Keeping your community covered. We're committed to producing high-quality, fact-based news and information that gives you the facts in this community we call home. If our work has helped you stay informed, take action, or feel more connected to Windham County – please give now to help us reach our goal of raising $150,000 by December 31st.
Keeping your community covered. We're committed to producing high-quality, fact-based news and information that gives you the facts in this community we call home. If our work has helped you stay informed, take action, or feel more connected to Windham County – please give now to help us reach our goal of raising $150,000 by December 31st.
In his fiscal year 2013 budget address earlier this month, Gov. Peter Shumlin said, “I commend our local school boards for holding the line on new spending over the past two years and urge them to do it again.”
But one year of level funding was enough for Leland & Gray Middle and High School. For fiscal 2013, the proposed budget comes in at $6,552,332, which is a 3.5 percent increase over last year's $6,328,984 total.
A public information meeting on the budget will be held Jan. 31 in the school library at 7:30 p.m.
The Leland & Gray annual meeting takes place Tuesday, Feb. 7 in the school gym at 7:30 p.m.
A recently issued favorable environmental assessment from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is the good news for Blue Heron Hydro, the Plainfield-based developer proposing two powerful hydroelectric projects on two West River flood-control dams in Townshend and Jamaica. FERC will or will not issue the final license for...
After 54 years, Santa's Land USA, a Christmas theme park and a familiar landmark on Route 5, has fallen victim to a diminishing interest in roadside attractions, and to a steep hike in operating costs. According to Leslie Wells, who owns the park with husband, lawyer Timothy Wells, the...
What does baking sourdough bread have to do with preparing for a world that will likely have to grapple with the triple threat of climate change, financial instability, and the end of cheap petroleum? For Transition Putney, the ability to bake healthy bread with local ingredients is just one of many skills for area residents to learn to prepare for an uncertain future. The goal of its members: to build community resilience by localizing food production, health care, and other...
Most people agree that doing advance planning for one's medical treatment is a good idea. Unfortunately, like so many good ideas, everyone talks about making out an advanced directive (AD), but few do so. An advance directive, as defined by the Vermont Department of Health, is a written document, signed by an individual and two witnesses, that outlines the individual's wishes for future medical treatment if he or she no longer can make decisions about how to proceed. Since the...
The rigors of Tropical Storm Irene translated into a popular free-breakfast program at Leland & Gray middle- and high school in Townshend, paid for by more than $16,000 in contributions from nearly 60 donors from all over the country, including schools, organizations, and individuals. The breakfasts began in September and will continue through January. While Townshend was, relatively, spared the worst of the destructive storm, some teachers, students and staff from surrounding towns, including Brookline, Dover, Jamaica, Marlboro, Newfane, Stratton...
The road to Dover was paved with good intentions, but just a little too late. The Dover Road in South Newfane, heavily damaged in late August by the wildly flooded Rock River during Tropical Storm Irene, had been partially repaired and was due for guardrail installation. Although one graphic designer circulated a petition urging guardrails not to be installed as part of the road reconstruction from Tropical Storm Irene, the funding for the project requires them to conform to federal...
The landmark Mary Meyer Big Black Bear retail and gift shop, which opened about 30 years ago on Route 30, will close Dec. 31. So says Walter Meyer of Townshend, the son of Hans Meyer, who came to the United States from Germany and started the stuffed toy company in New York City in 1944. Mary Meyer, Hans's wife and Walter's mother, was a native New Yorker. And Walter Meyer, one of Hans and Mary's four sons who continue the...
