Burlington Free Press
‘UNIQUE OFFERING’
The past year was an eventful one for Summer Cao. h Last St. Patrick’s Day, she moved her Korean takeout eatery Donwoori from South Burlington to Winooski and expanded it to a sit-down restaurant with 44 seats. Two months later, Cao’s father died in...
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Machado gains little in White House visit
WASHINGTON – Venezuelan opposition leader Marina Corina Machado got her courtesy luncheon with President Donald Trump on Jan. 15 but gained little else politically after the White House secured a $500 million deal for Venezuelan oil through ongoing...
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Report: U.S. likely saw negative net migration
For the first time in decades, net migration for the United States was likely negative in 2025, and the trend could continue amid President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration enforcement actions, according to a new think tank report. A...
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Trump confronts stark divisions in GOP
WASHINGTON – In the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term in office, he got pretty much everything he wanted out of the Republican-led Congress. He passed a giant tax-and-spending law with sweeping changes to domestic policy. Most of his...
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Trans athlete debate reaches high court
WASHINGTON − Becky Pepper-Jackson was in elementary school, already sure she was a girl despite being designated male at birth, when the nation took notice of two transgender athletes. The debate over whether the high school runners in Connecticut had...
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Furor continues over ICE shootings
Tensions remained high Jan. 9 after shootings involving immigration agents in Minneapolis and in Portland, Oregon, drew protesters to the streets and deepened fractures between federal and state officials. In Portland, a U.S. Border Patrol officer...
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‘ They’re not going anywhere’
The Vermont College of Fine Arts campus in Montpelier, perched on a hill overlooking the capital city, once welcomed students a few weeks of the year to augment their largely remote studies with on-campus work. But in 2022, the school shut down the...
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Shows to look forward to
We’re heading into the heart of winter, when thoughts of warmer seasons can bring some solace as we shiver in darkness. You might even — hard as it is to imagine right now — start dreaming of concerts held in balmy air under cloudless skies. Of...
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MADURO’S GRIP ON POWER ENDS
Nicolas Maduro ruled Venezuela with a heavy hand for more than 12 years, presiding over deep economic and social crises and resisting pressure from domestic opponents and foreign governments for political change. His rule abruptly ended on Jan. 3,...
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Jericho woman’s fight with housing crisis shows an option HOMESHARING
JERICHO — Marjorie Minot wanted to do something about Vermont’s housing crisis. She found herself living alone in her fourbed, four-bath house in a town with some of the lowest housing availability in the state. “From an ethical point of view, I don’t...
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Social justice the aim of car repair workshops
MILTON — Allison Rowley loves cars. She’s a hobby mechanic, and she spent a year working at a South Burlington auto repair shop. There, she noticed many customers didn’t know the basics of automotive maintenance — they had never had the opportunity to...
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Milton funeral home offers water cremation
MILTON — When it comes to choosing a funeral option, many factors need to be considered, like process, price and location. So when customers started asking Jonathan Duponte, a funeral home owner in Milton, about environmentally friendly options, he...
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January arts schedule full of music, comedy, visual art
It’s so tempting once the holiday season is over to hang up your coat and say, “That’s it, I’m staying in all winter and doing nothing but reading books and binge-watching cringe-worthy streaming shows.” Ah, yes, the apple in the Garden of Eden was...
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Taste of Burlington
We at the Burlington Free Press spend a fair bit of time and energy writing about new restaurants coming on the scene in Chittenden County. h Those restaurants aren’t always new new, if you know what we’re saying. Sometimes they’re familiar restaurants...
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‘Something that will last’
Few people can say that there is a plant is named after them. Hilda White — a 95-year-old, long-time volunteer at the University of Vermont’s Pringle Herbarium — is one of the lucky individuals who can. White’s namesake is the Polystichum hildae, a...
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Vermonters rally behind GoFundMe fundraisers
Vermont was the second most generous state in 2025, according to GoFundMe. Fundraisers across Vermont raised nearly $9 million in 2025 on the platform, it said. The most generous day for giving was Oct. 30, according to GoFundMe. Notable fundraisers...
