Pat Bradley

The city of Burlington has rejected a plan by the owners of a hostel in Vermont's largest city to use their Main Street facility as a "wholesome" shelter for homeless families during the winter.

Officials say the steady flow of backpackers and other traditional users of the 48-bed hostel dries up in the winter and the Burlington Hostel has closed in past years.

The local anti-poverty agency, the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity, says there's a need for housing for homeless families.

The Vermont Department of Forest, Parks and Recreation has no immediate plans to change the use of the 13-acre Dutton Pines State Park in Dummerston.

That's good news for those who worried the state would sell the property off Route 5 that has been declared "surplus property," but it's bad news for those who want to see more recreational opportunities there.

The state bought the land in 1937 and the park opened in 1940. Over the years use declined and a summer ranger's position was eliminated in the 1970s.

A judge says a Virginia pastor must testify before a grand jury investigating the kidnapping of a now-10-year-old girl by her mother, who refused to share custody with the Vermont woman who was once her civil union partner.

Court documents say 46-year-old Kenneth Miller of Stuarts Draft, VA, had asked a judge to quash a subpoena, but he refused. The judge says prosecutors have guaranteed Miller immunity for anything he says before the grand jury.

Vermont U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders has raised nearly $ 7 million in his bid for a second six-year term.

That's expected to dwarf the fundraising efforts of Republican challenger John MacGovern, who had raised less than $30,000 as of early August. Updated numbers for him were not immediately available.

Monday was a deadline for campaign finance reports for both federal and state elections in Vermont.

The three candidates in northern New York’s 115th Assembly District race recently faced each other in a televised debate.  

An independent candidate for Vermont Governor is seeking an emergency injunction to allow her participation in debates.

Claiming potential manipulation of elections, Independent candidate Emily Peyton served the CBS and NBC television affiliates and Vermont’s largest newspaper Friday notifying them she is seeking an injunction to force them to allow her to participate in scheduled gubernatorial debates.  

WCAX, WPTZ and the Burlington Free Press have only scheduled the Republican and Democratic candidates.  

The Dalai Lama is taking an extremely long view when it comes to climate change.

Speaking Friday at Middlebury College, the Tibetan Buddhist leader and winner of the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize teased his audience by saying our crisis might crash into another crisis someday, but not to worry because it will take billions of years.

He pointed to recent findings that Mars is dry now but appears once to have had water on it.

He urged a crowd of about 2,800 to eliminate negative feelings like anger and jealousy and practice contentment.

Going for a hike in the Adirondacks doesn't cost anything, but one elected official in the North Country thinks New York state should start charging for the privilege.

Crown Point Town Supervisor Charles Harrington tells the Press-Republican of Plattsburgh that he wants to explore the idea of charging a fee for using public hiking trails in the Adirondacks. He says the fees could generate significant revenue for the state.

Harrington says hikers could buy state-issued permits using an Internet-based payment system.

Health officials are investigating a case of the potentially deadly hantavirus. It was contracted by a Long Island man bitten by a mouse while camping in the Adirondacks.

Doctors treating Michael Vaughan of Stony Brook said preliminary tests indicated he contracted the viral illness. Samples have since been sent to state health officials and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta for confirmation. Results are expected next week.

A new company has broken ground on the first facility in Vermont that will truck natural gas to businesses across Vermont that are unable to tap into pipelines carrying the fuel.