New Blue Mountion Union School Budget Approved by Only 2 Votes

Last night, the budget revote for the Blue Mountain Union School District passed by a hair, with only 2 votes making the difference.

 

Read more: New Blue Mountion Union School Budget Approved by Only 2 Votes

BMU Warns Another Budget Before Wednesday Revote

Blue Mountain Union School held an informational meeting last night for their second budget proposal. Voters and the board seem to be at odds as there were many disputes during the meeting.

 

Read more: BMU Warns Another Budget Before Wednesday Revote

St. Johnsbury Moves Forward Following Town Meeting Success

St. Johnsbury - With Town Meeting Day over, St. Johnsbury is looking ahead with heads held high. Many items on the ballot passed, and plans are now in motion rather than in limbo.

Read more: St. Johnsbury Moves Forward Following Town Meeting Success

Blue Mountain Union School District Arrives at a New Budget

The Blue Mountain Union School Board proposes a new budget, exactly $100,000 less than the initial 12.86 million.

Read more: Blue Mountain Union School District Arrives at a New Budget

Upset Ryegate Voters at Blue Mountain School District Emergency Meeting

AROUND THE NEK - The town of Ryegate turned voters away for 4 hours on Town Meeting Day, as the Blue Mountain School District failed to approve their budget by 7 votes. 

Read more: Upset Ryegate Voters at Blue Mountain School District Emergency Meeting

NEK Broadband Recieves BEAD Award

Earlier this month, NEK Broadband announced it was awarded federal funding to expand high-speed internet in areas in need.

 

Read more: NEK Broadband Recieves BEAD Award

Blue Mountain Union School District Budget Proposal Election Results

NEK - This week, residents of Ryegate, Ryegate, and Groton voted on the Blue Mountain Union School budget, which included a 5.27% increase in per pupil spending. The final budget increase resulted in a $12,054,049 expansion, which will be allocated to salaries, increased healthcare costs, and general funds.

Read more: Blue Mountain Union School District Budget Proposal Election Results

Blue Mountain Union School District's Budget Proposal

Last night, the Blue Mountain Union School District held their annual budget meeting. Residents from Ryegate, Wells River, and Groton gathered to hear about the school’s current year and how its budget has been used effectively, as well as to understand the purpose of a 5.27% increase in per pupil spending.

The full budget increase called for a $12,054,049 expansion of the BMUS budget, which would go toward increasing salaries, covering rising healthcare costs, and most significantly, putting the budget surplus back into the general fund to offset local taxes. The increased budget is also meant to maintain the status quo in response to current inflation on school supplies and other required goods for the school.

The increased budget was further justified by the school’s performance, with residents expressing their satisfaction with the school’s successes, including its sports department and overall grade improvements.

Jenny, a resident, shared her thoughts: “I was just going to compliment the fact that in the elementary section, the direct programming with grade-level growth… sounds like the kids made quite an increase in their grades.”

Fire Hydrant Concerns

This year's snow is causing some issues for the town of Lyndon.


With all the recent and upcoming snow, the town of Lyndon has put out a notice. The town is asking people to try to clear a three foot radius around the fire hydrants. There has been a concern that due to the amount of snow that has piled up on sidewalks, fire hydrants couuld become unaccessable. To ensure everyone's safety, firefighters need to be able to have full access to the hydants at any given time.

Caledonia County Snowmobile Trails Face an Uncertain Future

Snowmobile trails in Caledonia County have been facing serious uphill battle, putting a major aspect of Vermont’s winter recreation at risk in Caledonia County. 

 

The Vermont Association of Snow Travelers (VAST), is an organization responsible for the maintenance and grooming of hundreds of miles of snowmobile trails across the entire state. In Caledonia County, the local VAST club operates with just seven members, making it increasingly difficult to maintain the trails.

 

However that is not the only major problem facing these snowmobile trails, an overlooked aspect of this business is the agreement between VAST and local landowners in the area that own a large portion of viable trails, for whatever reason 2 landowners in the caledonian region have decided to shut their property off to VAST and it’s trails causing one of the most popular trails in Caledonia County to be erased from their boundary map. 

 

Jeff Hayes, a member of the Caledonian Club, spoke about how the importance of these trails and their traffic is usually a net benefit to local businesses in the area like gas stations for example who could benefit from the increased number of sales during what is usually a slower season. 

