Once again, Burlington news dominates the state’s headlines.
Water Cooler: Montpelier homeless dying / Warren enacts mask mandate
Overdoses have taken the lives of Montpelier homeless people recently.
Water Cooler: VT emergency worker shortage undermines 911
When we call 911, will there be enough emergency workers to respond? This story and others from Vermont media across the state.
Water Cooler: more liberal pushback on Rittenhouse / Common Core to blame for bad scores? / Shiffrin wins in Killington / Klar on American Taliban
Former Vermont lawmaker on the left of the political spectrum wonders what the Rittenhouse decision will mean for the future of self-defense.
Water Cooler: abortion training at UVM
The state of abortion instruction at UVM’s medical school.
Watercooler National: Australian Army begins forcible transfer to quarantine camps/ Waukesha Christmas parade horror/ University segregates spaces for Rittenhouse verdict
Australia has begun the forced removal of residents of a small, aboriginal town to a Covid-19 quarantine camp.
Water Cooler: Brandon police chief, Tom Messner both leaving
Weatherman Tom Messner and the Brandon chief of police are both leaving their jobs.
Water Cooler: Lawsuit alleges VT rep voter fraud / pros and cons of hotel homeless voucher / UTV crash victim dies / more Afghans coming to VT
A Vermont lawmaker is accused in a lawsuit of voter fraud.
Water Cooler: left effort to normalize pedophilia
Vermont media headlines
Water Cooler: transitional housing to close / PCB bar lowered for schools / TJ goes after Instagram / cow has rare virus
There are now even fewer beds available to help Vermont inmates transition back into society.
Watercooler National: FBI, CDC investigate vials labeled “smallpox”/ Most vaccinated place on earth cancels Christmas / Counter-terrorism tools used against parents
FBI, CDC investigate vials labeled “smallpox” found in Philadelphia, after Bill Gates warned of smallpox bio-terror attacks. Gibraltar, the most vaccinated place one earth cancels Christmas celebrations amid a rise in COVID cases.
Water Cooler: Food shelf refuses GOP contribution / Biden pushes E-chargers as gas prices spike / Snow plow driver shortage / Newbury rejects replacement for Woodside
Joe Biden’s solution to high gas prices: more charging stations for electric cars!
Water Cooler: Amtrak hits SUV, driver dies / Addiction doctor writes illegal scrip / recovery coach in ER / Construction workers needed
An Amtrak train hit an SUV in S. Royalton, killing the driver.
Water Cooler: First Night returns, sort of / cheating on online drivers’ test / Crossing guard shortage
People are cheating on online drivers’ tests.
Watercooler National: Austria orders lockdown of the unvaccinated/ Jan. 6 defendants taken out on stretchers/ Judge dismisses Rittenhouse firearm possession charge
Vaccine mandates continue to hamper life as National Guard stands by for Rittenhouse trial end.
Watercooler National: Appeals court reaffirms stay on Biden workplace vaccine mandate / Ten states sue Biden over COVID-19 vaccine mandate / Oklahoma representative files bill to ban vaccine mandates in state
Our Commander in Chief refers to Satchel Paige as “the great negro.”
Water Cooler: VT prison priorities, homeless back in hotels, Abenaki assoc. embezzlement, Purple Heart back home with family
A former official of an Abenaki non-profit has pleaded guilty to embezzlement.
Water Cooler: Build Back Better to feed low-income children, Welch & Sanders say / Pandemic backlog lead to throwing out criminal cases? / Mother, daughter on trial for murder / Nurse becomes tattoo artist / Homeless hotels renewed
Foliage season is over, winter is coming – time to welcome the homeless back into Vermont’s hotels.
Water Cooler: Congress mandates new tech to stop drunk driving
Today’s Vermont media headlines.
Water Cooler: Misch invokes 2A, Baldwin wants cops on movie sets
Alec Baldwin wants cops on the sets of movies where guns are used.
