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Waterbury Roundabout is an online news site launched in May 2020 as a volunteer effort in collaboration with the University of Vermont's Reporting and Documentary Storytelling program to cover local news in and around Waterbury, Vermont.
Teams of sixth- and eighth-grade students from Crossett Brook Middle School are headed to this weekend’s Jr. Iron Chef Vt. competition at the Champlain Valley Exposition in Essex Junction.
A Harwood Union High School junior is among the students recognized by Sen. Bernie Sanders for having a top entry in the senator’s 15th annual State of the Union Essay Contest.
State representatives from the communities of the Harwood Unified Union School District will convene a public forum to discuss public education reform from 6 to 8 p.m. tonight in the auditorium at Harwood Union High School.
Harwood Union High School presents a comedy for its spring musical this year with performances of the classic “Anything Goes” set for April 3-5.
The Town Meeting Day election failed to fill an at-large position on the Central Vermont Career Center School Board to be held by someone from the Harwood Unified Union School District.
MARCH 19: The Harwood Unified Union School District has announced revised Mud Season bus routes in effect until further notice
At its post-election organizational meeting last week, the Harwood Unified Union School District School Board re-elected its leaders, appointed members to officer roles for the coming year and looked ahead to multiple long-term projects that could spell significant changes for the future.
The Harwood Unified Union School Board is seeking to fill two vacant seats from Waterbury and one vacant seat from Duxbury.
Crossett Brook Middle School will reopen for classes on Tuesday amidst ongoing cleanup from a significant flooding event that occurred last Thursday.
BARRE — Ballots cast on Town Meeting Day in the 18-town school district that operates the Central Vermont Career Center were finally tabulated Thursday, and its regional board now has a budget and three vacant seats to fill, even as it weighs when to ask voters to approve a bond for a new, state-of-the-art facility.
Crossett Brook Middle School in Duxbury was closed on Thursday and remains closed today as cleanup crews work and school officials assess damage from the second major flooding event in less than eight months.
Voters across the Harwood Unified Union School District overwhelmingly approved the $49.2 million proposed school budget for the coming year and adding $500k to the Maintenance Reserve fund. News of staffing cuts required by the new budget is expected later this month.
Tonight is the Harwood Unified Union School District's annual meeting and final informational session pertaining to the proposed 2025-26 budget that is on the ballot in all six district communities tomorrow.
Several local speakers were featured at a State House rally to “Keep the Public in Public Education” this week. Students, parents, educators and community members delivered messages to lawmakers and Gov. Phil Scott that “Vermonters want good public schools and fair taxes.”
The Children’s Literacy Foundation has announced the theme for its third annual Two-Sentence Story Contest for young writers in Vermont and New Hampshire.
The Central Vermont Career Center School District holds its annual meeting tonight including an informational presentation on the proposed $5.1 million fiscal year 2026 budget that voters will see on their Town Meeting Day ballots.
Longtime Harwood Unified Union School District employee Paul Morris, who worked as co-director of food services, is recovering from heart transplant surgery at Tufts Medical Center on Jan. 23 and fundraising efforts are underway to support him and his family.
The Vermont State School Nurses’ Association has announced that Brookside Primary School Nurse Allison Conyers of Waterbury will be honored this summer with a national award at a conference in Texas.
The program, funded by a grant secured by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., helped spark discussions about community building and social activism.
Harwood school district officials have begun community meetings to share details of the proposed $49.2 million 2025-26 school budget that voters will be asked to approve on Town Meeting Day.
In an effort to promote upcoming free school vaccine clinics, the Harwood Unified Union School District is participating in a local researcher’s project to involve community members who would share their personal stories about vaccinations.
Multiple fundraising efforts are underway to support Harwood Union High School’s theater programming, with ways for the community to support both the spring musical – “Anything Goes,” set for April 3-5 – and performances on the Harwood stage for years to come.
