Lawmakers on the House Ways and Means Committee have moved to block participation in a new federal tax credit program that could direct private donations toward student scholarships.
The estate of a local man, who claims he died from mistreatment at the Rutland Regional Medical Center in February 2025 has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the hospital.
The cost of operating public schools in Vermont has been “a runaway train,” and no one seems to be able to get on board to control it. However, cost also comes in other forms that are not necessarily quantifiable in dollars and cents.
Middlesex man seriously injured in I-89 crash; Norwich University women’s hockey clinches Frozen Four berth; When Vermont’s treatment landscape shifts, community providers step up; Old North End Restaurant Week,’ Connecting people and businesses through food
Also, Mittica on Act 181.
VNRC isn’t listening to Vermont. They’re doubling down.
Explicit language warning on Brattleboro News/Planet Hank report about fast food workers overdosing.
Senator Hinsdale: the invitation to join us is genuine. But joining us means asserting your leadership to get results—not publishing a commentary explaining why delay is the response we needed.
Under Mamdani’s expropriating death tax plan, once an estate hits $750,000 in value, the confiscatory 50% rate applies to all assets, not just the amount above that figure.
At issue is Vermont’s Universal Prekindergarten (UPK) system, which currently guarantees up to 10 hours per week of publicly funded preschool for most 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds. The program, fully implemented in 2016, operates through a mix of public schools and private childcare providers.
The constitutional rights of faith-based organizations operating in Vermont may be under attack with the passage of a bill on Thursday.
Act 181 reform goes to floor next week/ School reform now ‘Act 46 2.0’?/ Local highway $$ redirected to statewide reappraisal
Migrant detained by ICE in South Burlington granted bond; Second person charged with burglary in Tractor Supply Company thefts; High-energy dance party group for 30+ crowd grows legs in Vermont
In Vermont, a person could be convicted of ten separate offenses in a year, receive short sentences or probation on each one, and none of it would register as recidivism in the state’s data.
The FAA–BETA “Other Terms Agreements,” setting safety rules, limits, and reporting for Vermont airspace remain unsigned—and are key to everything that follows.
An autopsy of a homicide in the Northeast Kingdom town of Brownington was completed Thursday, March 19 at the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington. The Vermont State Police is able to identify the victim as Alton Wheeler, 79, of Brownington.
Vermont is one of only three states with no safety-valve restrictions on how much a property tax bill can increase in a given year. In the months ahead, the Legislature should examine how the other 47 states manage this issue, identify policies that could work here, and adapt them to Vermont’s unique circumstances. Property taxpayers deserve both immediate relief and long-term predictability.
In the week after the Crossover deadline, the Vermont House has been busy passing bills. Below are all of the bills passed in the House and sent to the Senate this week.
Police to testify in joint hearing following South Burlington ICE activity; South Burlington School Board to meet after ICE protest near schools, safety concerns take center stage; Legislative panel votes against keeping southern Vermont judge on the bench; Fight over Middlebury College chapel name argued before Vt. Supreme Court
Reports and online reviews raise concerns about illicit activity
Three respondents from Corinth reported 670 acres were affected by drought, causing $325,000 in losses.
Ariana Rodger, 43, was taken into custody late March 18 in connection with the death of a man found at a residence on Willoughby Lake Road. She has been charged with second-degree murder, first-degree aggravated domestic assault, and violation of conditions of release.
The U.S. has spent $8 trillion on post-9/11 wars, including at least $2.2 trillion in obligations to care for veterans over the coming decades.
The Green Mountain State favors criminals above public safety.
Peaceful protesters don’t mind being directed by police. Agitators do – and suckerpunch the cops, Morrison said.
Five arrested by Border Patrol in Plattsburgh on human smuggling charges; Federal judge orders man detained by ICE in South Burlington to remain in custody; ICE Tours VT hosts guided tour to multiple DHS facilities across Chittenden County; Vermont police investigate death in Brownington
One Big Beautiful Bill gives scholarship donors $1700 federal tax credit – but Dem majority doesn’t want it
Burlington Democrat Rep. Bob Hooper’s statement of resignation from the Vermont House published in the Tuesday, March 17 House Journal underscores several points he made in his Monday, March 16 interview with the Vermont Daily Chronicle.
