Vermont

Governor proposes $400 million state relief plan

MONTPELIER- Gov. Phil Scott and members of his administration announced their proposed $400 million economic relief and recovery package on Wednesday.
At his press conference Wednesday, Gov. Scott said the proposed relief would use funds from the $1.25 billion the state received through...

Retail businesses to begin reopening May 18

MONTPELIER- Retail businesses may begin reopening next week, Gov. Phil Scott announced at his press conference Monday morning. He also indicated that his emergency order, extended until May 15, would be extended again. "You can expect, when the emergency order is extended on Friday, it will...

Governor tees up more businesses, small groups

MONTPELIER- At his press briefing Wednesday, Gov. Scott said Vermonters can resume small social gatherings and limited outdoor activities.
Addendum 13 to his March 13 emergency order, signed Wednesday, allows gatherings outdoors or at homes of 10 or fewer people, provided they observe...

Gov. Scott opens the spigot another quarter turn

MONTPELIER- Gov. Phil Scott opened the economic "spigot" another turn today, with the signing of addendum 12 to his March 13 executive order declaring a state of emergency.
This week's order will bring businesses with 10 employees or less back to work, provided they follow the governor's...

Vermont Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Mark Levine

State to ramp up testing, tracing

MONTPELIER- The state will turn its focus to COVID-19 testing and contact tracing as it contemplates bringing more of the economy back on line. Gov. Phil Scott said Wednesday at a press conference the state would ramp up its testing capacity to 1,000 COVID-19 tests per day, and 7,000 per week. ...

Directive to wear face masks in public may be coming

MONTPELIER- At a press conference Monday, exactly one month after declaring a state of emergency, Gov. Phil Scott hinted that there may be more orders coming this week, including a directive to wear face masks when in public.
"It's hard to believe it was only one month ago today that I...

Gov. Scott closes schools, health department expands testing

By Mike Eldred MONTPELIER- Late Thursday afternoon, Gov. Phil Scott issued an order dismissing in-person education at Vermont schools for the remainder of the school year.
The latest order supersedes his earlier order, which closed schools until April 6. Under the order, districts...

Hiking at the top of Mount Snow.

GMNF trails still open but offices go virtual

VERMONT- The Green Mountain National Forest is closing its offices and implementing virtual services to protect the health and safety of employees and members of the public during the COVID-19 outbreak, in accordance with guidance from federal and state authorities.
Though the offices have...

Gov. Scott warns Vermonters to prepare for stricter mitigation measures

MONTPELIER- At his press conference Monday, Gov. Phil Scott told Vermonters to expect additional mitigation measures soon, although he stopped short of calling for a “shelter in place” order. “At the state level we've done a lot to make sure people are social-distancing,” Gov. Scott said, “as...

Locals testify in Senate Education Committee hearing

MONTPELIER- Educators and parents from around the state offered testimony at a Senate Committee on Education hearing on a study of pupil weighting in Vermont’s education funding formula.
The study, which concluded that the current pupil weighting system that determines districts’ “...