How Burlington’s mayor plans to close $11 million budget gap for next year
Emma Mulvaney-Stanak recommends eliminating or freezing dozens of vacant positions and implementing tax increases amid “a very sizable challenge” of rising city costs for the third consecutive year.
Solar array gone awry: Vermont probes solar development owner about broken solar panels in Shaftsbury
Agriculture agency says it is “working to learn more.”
Hard feelings over Randolph Fourth of July parade route
White River Valley Chamber of Commerce stands by its decision, while the police chief cites understaffing and says he has considered quitting.
Vermont, 24 other states sue Trump’s Education Department over loan caps
The suit claims that the department’s exclusion of certain degree programs, like nursing, will burden the healthcare system.
As Vermont lawmakers stare down adjournment, major bills are still in flux
Also in Final Reading: Commissioner Murad and a higher tax in Stowe.
Editors’ Picks
Our best stories, investigations, podcasts and more, as recommended to you by VTDigger editors.
State officials and local residents respond to ongoing PFAS contamination concerns in Bennington County
“PFAS is a generational disaster, and we’re only now starting to figure out what it means to respond to an environmental crisis of this scale and this durability,” said a Bennington College professor and PFAS researcher.
Vermonters will vote on equal protection amendment to state constitution this fall
The proposal, which got a final sign-off from the House on Wednesday, is aimed at ensuring all people are treated equally under the law regardless of their race, ethnicity, sex, religion or other identity.
Want to revisit and revise your life? Vermont writer Julia Alvarez knows how.
“What can I contribute that’s a spark of joy?” says the 76-year-old pioneering National Medal of Arts winner upon publication of a new career-spanning poetry anthology, “Visitations.”
Parents feel ‘blindsided’ by Washington Central school district’s grade reconfiguration
“I think many of us are concerned about the precedent that it sets, that decisions like this could be made unilaterally, without significant community input at all,” one parent said.
Legislators reject Gov. Scott’s loosening of wetland protections
The governor’s administration had moved to allow housing development in certain unmapped wetlands and to cut in half the buffer zone around wetlands.
Lawmakers hit pause on childcare licensure reform — for now
Also in Final Reading: A law prompted by a fatal crash and regulations for data centers
Opinion
Commentaries and letters to the editor written by community members and regular contributors.
Vermont’s new farming legislation leaves small livestock operations vulnerable
A broad coalition won some protections for farmers, but new legislation allows towns to impose arbitrary caps on poultry and livestock that could push agriculture out of communities.
When clutter spills outside
Hoarding disorder is a mental health condition, but in Vermont’s small towns, it plays out in plain sight, testing the limits of neighborliness and local governance.
When prior authorization becomes prior aggravation
Insurance red tape is delaying care, driving up costs and consuming hours of physicians’ time — and patients are paying the price.
Vermont’s Act 181 reset is a chance to get it right
Removing controversial provisions alone won’t solve the state’s rural housing challenges.
Police department’s social media tactics lead to arrests — and criticism
Morristown’s police department offers prizes for information. Some see its approach as dehumanizing.
Second Vermont man this year dies in Mississippi prison
Shawn Sears, 56, died Wednesday after he was found unresponsive in his cell, according to the Vermont Department of Corrections. He was suing the department for denying him access to prison programs.
Hospitals need to cut spending drastically — but do their plans deliver?
The Agency of Human Services is leading hospitals as they outline visions for more efficiencies and shared services, but the plans don’t go far in calculating dollars to be spent and saved.
House honors Norwich woman as investigators say little
Still no updates from police on the investigation of the death of 82-year-old Noel Neely.
Obituaries
Death notices and celebrations of life.
Vermont House stops short of unmasking ICE, dividing House Democrats
The House passed a bill that creates a statewide policy on masking and identification for local and state police officers. Lawmakers stripped it of its effect on federal agents.
