News
Former principal of South Royalton School released from prison
By JOHN LIPPMAN
HARTFORD — A former educator convicted for secretly video recording teenage girls at his Sharon home was released on Monday after serving more than four years behind bars.Dean Stearns, who pleaded guilty in 2018 to charges of promoting sexual...
Upper Valley residents among advocates for NH aid-in-dying bill
By LIZ SAUCHELLI
HANOVER — Before she moved to Hanover, Susan Gillotti was hesitant.“I said that I wanted to move a continuing care retirement community in New Hampshire, but I was really afraid of doing it because I’d lose my entitlement to medical aid in dying,”...
Crowd turns out to honor late Ascutney Fire Chief Darrin Spaulding
By ULLA-BRITT LIBRE
WEATHERSFIELD — An estimated 1,500 people filled the Weathersfield School gym for a funeral for Ascutney Fire Chief Darrin Spaulding on Saturday.Among those attending were Spaulding’s family members, firefighters in uniform, and others wishing to pay...
Feds to reimburse Vermont $22M for cleanup costs following July floods
By TIFFANY TAN
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is sending Vermont $22 million to cover its costs of cleaning up debris and stabilizing state buildings in Montpelier following last summer’s historic flooding.The bulk of the federal reimbursement to the...
NH man convicted of killing daughter, 5, ordered to be at sentencing after skipping trial
By KATHY McCORMACK
CONCORD — A judge has ruled that a New Hampshire man convicted of killing his 5-year-old daughter must appear in person for his upcoming sentencing after he didn’t attend his trial.Adam Montgomery, 34, had attended his first day of jury selection in...
Catholic Medical Center to lay off 54 workers, citing ‘financial stress’
By PAUL CUNO-BOOTH
Catholic Medical Center in Manchester will lay off 54 employees as a response to financial difficulties, hospital leaders said.President and CEO Alex Walker announced the layoffs to staff in a memo Thursday. The hospital will also cut some workers’...
A Life: For Kevin Jones ‘everything was geared toward helping other people succeed’
By FRANCES MIZE
SOUTH ROYALTON — Nicole Lepre, a former student at Vermont Law and Graduate School, told her professor Kevin Jones that she was interested in some of the more nuanced policy related to electric vehicles. “Then Kevin was like, ‘Well, why don’t you help...
The fraught path forward for NH cannabis legalization, explained
By ETHAN DEWITT
New Hampshire’s cannabis legalization effort has reached a tricky crossroads.A year after Gov. Chris Sununu announced he would support a legalization approach that meets a number of strict conditions, the New Hampshire House has passed a bill. That...
Zoning board delays decision on North Newport senior housing project
By PATRICK O’GRADY
NEWPORT — The Zoning Board of Adjustment delayed decision on a request for two variances for a planned senior housing project in North Newport on Route 10 next to the town airport after a lengthy discussion last week.North Newport Land Holdings and...
School Notes: April 22, 2024
Secondary accomplishmentsRivendell Academy freshman Nolan Bourn has been selected as a delegate to the Congress of Future Medical Leaders, which is scheduled to take place from June 26 to 28 at the University of Massachusetts Lowell campus. “The...
Aubuchon to boost its Vermont hardware stronghold by acquiring Bibens stores
By KEVIN O’CONNOR
SPRINGFIELD, Vt. — Vermont’s biggest locally owned group of hardware stores is set to be purchased by what bills itself as the country’s oldest and largest family-held chain in the field.Bibens Ace Hardware has agreed to sell its seven locations in...
Some families find freedom with Newport microschool
By CHRISTINA DOLAN
NEWPORT — Tucked in the basement of Newport’s Epiphany Episcopal Church, Micah Studios is a newcomer to the Upper Valley’s alternative education landscape.Founded in the fall of 2023 by two educators disillusioned with the town’s public school system,...
Kenyon: Hanover stalls on police records request
By JIM KENYON
The town of Hanover’s website says its police reports are available to the public, but the chief “reserves the right to control the release of all department records.” That’s not the way the New Hampshire Right-to-Know law is intended to work.Under...
Woodstock Aqueduct Company seeks to double water rates
By FRANCES MIZE
WOODSTOCK — As sale talks between the town and the privately-owned Woodstock Aqueduct Co. continue, the utility is proposing to double rates for its customers, drawing the condemnation of the Selectboard.Woodstock Aqueduct provides water for 770...
Lebanon seeks input into planning for the Route 120 corridor’s future
LEBANON — City planning staff will host a public workshop on Wednesday for community members to share ways to develop the Route 120 corridor between the I-89 exchange and the Hanover town line. The workshop, known as a charette, will allow...
Ex-youth center resident testifies that counselor went from trusted father figure to horrific abuser
By HOLLY RAMER
BRENTWOOD, N.H. — The man who blew the lid off decades of abuse allegations at New Hampshire’s youth detention center continued testifying at his civil trial Thursday, describing being treated for gonorrhea after being raped at age 15.But the real...
NH public health officials warn against changing child care vaccination rules
By PAUL CUNO-BOOTH
Proof of routine childhood vaccinations would no longer be required before kids are enrolled in child care, under a bill being considered by New Hampshire lawmakers.The bill, which passed the New Hampshire House last month, is one of several attempts...
Zantop daughter: ‘I wish James' family the best and hope that they are able to heal’
By JOHN LIPPMAN
HANOVER — One of Susanne and Half Zantop’s two daughters said Thursday that she tries to “compartmentalize” her personal grief over the loss of her parents from her attitude about the fate of James Parker, who was paroled on Thursday after serving the...
Date set for revote on Bradford, Vt., sidewalk study
BRADFORD, Vt. — The town will hold a meeting on May 18 to revote a Town Meeting article about a scoping study for a sidewalk on Creamery Road.At Bradford’s March 2 Town Meeting, voters approved an article to cease scoping for the proposed sidewalk....
Interim Lebanon Middle School principal to hold position permanently
LEBANON — The interim Lebanon Middle School principal will become permanent, according to a news release from the school district.Tom Harkins, who began his tenure as interim principal March 4, first took over leadership of the school after former...
