Ask N.B. to recount the lowest point in her life and she doesn’t have to stop and ponder. In October 2006, the Jericho native recalls, the father of her child had kicked her out “for the 50th time.” An intravenous drug habit had withered her down to 85 pounds, and both her arms were bruised, from wrists to shoulders. Then she discovered she was pregnant again.

read more

Imagine:

Four new buildings flanking the Unitarian Universalist Church at the northern end of the Marketplace

An Intervale demonstration garden — perhaps including “chickens on Church” — in place of the fountain on the perennially problematic top block

Student apartments added above ground-floor retail spaces on the Marketplace

Then Imagine:

An indoor farmers market replacing the waterfront parking lot at the foot of College Street

read more

If James Maroney had his way, we wouldn’t be writing about him at all.

We’d be discussing, instead, the state of agriculture in Vermont, the crisis of floundering dairy farms and pollution in Lake Champlain — all issues that Maroney thinks should stand on their own, beyond the matter of his polarizing advocacy. These are causes near and dear to the former organic dairy farmer’s heart, and which he has addressed for years at local farm bureau meetings, at Statehouse hearings and in the pages of Vermont newspapers.

So far, not many people are listening.

read more

Is Sen. Patrick Leahy losing his sense of political timing? For most of his 37 years in the U.S. Senate, Leahy, 71, has been a defender of civil liberties, earning praise from First Amendment advocates and right-to-privacy groups.

But lately, Leahy has ignited outrage across the nation — and among Vermonters — for supporting two bills that critics say give the government too much power.

read more

In the market for a slaughterhouse? Apparently, you’re in good company: Last week the website Auctions International logged 241 bids for the sale of Vermont’s only mobile poultry-processing unit.

Think “Pimp My Ride” gone to the birds: Custom designed and built for the state in 2008, the 36-foot trailer comes with kill cones, an eviscerating trough, turkey broiler shackles and a giblet station, to name a few features.

read more

Miro Weinberger wants everyone to know: He is not “The Donald.”

“People think of Donald Trump when they hear you’re a developer,” Burlington mayoral candidate Weinberger says of the job title the local media has bestowed upon him. But unlike the Republican builder of casinos and luxe cribs for the 1 percent, “my whole career has been about equity issues and green building,” says the Democrat who wants to lead Burlington.

read more

Nicole and Justin Matten of Barton have lived every parent’s worst nightmare. On December 2 their 7-year-old daughter, Kaylynne, visited her physician for an annual checkup. She got a flu shot. The next day, she developed a bad headache and fever. On December 6, the normally happy and healthy girl, who had no previous history of chronic health problems or adverse reactions to vaccines, turned blue, stopped breathing and died in her mother’s arms.

read more

The South Burlington City Council is revisiting a controversial measure that would put the brakes on development in the city for up to two years. The proposal, similar to one rejected by the council in July, is so divisive that it elicits hyperbolic reactions from supporters and opponents alike. Critics decry it as a “radically antibusiness” move that will drive up property taxes. Supporters call it a “breath of fresh air” that will save South Burlington from overdevelopment.

read more

News travels fast and often doesn’t hold the public interest for very long. That’s one reason to go through the ritual of recalling what happened in 2011. Remember Dr. Hsiao?

The other reason to do so is because the stories you read in these pages — and our blog, Blurt — don’t end when the reporter files them. They continue to evolve, sometimes taking turns that are more interesting than whatever made us pursue them in the first place.

read more

For most of Harka Khadka’s 36 years, political empowerment has meant the right to speak his own language, practice his own religion and live in his own country. These days, Khadka simply wants a say in how Burlington cleans its streets, provides electricity and runs its schools.

read more