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Authorities identified the four people killed in a Vermont plane crash on Sunday, including a 15–year-old girl and her mother.
Vermont State Police identified the victims as Paul Pelletier, 55 of Columbia, Conn., Frank Rodriquez, 88, of Lebanon, Conn., Susan Van Ness 51, and Delilah Van Ness, 15, both of Middletown, Conn.
Pelletier was the aerospace and manufacturing teacher at Middletown High School, where Delilah was a student, Middletown Public Schools said.
We are heartbroken by the tragic loss of 3 cherished members of our community in a plane crash: Paul Pelletier, Delilah Van Ness, & Susan Van Ness. MHS will be closed on Tues, Sept. 10, 2024 with crisis teams available. More here: https://t.co/fvZU3gAC0m
— Middletown Public Schools (@MiddletownPS) September 9, 2024
“This unimaginable loss has left a void in our hearts and our community,” Superintendent of Middletown Public Schools Dr. Alberto Vázquez Matos said. “Paul, Delilah, and Susan were special individuals whose absence is already being felt throughout our district and city.”
Middletown High School was closed and all athletic events were postponed on Tuesday, a letter from Matos to parents said. Matos said he hopes the break will “provide our school community time to grieve.” Administrators stationed crisis teams at Middletown High School to support the community, the letter said.
The victims were on a small four-person plane flying back to Connecticut after brunch at Basin Harbor resort south of Burlington, State Police said. State Police said they did not receive any reports of an aircraft in distress or a plane crash. Relatives of the victims alerted Connecticut authorities after their loved ones had not come home, the statement said. Connecticut law enforcement worked with the Federal Aviation Administration to determine the plane’s last known location.
Using a drone, investigators found the wreckage just east of the Basin Harbor Airport early Monday morning, the statement said. The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are leading the investigation into the crash, according to State Police.
“In the days and weeks ahead, let us come together as a unified Middletown school community to honor the memory of Paul, Delilah, and Susan,” Matos said in the letter. “May their legacies of compassion, dedication, and kindness will inspire us to support one another and make a positive difference in the world.”
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Score: UAlbany 4, Vermont 14
Location: Virtue Field | Burlington, Vt.
Records: UAlbany (10-5, 5-1 America East) | Vermont (8-6, 4-1 America East)
Short Story: UAlbany women’s lacrosse fell to the Vermont Catamounts on Saturday afternoon.
Key Stats
How It Happened
Up Next
The Great Danes will next have a bye week and wait to see the outcome of next week’s Vermont vs UMass Lowell game to see who will host the America East Tournament.
Social Central: Stay up to date with UAlbany women’s lacrosse by following the team on Instagram (@UAlbanyWLax), Facebook (UAlbany Women’s Lacrosse), and X (@UAlbanyWLax) for all of the latest news and highlights throughout the year.
Is creativity the missing key to better health?
Research suggests creative activities like art, music and crafts may benefit mental health as much as other key health habits.
Here’s another reason Vermont is the best New England state: It’s home to one of the top 5 happiest cities in the United States.
Plus, it has another within the top 15.
Massachusetts, on the other hand, doesn’t even break the top 50. Nor, does Connecticut or Rhode Island.
The personal finance website analyzed 182 of the largest cities in the country, and ranked Boston 63rd overall. Although the city is home to some of the nation’s top universities, high-ranking hospitals, and well-regarded companies, it didn’t break the top 50.
To get the rankings, WalletHub compared the cities using 29 metrics, including life-satisfaction index, depression rate, poverty rate, job security, and acres of parkland per 1,000 residents. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, and cities were assigned an overall happiness score.
Here’s a look at how the cities ranked.
South Burlington came on top for Vermont in WalletHub’s list of the happiest cities in the United States, ranking at No. 4. In scored very high for emotional and physical well-being coming in at the No. 4 spot, which made up for coming in No. 48 for community and environment. It was No. 9 for income and employment ranking. That gave it a total happiness of score of 70.15
Burlington wasn’t far behind at all, taking the No. 11 spot on the list and a happiness score of 67.54. It’s highest score was for income and employment ranking where it came second. It ranked No. 13 for community and environment and No. 21 for emotional and physical well-being.
Here are the 25 happiest cities in the U.S., and their happiness scores, according to WalletHub’s 2026 list:
Here are the 25 least happy cities in the U.S., and their happiness scores, according to WalletHub’s 2026 list:
Here are the 12 happiest cities in New England, and their happiness scores, according to WalletHub’s 2026 list:
A tornado touched down in Vermont Thursday, when a strong storm system moved through the area, the National Weather Service said.
Winds are believed to have hit 90 mph when the tornado churned through Williamstown at about 9:15 p.m., the agency said Friday. That makes it an EF1 tornado on the Fujita Scale, which goes from 0 at the weakest to 5 at the strongest.
Lasting three minutes, the twister traveled for more than four-tenths of a mile, with a maximum width of 100 yards, according to the National Weather Service’s preliminary assessment. It damaged a pair of buildings and numerous trees, shearing tree tops. Golf ball-sized hail was also reported in the area.
Severe thunderstorms popped up across the North Country Thursday night, including in central Vermont — Williamstown is south of Montpelier.
The town thanked its road crew, firefighters and locals who spent hours in the wake of the storm cleaning up.
“We appreciate all that you do to keep the town functioning though an emergency situation,” the town said.
People in the area told NBC affiliate WPTZ that the storm was shockingly powerful, and National Weather Service staffer Marlon Verasamy said that while tornadoes in Vermont are rare, they’re even rarer in this part of the state.
“Generally, when we do see tornadoes around the area that they’ve been in Addison County and not here, so it make it really, really unique to get a tornado in this kind of terrain in this part of the state,” Verasamy said.
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