News
Regulator orders former New London financial adviser to repay clients
By JOHN LIPPMAN
NEW LONDON — A former New London financial advisor who plowed his clients retirement savings into a high-risk financial product that went bust has been ordered to repay $4.8 million to his victims, although how much they ultimately recoup and how long...
Over Easy: ‘A breakfast without a newspaper is a horse without a saddle’
By DAN MACKIE
The Valley News was born in 1952 and so was I. This is probably coincidence, but I like to think there is more to our association than the fact that we are both from the year of the water dragon in the Chinese calendar.According to the Internet,...
Lawsuit accuses Norwich University, former president of creating hostile environment, sex-based discrimination
By PETER D’AURIA
A longtime Norwich University employee is accusing school leaders of sexual harassment, sex-based discrimination and creating a hostile environment, according to a lawsuit filed this week.Elizabeth Kennedy, Norwich’s former vice president of...
In divided decision, Senate committee votes to recommend Zoie Saunders as education secretary
By ETHAN WEINSTEIN
The Senate Education Committee voted 3-2 on Wednesday to favorably recommend Zoie Saunders as the next education secretary.The Senate is expected to vote on Saunders’ confirmation next week. She needs the support of a majority of the 30-member body,...
Vermont confirms first measles case since 2018
By PETER D’AURIA
State officials have confirmed a case of measles in Vermont, officials announced Tuesday, the first confirmed case in the state since 2018. The individual who was confirmed to have the disease had come to Vermont for an “international group...
Claremont removes former police officer accused of threats from city committees
By PATRICK O’GRADY
CLAREMONT — In identical 5-3 votes Wednesday, the City Council removed Jonathan Stone from two committee appointments based on a recently released report alleging he threatened to murder and rape fellow officers and their family members while working...
Vermont House passes measure meant to crack down on so-called ghost guns
By LISA RATHKE
The Vermont House approved a bill Wednesday that would require firearms that are privately made from individual parts, kits or by 3D printers to have serial numbers in an effort to crack down on so-called ghost guns, which are increasingly being used...
Hartland voters successfully petition for school budget revote
By CHRISTINA DOLAN
HARTLAND — The School Board is preparing to warn a budget vote for the third time this year after a successful petition by residents to hold another round of balloting.On April 2, voters narrowly approved an $11.1 million school budget by a vote of...
Grantham doctor indicted on drug and fraud charges
By JOHN LIPPMAN
BURLINGTON — A 48-year-old Grantham doctor has been indicted on charges that he engaged in illegal drug distribution and health care fraud through a network of treatment clinics he owns in northern New England. The charges link him with another former...
Lebanon approves extra money for landfill gas project
LEBANON — The City Council last week approved an additional appropriation of nearly $725,000 for a project that will convert greenhouse gas emissions from the city’s landfill into electricity.The goal is to reduce emissions in the city by 3,500 tons a...
Charlestown Route 12 bridge work to begin Monday
CHARLESTOWN — On Monday, the New Hampshire Department of Transportation will begin rehabilitation of the Route 12 bridge over the railroad tracks just south of downtown.The project will require one-lane alternating traffic over the bridge both day and...
City Council approves Trues Brook Road bridge project
LEBANON — The City Council last week unanimously approved a design for a project intended to widen a section of Trues Brook Road and replace an aging bridge over Bloods Brook with a wider span.The $4 million project near the intersection with Derby...
Hanover officials look at reducing downtown traffic lanes
By PATRICK ADRIAN
HANOVER — Town administrators are exploring ways to improve pedestrian safety at two busy downtown intersections.The town is wrapping up a pair of studies this week — one at the intersection of East Wheelock Street and College Street, and another at...
Upper Valley winter shelters kept dozens warm and dry
By PATRICK ADRIAN
LEBANON — Organizers of two new emergency shelters, which kept dozens of Upper Valley residents off the streets this winter, are reflecting on the season and sorting out how to continue the service.Earlier this month, Lebanon’s emergency shelter for...
Republicans have made illegal immigration a top issue in NH — sometimes with misinformation
By ANNMARIE TIMMINS
Gov. Chris Sununu has put nearly $2.3 million into tackling what he calls an illegal immigration crisis on two fronts: $1.4 million for a law enforcement task force along the state’s 58-mile border with Canada, and $850,000 toward this month’s...
Owner of Friesian horse facility ordered to pay care costs for seized animals
By TIFFANY TAN
A southern Vermont resident is on the hook for $38,600 that an animal rescue organization spent to care for numerous horses that the state seized from him last year.At an April 18 hearing, Vermont Superior Court Judge John Treadwell ordered Robert...
House committee weighs bill that would require teachers to answer parents’ questions
By JEREMY MARGOLIS
At a parent-teacher conference a decade ago, Tina Kim Philibotte learned her child was gay.The disclosure took Philibotte — a self-described progressive and now one of four public school diversity, equity, inclusion and justice administrators in New...
New ‘incentive calculator’ launches to help Vermonters electrify their homes
By JUAN VEGA DE SOTO
To celebrate Earth Day, two nonprofits announced the launch of a Vermont-specific incentives calculator to electrify everything from your car to your water heater. Rewire America, a national electrification nonprofit, worked with Efficiency Vermont on...
I-91 South between Bradford, Vt., and Fairlee closes Wednesday
BRADFORD, Vt. — A 6-mile stretch of Interstate 91 South between Bradford, Vt., and Fairlee will close to traffic for an extended period beginning Wednesday.All southbound drivers will be diverted to Route 5 at Exit 15 in Bradford, according to a...
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...
