Brattleboro’s cornerstone Brooks House block up for sale

By KEVIN O’CONNOR

BRATTLEBORO, Vt. — U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes slept in one of its bedrooms in 1877. Writer Rudyard Kipling drank lager in its basement bar and played poker in its penthouse suite from 1892 to 1896. Broadcaster Lowell Thomas presented the NBC national radio news live from its ballroom in 1946. And if current owners have their way, someone new will buy this town’s cornerstone Brooks House and soon make their own history.

Changes to federal grant rules cause loss of summer educational programming in Vermont

By AUDITIGUHA

For the past three years the Orange Southwest School District has offered a five-week summer program for elementary students at no cost to families, including meals and transportation.

Upper Valley Business Notes: Claremont MakerSpace volunteers make quilts for families in need

Members of the Claremont MakerSpace’s Community Quilts made and donated nine quilts to Baby Steps Family Assistance, a Claremont-based nonprofit organization that distributes items to regional families in need. Group members spent about 30 hours to create each quilt, which are made from donated fabric, according to a news release from the Claremont MakerSpace. 

Newport superintendent resigns, citing ‘challenge of working with a member of the School Board’

By PATRICK O’GRADY

NEWPORT — Superintendent Donna Magoon announced her resignation in a prepared statement at Thursday’s Newport School Board meeting, citing the lack of support from one board member, whom she did not name.

‘A despicable company’: Vermonters protest proposed Amazon facility in Essex, Vt.

By COREY McDONALD

Katie DeSanto, the general manager of Phoenix Books, first heard of the plans through a customer: a proposal to build a 107,000-square-foot Amazon distribution facility in Essex, Vt.

NHDOT considers designated pedestrian crossings near Saint-Gaudens site

By PATRICK O’GRADY

CORNISH — The New Hampshire Department of Transportation is in the beginning stages of a plan to improve pedestrian crossings on Route 12A in the area of Saint-Gaudens National Historic Park and Blow Me Down Farm.

Poll: Most Granite Staters support bills to override zoning policies, encourage housing

By ETHAN DEWITT

Midway through the 2025 legislative session, large majorities of Granite Staters say they support legislation aimed at expanding housing in the state, according to a poll commissioned by New Hampshire Housing Action, an advocacy group.

Orange County Republican finds his footing in Montpelier

By EMMA ROTH-WELLS

MONTPELIER — When it comes to his Vermont Senate voting record, the freshman lawmaker representing the Orange County District in Montpelier has followed his fellow Republicans.

NH House votes to increase maximum payout to injured first responders

By WILLIAM SKIPWORTH

The New Hampshire House of Representatives voted, 296-76, Thursday to pass a proposal to increase the maximum amount of money injured first responders can receive through the First Responder’s Critical Injury Benefit.

Local farms in New Hampshire are helping close loop on food waste

By SRUTHI GOPALAKRISHNAN

Every bit of leftover food at the Kearsarge Food Hub finds its way back to the soil.

Casella subsidiary sues NH over Dalton landfill denial

By MARA HOPLAMAZIAN

A subsidiary of Casella Waste Systems is suing New Hampshire environmental regulators, arguing that the state’s denial of a controversial landfill permit was premised on faulty rules.

Upper Valley businesses feel the sting of rising cocoa prices

By MARION UMPLEBY

HANOVER — In the 11 years Ana Paula Fernandes has operated Brazilian bakery My Brigadeiro on South Main Street, her signature truffles have cost $1.98 apiece.

Jurors fail to reach verdict in Orford sexual assault case

NORTH HAVERHILL — Prosecutors said they expect to retry a retired priest who was charged with sexually assaulting a minor at an Orford Boy Scouts camp nearly 50 years ago, after a mistrial was declared Thursday when jurors could not reach a unanimous verdict in Grafton County court.

Jury awards former Dartmouth Health fertility doctor $1.1 million in damages

BURLINGTON — After deliberating for nearly 20 hours over three days, a U.S. District Court jury awarded $1.125 million in damages this week to a former fertility doctor at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center after finding her 2017 firing violated Vermont’s disability discrimination law.

Mascoma Community Healthcare seeks to help improve access to care

CANAAN — Mascoma Community Healthcare will host 80 meetings in 16 Upper Valley towns to talk to residents about why they struggle to get health care.

Longtime Grantham town administrator to retire

GRANTHAM — The town administrator will retire this June.

New Hampshire House passes slimmed-down budget, as Ayotte vows to restore some cuts

By ETHAN DEWITT

The New Hampshire House passed a pair of budget bills that significantly cut Gov. Kelly Ayotte’s proposed spending for the next two years, sending the measures to the Senate even as the governor raised objections. 

Board schedules revote on bond for Bethel and Royalton schools

By LIZ SAUCHELLI

SOUTH ROYALTON — Bethel and Royalton residents will vote for a third time on a bond to upgrade the White River Unified District’s middle and high schools during a Special Town Meeting on May 20.

Trump executive order targets Vermont’s first-in-the-nation ‘climate superfund’

By OLIVIA GIEGER

President Donald Trump singled out Vermont and New York state’s climate superfund laws in an executive order signed late Tuesday aimed at gutting them.

Over Easy: A National State of Apoplexy

By DAN MACKIE

You might think there is nothing going on these days besides new episodes of “The Further Adventures of Donald J. Trump,” but you would be wrong.