The Deeper Dig

The Vermont Agency of Transportation has an internal word for when a tractor trailer wedges itself on the windy mountain road between Stowe and Jeffersonville: a “stuckage.”  And while they’re working on a handful of ways to prevent stuck trucks, it remains a persistent, vaguely goofy, problem. Earlier this summer, not too long after the Notch road reopened from its annual winter hibernation, two...

Buzz Ferver is on a mission. The proprietor of Perfect Circle Farm in Berlin wants to find a persimmon that will grow well in central Vermont. So far, he’s planted more than 15,000 seeds. Last winter, just one plant survived.  But Ferver is working on something bigger, too. He is cultivating a whole collection of perennial crops — mostly fruits and nuts — that can thrive in Vermont as the climate...

Last week, Vermont shut down its Covid-19 testing sites. These sites operated for more than two years and accounted for most of the  3.6 million results  recorded by the state Department of Health over the course of the pandemic.  State officials have pointed to the increased use of antigen tests as one reason for this shift. As take-home testing has become more common, public health agencies have...

A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling struck down state-level rules that barred public money from going to schools that teach religious beliefs. According to some legal scholars, that decision has unique consequences for Vermont — and could require the state to rethink how it funds K-12 education.  The case, Carson v. Makin, started in Maine. Like Vermont, Maine uses a tuition system in towns that ar...

After two years of pandemic-related supply chain issues, Vermont businesses are facing a new wave of price increases on everything ranging from seitan deliveries to two-by-fours. Now, they're cutting costs, raising their own prices and wondering how long the trend can continue.

Sandy Sumner became a reluctant advocate for efforts to hold an international plastics company accountable for PFOA contamination in Bennington. Now, months after his death from an aggressive cancer that he believed was caused by his exposure to toxic chemicals, legislators are making their third attempt at a bill to empower pollution victims. Sandy's wife, Marie-Pierre Huguet, wants to see it pas...

For some, the long-term effects of a coronavirus infection can be debilitating. And while clinical understanding of the disease evolves, many worry that Vermont's rural health system is ill-equipped to treat it.

Nursing homes reopened their doors to visitors last November, but advocates still worry that another Covid-19 spike could once again lock family members out from seeing and caring for their relatives. What have we learned from nursing home lockdowns? And what does it mean for the future of long-term care?

Recent trends in Vermont’s Covid-19 case counts have officials and experts feeling optimistic about the course of the pandemic — but all warn it would be premature to brush off the Omicron threat just yet. As of Friday, the state’s seven-day average for daily new cases had fallen by more than half since its peak on Jan. 9, a sign that the worst of the past month’s surge may have passed. Many of th...

Students are back in school for their third week of the new year. Or at least, some of them are. The Omicron variant has caused a massive spike in Covid-19 cases and a massive spike in absences among students, teachers and school staff. As a result, dozens of schools across the state have already canceled classes for at least a day this month, and some for longer stretches. State officials have pr...

Vermont hospitals are feeling the strain from the recent surge of Covid-19 cases — and so are patients. Doctors and nurses are caring for an overwhelming number of people. Many are sick with severe Covid, and even more are crowding facilities after delaying care earlier in the pandemic. That’s caused some hospitals to call in federal reinforcements, and it’s forced some patients to delay procedure...

Opponents of hound hunting in Vermont have spent this fall ramping up their calls for the state to restrict the practice. And while it’s too soon to tell if they’ll be successful, their tactics have brought statewide attention to what was once a niche hunting technique.

A new 300-page report represents Vermont’s first comprehensive strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prepare for the effects of climate change. The Climate Action Plan outlines more than 230 steps toward meeting an ambitious set of emissions reductions goals. How will those proposals now be put into action?

Elementary and middle schools in the Granite City have had more total Covid-19 cases than in any other community. Parents and administrators alike are concerned about the long-term impacts.

If the Legislature passes a law to allow municipal mask mandates during a special session next week, town and city officials will find themselves at the center of a policy debate that’s escalated for months. Gov. Phil Scott has repeatedly said he doesn’t believe a statewide mask mandate would be effective — and that instituting one now would be an abuse of his authority. Democratic leaders have ar...

In the first 10 days of eligibility, about 15,500 Vermont children ages 5-11 had either been signed up for appointments or received their first dose of the Pfizer Covid vaccine. That's about 35% of the eligible population. But despite the early rush, experts have warned that there may be more hesitancy around this group than other age groups. National survey data has shown that about two-thirds of...

Recorded at a live storytelling event in Burlington, VTDigger’s Fred Thys and Audi Guha talk about reporting in uncertain situations.

Vermont’s three members of Congress have served a combined 93 years in the U.S. House and Senate. They’ve accrued an unusual amount of power and influence for one small-state delegation. But they won’t remain in Washington, D.C., forever. Whenever the next vacancy occurs, it could represent a once-in-a-generation chance to reshape Vermont’s congressional representation. Recorded live at a VTD...

A state program to house Vermonters who would otherwise be homeless in vacant motel rooms during the pandemic is in limbo — again. More than 500 families who would have been kicked out in late September got a 30-day reprieve. But with a new deadline just weeks away and few options available for affordable apartments or shelter beds, where are people exiting the program going to go?

What’s it like attending high school in a converted department store? Five years of Burlington High School students are finding out.

The longtime leader of the Vermont Council on Rural Development is stepping down September 30. For 21 years, Paul Costello has helped towns and cities across Vermont envision how to build stronger communities. Looking back on that work today, he still can’t stop talking about the future. “We have to be committed in new ways at this point in our history,” Costello said last week. Facing big-picture...

Students in some districts are returning to school buildings as soon as this week. Meanwhile, Covid-19 cases across the state are still surging due to the highly contagious Delta variant. School leaders across the state say their number one job is to keep kids safe this fall. But what exactly that means could look different from school to school. Guests: Brian Ricca (St. Johnsbury School District)...

While an ongoing conversation about police reform plays out both nationally and locally, Covid-19 has led to its own pandemic of mental health issues. In response, some central Vermont police departments have been trying a new method of integrating mental health services into law enforcement. Is it working?

The Delta variant of the coronavirus is driving a new surge in Covid-19 cases across the country — and a much smaller increase in cases throughout Vermont. Health authorities say the Delta variant is far more contagious than previous strains of the virus, but that vaccines are still effective at preventing severe illness and death. But with case numbers rising both nationally and locally, how conc...

Since last year, realtors have described unprecedented home-buying, driving up prices and competition. What’s less clear is how the pandemic has affected the state’s rental market. But one family’s story backs up the word on the street: People are scrambling for apartments that aren’t there.