing up in state or national data systems.