The Vermont Cynic · Charlotte, VT
For 25 years, Adam Hausmann has worked his own farm, Adam’s Berry Farm, a 57 acre organic operation in Charlotte, Vermont. Hausmann and Jessica Sanford, his wife, own, manage and operate the farm year-round. During peak growing season, from June to September, they are joined by both migrant and student farm workers. The farm produces primarily blueberries, strawberries and raspberries and works in collaboration with Pollen and Nectar, a flower business that Sanford owns, she said. Sanford has seen a lot of students say they want to be farmers, and feels like everyone should work on a farm a little bit. But people do not realize how much work it really is, she said. “You can’t have a 40 hour work week, your social life is nothing,” she said. Farming is not the only way to be involved in agriculture. Job fields like agricultural policy, land conservation and market development are all avenues that could help farmers, Sanford said.
Seven Days · Burlington, VT
Nearby: Burlington, VTThe past six years were bumpy ones for the students and staff of Burlington High School. In 2020, the pandemic shifted students to remote learning. Later that fall, the New North End campus closed due to PCB contamination, and BHS moved into a former Macy’s department store downtown. The high-school-in-a-mall story went viral, capturing attention around the world. Downtown Burlington High School was windowless and noisy, and some students struggled to adapt. Finally, this past August, students returned to a brand-new, 256,000-square-foot, $204 million building on the site of the old BHS. This month, the BHS Drama Club stages its first musical in the state-of-the-art auditorium. Guys and Dolls, which runs November 19 through 21, represents an exciting new chapter for the club, which has built an impressive legacy over the past 30 years but faced a change in leadership and dwindling participation during the mall years.
VTDigger · Winooski, VT
Nearby: Winooski, VTThis commentary is by Caitlin MacLeod-Bluver, a teacher at Winooski High School. She is the 2025 Vermont Teacher of the Year and the 2026 Vermont History Teacher of the Year. In the WCAX debate on Oct. 28, Gov. Phil Scott incorrectly claimed that the Winooski School District offers 17 languages, unlike smaller, more rural districts that may offer only one or two. This is false. Winooski offers one language, French. Elementary school students have no language opportunities, middle school students take French for one quarter, and high school students are offered French I or French II. When Scott claims that Winooski offers 17 languages, it is not just a curriculum mistake. It is a remark that serves to pit our rural, largely white communities against our more urban, more diverse communities. This misinformation fuels anti-immigrant, xenophobic thinking that hurts our students, our families and our communities. Collectively, our student body does speak at least 17 languages.
Addison County Independent · Colchester, VT
Nearby: Colchester, VTVERGENNES — Albert William Freyer, 89, of Vergennes was born Oct. 11, 1937, and passed away Nov. 7, 2026, at McClure Miller respite house in Colchester after a short illness. Albert was a lifelong farmer and self-taught artist. Albert will be remembered by his wife, Gail Freyer; daughters, Jill Freyer and Judy Freyer; and granddaughters, Daphne Plante and Madison Thompson. There will be no services at this time.
Seven Days · Essex, VT
Nearby: Essex, VTWendy Piotrowski and Andrew Machanic confirmed that they will close the Pinwheel, their Western-influenced breakfast and lunch spot in Essex, on November 20. The couple operated the Swingin’ Pinwheel on Center Street in Burlington from 2014 to 2021 and then ran the Sweet Wheels Donuts bus before relaunching a suburban version of their daytime restaurant at 4 Carmichael Street, Suite 106, in early 2025. Customers can still place orders at the Pinwheel for Thanksgiving catering until the closing date. Machanic, 58, said he might continue catering for Christmas if November demand is strong. The couple attributed their decision to labor shortages. “We just haven’t had enough staff to manage how busy we are,” said Piotrowski, 44. They quietly put the restaurant on the market in May for $225,000.
Addison County Independent · Duxbury, VT
Nearby: Duxbury, VTPOULSBO, Wash. — Richard “Dick” Earl Ashley, formerly of Middlebury, was born in Duxbury, Vt., Dec 21, 1932, and died in Poulsbo, Wash., Nov. 7, 2026. He was predeceased by his parents, Forrest and Vera (Leslie) Ashley of Waterbury, Vt., and Seminole, Fla. He married Virginia “Ginnie” A. Miles in Waterbury, Vt., July 24, 1954, who survives him. They have two children, Mark Ashley of Sequim, Wash., and Karen Ashley Barcomb of Winooski, Vt.; four grandchildren, Mike (Britany) Ashley of Poulsbo, Wash., and Sarah (Ben) Thomas of Poulsbo, Wash., Chelsea (Max) Campolo of Littleton, Colo., and Stephanie (Vinny) Gagliani of Virginia Beach, Va. He also has six great-grandchildren, Jonathan, Savannah, Joshua and Joseph Michael Thomas, and Brielle and Maverick Ashley. Dick is also survived by his sister, Eileen Ashley Chittick of Naples, Fla.
