An energy entrepreneur wants to set up a commuter rail system to further his vision of weaning Vermont from fossil fuels and getting cars off the highways, and he has taken the first step toward moving it beyond the theoretical by buying a dozen rail cars. David Blittersdorf spent $5 million of his own money…
Vermont Soldier Is 1st Woman to Graduate as Combat Engineer
A few days after two women became the first female soldiers to pass the Army’s grueling Ranger School, a college junior in Vermont became a military pathfinder in her own right. And at first, she didn’t even know it. With no fanfare, Vermont National Guard Spc. Skylar Anderson became the first woman certified as a…
Federal Investigators Probe Amtrak Train Accident in Vermont
The National Transportation Safety Board is now investigating the derailment in central Vermont of a Washington, D.C.-bound Amtrak train after it hit rocks that had fallen onto the tracks, sending two cars down an embankment and injuring seven people, the head of Amtrak said Tuesday. Amtrak CEO Joseph Boardman said the person most seriously injured…
Summer Camps with a Mission: To Create Cybersecurity Experts
At Vermont’s Norwich University, 20 high school students will build computers they’ll be able to take home. At Dakota State University in South Dakota, about 200 students will learn about programming. In Southern California, 250 middle school Girl Scouts will be given tiny computers, the chance to fly drones and earn special patches. And none…
State Uses New Technology to Speed Bridge Repair
Last month, construction crews placed a series of hollow tubes over the Wanzer Brook in Fairfield as part of a Vermont Transportation Agency program that uses new technology to cut construction time, save money and reduce the backlog of bridges that need replacement. View: Photos of the Day: ‘Bridge in a Backpack’ Is Built in…
Vt. Air Guard hopes for jet, but others fear noise
SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — Plans on where to base the U.S. military’s next-generation fighter jet, the F-35, concern people in communities from California to Florida to Maine who worry the aircraft are too loud. In Vermont, where the Air National Guard has flown planes from Burlington International Airport for more than 60 years,…