Water Cooler: Firewood selling well / Condoms in all VT middle schools / Canada border opens today
Firewood sellers are doing brisk business. High oil and gas prices, maybe?
Water Cooler: Greensboro murder suspect out on bail / Notch closed by snow / Bennington nixes sports plan
The man charged with second degree murder for shooting Robert Chaplin of Hardwick is now out on bail.
Water Cooler: Soccer game without spectators, per school order / Thanksgiving turkey shortage?
A soccer playoff game was played before empty stands, per Winooski school district decision. Sorry, parents.
Youngkin defeats McAuliffe in race for Virginia governor
Election Day National Headlines from CLG – Youngkin wins and so does the Virginia lite-guv candidate.
Water Cooler: shooting in UMall parking lot / spectators banned from Enosburg-Winooski championship game
UPDATE: Gov. Phil Scott today said the media WILL be allowed to cover the Enosburg-Winooski soccer game, following VT Principal Association reports that both spectators and media would be banned. Apparently some First Amendment enthusiasts among the state press corps objected, and the VPA amended its decision today.
Water Cooler: Racial Justice Alliance wants more mandates / VT psychics drew attention of Arthur Conan Doyle / Vax issue getting testy at Goddard College
The creator of Sherlock Holmes was a ‘spiritualist’ who became enthralled with some Vermont psychics.
Water Cooler: schools at breaking point / inquiry into long medical wait times / high school locked down after weapon sighting
Please DON’T pass any new laws, school officials told the Legislature. They’ve got plenty to do deal with right now.
Controversial “Gender Queer” book in circulation at Essex High School library
A controversial graphic novel featuring explicit drawings of gay sex is in circulation at Essex High School.
Water Cooler: Can Vermonters be trusted to use ‘personal responsibility’? / Possible cyberattack at Berlin school / Rte. 7 closure for 4 weeks
WCAX asks if Vermonters can be trusted to use personal responsibility, as Gov. Phil Scott requested.
Water Cooler: latest in padlocked women case / Burlington homeless to move along / Cat V. promoted to WCAX anchor / ER voyeur gets plea deal / Pedestrian killed on Rte. 15
A New York man faces a firearms charge in the Rutland drug and human trafficking case in which women were padlocked into residences.
Water Cooler: Murder suspect killed wife, then ate lunch at Maxi’s / Burlington cops seek stabbing suspect
Workers at a Waterbury restaurant are creeped out that a man who police say had just killed his wife then sat down for lunch with his sister and brother-in-law.
Water Cooler: nurses needed / volunteers build kitchen at Burlington homeless camp / repeat offender in Burlington / the Baldwin effect: ban real guns in movies
Solution to Baldwin movie killing: give the guns to computers.
Water Cooler: prepping for Afghans / selectboard member recalled / Maria von Trapp daughter dies / embezzlement in Dorset
Today’s headlines from Vermont media.
Water Cooler: VT principals crack down on sporting events / school meals affected by supply chain woes / Airport manager wants his job back
As school principals crack down on sexist and racist comments at high school games, a black Winooski soccer player is looking at possible assault charges for head-butting an Enosburg player. It’s all in today’s Water Cooler.
Water Cooler: Permanent housing for homeless / Charlie Kirk / 235-year old home torn down
The Scott administration’s decision to extend homeless hotel funding through Dec. 31 isn’t good enough for some advocates.
Water Cooler: ACLU calls Burlington evictions ‘cruel’ / Sanders attacks Manchin in hometown paper / getting the lead out in Bennington costs $11 mil / cops down, crime up in Burlington
The Burlington City Council has – at last – recognized that defunding police seems to lead to more crime. Imagine that. The city’s businesses have known this all along…..
Water Cooler: Drag Night at BHS Football Game / saving the turtles / ‘suffering through’ Fox News
Halftime at the BHS homecoming game featured young men and women dressed in clothing of the opposite sex.
