BRATTLEBORO-Michaella, 22, is from Burundi; Sidra, 20, is from Syria, but both have been far from home for some time now. Michaella was a refugee at Kakuma, a United Nations Refugee Agency camp in Kenya. Sidra was a transplant in Jordan. Before arriving in mid-January, each went through a rigorous application process to be accepted as one of 85 from among several thousand applicants into the Welcome Corps Campus (WCC) program currently underway at School for International Training (SIT) in...
BRATTLEBORO-She was in the room where it happened. She was in the room where, on Jan. 20, 2025, Donald J. Trump was once again inaugurated as president of the United States. In the room where, four years ago, the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection happened. When rioters spread feces on the walls and where one man gouged out the eye of a police officer. And she was there not because she had to be, but because she wanted to be. Hometown...
BELLOWS FALLS-A complex ownership situation involving two state agencies could derail Rockingham's plans to purchase and restore the Bellows Falls train depot, but Development Director Gary Fox said these issues can be resolved in time for the town to meet the April 1 deadline for buying the building. To that end, the town has sent a letter to Gov. Phil Scott seeking cooperation from two state agencies to move the project forward, and the state has affirmed its willingness to...
A Trump administration order on Jan. 27 halting funding that supports recent arrivals has left at least 59 Vermont refugees in limbo. The U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants in Vermont received the order at 5:40 p.m. that day, directing that it stop any and all work related to funding the reception and placement of refugees, including any new arrivals, officials from the nonprofit organization told VTDigger. The order halted key federal funding - $1,650 per person - the organization...
BRATTLEBORO-After the most recent contract negotiation with current Windham Southeast Supervisory Union (WSESU) Superintendent Mark Speno met with some concerned surprise, board directors are considering adopting a written policy to guide such negotiations in the future. It came to public light in fall of 2024 that WSESU Chair Anne Beekman had negotiated a three-year contract with Speno for a salary of $175,000 annually plus an automatic 4% annual increase during those three years, making him one of the highest paid...
BRATTLEBORO-After hearing from each of three candidates who stepped up to take the seat left vacant by Windham Southeast School District School Board Director Eva Nolan's recent resignation, the board has appointed Jessica Everlith to fill in as a Dummerston representative until the March 4 election. Everlith, 34, also plans to run for the remaining one-year term of that seat in the annual election. "I am honored to be appointed to the Windham Southeast School District Board of Directors and...