Waterbury’s Harry N. Cutting American Legion Post #59 recently presented academic achievement awards to two local college freshmen who graduated from Harwood Union High School in 2024.
Harwood’s school board has decided to put a 2025-26 school budget to the voters in March that increases spending slightly, is likely to lower school taxes for many, but relies on cutting some 15-20 full-time jobs across the district.
MONTPELIER— State officials unveiled the broad strokes of Gov. Phil Scott’s education proposal Wednesday, a plan that includes sweeping changes like consolidating Vermont’s dozens of school districts to just five and adopting a foundation formula.
The upcoming Town Meeting Day election will be important for the Harwood Unified Union School District School Board this year as eight of the board’s 14 seats will be on ballots across five of the district’s six communities.
The personal data of students and staff at several dozen Vermont school districts may have been compromised in a nationwide data breach of a student information system, according to state education officials.
Crossett Brook and Harwood Union middle schools are two of five Vermont schools named as state finalists in the 15th annual Samsung Solve for Tomorrow STEM competition.
An educational tradition continues at Harwood Union High School on Jan. 9 with the latest gathering of a Socrates Café for community members to join students to ponder a question, share, and learn.
Two Waterbury high school students are among a group of applicants to the U.S. service academies that will meet with Vermont’s Congressional delegation members on Saturday at the Vermont State House.
State Treasurer Mike Pieciak has announced the formation of a Vermont Baby Bonds Advisory Committee that will convene local and national experts to develop a baby bonds pilot program in Vermont.
Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark this week issued a consumer alert to advise Vermonters on protecting their personal data in the wake of 23andMe’s recent bankruptcy filing.
The ice cream brand’s ongoing legal battle over its independence led employees to take a stand, voicing concerns over Unilever’s reported plans to oust their CEO.
Unilever moved to oust David Stever in early March for “his commitment to Ben & Jerry’s Social Mission and Essential Brand Integrity,” Ben & Jerry’s claimed in court filings.
Yestermorrow Design/Build School is located in the heart of Vermont’s Mad River Valley. It’s been around for 45 years. They teach hands-on courses in design, construction, woodworking and architectural craft.
Vermont ice cream icons Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield are thinking about buying back their eponymous brand from parent company Unilever, according to recent media reports.
The U.S. Bankruptcy Court is in the process of converting the iSun Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing from last June into a Chapter 7 liquidation.
In Waterbury, the question isn’t which came first, the chicken or the egg? It’s more like are there any eggs today? So far, the answer depends on where and when you shop.
Battery energy storage manufacturer KORE Power announced on Friday that it has named Jay Bellows in Waterbury as its Chief Executive Officer.
The state’s newly formed Task Force on the Federal Transition will convene a webinar for Vermont employers on Feb. 6 aimed at reviewing key steps workplaces can take to be prepared for a visit from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel.
More than 300 employees at the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream plants in Waterbury and St. Albans recently ratified their first ever union contract.
The Vermont Division of Fire Safety issued an alert on Friday that it’s investigating incidents involving a fraudulent contractor impersonating a fire marshall in order to drum up business.
Revitalizing Waterbury recently held its annual celebration to thank volunteers and once again has rallied local businesses to take part in the annual Wrap it Up and Win holiday local shopping promo.
BARRE — Capstone Community Action will be in search of new leadership because, after six successful years, Sue Minter is stepping down as executive director of the organization that got its start as the Central Vermont Community Action Council in 1965.
Revitalizing Waterbury has chosen its next executive director who hardly needs an orientation to his new post heading up Waterbury’s community and economic development nonprofit.
We at Waterbury Roundabout want our readers to know that we’ve managed to join a groundbreaking national fundraising effort through the end of 2024 to support local news operations.
The Mad River Valley Rotary Club is partnering with Lawson’s Finest Liquids this month through Dec. 3 to boost the Rotary’s fundraising.
