In a stinging decision, a federal appeals court has ruled the Vermont Principals’ Association (VPA) clearly discriminated against the Mid Vermont Christian School in Quechee on religious grounds after it opted to forfeit a girls playoff basketball game against a high school team with a transgender athlete.  The VPA, in an unprecedented move, banished the Windsor County school in 2023 …

Vermont is experiencing its worst drought on record. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) drought.gov, conditions in central Vermont and the Upper Valley are predicted to persist through the month. Below, a view from what is typically the middle of the Ottauquechee River at the White Cottage Snack Bar in Woodstock, where much of the riverbed is …

 Citing ongoing harassment by Woodstock Village officials, former Police Chief Joe Swanson has asked to be voluntarily returned to paid administrative leave until his demotion case is resolved in Vermont Superior Court. Through his lawyer Linda Fraas, Swanson said the indisputable actions of municipal manager Eric Duffy and Sgt. Chris O’Keeffe, the interim police chief, over the past month “demonstrate …

A new business has opened in Woodstock Village. Ranch Camp — a full-service restaurant, bar, and mountain bike shop — opened Monday, Sept. 8 at a former bank property on Woodstock Road.  Owner and Woodstock resident, Nate Freund, spoke to the Standard about the opening and what local residents can expect. “We have a sister shop in Stowe, Vt., with …

On Tuesday evening, the Woodstock Village Board of Trustees worked to finalize fall foliage plans as the autumn season approaches.  At the meeting, several nonprofit organizations were approved to sell food on The Green during foliage. Also, the secretary of the Woodstock Rotary Club, Beth Finlayson, and the chair of Rotary’s funding committee, Bob Wagner, petitioned for a new fundraising …

Leaders of the Mountain Views Supervisory Union (MVSU) are initiating a statewide campaign calling for a special session of the Vermont State Legislature this fall to pass emergency legislation decoupling capital construction debt from the per-pupil spending formula used by the state to fund education in public schools. At its regular monthly meeting on Monday evening, the MVSU School Board …

On Saturday, Sept. 27, the town of West Windsor will host an Affordable Homes Forum in the Town Hall from 10 a.m. to noon, where residents will be provided with more information on the local housing situation and hear potential paths forward from members of the West Windsor Planning Commission.  Chair of the Planning Commission (PC), Alan Keiller, alongside fellow …