By Guy Page 

A bi-partisan bill introduced by Sen Peter Welch (D-Vermont) and passed by the Senate last week puts whole milk back on the national school lunch menu.

On the Senate floor, Welch spoke of the bill and co-sponsor Kansas Republican Sen. Dr. Roger Marshall while sipping a glass of milk: “I wanna join him in drinking a glass of whole milk, and my only regret is that it’s not Vermont milk. But I gotta tell you, the best milk is made in Vermont.”

The bill needs House approval. It would restore whole milk to the National School Lunch Program, from which it was dropped in 2010 due to concern about childhood obesity. 

Welch added on an X post:

“I’m very pleased that my bipartisan bill with @RogerMarshallMD allowing schools participating in the National School Lunch Program to offer whole milk to students passed the Senate. We’re going to get a whole lotta milk back in our schools,” he said.

Tents for the homeless 

The Berlin Police Department this weekend thanked the Barre Lions Club for a gift of tents to present to people without housing.

“We want to extend our thanks to Barre City Lions members Judy Cookson and Rick Theken for generously presenting tents from the Green Mountain Lions Camp to Sgt. Chad Bassette of the Berlin Police Department,” the department said on Facebook. 

Sgt. Bassette works closely with Barre City, Berlin and Montpelier street outreach to ensure these tents reach people who are unhoused and in need of safe, dignified shelter, Berlin PD said.

“This collaboration between the Barre City Lions, the Berlin Police Department, and local outreach partners demonstrates the power of community care and compassion,” Bassette said.

Federal grant to study rural drug abuse

A $12 million, five-year federal grant administered by the UVM Medical School will study the causes and solutions to rural drug abuse.

The study will recruit 1,200 participants across the three states and follow them for up to five years. Researchers will focus on four key areas:

• Trends in drug use in rural and urban settings
• Barriers to HIV and HCV treatment and overdose prevention
• Impacts of new and existing harm-reduction programs
• Access to innovative services, such as syringe programs and overdose prevention centers.