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U.S. hits Islamic State in northern Nigeria
President Donald Trump said on Dec. 25 that the U.S. military had attacked Islamic State targets in Nigeria, claiming the group had been targeting Christians. In a post on Truth Social, the president said he directed the military to launch a...
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‘Help’s farther away’
In the 1960s, doctors believed heart muscle died instantly during a heart attack, like throwing a light switch, according to the American Heart Association. Dr. Eugene Braunwald’s research proposed a heart attack was more like a dimmer – the damage...
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Authorities capture 3 Georgia jail escapees
Authorities captured three men Dec. 23, including one charged with murder, who escaped from a county jail east of Atlanta. The three men fled Dec. 22 from the DeKalb County Jail, about 10 miles from downtown Atlanta, where they had been detained,...
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GIVING GUESTS AN EXPERIENCE
You might see a horse-drawn carriage trundling through one of Winooski’s parks after a recent ordinance change. The Dec. 8 decision loosened Winooski’s ban on horseback riding in the city by allowing people to obtain a “special written permit” for the...
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Turning Point USA gains ground on campuses
Apair of students stood in the Indiana University Indianapolis student center asking a simple legal question: “Is ‘hate speech’ protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution?” Students slowed to read the white board, and many shuffled toward...
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NEW YEAR’S EVE FUN
Who goes out on a Wednesday night in winter? There doesn’t tend to be a whole lot going on, for one thing. And if there is, it’s smack in the middle of the week, which makes stumbling into the office the next day after a late night an unpleasant...
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Brown shooting suspect found dead
PROVIDENCE, RI – Though the suspect connected to the deadly Brown University attack and the fatal shooting of an MIT professor was found dead in New Hampshire, the questions and fallout have only begun. Providence Police Chief Col. Oscar Perez...
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Top-ranked Hallmark holiday movies set in Vermont
With the holidays rapidly approaching, The Hallmark Channel’s “Countdown to Christmas” is underway, perfect for those looking to celebrate the cold season from the comfort of their couch. Whether an old holiday favorite or a brand new premiere, many...
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Penzo Pizza returns home to Essex Junction
ESSEX JUNCTION — Penzo Pizza has returned home in more ways than one. The business began in 2021 with a portable food trailer that frequented Essex and Essex Junction. Owner Dave Penzo realized a dream a couple of years later when Penzo Pizza moved...
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Cancer trial for dogs could benefit humans
GRAFTON, MA – Haley was a little nervous during her doctor’s appointment. She shivered and cowered, but her mood quickly improved. Haley had a leg amputated nearly a year ago after a diagnosis of an aggressive bone cancer called osteosarcoma and she...
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‘That was heartening’
Brett Yates felt confident that the first few days at the new movie theater Partizanfilm would be busy ones. They were. Yates, the president of the nonprofit “micro-cinema” in Burlington, was less sure what would come next. Would anyone show up a few...
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Ice cream stand expands into Mr. Creemee shop
It was 2020 when Henry Mizrahi saw the spot for rent, a small space with a window near the downtown City Market where Union Scoops used to serve frozen treats. He thought he could help open another ice cream stand there. h He lived nearby with a...
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Trump unveils new sanctions on Venezuela
President Donald Trump is continuing to ratchet up pressure on Venezuela, after United States military forces seized an oil tanker off the South American country’s coast and unveiled new sanctions on it. The Dec. 10 seizure is the latest escalation in...
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Private firms snap up mobile home parks
One of America’s most affordable paths to homeownership is slipping away. At manufactured home parks – sometimes called trailer parks or mobile home parks – rents are rapidly rising due to large-scale buyouts by private equity firms. Although private...
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Lighting up the season
As December begins, Christmas lights are popping up all across Vermont to welcome the holiday season, bringing joy and brightness to the dark, cold days of winter. Luckily, if you’re a fan of Christmas lights, you don’t have to go far to see them....
