Bennington Welcome Home Injured Soldier
Bennington had two parades this weekend. The annual Fourth of July celebration was held Sunday and on Saturday, townspeople lined the streets to give a local soldier wounded in Iraq a hero’s welcome home. (VPR)
Teen Suicide Prevention
A group of Deerfield Valley residents is taking a stand against what it calls the epidemic of suicide. A committee of teenagers and parents plans to meet this week to discuss suicide prevention programs for schools. (AP)
Christal Jones Trial
The mother of a Burlington teenager who was killed in a Bronx, New York, apartment more than three years ago is suing the state agency that had custody over the girl. Sixteen-year-old Christal Jones was under the supervision of the state Social and Rehabilitation Services Department when she was suffocated in January 2001. (AP)
Republican Incumbents
Three Vermont House Republicans have reversed previously announced plans to retire from politics. Colchester’s Malcolm Severance, Orwell’s Mark Young and Loren Shaw of Derby all said at the end of the legislative session that they wouldn’t run for re-election. (AP)
Stormwater Utility
South Burlington officials are poised to establish the state’s first stormwater utility as a way to help clean up Lake Champlain. The utility will assume ownership of the city’s 141 private stormwater systems to ensure they are properly maintained. (AP)
FAHC Nurse Staffing
Nurses and administrators at Fletcher Allen Health Care are at odds over the number of nurses at the Burlington hospital. The nurses’ union says the hospital has 180 vacant nursing positions; Fletcher Allen officials say there are 116 open spots. (AP)
Access to Supermarkets
A recent study suggests access to supermarkets with healthy and affordable food is a growing problem in rural states like Vermont. That means shoppers who live in so-called “food deserts” sometimes have to travel long distances to buy groceries. (AP)
Milk Vending Machines
A group of Chittenden County farmers has raised $10,000 to supply five local schools with dairy product vending machines. The farmers say they want to provide the school children with a healthy alternative to junk food. (AP)
Schooner Launched
There’s a new boat on Lake Champlain. The Lois McClure, a replica of a 19th-century canal schooner, took to the water Saturday in Burlington. (AP)
Sand Plain
The headquarters of the Vermont National Guard in Colchester is home to one of the state’s remaining sand plains. Sand plains are geological formations that are common along the Atlantic Coast but rare away from the ocean. (AP)
Wireless North Beach
A Burlington campground has gone wireless. That means technologically equipped campers at the North Beach Campground can now surf the Web and check their e-mail, all without being plugged in to a device or outlet. (AP)