Public access television is looking to the state government for additional funding to preserve programming.
Forrest MacGregor takes care of the community and hundreds of years of Randolph history.
The fundamental mission of state wildlife agencies is not animal welfare—it is resource management for human use and profit.
Trump’s top counterintelligence official quits in protest over Iran as he issues blistering statement claiming Israel dragged U.S. into war; Trump says he’s ‘not afraid’ of Vietnam-style ground combat in Iran; Trump calls Zelensky the ‘last person we need help from’
A family who has lived on their land for 100 years and wants to give their child a piece of that land to build a road and home may not be able to afford these new cost burdens.
Rutland’s write-in mayoral election was already a week over, and a triumphant Tom Donahue joined a business chamber mixer last Tuesday to press the flesh and thank voters. No surprise: his wife Gayle, a frequent campaign partner and prolific social media supporter of her husband, was by his side. “I wouldn’t be anywhere without her,” the incoming mayor frequently said during the campaign.
Logan Clegg was convicted of killing Steven and Wendy Reid in April 2022. Police searched for months for the killer before Clegg was arrested in Vermont in October 2022 after authorities tracked him down in a Burlington public library. Clegg is a former employee of a Burlington grocery store, according to other news reports.
S.326, a miscellaneous bill introduced by the Senate Transportation Committee, makes a number of technical and minor changes to Vermont’s transportation laws. These include increasing the amount towing companies may charge and requiring life preservers during cold-weather months. Another provision would raise the penalty for getting stuck in Smuggler’s Notch from $1,000 to $10,000 for a first offense.
Vermont Green FC getting ready to host first round of US Open Cup 2026; Woman detained by ICE agents in South Burlington ordered released; Bennington agency settles with the state over service failures for adults with developmental disabilities; Brattleboro prepares for mud season road impacts
Rep. Mike Tagliavia (R-Corinth) will promote H.89, the statewide school choice bill he introduced last year, at a press conference at 1 PM today, Tuesday March 17 in the Cedar Creek Room.
With crossover week fully behind us, lawmakers begin the work of finalizing the bills that passed successfully from policy committees by the deadline.
Many legislators believe the bills will help children and adolescents that are uncomfortable talking to their parents about their mental health issues, and help children that are homeless and without guardians, but both bills cast a much wider net.
A proposal discussed this week in the House Environment Committee could change how Vermont regulates small livestock operations, raising questions among farm groups about enforcement authority, water quality oversight, and the role of municipal zoning.
If you had Exxon, Shell, Occidental, BP sitting on one side of the negotiating table, people would be up in arms! Why not the same for the heavy handed teachers’ unions. We also need to identify all legislators who have received political donations from these same unions and call them out on their voting records.
Josh’s House celebrates five years of supporting veterans; Vermont lawmakers narrowly advance bill increasing gun restrictions and crimes; Strong wind Monday could lead to scattered power outages
Digger, VDC ‘not going to cover Vermont high school basketball game,’ Perchlik says
The two top Dem fundraisers challenging John Rodgers for lieutenant governor both have received $$ from backers of U.S. senators past and present.
“Do not wait to take down your birdfeeders and bearproof your yard until a bear comes to visit,” said Jaclyn Comeau, the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department’s bear biologist.
As cross-over day in the VT Legislature came and went on Friday and more electric buses burst into flames, so did many of our hopes for any real progress this legislative session toward solving Vermont’s affordability crisis. To make any significant change we need more legislators who are serious about addressing this crisis.
How do we make it easy to vote, but hard to cheat? Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas, Rob Roper, Montpelier City Clerk John Odum, and Ron Lawrence will explain their positions.
4 Army drone systems stolen from Kentucky base ; Iran war death toll climbs to 13 after all crew onboard U.S. refueling plane died in crash; Italy’s Meloni breaks with Trump over Iran war; Zelensky considering suspending elections for years
While Vermont is now well-known for its breweries, the state has a complicated history when it comes to alcohol. It boasted one of the longest prohibitionary periods, even before the arrival of Prohibition in 1919, and out of that environment came a Burlington company that became well known for its drinks throughout Vermont and New England: M. & F.C. Dorn Company.