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‘SO WONDERFUL’
SHELBURNE — Surrounded by a sea of blue waves, the 220-foot steamboat Ticonderoga looks like it is ready to leave port. But the waves aren’t from nearby Lake Champlain. They’re made from yards of festive lights. The Shelburne Museum’s winter display...
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Novels for the winter
The snow is dropping. Temperatures are dropping. It’s quite possible as a result that your interest in setting foot outside your house before April is also dropping. Ensconcing season has arrived. You know what that means, don’t you? Reading season is...
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Turkey Trot raises funds for scholarships
HINESBURG — Upbeat music played and runners of all ages chatted, dropped off food donations and stretched in preparation for the fourth annual Champlain Valley Union High School Turkey Trot on Nov. 22. Spirits were high despite the chilly morning,...
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DOJ identifies suspect in Jan. 6 pipe bomb case
WASHINGTON – Before joining the Trump administration, FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino promoted conspiracy theories about the pipe bombs planted in Washington ahead of the U.S. Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021, going as far as...
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‘A Vermont treasure’
The Vermont music community is mourning singer-songwriter Jon Gailmor, who for decades touched thousands of lives with his songs and work to empower children. Gailmor died Sunday, Nov. 30, in New Orleans, according to his son, Aaron, who lives there....
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VT band celebrating first album with show
The sprawling Vermont group High Summer and its all-night-long blend of soul, jazz and funk has its roots in what saxophone player Jacob Deva Racusin called “porch jams” at his home in Montgomery. Many of the musicians in those sessions have joined the...
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New movie theater opens
Burlington’s new theater — and now only daily movie house — gets going this week with a pair of classic flicks before settling in for a run of newer art-house films. Partizanfilm opens at 230 College St. with a members- only party from 5-7 p.m. on...
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‘INCREDIBLY OPTIMISTIC’
Citizen Cider took a long journey to open its new Press House Pub on Flynn Avenue. Management eyed a June 1 start. Opening day came more than four months later, on Oct. 10. “We were incredibly optimistic,” said Terra Heilenbach, Citizen Cider’s...
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Theater company pausing shows for repairs
The Valley Players won’t be putting on any shows at its home theater next year as the troupe focuses on repairs and safety upgrades to its 19th-century building in Waitsfield. h While the local theater company says it will pause productions starting in...
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‘Hadestown’ returns, plus Higher Ground events
Looking for something to do that isn’t holiday themed? Believe it or not, despite the onslaught of the Santa Claus Hype Machine, there’s plenty going on that won’t involve you rushing out to the store or hopping online to buy gobs of gifts. You can...
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Trump vows further migrant crackdown
President Donald Trump said Nov. 27 that U.S. Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, of the West Virginia National Guard, died after being shot the previous day in an ambush near the White House, a shooting that drew claims from his administration of Biden-era...
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HAPPY THANKSGIVING
There is no print edition of the paper today, but you can find today’s puzzles, comics, national news and sports here in the eNewspaper.
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How Soulmate Brewing is navigating tariffs, taxes
Fall foliage was a boon to Soulmate Brewing. Stick season has been a bust. “Leaf peeping was a very busy season, and now it’s crickets here, as if no one is in Vermont,” said Jonathan Mogor, who opened the Morrisville brewery two years ago with his...
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ENJOY VERMONT THIS HOLIDAY SEASON
Maybe your favorite holiday memories are of sparkling lights suspended from trees and houses. Perhaps it’s productions of “The Nutcracker” or “A Christmas Carol” that really warm your soul at year’s end. It could even be something as simple as hearing...
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Where art meets politics
Here, maybe more than in most places, artists are wired to reflect the times. Take a recent announcement from a few Vermont musicians who, “troubled by the treatment of migrant workers under the Trump administration,” have united for a version of...