Water Cooler: 40% TSA workers unvaxxed as deadline looms / Shumlin admin can’t testify about Kingdom Con / Burlington man gets life for torture videos
As federal vax-or-else date approaches, 40% of the TSA is unvaccinated. Expect a flight delay.
Water Cooler: Violence in elementary school classes / Heating cost to rise sharply / no freeze on Mt. Mansfield yet
Violence and fear are disrupting classes in a Vermont elementary school.
Water Cooler: Drag Queen ball at football game / Hospital plan to speed patient care / State to own Colchester Causeway, again
A drag queen ball has been scheduled at a Burlington High School football game. And other headlines from Vermont media.
Water Cooler: Prof writes book on mass murder / Burlington homeless camp gets second look / school cancelled for lack of bus drivers
A southern Vermont school district cancelled school because it doesn’t have enough bus drivers.
Water Cooler: OD corpse found in Burlington parking garage stairwell / empty grocery shelves / another game stopped/ crossbow, car chase, crash
OD in parking garage. Crossbow used in car chase. These and more headlines from a busy weekend.
Water Cooler: Essex principal resigns / ‘Urban park ranger’ program for Burlington / Wind developer Blittersdorf gets earful from public / unvaxxed woman denied kidney transplant
“I live on Whipple Hollow. Grandpa’s Knob is right behind me, so I will have all of your ill-effects, and I do say, ill-effects,” said Pam Sokol.
Water Cooler: Tiny equity rally draws WCAX coverage. Hunting fungal chickens. Canceling Christmas?
Big shortage in addiction counselors. Hunting the Wild Fungal Chicken. Mall shooter to be tried as adult.
Water Cooler: state officials say they called FBI on EB-5 fraud / less than 10K have gotten booster / Mississippi jail to keep Vermont cons
Vermont convicts held in a Mississippi ‘contract’ prison had best settle in for the duration. The contract has been extended. That headline and others from Vermont media yesterday and today.
Water Cooler: Closed border hurts tourism / Pot industry eyes cheap power in NY / For Burlington school funding, race matters / Cyanobacteria blooms
The marijuana industry consumes huge amounts of electricity. Plattsburgh, New York is looking pretty good right now.
Water Cooler: Why do people hate government? / Tea Party in St. Albans Bay? / TPUSA event ‘draws criticism’
TPUSA’s Charlie Kirk’s Critical Race Theory Tour speech planned for Burlington October 18 is taking flack from local activists. That may be a headline – but it’s not exactly news.
Water Cooler: Free food program holds final pickup / EB-5 developers square off in court / Essex Junction to vote (again) on splitting from Essex Town / Banyai goes to Supreme Court
Slate Ridge owner Daniel Banyai has appealed to VT Supreme Court. The Village of Essex Junction will vote AGAIN to leave Essex Town. And wellfunded foundations are giving millions for BIPOC Vermonters to take up farming. 40 acres and a tractor – better late than never!
Water Cooler: State colleges get new name / Goddard staff fight vax mandate
Leftist Goddard College staff push back against vax mandate. Go figure!
Water Cooler: Burlington cops say bonuses not enough / fake pills contain fentanyl / school masking extended / Shumlin officials targeted in EB-5 scandal probe
Headline from VT media today – Those retention bonuses using federal $$ aren’t enough to make Burlington cops stick around. Good job, Burlington City Council! Whoyagonnacall?
Water Cooler: free food ends, hospital staffing shortages loom, Stowe cop accused of sex assault
The free food program will end this week. A Stowe cop is accused of sex assault. And hospital officials worry about looming staffing shortages due to Covid-19 vax deadlines. These headlines and more from VT media today.
Water Cooler: pushback against ‘Vermont State University’ / BLM at Rice Memorial / Olympic finalist celebrated in Richford
While Vermont healthcare groups vaccinate migrant workers statewide, the Biden Administration is admitting thousands of unvaccinated Haitians. And why was a UVM dorm told to ‘shelter in place’?
