In 2014, the state of Vermont, the number one producer of maple syrup in the United States, began using a new maple syrup grading system developed by the International Maple Syrup Institute.

It did away with Grade B and Fancy, instead making all syrups grade A, adding flavor and color descriptors like delicate, rich and robust.

A University of Vermont graduate who served in Iraq came to the Upper Valley this week on a peacetime mission: to show veterans and others how to make paper from their uniforms.  

Gov. Peter Shumlin wants the Legislature to approve a $90 million payroll tax on Vermont businesses. But lawmakers are reluctant, to say the least. And the governor’s proposal rests largely in the hands of an unconventional bureaucrat who will have to convince legislators that the money will be put to good use.

Large scale wind projects are the most cost-effective way for utilities to meet proposed new renewable energy requirements now being considered by the Legislature, according to Statehouse testimony.

On Thursday, Vermont’s nearly 120,000 Catholics will have a new leader in the state. Bishop Christopher Coyne will be installed as the Tenth Bishop of Burlington at a ceremony in the Queen City.

The deteriorating water quality in Lake Champlain has been a topic of ecological concern, litigation and spending in the last two decades. Much of the problem comes from phosphorous washing into the lake from its massive watershed and setting off blooms of toxic, filthy blue-green algae.