Last month’s switchover to digital TV transmission appears to have gone smoothly for the vast majority of the estimated 14,000 Vermont households that used to rely solely on analog-type television sets.

Or did it?... Read more

The only “great” thing about the Great Recession is that it appears to be generating a local retail renaissance on Burlington’s Church Street Marketplace. While the economy is translating into slower sales at many downtown stores, a fresh crop of merchants is setting up shop all along the pedestrian mall — even on the street’s dreaded “top block.”... Read more

The Islamic Society of Vermont rented the YMCA lap pool for two hours last Saturday night so local Muslim women could have a private place to dip — or take a first-ever swimming lesson.

It was no routine rental: Since the locker room couldn’t be properly secured, the women entered through the back entrance and changed clothes in the pool area. Only female lifeguards and instructors were permitted to watch over the aquatic action.... Read more

The Chittenden County town of Richmond is localvore to the core. So it’s ironic that the firm rebuilding its broken bridge hails from Maine. Vermont businesses are learning the hard way that federal contracts — in this case, one financed by economic-stimulus money — aren’t awarded on the basis of geography.... Read more

If you build it, they will come...

A group of local dog lovers is sniffing around for a suitable site for another fenced-in dog park in Burlington’s South End. Burlington dog owner Connie Gunther is leading a volunteer effort to find an apropos spot for pups to play, and has organized a public meeting at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 11, at the Outer Space Café at 208 Flynn Avenue.... Read more

On December 20, 2007, Vermont State Trooper Eugene Duplissis and his canine partner, Niko, were called in to help search for a 9-year-old girl who disappeared during an evening snowstorm. Shortly after their arrival, Niko tracked the girl from her home to a wooded snow bank three-quarters of a mile away, where she was found lying in a fetal position, nearly frozen. Niko was credited with saving the girl’s life.... Read more

Anyone who’s ever been kept awake all night by a neighbor’s barking dog can sympathize with the desire to punish the dog — or more appropriately, the owner — for his or her negligence and inconsideration. However, in rural areas, oftentimes that late-night yapping serves a vital function: to protect the farmers’ livestock, poultry or crops from nocturnal predators.... Read more

New legislation introduced last week in the Vermont Senate would ban the controversial practice of coyote-killing tournaments, or “derbies,” that offer awards or cash prizes based on the “size, quality or number” of coyotes taken. Supporters of coyote derbies say they’re necessary for maintaining the health of Vermont’s deer herds. But opponents counter that such bounty hunts only promote a callous disregard for wildlife and give ethical hunters a bad name.... Read more

The threat of closing hangs over a South Burlington-based residential program for teens that its advocates describe as uniquely successful. And no one knows — or will say — why it’s happening.

The board of the state-funded Allenbrook Home for Youths recently decided to shut the facility on June 30 and sell it to a private developer. Proceeds from the sale of the Allen Road property, consisting of three houses and a barn, would be used to establish a fund to help young Vermonters pay for college, the board tentatively agreed.... Read more

Diversity and equity have been buzzwords in Burlington since the first high-school kids of color started attending Queen City schools. Since 2000, the number of “English Language Learners” in the school district has almost doubled, from 275 to 570.... Read more