Looking to fill its winter class of new troopers, the Vermont State Police is launching a year-end recruiting push with a few unique twists.
Vermonters looking for a new job that pays the bills or just eager to meet entrepreneurs and leaders building new businesses can do both at the Vermont Tech Jam on Saturday, Oct. 26, at Hula in Burlington.
The U.S. Small Business Administration’s Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman has announced that nominations are open for the 2025 National Small Business Week Awards.
On Jan. 1, Vermont’s minimum wage will reach $14 for the first time as the annual increase to the hourly wage standard goes into effect, according to the Vermont Department of Labor.
Waterbury power-storage manufacturer KORE Power plans to open a second Vermont location in Barre where it recently received unanimous approval from the Barre Town Development Review Board for a warehouse for assembling battery storage systems and storing system components.
MakerSphere’s recent annual meeting and open house at its wood shop and maker space was an opportunity for the public to tour the shop and learn more about its programs and community resources for art and making.
Months after declaring bankruptcy, iSun—parent to Waterbury-based SunCommon—has been acquired by a Texas private equity firm and is set to rebrand with a new name under new leadership. SunCommon operations and mangement are to remain unchanged, company officials said.
New mobile battery power-storage units manufactured in Waterbury helped fill the Shelburne Museum concert meadow with music this summer and avoided creating two metric tons of carbon pollution from traditional diesel generators.
The Green Mountain Club is continuing to build a new visitor center on the same spot as its current one. It's also rallying the hiking community to participate in its fifth annual Long Trail Day fundraiser to help fund trail repairs and maintenance critical, especially after more storm damage.
After almost 50 years of providing child and infant care for local families, the Waitsfield Children’s Center has closed its doors, due to the same challenges that many child care centers face: finding and keeping high-quality teachers, paying staff a livable wage while offering affordable child care for local families. That’s the bad news.
Waterbury’s ever-evolving restaurant and pub scene has added some new players in recent months and some longstanding establishments have added new twists. Like the rest of the community, some have had to react quickly less than two weeks ago to their third flood in 12 months.
Waterbury’s new 1% local sales taxes went into effect in July and sales receipts in town should reflect the new charge on retail sales, rooms, meals and alcohol purchases. It’s also time for property tax bills to land in the mail and some may have noticed a delay.
This last week saw the House of Representatives considering the bills passed through policy committees prior to crossover, with a focus on “money bills.”
Vermont has long been a leader in treatment for addiction and substance use, particularly through its Hub and Spoke model which was launched nearly a decade ago to address the opioid epidemic.
The Vermont Treasurer’s Office is aware that several Vermonters have received unsolicited calls from individuals claiming to be U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers.
In order to grow our small businesses and better support working families in Vermont, we need to keep making progress on child care.
As a part of the Vermont Youth Lobby, I was one of several Vermont youth who spoke at our Rally Day of Action at the State House on March 13, and at a press conference afterward. Below is a condensed transcript of our remarks from the press conference.
Stop for one moment and imagine a role reversal of the two groups occupying Room 11 at the Vermont State House on March 13: A trans rights group reserved Room 11 and a parent’s rights group attended to disrupt. No doubt, the parent’s group would have been immediately escorted out.
I was tremendously disappointed when I read of the suppression of the First Amendment right of free speech in the State House recently.
When extreme weather wipes away farmers’ harvests, when climate change fuels extreme storms, small-scale farmers—especially small growers working in harmony with the land—face devastating losses.
Last fall, Vermonters delivered a clear message: They want meaningful change on the issues impacting their daily lives: property taxes, education, housing, and affordability. One common concern unites all these challenges: the need to ensure the safety of our communities, downtowns, neighborhoods, and personal property.
On March 25, President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order on “Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections.” The order proposes significant changes to elections across the country that Vermont Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas has called “an unprecedented overreach of federal authority.” Here is the secretary of state’s statement in full regarding this executive order.