Water Cooler: pandemic $$ to pay police bonuses / Spilled milk in highway rollover? / more remote learning in NEK / Stowe worker dies in zipline accident
A Stowe worker died in a zipline accident.
Water Cooler: Some businesses got too much pandemic relief / why are grocery, fuel prices rising? / Burlington may restrict short-term rentals
Vermont’s auditor says some businesses got more pandemic relief $$ than they were entitled to.
Water Cooler: celebrating Coolidge / Messner to retire / Keep Fletcher Library Free! / State colleges mull name change
Vermont media today report: noted Calvin Coolidge historian to speak; Fletcher library resists BHS merger; /vt state colleges ponder ‘university’ name
Vermont Daily Water Cooler for Tue, Sep 21
Which nightclubs require vaccination? What really caused the SBHS lockdown? What happened in the cyberattack on Vermont radio stations? Vermont media report today.
Water Cooler: Leaf blower ban in Burlington / Vermont ninja / the Giant Pumpkin / when Trump came to Burlington
Burlington’s leaf blower ban. A Democrat lawmaker remembers when Donald Trump campaigned at the Flynn in Vermont January 7, 2016. These and more headlines from Vermont media.
Water Cooler: No mail in Williston / Hospital spending outpaces economic growth / ‘managing’ homeless camp in Burlington / arrests after school lockdown
Burlington tries to manage a homeless camp that will need to be moved when a new highway goes through it, anyway. If you build it, they will come.
Water Cooler: Louis Porter goes electric / Banyai forms Slate Ridge non-profit / Leahy & Simone Biles / why the hospital cleaning staff matters
Almost as much as nurses and doctors, the hospital cleaning staff keep people alive. The much-traveled Louis Porter adds yet another gig to his impressive resume. And will Slate Ridge become a non-profit?
Water Cooler: crack/fentanyl bust / school surveillance testing / BHS site choices
The Liberty Union Party does NOT want to be confused with lag-waving patriotic zealots. So it’s changing its name. That story and others in the Vermont media today.
Water Cooler: Libertarians oppose vax mandates / senior citizen crosses Willoughby three times / the Pandemic School Cafeteria / Sanders introduces first “out” gay judge
Vermont’s libertarians say no to vaccine mandates. And more headlines from Vermont media.
Water Cooler: Young pot smokers 2X as likely to suffer heart attack / Hospital wants $204 million more / Unions split of Biden vax push /
9/11, vaccines, a huge ‘ask’ by the biggest hospital network in Vermont, and racial ‘equity’ were in the news this weekend. And Beansie’s drove off for the last time in 2021. Vermont […]
Water Cooler: School finance reform, hospitals short of workers, No 9/11 flag for Barre
The Barre City Council won’t let the big US flag fly over Main Street on Saturday, 9/11.
Water Cooler: will Rutland welcome Afghans? / Vets’ mental health resources / ‘homeless hotel’ conversion moves forward
The Mountain Times covers Rutland’s willingness to accept Rutland refugees. WCAX reports on the conversion of a quaint motel to homeless housing. And NBC5 provides resources for veterans struggling with mental health challenges. All this and more in Vermont media coverage. Sick goats, too.
Water Cooler: Student flips off anti-maskers / as unemployment ends, food shelf demand expected
When a CVU student gave the single-digit salute to some anti-mask protesters, it went viral. This headline and others from VT media today.
Water Cooler: Black Americans priced out of pandemic real estate boom / Burlington shootings by ‘many of the same people’
It’s mostly the same people involved in all the recent Burlington shootings, prosecutor Sarah George tells the media. Sure, they’re gang members. But it’s more complicated than that, she insists ‘criptically.’
Water Cooler: Rutland to vote on pot, Delta stalls border reopening
Burlington’s mayor wants the city to borrow $20 million to “address climate emergency.”
Vermont Daily Water Cooler for Wed, Sep 01
Wednesday’s breaking news from Vermont media.
Water Cooler: Covid closes three schools, help for Maquam muck
There’s help for homeowners upset about Maquam Bay muck.
