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Burlington Free Press writer Dan D’Ambrosio wins regional award for immigration story

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Burlington Free Press writer Dan D’Ambrosio wins regional award for immigration story


Burlington Free Press reporter Dan D’Ambrosio won a first place award Saturday in the 2024 New England Better Newspaper Competition in Portland, Maine, for his April 2024 story about an undocumented farm worker in Vermont who was deported to Guatemala last year, despite threats of criminal violence against him.

D’Ambrosio won first place in the Social Issues Feature Story category for his story about Bernardino Suchite Canan. The competition is sponsored by the New England Newspaper & Press Association (NENPA).

Canan had been working on an Irasburg dairy farm for seven years before his deportation, quickly rising to a management position and exhibiting the traits of a “natural-born leader,” according to the farm owner. Canan also had a pathway to a green card, allowing permanent residence in the United States, because he had been the victim of a violent break-in to his home on the farm in 2022, and was cooperating with the state’s attorney to prosecute the perpetrator.

All of that went away when Canan and his partner were detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after visiting friends at a farm in New York, just across Lake Champlain. Canan was subsequently arrested for a DUI in the Northeast Kingdom.

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Canan and his partner testified he had never driven drunk before, but was feeling the stress of his interaction with ICE, compounded by the anniversary of a violent attack on his mother in 2021, which ultimately resulted in her death. Canan himself had fled Guatemala at 16 to escape criminal violence.

‘Lifting up the voices and the stories of Vermont residents’

An immigration court judge in Boston deported Canan despite the state of Vermont agreeing to put him into a diversion program on his pending DUI charges, which means the charges would not have gone on his record once he completed the program. The owner of the Irasburg farm also provided a glowing letter of recommendation for Canan to the immigration court, to no avail.

Canan was represented in immigration court by Vermont Law & Graduate School Professor Brett Stokes and a team of student lawyers in the school’s immigration clinic.

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“Lifting up the voices and the stories of Vermont residents is what the reporters at the Free Press strive to do each day,” said Caitlyn Kelleher, New England Group Editor. “It is an honor to receive recognition for this work from our peers and the professional organization of NENPA. Additionally, we appreciate the courage that it took Bernardino Suchite Canan to tell his story to Dan. The stories of migrants are not just one for the U.S. southern border communities or big cities. Dan’s reporting shows the daily struggles of the undocumented immigrants living and working in Vermont.”

Lifting up the voices of Indigenous people

D’Ambrosio also won a first-place award last year in the History Reporting category for his story about Saswa and Conauda, two Potawatomi boys, ages 17 and 15, respectively, who were brought to Vermont in 1827 by a Baptist missionary to study at Castleton Medical College, the first private medical school in the nation.

Within four years, by 1831, both boys would be dead from tuberculosis, and their stories would recede into obscurity for nearly two centuries, until an investigation of Indian Boarding Schools by the U.S. Department of the Interior was published in May 2022. The report included a brief reference to two Indian students in Castleton, which led to the Free Press investigation.

“This look at two teenage boys’ brief time in Vermont nearly two centuries ago does a masterful and nuanced job of telling the broader story of the country’s treatment of Indigenous people,” the competition judges wrote last year about D’Ambrosio’s story.

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Vermont

Who are Vermont’s biggest landowners? The biggest private land owner owns 86,000 acres

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Who are Vermont’s biggest landowners? The biggest private land owner owns 86,000 acres


Great places to view fall foliage in Burlington, VT

It’s leaf-peeping season in Vermont. Here are six places to see the fall foliage in Burlington, the Green Mountain State’s largest city.

Vermont might not be a huge state but the amount of land the largest landholder owns might surprise you.

The World Population Review drew on 2025 data and found the biggest land owners in each state of the country.

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“Approximately 60% of land in the United States is privately owned, and just a few individuals and families control a significant proportion of this land,” they said.

Here’s what the World Population Review said.

What is Weyerhaeuser

Owning 86,000 acres of forestland, Plum Creek Timber Company was the largest landowner in Vermont, but it merged with Weyerhaeuser in 2016, the Review said, technically making Weyerhaeuser the biggest landowner in Vermont.

Weyerhaeuser also owns land outside of Vermont.

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The state website said that the Kingdom Heritage Lands that encompasses the West Mountain Wildlife Management Area as well as the public easement on private timber lands are currently owned by Weyerhaeuser.

“Essex Timber Company acquired 84,000 acres for working forestry, with easements protecting certain natural resources and guaranteeing perpetual public access,” the Vermont government website said. “This land was subsequently purchased by the Plum Creek Timber Company and again purchased by Weyerhaeuser.”

Today, the company manages land for wood production, conservation, and recreation. There are 20 miles of hiking trails as well as rock climbing opportunities.

According to investor.weyerhaeuser.com, Weyerhaeuser owns and manages 10.4 million acres of timberlands across the United States, making its overall market capitalization approximately $17.2 billion.

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Weyerhaeuser also has had its fair share of controversy, facing repeated accusations of violating the Clean Water Act and dozens of charges for stormwater discharge violations in the state of Washington. They have continued to deny wrongdoing and have settled in the past to end legal proceedings.

In 2016, Weyerhaeuser faced legal controversy when the Vermont Supreme Court said that their loggers cut down more trees than they were allowed to cut. They would settle with the state for $375,000 in 2017.