Voter anger over property taxes has led to angst this winter in the Statehouse. A legislative leader recently urged fellow legislators and all Vermonters to discard “preconceived notions” about the issue. There seems to be a public consensus that our current education finance system is fundamentally flawed. Irretrievably broken. That something brand new is needed.
The staff at the Warren School is extremely concerned about the proposed cuts to services and positions and the negative impact they will have on student learning and safety. In particular, reducing our nursing position from full-time to part-time coverage directly risks student health and is highly concerning to our staff and families.
Most people will never visit a prison. They never wonder what it’s like because they’ve already been told: it’s where society puts the bad folks.
I think about energy a lot. I grew up in a drafty house with cold bedrooms, whereas my best friend lived in a modern, passive solar house that was always comfortable. That contrast put the role energy consumption and efficiency play into clear focus at a young age.
As the days are getting longer and snow is melting it is fitting that this is Sunshine Week (March 16-22) – an annual celebration of government records and information as the cornerstone of government accountability and transparency.
This week (March 17-23) is Coyote Awareness Week. Coyotes are sometimes maligned and misunderstood. Yet, many Vermonters coexist with coyotes in our rural state where many backyards are in forest habitat for coyotes and other wildlife.
In the coming weeks, the legislature and governor will make critical decisions about the future of prek-12 education in Vermont—decisions that will impact generations to come.
For nearly 60 years, the League of Conservation Voters has published a National Environmental Scorecard to determine which members of Congress are working to protect our air and water, to build a clean energy future, and to ensure our democracy. Here in Vermont, we are fortunate that our Congressional delegation has once again earned top marks.
As a veteran, when I hear the words “Medal of Honor,” I think of those military men and women who have gone far beyond their expectations of duty, many giving their lives to save their fellow comrades or shipmates.
A reader in North Carolina asks for help with a historic photo.
A rumor is circulating in our towns that the school district is creating a plan to close the Fayston and Moretown schools. As members of the board who have been involved in the Building Visioning Subcommittee, we would like to set the record straight and provide additional context.
There is no guarantee that every bill will pass, and there is no guarantee that every need will be met by our work.
Over 30 members of Indivisible Mad River Valley gathered for the “IdesofTrump” mail-in effort, a national, grassroots action to make it clear to President Trump that we stand up against the cruel, illegal and harmful actions of his administration.
State Reps. Dara Torre and Candice White share their Town Meeting Day report with constituents highlighting work at the State House so far this session.
We want to thank all our voters for voting on Town Meeting Day, and for supporting the budget.
An early occurrence of spring flooding took place last week at Crossett Brook Middle School in Duxbury. It was attributed to circumstances unusual, even in a state that’s seen plenty of flooding situations in the past several years.
This week is Civic Learning Week! This annual celebration of the importance of civics is an opportunity to sustain and strengthen democracy in the United States.
Community members share their immunization stories ahead of a free HPV vaccine clinic being held at Harwood Union MS/HS on March 12.
The Waterbury Skatepark Coalition is excited to announce an anonymous donor has made a $7,500 donation to the skatepark.
My name is Hailey Huber. I am a 7th grader at Crossett Brook Middle School and a hockey goalie for the Central Vermont Black Bears Tier 2 U14 girls team.
Organizers of the Mad River Valley Soccer Association’s spring season say registration is now open for boys and girls at the pre-K through second-grade levels.
A busy weekend for Harwood Union student-athletes and fans with Boys Basketball and Hockey teams making it all the way to the D-II title games ended with a firetruck escort through Waterbury.
Harwood Boys Basketball returns to the Barre Auditorium today for a sold-out Division II state championship game against the Montpelier Solons.
Harwood’s discipline and months of preparation have paid off with an 18-2 regular season record, and they have clinched the number one seed in the Division II state playoffs.
On Wednesday, Feb. 26, Harwood Girls Basketball beat crosstown rival Montpelier, 47-24. The victory marked the 100th varsity victory for the team under Coach Tommy Young.