Water Cooler: airport director won’t go, State House may not open in January, and masks required in prisons (again)
Afghan refugees will be welcome at Goddard College. Masks are now required in Vermont prisons. And the Burlington airport director tells Mayor Miro Weinberger to take a flying leap after being asked to resign.
Water Cooler: VT National Guard in Kabul, Scott observes Irene 10-year mark
It’s been 10 years since Irene devastated Vermont.
Water Cooler: parents shout down pediatrician, Scott fires back at lawmakers, Rutland hospital vax mandate
Parents get testy with a pediatrician over school mask policy. Gov. Scott says VT is already doing plenty to control the virus. In Coventry, mold has closed a school.
Water Cooler: Burlington closing city streets, VT Health Dept. hires more contact tracers
Lower College Street in Burlington will be closed to traffic while Union Station repairs are underway.
Water Cooler: Jurors in bathrobes? / classrooms reopening / SNAP benefits to increase / preparing for Henri
Vermont civil court may allow some jurors to work from home. A sex offender is charged with extortion re: photos. And schools are reopening classrooms for returning children.
Vermont Daily Water Cooler for Fri, Aug 20
A VT nursing home worries vax mandate will make staffing even harder. Montpelier revives municipal building mask mandate. Long Trail Day is next week.
Water Cooler: Vax mandates legal, expert says / New tech jobs in H2Obury
Good news – 250 new tech jobs are scheduled to come to Waterbury. But where will they live? And what if they don’t want to be vaccinated?
Water Cooler: TSA, Brattleboro reimpose mask mandate, schools lack paraeducators, booster shots coming
Mask mandates are coming back on some federal and local levels. And schools prep for another pandemic return to the school year.
Water Cooler – food stamps benefit hike permanent / controversial Covid-19 theories published / Cops seize guns after raiding home
A White River Junction publisher is ‘pushing Covid-19 conspiracy theories,” according to a VT news source. And cops took a man and his guns into custody after raiding his home.
Water Cooler: EB-5 fraud guilty plea / Nightclub to require vax / Jenna’s House opens in Johnson / Class of 2020 gets diplomas / Whiffleball tourney goes bridge
A third man has pleaded guilty in the NEK EB-5 case. Politicians scurry from the spotlight. Meanwhile a popular South Burlington nightclub will require a vaccine passport.
Water Cooler: Bloods gang member in Burlington shootout, Yankees hit by ‘breakthrough’ virus again, Mary Powell to lead big solar company, Guard answers sex abuse questions
A member of the Bloods crime gang is being sought in connection with a July 31 shootout in Burlington.
Water Cooler: Court House to shut down most days, sheriff can’t hire enough security
Headlines from today’s news: one more sign that Vermont doesn’t have enough cops, and people are suffering because of it.
Water Cooler: Homeless honeybees / Burlington police report errors / home-schooling looking good / Gerrymandering
The power struggle over the future of the Burlington Police Department continues.
Water Cooler: LL Bean departure, police decision in Burlington; $1.65 mil for State House makeover; that awful knotweed
Cops, dogs, knife attack and LLBean in Burlington, big money to retrofit post-pandemic State House, and more hot headlines from Vermont media today.
Water Cooler: Biden admin dismisses abortion suit against VT hospital
A federal lawsuit on behalf of a pro-life UVMMC nurse who said she was manipulated into participating in an abortion has been dropped by the Biden administration.
Water Cooler: copter crash on Causeway, hate-crime assault in Burlington
Hot headlines from around Vermont: reaction to a Burlington shootout, a race-related assault in the Queen City, and a copter crash on the Causeway in Colchester.
Water Cooler: VT demand for vaccines stagnant / paid family, medical leave pushed / hotel room costs climb / Big chair in Bennington damaged
Friday’s hot headlines from Vermont media.
