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.
For years, local officials and energy-efficiency advocates have been working to nurture and promote a “green building” industry in Windham County.
Those efforts have taken on new urgency with the shutdown of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. And officials recently announced - with a boost from federal funding - creation of a new Green Building Cluster Study to identify the county's strongest assets in environmentally friendly construction and renovation.
But energy efficiency is just one aspect of what some are calling the state's “Climate Change Economy.”
A forum scheduled for Oct. 6 in Brattleboro is set up as a free exchange of ideas on how to build an economic engine amid the green movement in southeastern Vermont and statewide.
At a recent meeting, the Guilford Town School Board tackled what seemed to be a simple agenda item - developing a brief, matter-of-fact letter informing residents of upcoming discussions required by Act 46, Vermont's new education-governance law. But it turned into a difficult, extended debate as board members went...
If Entergy has its way, Vermont Yankee's emergency programs - and the funding that goes with them - are due for a major downsizing in the first half of next year. At a Sept. 24 meeting in Brattleboro, several state officials argued that the company's emergency commitments to surrounding...
In the debate over whether Vermont should enact a law that mandates paid family and medical leave, Chad Simmons has a uniquely personal perspective. On one hand, he is a new dad who is taking unpaid leave from his job in order to help care for his daughter. On the other hand, Simmons' wife runs a small company in Brattleboro, and such businesses would be expected to comply with new mandates under such an initiative. So Simmons wants to be...
Not surprisingly, most scrutiny of the Vermont Yankee site revolves around radiological concerns. But, as indicated by a recent, months-long process of violation notices and responses, state officials also are deeply interested in what plant owner Entergy is doing with its non-radiological waste - so much so that the state has threatened a civil complaint and associated, unspecified penalties in connection with an inspection earlier this year. Some of the issues might seem surprisingly trivial: a half-full can of Sherwin-Williams...
In a town hit hard by the shutdown of Vermont Yankee, officials say a natural-gas plant - with development costs estimated at $750 million - may be in the works. The optimism in Vernon is carefully qualified, however. For one thing, the plant is far from a sure bet, and it's not yet been disclosed which sites are under consideration. Also, there have been a few recent hints of opposition from the general public, though the town government has been...
Though three new judges have been tapped to fill Vermont Superior Court vacancies, Windham County's courts still are doing more with less. It's a situation not unique to this county, as Vermont Chief Superior Judge Brian Grearson has had his hands full crafting a patchwork system of judicial assignments to address a growing caseload in criminal, civil, and family courts around the state. Grearson notes that help is on the way. The state's three newest judges soon will assume their...
During winter's cold spells, NewBrook Elementary School's outdated heating system had a hard time keeping up: Some classrooms were stiflingly warm, while others remained chilly. And the boiler that fueled that system was alarmingly inefficient, gulping about three gallons of oil each hour. All that is about to change, as NewBrook is in the process of installing a sophisticated new air-to-air heat pump system for heating and cooling. The system, along with a new backup propane-fueled boiler, has eliminated the...