On Jan. 29, Harwood Girls Hockey secured a 3-2 win in front of a hometown crowd – their first since March 2022. The good vibes continue with the team 4-3 since and the D-II playoffs around the corner.
In front of a cheering home-court crowd at a game against Lake Region, Harwood senior guard Eloise Lilley reached her 1,000th basketball career point, becoming the school’s eighth and third-ever female athlete to hit this record.
Highlander Youth Lacrosse offers a spring program for boys and girls in grades K-8 and registration for 2025 is now open.
Fall high school sports playoffs get under way this week. Here’s a schedule for the first-round matchups for Harwood Union teams with links to bracket pages.
The Stowe Nordic ski club is offering a seven-session program this winter for adults who are new to classic cross-country skiing or who have skied a little but have not received any formal instruction.
This time of year brings remembrances that are both bittersweet and joyful. On Friday afternoon, one particular remembrance unfolded at Mad River Park as girls youth soccer players convened for what's become an annual tradition honoring the memory of Harwood student-athlete Mary Harris.
Ethan Wagner has been fishing as long as he can remember, mostly as a hobby. So when the Essex High School senior injured his knee playing football, he joined the school’s varsity bass fishing team. He’s found a new bond taking part in Vermont's newest high school varsity fall sport.
Registration has opened for the annual Leaf Peepers Half Marathon and 5K set for Oct. 6. Started in 1984, the popular fall ritual attracts hundreds of runners from around Vermont and the region. Organizers say the event is “timed for optimal fall scenery.”
Harwood Youth Basketball is looking forward to another winter of basketball and organizers are hoping for a strong turnout for sign-ups this fall. Registration is now open through Oct. 6.
The Harwood Union Hall of Fame Committee has announced its 12th annual class of inductees to be honored at a ceremony in November.
The Harwood Union High School Cross Country Team holds its Summer Fun Runs at Crossett Brook Middle School through Aug. 21.
Registration is now open for players to sign up for Waterbury Youth Soccer’s fall season.
A spirited community soccer event that took a pandemic hiatus has reorganized and is returning to Central Vermont next month.
The annual Harwood Basketball Camps run by Varsity Girls Coach Tommy Young recently wrapped up another summer season of basketball instruction with local youngsters in grades 2 through 9.
UPDATED: Harwood Union High School Cross Country team’s Summer Fun Runs have been moved from Harwood High School to Crossett Brook Middle School starting Wednesday, July 24.
Eighty-seven runners completed Saturday’s Green Mountain Mile ahead of the Not Quite Independence Day parade on Main Street in Waterbury.
Harwood’s No. 2 Highlanders will face No. 1 Hartford today in the Division II Boys Lacrosse championship game at Norwich University at 4:30 p.m.
Spring high school athletic playoffs are coming down the wire with two Harwood teams - baseball and boys lacrosse - in their Division II tournaments this week.
Saturday’s opening day schedule at Thunder Road International Speedbowl – including the Kenley Dean Squier Extravagana at noon – has expanded as raceway and American-Canadian Tour officials have moved the Sunday race program up given a rainy forecast for the second half of the weekend.
The Harwood Girls 4x800m Relay Team began the season exceeding expectations.
Four local weightlifting athletes were among 20 who took part in the “Luck of the Lift” meet the day before St. Patrick’s Day last month at LiftVT in Williston.
A meeting of Thunder Road and Vermont state government officials with representatives of the Squier family has resulted in planning for the Kenley Dean Extravaganza – A Celebration of Life honoring Thunder Road International Speedbowl founder Ken Squier on Saturday, May 4.
Harwood Boys Hockey and Girls Basketball teams advance in the state playoffs to their semifinal matches.
Harwood Boys Basketball standout Tobey Bellows took care of a hard-earned individual milestone in the first half of the Highlanders’ Feb. 9 home game against North Country.
