News

Halifax eyes need to plan for an aging population

A draft update of the Halifax Town Plan shows the rural town’s population is aging, and has a median household income below that of most nearby towns. Town planners are now working on the draft update, the first since 2019, and expect to finalize it by November, ahead of consideration by the...

Officials at River Valleys Unified School District count votes to continue the International Baccalaureate program at The Dover School. Jon Hurdle

IB program to stay at Dover School

Dover Elementary School is keeping its International Baccalaureate program after a long-running debate over whether its benefits to students outweigh its costs and the extra work for teachers and administrators to keep it running. Voters in the River Valleys Unified School District decisively...

A male bobolink carrying food. Cathryn Abbott

Landowners urged to protect grassland birds by delaying mowing

Three declining species would be better able to raise their young if farmers stayed out of hayfields early in the season, naturalists say
Conservationists are stepping up their efforts to protect three species of grassland birds as the weather warms and more birds migrate...

Josh DeBottis has just completed his first winter season as general manager of the Hermitage Club at Haystack Mountain. Photo courtesy of The Hermitage Club

Hermitage Club wraps up a successful winter

For the general manager, Josh DeBottis, running the club and ski area brings him full circle
By most accounts, the recently concluded winter sports season was one of the best in recent memory, with cold weather and consistent natural snowfall keeping the Deerfield Valley...

Terry and Steve Morse drive their Percheron horses in Whitingham's 2016 Old Home Week parade.

Whitingham prepares events for its once-in-a-decade Old Home Week

The planners of the Town of Whitingham’s Old Home Week, set for July 24 to July 26, have already packed the schedule with activities and live music, and are still slipping more into the line up. It is a town-wide event, like a reunion, held every 10 years, that has been going on since the early...

Jacksonville looks forward to a new general store

This village is getting a new general store after about five years without a retailer selling a full range of groceries and other essentials. A building near the intersection of Routes 100 and 112 in the center of the village is slowly filling with shelving, counters, and other equipment. It is...

Dover to pay $12,020 for soil sampling near ‘forever chemical’ well

At its meeting on Tuesday, April 7, the Dover Selectboard approved an expenditure of $12,020 for soil sampling near a dry well at Dover Town Common. In other matters, the board negotiated terms of a three-year contract with Casella Waste Systems and approved spending from the town’s 1% fund to...

Annual meeting will decide fate of IB program at Dover School

The River Valleys Unified School District will hold its annual meeting at Dover Town Hall on Tuesday, April 28, at 7 pm. Among the warned articles is a question about whether the board should continue the International Baccalaureate program at The Dover School. The International Baccalaureate,...

Snow removal costs skyrocketed this past winter, but Wilmington's spending remains in line with the budget for the current fiscal year.

Wilmington budget ‘in fairly good shape,’ town manager says

This town’s current budget is on track to end the fiscal year as officials planned, but spending on highways has struggled to stay on track because of the long, snowy winter, the selectboard heard. In its annual review of the budget three-quarters of the way through the year, which took place...

Halifax Selectboard Chair Edee Edwards describes the implementation of Act181 at a meeting of the board. It formally called on state lawmakers to repeal the 2024 law in its entirety.

Halifax Selectboard sends letter asking Legislature to repeal Act 181

The selectboard voted unanimously on Saturday night to send a letter to the Vermont Legislature asking it to repeal the 2024 land-use law, Act 181, in its entirety. Ten residents attended in person, with the majority telling the board they wanted Act 181 repealed. In the two-page letter, the...