Partnership Celebrates 10th Year of Loving the White River



Partnership Celebrates 10th Year of Loving the White River In honor of 10 years of helping local communities improve the cultural, economic and environmental health of the White River watershed, the White River Partnership will host a benefit auction and annual meeting on Nov. 11 at 5 p.m at the Royalton Academy building in Royalton. The Partnership’s new director, Mary […]

Tunbridge Village Store Closes



Tunbridge Village Store Closes  When the Tunbridge Village Store re-opened in June of this year, it hoped to match the longevity of the original store, which opened in the 1830s and was in business for about 170 straight years before closing in the 1990s. Alas, the latest version of the Village Store lasted only five months. Owner Ann Swanson of […]

Gifford, Governor Celebrate Nursing Home Expansion



Slicing golden shears through a red ribbon, Menig Extended Care Facility resident Harold “Bucky” Joy welcomed a crowd that included the governor into his newly expanded home Thursday evening, Nov. 2. Menig Extended Care, a nursing home at Gifford Medical Center in Randolph, was expanded from 20 beds to 30 and a new entryway built at the southern end of […]

North Hollow Hereford Is Shot and Mutilated



North Hollow Hereford Is Shot and Mutilated North Hollow Hereford Is Shot and Mutilated One of North Hollow Farm’s breeding Hereford cows was shot dead and then repeatedly sliced and jabbed with a knife on Sunday, apparently by someone who drove onto the field where the cow was pastured. Mike Bowen, who has run the high-elevation beef farm on Rochester’s […]

School Board Meeting Improperly Warned



School Board Meeting Improperly Warned By Chris Costanzo The Herald has learned that the Bethel School Board held a special meeting last week to discuss far-ranging issues relating to the Bethel school district’s educational policy, but did not properly warn the meeting. Unlike regular meetings, whose schedule and locality are known beforehand, special meetings are not previously scheduled. For that […]

Bethel Selex Won’t Authorize Parade For Bridge ‘Blessing’



Bethel Selex Won’t Authorize Parade For Bridge ‘Blessing’ By Chris Costanzo Monday evening, the Bethel selectboard unanimously denied a request by Bethel’s United Church to authorize a short traffic interruption and a parade of Bethel fire trucks in order to perform a “blessing” of the new Church Street Bridge. The United Church had invited other Bethel churches to participate in the event […]

WRValley Election Results Mirror Rest of Vermont



WRValley Election Results Mirror Rest of Vermont By M. D. Drysdale Independents and Democrats to Washington. Republicans to Montpelier. Progressives to Montpelier, too. Oh yes, and Democrats to Montpelier as well. Turning out in large numbers for an off-year election, voters in the White River Valley pretty much mirrored the votes that were cast statewide in sending Bernie Sanders to […]

A Pair of Unusual Home-based Businesses Arrive in the Area



By Chris Costanzo Two unusual home-based businesses have recently taken root in the area: Fleck of Colour and Shulamit Jewelry. Fleck of Colour Fleck of Colour is the brainchild of Bethel’s Mary Ellen Fleck, who paints "faux finishes" that are used primarily in interior decorating. Traditional faux finishing incorporates a wide variety of techniques on decorative surfaces to generate specific […]

Rochester Town Voters Agree To Keep Speed Ordinance



Rochester Town Voters Agree To Keep Speed Ordinance By Martha Slater The Rochester Selectboard held a special town meeting Thursday evening, Nov. 2 at the town office, at which voters decided to keep a new ordinance lowering the speed limit in one section of the village. Well over 40 voters crowded the town office meeting room to discuss and vote […]

MacDonald Easily Wins Senate Seat



MacDonald Easily Wins Senate Seat By M. D. Drysdale Orange County Sen. Mark MacDonald handily defeated his long-time opponent, former Sen. Stephen Webster, in Tuesday’s balloting. The vote was close in Randolph (Webster’s home) and Webster won in Braintree and Chelsea, but otherwise it was all MacDonald across the county. This is the fourth time that the two men have […]