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ANTI-MORMON SLURS AND VIOLENCE PERSIST
A day before a shooter killed four people and set fire to a Michigan church in September, students at a football game in Colorado chanted vulgar slurs against the same religious organization. The two events spurred sweeping conversations about the...
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DC protester detained over music
Sam O’Hara was walking his 10-yearold rescue dog Lincoln, a daschund mix, near Dupont Circle in Washington, DC, in late August when he saw two National Guard members patrolling the area. “The thought just kind of dawned on me that they look like...
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Officials: U.S. aid cuts curtail malaria fight
BOGO, Cameroon – Nine-month-old baby Mohamat burned with fever for three days before his family took him to the closest health center in northern Cameroon, but it was too late. He died of malaria that day. Mohamat’s death was part of a spike this year...
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Well, La Di Da!
When Celine Eid wrote her college entrance essay, she picked a topic she feels very, very strongly about. Pizza. “I was just obsessed,” the University of Vermont grad said. “I was obsessed on making the perfect slice.” Fans of Eid’s new Old North End...
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Two VT chains to move into Market Street area
SOUTH BURLINGTON — The longplanned downtown core between DorsetStreetandVermont116continuesto fill in, as two well-established Vermont restaurant chains get ready to move into the Market Street neighborhood. Folino’s Pizza, with four Vermont locations...
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‘A legacy restaurant’
A favorite of Burlington diners has just been given a prestigious New England honor. Yankee Magazine just released their 2025 Food Awards and listed one of Burlington’s newest additions in the dining scene as their pick for the best new restaurant of...
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Warren Zevon’s Vermont family excited for induction
Warren Zevon’s music career hit its commercial peak nearly 50 years ago. He died more than 20 years ago at age 56 of mesothelioma. He enjoyed commercial success for his 1978 album “Excitable Boy” and songs such as “Werewolves of London.” He inspired...
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Silicon Valley ‘warlord’ gets Pentagon’s attention
NEW YORK – “I’m a warlord now, (expletive)!” Steven Simoni, wearing a $4,000 Celine track suit unzipped to reveal a bare chest and a silver chain, was holding court at a recent film premiere in the East Village of Manhattan, joking with a reporter...
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‘Powerful and humbling’
COLCHESTER — Rehearsal was over, and Peter Harrigan stood with his back to the stage, facing the cast and crew he’d spent all fall prepping for a play, “Mill Girls.” The St. Michael’s College theater professor had a message to deliver before a short...
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Hurricane bewilders meteorologists
As Hurricane Melissa neared the Jamaican coast, winds in the spiraling wall of clouds around its eye gusted to almost unimaginable speeds. How fast? Faster than most tornadoes. Faster than a race car at Daytona. Faster than the fastest roller coaster...
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How prosecutors built NBA gambling cases
One investigation spanned nine states, with illegal poker games allegedly taking place in glamorous locations like the Hamptons, Las Vegas, Miami and Manhattan. A second looked at alleged betting based on insider information and faked injuries...
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NOVEMBER EVENTS
Thirty days hath November, and it turns out this November hath well over 30 arts-and-entertainment events worth your while in Vermont. But we don’t have time to write a list of 872 shows, and frankly you probably don’t want to read a list that long,...
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HALLOWEEN FUN
WINOOSKI — Rotary Park flickered to life Oct. 25 as 1,000 jacko’-lanterns illuminated the Onion City for its annual Halloween celebration. Hosted by Downtown Winooski, the event featured scavenger hunts, trick-or-treating at local businesses and live...
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Lawmakers scramble to salvage SNAP benefits
WASHINGTON – As the government shutdown enters one month with no end in sight, federal lawmakers and state officials are scrambling to blunt the pain of missing services such as the first lapse Nov. 1 in food assistance since the program was...
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NEXT-LEVEL DEDICATION
The proof of Max Ellinger’s Costco fandom is his only tattoo, inked on his right arm. It’s the Kirkland Signature logo – the Costco house brand for everything from rotisserie chicken to laundry detergent. Ellinger got it in 2019 after a friend...
