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.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has mostly rejected a state complaint about decommissioning spending at Vermont Yankee, thus ending the last such appeal that had been pending before the federal agency.
Nearly a year ago, Vermont officials had demanded a “robust, comprehensive and participatory review” of the ways in which Entergy Vermont Yankee administrators are spending money from the shut-down plant's decommissioning trust fund.
But the NRC's ruling, issued Oct. 27, dismisses Vermont's challenge to federal trust fund supervision. Commissioners said federal regulations are designed to ensure plant owners don't run out of cash before decommissioning is complete.
“Moreover, our ongoing oversight of Entergy's compliance with our regulatory structure provides reasonable assurance that sufficient funds will be available to decommission Vermont Yankee in accordance with our regulations,” commissioners wrote.
Anaerobic digester research, renewable energy education, and Rutland solar development are the latest beneficiaries of funding from an old Vermont Yankee insurance policy. The state Public Service Board has approved Green Mountain Power's plans to distribute $302,719 from a Nuclear Electric Insurance Limited fund to various projects around the...
As the keynote speaker at an early October conference in New Hampshire, the Brattleboro Retreat's top administrator delivered a stark summation of mental health treatment. “There is no mental health system,” said Louis Josephson, Retreat president and chief executive officer. “I defy anyone here ... tell me what our...
For the first time in 14 years, Windham Southeast Supervisory Union is headed for a change in leadership. But the Oct. 26 decision to name Lyle Holiday as the pending successor to retiring Superintendent Ron Stahley was overshadowed by intense debate about the way officials had searched for a new top administrator. That search didn't include any external candidates, and Holiday - a Windham Southeast curriculum coordinator - was the only candidate put forth for hiring consideration. While no one...
A national bird-protection organization says the proposed Stiles Brook Wind Project “poses an unacceptably high risk” to some species, including a rare thrush that has been considered for endangered species status. In an Oct. 20 letter to the chairs of the Windham and Grafton selectboards, the American Bird Conservancy argues that the planned construction of 24 turbines in the 5,000-acre forest “is a potential threat to migratory and resident birds and bats” that frequent the area. If the project is...
Federal inspectors are satisfied with Vermont Yankee's environmental monitoring, spent fuel storage, and handling of radiological waste - including contaminated water that had accumulated at the shut-down plant. A new report from a Nuclear Regulatory Commission inspection identifies “no findings of safety significance” at the Vernon facility. The NRC in 2015 terminated its resident inspector program at Vermont Yankee, which stopped producing power at the end of 2014. But the federal agency still conducts regular inspections at the plant, and...
When Vermont State Police Lt. Tim Oliver stepped in front of a crowd at Marlboro School Oct. 19, he was met with a round of enthusiastic applause. “I don't get this very much,” Oliver quipped. But the greeting was representative of a new spirit of cooperation and communication between police and residents here, even as a string of burglaries has left Marlboro on edge. Residents are organizing, using email, social media and Neighborhood Watch-style groups. And they're connecting with state...
The Windham-4 House District race features two leaders of a statewide gun-rights group and two incumbents who've received public support from a gun-control organization. Nevertheless, each of those candidates is insisting that gun regulation - though a hot topic in Vermont politics - is not a central issue in their campaigns. Rather, Democratic Reps. David Deen of Westminster and Mike Mrowicki of Putney are touting their experience and expertise on topics like environmental regulation and human services. In total, they've...
