by Joseph Gresser DERBY LINE — On Friday, U.S. and Canadian authorities jointly announced that the border between the two nations would be closed to all but essential traffic starting the next day. According to a short press release explaining the decision, “T... More »
by Joseph Gresser MONTPELIER — At one of the last hearings held before the Legislature shut its doors for two weeks in response to fears of the coronavirus, members of the Senate Education Committee heard pleas for a change in state school funding. The hearing... More »
by Joseph Gresser NEWPORT — The Orleans County Superior Court schedule called for a jury draw on March 12. Ordinarily that would mean dozens of people climbing the stairs to the third-floor courtroom and jamming in together for hours while lawyers tried to se... More »
The Outside Story by Susie Spikol Sometimes it pays to be an insomniac. One frigid winter night, I climbed out of my restless bed and slipped outside to stand under a sky littered with stars and take in the complete silence of darkness. Suddenly, a ruckus br... More »
by Meghan Wayland Protecting the elderly, the young, and the ill is the primary concern as closures and cancellations sweep the region in an attempt to slow the spread of COVID-19. Deep concern for workers and small businesses in the new, uncertain economy ha... More »
Barton select board by Joseph Gresser BARTON — Just when it seemed Barton government had returned to a normal course, select board member Lenny Zenonos made a startling announcement at Monday morning’s meeting. “Yesterday we were informed Toni Eubanks resigned... More »
by Tena Starr GLOVER — The Orleans County Sheriff’s Department is looking for the driver of a light gray pickup who may have deliberately splashed a 75-year-old Glover woman while she was out walking last week. The incident caused Carol Borland to fall and su... More »
by Meghan Wayland BARTON — Longtime Chief Deputy Phil Brooks resigned from the Orleans County Sheriff’s Department in February. “I didn’t think a year ago that I’d be sitting in this position now,” he said in a phone interview on Sunday. “On a personal note,”... More »
by Meghan Wayland Judging from random interviews with voters, largely conducted at stores in Barton, Orleans, Newport, and Derby, Orleans County voters want an end to politics as usual. As they went to the polls on Town Meeting Day, they were looking to shake... More »
by Tena Starr WESTFIELD — Fire destroyed Tom and Cheryl Wright’s state-of-the-art sugarhouse in Troy early Sunday morning, right in the middle of prime sugaring weather. Mr. Wright said he woke up about 2 a.m. and checked his monitors, which show him what’s g... More »
by Susie Spikol I have always admired nature’s mutineers: animals and plants that thwart the recognized system and do their own thing. As a child I was the sole member of my own duck-billed platypus club, endeared to this creature with the bird-like bill, be... More »
The first event of the Northeast Kingdom Winter Swim Festival Saturday combines swift swimming with aesthetic millenary. Amy Craigen of Salem, Massachusetts, tried to get in good with the judges by wearing a photo of Kingdom Swim founder Phil White as a chapea... More »
