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.
While some worry about solar panels consuming prime agricultural acreage in Vermont, a Windham County economic development agency has found a different kind of home for photovoltaic power generation.
The state has approved two new, 500-kilowatt solar arrays in Guilford, one of which will be built at Exit One Industrial Park. Brattleboro Development Credit Corp. (BDCC) owns that land and will take advantage of utility credits associated with the net-metered project.
While pointing out the project's financial and environmental benefits, BDCC Executive Director Adam Grinold also said the array won't short-circuit any further development at the park, which is situated at the Brattleboro-Guilford border.
“This is not developable land,” Grinold said. “It's on a slope. We are not taking land that could be used for a future project.”...
Among the small group waiting to board Amtrak's southbound Vermonter here on a recent afternoon, no one was toting a bicycle. But that could change soon, as Amtrak has begun a carry-on bike service for its daily trains between St. Albans and Washington, D.C. It's a pilot project spurred...
Though Vermont ambulance services are facing regulatory and financial uncertainty, Rescue Inc. is looking to expand. The Brattleboro-based ambulance service has plans to move its northern operations base from a small substation at Grace Cottage Hospital to a new, much-larger building in West Townshend. The move will allow Rescue...
Brattleboro Memorial Hospital administrators want to strengthen their ties with two health-care providers on the other side of the Connecticut River. The hospital on April 26 announced formation of a new “strategic partnership” with Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health in Lebanon, N.H., and Cheshire Medical Center/Dartmouth-Hitchcock Keene in Keene, N.H. Also announced was a “joint management committee” that will recommend ways to expand that partnership. Brattleboro remains an independently governed hospital, and a spokeswoman said the announcement “has nothing to do with a...
Echoing a recurring theme in Vermont Yankee's decommissioning, U.S. Rep. Peter Welch says newly introduced federal legislation would increase the influence of state and local governments in nuclear-plant cleanup. Welch, D-Vt., announced April 20 that he had introduced the Nuclear Plant Decommissioning Act as a companion to a Senate bill introduced by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. “As we've seen with Vermont Yankee, the decommissioning of a nuclear power plant has a huge impact on local communities,” Welch said in...
It isn't cheap to maintain an insurance policy on a nuclear power plant. But, as of this month, Entergy Vermont Yankee is getting a big break on premiums: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says the company can cut its onsite proper-damage insurance coverage from $1.06 billion to $50 million. Citing the fact that the Vernon plant has been shut down for more than 15 months, the federal agency says a much smaller insurance policy still will be adequate to cover cleanup...
After more than a year of intense planning and contentious debate, the Vernon natural-gas plant project has come to an abrupt halt. Energy giant Kinder Morgan decided April 20 to pull the plug - at least for now - on its Northeast Energy Direct pipeline, and that means there will be no fuel supply for a proposed 600-megawatt gas-fired Vernon plant. Local officials noted that Kinder Morgan has “suspended” the pipeline project, meaning that work might resume at some point.
After months of simmering tensions, Vernon School Board's frustrations boiled over as members voted unanimously April 25 to “withdraw immediately” from Act 46 merger studies in Windham Southeast Supervisory Union. Vernon officials cited ongoing concerns about local budgetary control; future school closures; and the fate of the town's unique school-choice arrangement. Board Chairman Mike Hebert said the vote should be seen as a rejection of the Act 46 Study Committee's continued consideration of a union-wide merger on an accelerated schedule.