 

Jeff also believes there is a generational divide in what move people find popular as a winter recreation activity. 

 

“I mean years ago when we started, there were no snowboards. You had skiers and you had snow machines, basically. From that standpoint, it's less expensive to go snowboarding than it is to register, insure, and maintain a snow machine for riding around.”

 

Another important aspect of the maintenance of these trails is the effect natural disasters such as floods and storms has on important infrastructure. For example, the floods from last year wiped out 2 major bridges in East Burke alone which cost thousands of dollars to repair. 

 

The Caledonia County club is always looking to recruit more workers and increase awareness about the importance of snowmobile trail tourism in the region. They hope that with more hands on deck, they can continue maintaining the trails and supporting the local economy through winter recreation.

 

 

Conflict Of Interest for H.829

Around the NEK- Legislation wants to address current housing issues through a bill called H.829.

Read more: Conflict Of Interest for H.829

KESD Budget Not Approved

Around the NEK- Kingdom East School District's budget failed to pass on Town Meeting.

Read more: KESD Budget Not Approved

NEK Broadband Expansion

Around the NEK- NEK Broadband expanded their service to over 400 new customers

Read more: NEK Broadband Expansion

Mobile Home Removed After Five Year Battle

WEST BURKE - Over the past five years the town of Burke had been pleading with a homeowner to comply with building codes regarding the home's sewage system. Mike Harris, the town zoning administrator, had cited Howard Bailey for having his septic tank not up to code and the sewage was emptying out through a pipe on the backside of the property, which is located on Route 5 in West Burke. 

Read more: Mobile Home Removed After Five Year Battle

Teacher's Shortage In The NEK

AROUND THE NEK - Here in the Northeast Kingdom we have a problem that being the lack of teachers in our schools but the question is why? This week I interviewed 3 former educators from the NEK region to find out why.

Read more: Teacher's Shortage In The NEK

KESD Having Staffing Issues

Around the NEK- KESD is having staffing issues in all of the districts campuses. 

Read more: KESD Having Staffing Issues

Tree Grant In Action In Lyndon

Lyndon - The Town of Lyndon was recently awarded a $20,000 tree grant through the Vermont Urban and Community Forestry Program.

Read more: Tree Grant In Action In Lyndon

Sen. Peter Welch came to NVRH

This past Friday,Vermont senator peter welch came to Northeast Vermont Rural Hospital.

Read more: Sen. Peter Welch came to NVRH

Former Jay Peak President released from Prison

Former jay peak president Bill Stenger was released from prison last Wednesday after only serving 10-months.

Read more: Former Jay Peak President released from Prison

Pet of the Week: Jedediah

March 3, 2023 - March 9, 2023

Jedediah, also known as Jed, is a three year old miniature Australian shepherd mix living at Riverside Rescue in Lunenburg, Vermont, and he is looking for an active home to join.

Read more: Pet of the Week: Jedediah

NEK town warnings materpost

Around the NEK- In preparation of town meeting day, here is a full list of all the town warnings in the News7 coverage area.

Read more: NEK town warnings materpost

Kidnapping in Peacham / Danville area

Around the NEK- Mack Varnum, 45, and Nichole Cloutier, 36, of Peacham were arraigned in court on Monday February 27th 2023, for multiple charges including attempted kidnapping, attempted first degree murder, unlawful restraint in the first degree, aggravated domestic assault and aggravated assault. 

Read more: Kidnapping in Peacham / Danville area

Kingdom East Trims Budget after passing 40 million

AROUND THE NEK- Kingdom East School Officials hit the books last night as KESD Financial commitee met last night to try to trim the budget. 

Read more: Kingdom East Trims Budget after passing 40 million

Local Dispensary donates to NKHS

St Johnsbury--Wednesday the Green Man dispensary in St Johnsbury donated 10 percent of their profits to Northeast Kingdom Human Service Childrens Department.
Something they look forward to doing with other company's.

Owner Zeb Overton said,"For human recources here we believe in children and children are the future. I know thats a saying that people say but for us that what we believe, we want to help the kids out as much as possible in any way shape or form when we can."

Overton was not sure of the exact amount that was donated

A Turkey for the Holidays

Barnet- Small Vermont Farm supporting the community a turkey at a time.

Read more: A Turkey for the Holidays