Valley Reporter · Warren, VT
Nearby: Warren, VTI taught at Moretown for nearly four decades, starting as a paraeducator at Waitsfield, and both my children attended Waitsfield K–6. I worked as administrative assistant at Brookside. My husband was facilities director at Warren for nearly ten years and worked at Fayston before Warren. My mom attended a two-room schoolhouse in Warren and Waterbury High School (1940s-1950s), which is now Brookside Primary. I care about every school and have experience across the district. Preserving one school should never require diminishing another, and advocating for one community should never mean disregarding the needs of another. Let’s set the record straight about Moretown. Moretown flooded in 2011 during Tropical Storm Irene, followed by significant repairs and mitigation. The school has not experienced river flooding again, even during later storms. In 2023–24, Moretown had two groundwater flooding events.
Valley Reporter · Warren, VT
Nearby: Warren, VTWalking down the halls of Harwood Union High School, the tragedies of the past two months are not readily apparent. There are students laughing with their friends, rushing to get to class and complaining about a test score. At first glance, there would be no way to tell that this community lost two students in two months. And while it cannot see it with an outside eye, the weight of grief after Vinny Viola and Gracie Dunbar's deaths rests is carried by the school community. Viola, 16 and Dunbar, 14, were killed in two separate car crashes in Warren on Sept. 19 and Oct. 24. "Grief is hard, it's so personal, and it varies so much," noted Harwood guidance counselor Erin Denzel in an interview on coping with loss within the school. While there are some students who can barely make it through class without crying, those who never knew Gracie or Vinny can live life relatively normally.
Valley Reporter · Waitsfield, VT
Nearby: Waitsfield, VTAbout 150 people filled the gym at Waitsfield Elementary School Monday night to hear about plans for school consolidation, with many telling their school board members why the Waitsfield school should not be one of two Valley schools to close next fall. Those reasons included the school’s access to public infrastructure, including water and wastewater, its walkable village location that’s out of the floodplain, its potential for expansion and its 3-year-old $1.1 million commercial kitchen. The meeting was part of a series of community sessions organized by the Harwood Unified School District School Board’s Outreach Committee. It followed the full board’s Nov. 4 straw poll, in which 9 of 14 members voted in favor of closing Waitsfield and Fayston schools, and keeping Moretown and Warren open next school year. Board chair Ashley Woods did not vote.
Valley Reporter · Waitsfield, VT
Nearby: Waitsfield, VTWith Thanksgiving just two weeks away, the Mad River Valley Interfaith Council is in the final stages of this year’s Thanksgiving Basket Drive. The deadline to ask for a free Thanksgiving basket is Wednesday Nov. 18. Monetary donations can be made at any time. The last day for food donations is Friday, Nov.13. Families and individuals in need living in Waitsfield, Warren, Fayston, or Moretown can sign up to receive a basket with all ingredients for a complete Thanksgiving meal. Sign up (1) on-line at: https://bit.ly/getMRVturkey; (2) through the school nurse at any Mad River Valley school; (3) with a sign up form at the Mad River Valley Community Pantry; (4) through the pastor at any local church; or (5) by emailing the MRV Community Fund: [email protected].
Valley Reporter · Moretown, VT
Nearby: Moretown, VTI’d like to offer some context to the narrative that has been circulating that public comment from Moretown families was the reason that members “changed their position” on a vote to decide which elementary schools to keep open. The Valley Reporter published several pieces from community members that made this claim, which has contributed to growing frustration from some Waitsfield families, and places the blame on Moretown families' civic engagement solely for the result of the vote. This is simply not an accurate summary of the full picture of what happened at the Nov. board meeting. I would first like to push back on the claim that there was no new information that would have changed members' votes at the meeting. There was absolutely new information including Dr. Mike Leichliter’s educational configuration of classrooms where only Moretown and Warren and Fayston and Warren were a fit for their model.
NYT > World News · Peru, NY
Nearby: Peru, NYLeo XIV returned to the city in Peru where he served as bishop for eight years, drawing large crowds who remembered him before he was pope.
NYT > World News · Peru, NY
Nearby: Peru, NYGPS-linked devices have been insisting that Ukrainians are in Lima, the Peruvian capital. The culprit is a jamming system built to thwart Russian airstrikes.
NYT > World News · Peru, NY
Nearby: Peru, NYIn Peru, where Leo XIV lived for two decades and became a citizen, the pope was met by President Keiko Fujimori, whose father’s policies he had protested.
NYT > World News · Peru, NY
Nearby: Peru, NYPope Leo spent nearly two decades in Peru, rising to bishop and becoming a citizen. But many Peruvians have turned to evangelical churches, seeking a more expressive and direct connection to God.