There was much ado this legislative session about Vermont's impending demographic disaster -- the convergence of aging back-to-the-landers and the out-of-state exodus of young Vermonters. Jim Douglas sounded the alarm in his January "State of the State" address: "Already, the flight of young people due to high expenses and limited opportunities has helped make Vermont the second-oldest state in the country," he warned.... Read more

Charlie Krumholz has a new toy: a 2-ton trailer with a hydraulic lift. On a recent Saturday it's filled with 3 yards of rich, black topsoil he's hauled from Burlington's Intervale Compost Facility to the Medical Center Community Garden. Turning onto the lawn from Colchester Avenue, he stops at one corner of the garden -- still just an L-shaped mound of dirt this early in the season. With the press of a button, he upends the trailer, and dumps the load. No shoveling required.... Read more

The Green Mountains offer some prime locations for scrambling up and rapelling down rocks. Unfortunately, good climbing topography and property boundaries don't always go hand in handhold. Some of the best spots for climbing are often privately owned, and those that are on public land risk being loved to death.... Read more

Is there a nighthawk in Vermont who hasn't gone hungry because almost every restaurant in the state stops serving dinner at 9 p.m.? Even in Burlington, late-night eating options are limited. The one reliable wee-hour restaurant -- Denny's -- is in South Burlington, and you need wheels to get there.

At long last, the Queen City appears to be working up an after-hours appetite. A number of downtown restaurants now serve dinner until 11 p.... Read more

Thea Alvin is one bad Mother Pucker. That's the name of the all-women hockey team she plays with in Stowe. At 5-foot-2, the 37-year-old hockey diehard stands as tall as some players' leg pads. She took her first turn as a goalie using gear borrowed from the Stowe Youth Hockey Association. Six years later, she's the most-traveled netminder in Stowe's recreational hockey community.... Read more

MIDDLEBURY -- State officials filed charges Friday against Curtis Allen for tattooing without a license. The charges concluded an investigation that began in the summer, when doctors at Middlebury's Porter Medical Center raised concerns about a cluster of bacterial infections there.... Read more

VERMONT -- Brian Thompson had visitors at his Charlotte home last Saturday -- 45, to be exact. His house, which uses a wind turbine and solar panels to generate the energy that runs his appliances, lights and hot water, was one of five stops on the Greater Burlington Renewable Energy Guided Tour. "On a day like today," Thompson said, indicating the brilliant sunshine and steady breeze, "my electric meter spins backwards."... Read more