When Thomas Jefferson wrote, “they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness,” the definition of those words mattered. All 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence had to understand exactly what the document claimed, and agree with it, before they would sign their Lives, Fortunes, and sacred Honor to defend its cause.
The novel may be abrasive, but it is also alert, literate, and deeply rooted in Vermont — just not the Vermont we usually like to imagine.
Iran was close to acquiring a nuclear weapon within weeks which would put the region and the United States in grave danger.
The Champlain Valley School District, which operates a fleet of about 60 buses including eight leased electric models (valued at roughly $400,000 each through a partnership with Highland Electric Fleets and EPA grant funding), has grounded its remaining electric buses as a precaution.
32 candidates become new citizens at Chittenden naturalization ceremony; Several detained during protest of ICE operation in South Burlington; $4 million announced for Brattleboro workforce housing project; Burlington mayor confirms use-of-force review involving one police officer
House rep’s resignation after a harassment probe, a key senator defending the controversial “road rule” on rural development, and Burlington’s mayor shutting down online criticism of police in an ICE raid.
The road rule is the sticking point in Act 250 reform legislation. The current law, Act 181, strictly limits rural development on parcels with 800 ft. or more of on-property or adjacent road.
It’s Friday of Crossover Week, and the Vermont House has a very full agenda of legislation up for action today.
A Vermont school choice advocacy group is asking concerned Vermonters to contact their legislators and attend a Tuesday press conference as the Legislature considers school choice legislation.
Latest evidence: Their overdose prevention center fiasco….
The deal that positions the Vermont company to move from test flights to commercial airline operations.
The Chittenden Solid Waste District (CSWD), Vermont’s largest solid waste management entity, has fallen victim to a highly sophisticated phishing scam, losing $3 million—nearly 20% of its $15.6 million fiscal year 2026 budget.
Four electric school buses were destroyed in a fire late Wednesday night at Allen Brook School in Williston, causing an estimated $2 million in damages to the vehicles and their charging stations.
Immigration lawyers accuse Vermont prisons of impeding their work; More calls for Addison County State’s Attorney Eva Vekos to resign following DUI plea; Vermont introduces AI guidelines for schools; Vermont Gov. Phil Scott applauds Amanda Janoo for running for governor
Twelve states explicitly allow teacher strikes, including Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Minnesota, Montana, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Vermont. In a few states, such as South Carolina, Utah and Wyoming, the legality of strikes is not clearly defined in statutes or case law.
The hospital’s team, NCH Heroes for Hope, brought in $6,164 with 14 participants, surpassing its $5,000 goal. The team placed eighth out of 23 teams at the event, which brings together groups from across the region for a day of skiing and fundraising to support people and families affected by cancer.
Also: Dyer on the Dome of the Rock, and McCormick on H.740
FBI alerted California law enforcement to brace for potential Iranian drone strikes in retaliation for U.S. war; 140 U.S. troops wounded in Iran War, Pentagon confirms; France’s Macron Orders Major Naval Deployment to Middle East
Anyone who receives a suspicious email or phone call claiming to be from a Vermont state agency should not click any links, open attachments, or respond to the message.
He is the second most recognized political figure in the world and yet we know little about him. But a new book changes all that.
Vermont Republicans are committed to moving toward the allowable growth formula in Act 73 that more closely aligns a community’s spending with the with taxes. If that change doesn’t happen, future legislatures may run out of tricks to keep taxes down, and voters may need to send another message to the Democratic Majority in Montpelier.
The Vermont Historical Society is pleased to announce When the Trees Came Back: The Great Battle to Save Vermont’s Forests by Robert Mello. This book explores the long campaign to reverse the deforestation that decimated Vermont’s ancient forests after the arrival of settlers in the mid-1700s.
Arrested after day-long stand-off
Man killed by dog in Essex, Vermont; State liaison working to lower health care costs at UVM Medical Center; Legal concerns slow effort to limit Vermont National Guard’s role in foreign wars
An anonymous group is spending real money to advertise fictional guided tours of Chittenden County’s very real DHS infrastructure. Seven Days says the tours are coming. The creators aren’t talking.