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As shutdown continues, SNAP ‘well’ running dry
WASHINGTON – The federal government shutdown entered Day 28 on Oct. 28 with no end in sight as the Trump administration warns Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits will end on Nov. 1 if the government remains closed. U.S. Department of...
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New program for LGBTQ+ youth begins next month
Outright Vermont is launching a new program for LGBTQ+ and gender creative kids ages 10-12. The Tween Group will meet on the first Thursday and third Sunday of each month at Outright Vermont’s Burlington youth space, according to an announcement from...
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Food banks brace for surge amid shutdown
WASHINGTON – Cynthia Kirkhart, the CEO of Facing Hunger Foodbank in Huntington, West Virginia, has already had to explain to customers this year why the organization is rationing bags of potatoes. The food bank has had to shrink its allotments as...
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Report says VT tribes are illegitimate
Abenaki leaders in Canada released a cache of genealogical research on high-profile members of the Vermont-recognized Abenaki tribes, further evidence, they say, that their New England counterparts are illegitimate — in other words, mostly descended...
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Persistent inflation up again last month
Inflation rose again in September, revealing the persistence of rising prices as the job market showed signs of cooling and consumers begin to think about the holiday season. Consumer prices increased 3% from a year earlier, slightly up from 2.9% in...
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Birds bounce back
When I started bird-watching as a teenager, a few years after the first Earth Day in 1970, several species that once thrived in my region were nowhere to be found. Some, like the passenger pigeon, were extinct. Others had retreated to more remote, wild...
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Supreme Court Justice inspires UVM students
As a U.S. Supreme Court justice whose views of late are often heard in dissenting opinions, Sonia Sotomayor is accustomed to fighting for lost causes. The third woman and first Hispanic person on the court, Sotomayor said lawyers representing civil...
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‘A hub for the community’
The sudden death of Chris Johnson, the owner and revered baker at Nomad Coffee & Bakery, could have spelled the end of the Burlington business in March. Johnson’s business partners, the owners of Brio Coffeeworks, quickly reached out to Eric Kelley,...
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‘HOPEFULLY I CAN INSPIRE PEOPLE’
On an April walk with his dogs, Graham Montague circles a wetland pond with curiosity, wondering about the underwater world that lies below. He comes back at nighttime. He puts on his wetsuit and snorkeling mask, turns on his GoPro and dive lights,...
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Fresh stories added to Queen City Ghostwalk
Holli Bushnell grew up in a graveyard. Her parents did, in fact, raise her in a house — but one enveloped on two sides by Woodlawn Cemetery along Vermont Route 100 in Rochester. Bushnell spent so many hours playing in the parklike grounds that the...
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New stores excited to be open for business
Continuous road closures and construction seemed too high a hurdle for a few Queen City businesses this year. Main Street spots like Nectar’s and The Gryphon closed their doors for good, and a few Church Street shops shuttered along the way. But...
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Trump seeking charges for more political foes
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton on Oct. 16 became the third high-profile Trump critic to be criminally charged after the president repeatedly attacked him publicly. All three maintain their innocence...
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Brewery throws one last party before closing
Crowds gathered at Simple Roots Brewing last weekend to sit and chat and laugh and reminisce and drink beer in the compact, packed taproom. Others basked at outside tables in the waning October sun or waited in long lines to buy savory handheld pies...
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Singer-songwriter Kahan returns to VT
STOWE — Noah Kahan melded his two favorite things earlier this month in the name of mental health awareness: music and golf. The singer-songwriter hosted the inaugural Folk and Fairways tournament and concert, a two-day benefit that took place at...
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Shelburne Museum glad to receive Norman Rockwell art
SHELBURNE — Shelburne Museum Curator Carolyn Bauer sat down recently to talk about the lasting impact of Norman Rockwell’s work and the excitement the new acquisitions are generating at the museum. Rockwell (1894-1978) lived in Arlington, Vermont,...
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