Water Cooler: 71% Burlington property owners see tax hike / vax ‘breakthrough gap’ narrows / Leahy wants $2.1 billion for more capitol security
Brattleboro’s new black, woman police chief promises a new perspective.
Water Cooler: Covid up but restrictions unlikely; replacing Bible at VA; septic waste fertilizing stops; register women for draft?; winery won’t reopen; VT’s ‘Boston Tea Party’ celebrated
Will Bibles be taken from the NH VA? A farmer stops spreading septic waste on his fields. Covid cases up, but restrictions unlikely. These and more headlines from VT media.
Water Cooler: Air quality advisory for northern VT, Climate Council makes recommendations, free tuition a big hit, Brattleboro names VT’s first black woman police chief
Hot headlines from VT media.
Water Cooler: Police seek violent attacker; selectboards saying the Pledge (no)?; impossibly tight VT rental market; Burlington property taxes rise steeply; another VT mask mandate?
Have you seen the man police say viciously assaulted someone in South Burlington? Could Vermont have another mask mandate?
Water Cooler: State colleges mandate vax / Just back from P-town? Get tested / Cops apologize for Essex arrest / UVM applications up / Teen pleads innocent to attempted murder
Hot headlines from VT media: teen pleads innocent to attempted murder. Provincetown visitors should get tested. State colleges will require student EUA Covid vaccination.
Water Cooler: Montpelier postpones homeless decision / Nuclear waste storage / renewable natural gas / free food $$ extended / GOP opposes vax passports / coke bust
Hot media headlines from around the state.
Water Cooler: Beaches, Baptist Church close / White paint leads cops to burglar / Record-high OD deaths / Safety escorts
Crime doesn’t pay. Especially when the cops find you by following the trail of white paint.
Water Cooler: UVMMC wants outpatient surgical center / downtown Burlington can’t fill jobs / homeless in Montpelier city parks / heating fuel costs to rise
As Montpelier considers putting homeless people in city parks, a Burlington-based hospital wants to build an outpatient surgical center. And a propane dealer says costs will rise this winter.
Water Cooler: Cost of rent outpaces wages / Admiral George Dewey & Olympia / Elder care labor shortage / Amtrak returns today / Fireworks damage neighbor’s home / Swimmer rescued from falls
Amtrak returns to Vermont today. Wage earners can’t afford the rent. Nursing homes need workers. A swimmer was rescued from beautiful, perilous Bingham Falls.
Watercooler: Enough is enough: revolving door for repeat offenders / mold in women’s prison / Warning issued after lawmaker’s electric car fire / Universal school meals urged
Police are getting fed up with the revolving door for repeat offenders. There’s a bad mold problem in the women’s prison. After the EV owned by a Vermont lawmaker caught on fire, warnings were issued about not over-charging.
Water Cooler: Stabbings at Burlington homeless camp / Former priest accused of child sex abuse / Passport desperation / School principal sentenced in sex case / Hallquist outlines broadband plans
Vermonters desperate for passports are converging on the federal building in St. Albans. A former priest is accused of child sex abuse and a school principal is sentenced for a sex offense. Gov. Scott’s one-time challenger outlines her plans for Vermont broadband. These headlines and more from Vermont media.
Water Cooler: porn guilty pleas/ Starbucks, housing in Berlin/ free courses at UVM / Delta variant in VT
Today’s hot media headlines from around the state.
Water Cooler: 10-car pileup / Burlington City councilor and former VPIRG staffer accused of sex assault / beaches close / Gypsy Moth to be renamed
Headlines from Vermont media: the Gypsy Moth will get a new, less ethnically-sensitive name. Cyanobacteria closing beaches. A Burlington city councilor has been accused on social media of sexually assaulting a fellow VPIRG worker.
Water Cooler: Hacker reports child porn / big VT media merger / homicide & bail reform / donut bus
A hacker discovered child porn and reported it. Big non-profit media in Vermont just got bigger. A NY homicide raises questions about bail reform on both sides of Lake Champlain.