The Vermont House Tuesday morning gave preliminary approval to H.545, the vaccine bill rejecting the federal vaccine guidelines proposed by AHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy. It also voted against the bill’s proposed [Rep. Greg of Cabot] Burtt amendment, requiring more parental information about child vaccination.
Lawmakers are weighing two bills – H.814 and H.816 – that would create a new set of protections from neurotechnology in Vermont and regulate usage of artificial intelligence in mental health services, respectively.
The discussion centered on S.282, legislation that would introduce several tax changes affecting upper-income taxpayers. The bill’s centerpiece is a 4% “wealth proceeds tax” on investment income, modeled on the federal 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said the decision followed discussions between Pentagon officials and the organization’s leadership regarding compliance with Executive Order 14173, signed Jan. 21, 2025. The order, titled “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity,” directs federal agencies to ensure that programs connected to federal funding or support do not include race- or sex-based preferences or policies the administration considers discriminatory.
May run for Chittenden County State’s Attorney
First Democrat announces run for Vermont governor; Beta Technologies selected for federal pilot program, set to fly in Vermont this year; Special Olympics Vermont Winter Games kick off in Wilmington; Zach Weight announces run for Franklin County State’s Attorney
Vermont’s lawmakers are all back from their Town Meeting break and bracing for Crossover Week, when bills (with a few exceptions) must be voted out of committee in order to proceed to passage this year. Here are just a handful of developments as of this morning.
Six years ago, the month of March felt much gloomier than it does this year.
When “shining a light” is a blinding distraction.
Vermont keeps buying time. The structural problems keep compounding.
According to members of the committee and available footage, a motion was seemingly made and the committee adjourned without addressing it. However, the Chair of the committee denies breaking any rules.
Echoes of dystopia: Sanctuary Districts in DS9 and Burlington’s permanent homeless pods
Only about 12 percent of structures carry flood insurance compared to approximately 60 percent of eligible properties nationwide with National Flood Insurance Program policies.
Six years after our state was locked down and government officials imposed mitigation measures to “slow the spread” and “flatten the curve” of the Covid-19 virus, Vermonters are finally being invited inside the statehouse to share how the restrictions imposed by our local government officials impacted their lives.
This week (March 9 – 13) is Civic Learning Week, an annual nationwide nonpartisan event that brings together students, educators, policymakers, and leaders in the public and private sectors to highlight and promote the movement for civic education.
Vermont child care inspectors undercount ‘serious’ violations, audit finds; Ice jam builds in Mad River Valley near Moretown and Waitsfield; Leadership change at Vermont National Guard as some members remain deployed overseas; Vermont Senator Alison Clarkson retiring at end of session
The move comes as federal lawmakers raise concerns that Vermont’s $2.3 billion program may be vulnerable to the same “industrial-scale” fraud recently uncovered in states like Minnesota.
This week is the last opportunity for new bills to pass between chambers, so this means that time is limited and committees often work long hours with few breaks. However, this excludes “must-pass” bills, like the budgets, which are given extra time.
Vermont is one of only fourteen states that don’t have any requirement for voter ID when voting.
Wall Street braces for huge sell-off as oil hits highest level in four years and gas prices hit $8-a-gallon; Kansas City International Airport is evacuated as passengers flee on to tarmac and flights are grounded; Trump says ending Iran war will be ‘mutual’ decision with Netanyahu; Ali Khamenei’s son Mojtaba is confirmed as Iran’s next Supreme Leader
The lawsuit, filed in Vermont Superior Court, argues the new law significantly narrows that option and violates the Vermont Constitution by arbitrarily limiting which schools families can choose.
Vermont produces six times less energy than it consumes and depends on trucked-in petroleum for both transportation and home heating.
The Vermont political leadership, at the federal, state, and local levels (except for Governor Phil Scott’s administration), has made numerous announcements about how they wish to control residential rental housing in Vermont. They have made it their mission to stigmatize those who are residential rental landlords with comments such as, “they are gouging their tenants, making huge profits while providing minimum services.”
From planning to policy
Brittney Roberts, also known as Brittney Metivier, 36, of Barre, was arraigned March 5 in Vermont Superior Court on one felony count of fraud or deceit involving a regulated drug.