“Our environmental stewardship in these northern forests is shaped by responsible forest management, the geography of our ownership and past land management practices,” Weyerhaeuser’s website said. “Our forest management plans address biodiversity in line with state and federal environmental laws, collaborative projects with a variety of stakeholders, and practices that support sustainable forestry.”

Rin Velasco is a trending reporter. She can be reached at rvelasco@gannett.com.



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Obituary for John Lutz at Day Funeral Home

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Obituary for John  Lutz at Day Funeral Home


John Lutz, 86, died peacefully on October 16, 2025, surrounded by the love of his family and with the supportive care of hospice and the staff at Valley Terrace in White River Junction. He was born June 6, 1939, in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, the youngest of five children of Clarence and



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Thousands Say ‘No Kings’ at Protests Across Vermont | Seven Days

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Thousands Say ‘No Kings’ at Protests Across Vermont | Seven Days


For the second time in a matter of months, thousands of people around Vermont on Saturday took to the streets as part of a massive nationwide “No Kings” protest against President Donald Trump and his administration.

Some 50 Vermont cities and towns, from Vergennes and Underhill to St. Albans and Chester, held official protests. At each, dozens or in some cases thousands of people massed in green spaces and along busy thoroughfares to sing songs, wave signs and American flags, and voice their opposition to the way Trump has lead the country during his first nine months in office.

The largest gatherings by far were in Montpelier, where thousands of protesters filled the Statehouse lawn to listen to speakers, and Burlington, where separate groups of marchers converged on downtown City Hall Park for a colorful, musical and somewhat joyous gathering of community.

Creative signs and costumes were abundant among the throngs of people.

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Ken Bognanowicz , left, and Zoë Keating in Burlington Credit: Daria Bishop

In South Burlington, dozens of people holding “No Kings” signs crowded onto a narrow sidewalk along Patchen Road at the Interstate 89 overpass. Most were over 40, with some exceptions, including a man and a woman with two toddlers. They made giant bubbles that floated over the crowd.

A woman wearing an inflatable dinosaur costume would not give her name. “My husband is an immigrant so I’d rather not,” she said. “I’m glad I can represent both of us today. We thought a green card would be enough safety for us.”

Her costume, she said, was a nod to “what’s happening in Portland. I think that humor and silliness seem to be really effective against this administration.”

Another woman who declined to give her name described herself as a member of the “inflatable rebellion.” She wanted to show up with humor — “no anger, no hate, to stand up for integrity.” A nurse, she said she turned down an overtime shift for double pay to be there.

She’s from Thailand and grew up in a country with a king — a good one, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who united the country. Not like Trump, she said. “I want this to be a wake-up call. That’s what I’m here for.”

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Scroll through the slideshow below:

The “No Kings” demonstrations were under intense scrutiny from right-wing media and Trump administration officials, who dismissively referred to the gatherings as “Hate America” rallies. But the scene at the Statehouse was filled with American flags, children playing and smiling faces.

Prior to the demonstrations, an email from “No Kings” organizers briefed protesters on etiquette for the day. Stand two feet back from the street curb and keep sidewalks clear, it read. Smile and wave at any potential hecklers or disruptors, and put down signs and step back when an ambulance or fire truck passes, the instructions said. There were no signs of anything amiss at the Montpelier rally, which went off without a hitch.

U.S. Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) was the first speaker to take the stage on the Statehouse steps. “We need less Trump and more Vermont values in Washington,” Welch said to cheers. He invoked Matthew Lyon, a Vermont senator who was sent to jail in the 1790s for criticizing the president, only to be reelected by Vermonters.

A young child in a firefighter costume popped bubbles blown by protesters wearing inflatable animal suits as speakers took their turn at the podium. One demonstrator in a gray flying squirrel suit held a sign that read “Antifa” in stylish cursive, a reference to the Trump administration’s rhetoric about the antifascist group in Portland, Ore.

Introduced as a “fearless, feisty, ferocious fascist-fighting motorcycle mama from Brattleboro,” U.S. Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.) began her speech with a call-and-response chant of “No Kings, No Tyrants, No Dictators!”

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“They’re trying to reframe this, and that’s because they’re scared,” Balint said. “We don’t hate America, Donald Trump. We just can’t stand what you have done to our country!”

Nikhil Goyal, a sociologist and former senior policy advisor for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), spoke to the crowd about the impact of Trump’s policies in Vermont. The crowd booed when Goyal made reference to state Sen. Sam Douglass (R-Orleans), who was outed this week by Politico for participating in a racist and sexist group chat of national Young Republicans.

After days of intense political pressure to resign, Douglass announced on Friday that he would step down effective Monday at noon.

Geri Peterson, lead organizer of 50501 Vermont, sang an original song while trans flags were passed out in the crowd. “Our existence, our basic biology, has been turned into a political talking point,” Petersen said of the Trump administration’s attacks on trans rights. “Behind every headline is another person trying to survive another day,” she said.

Protesters in inflatable suits

“It’s OK to feel overwhelmed about these things, but worrying does not have to be the end of the story,” Clara White, a 14-year-old student at Montpelier High School, said from the podium. “People my age, we’re not just sitting around waiting. We’re more connected than generations before us.”

Rae Carter of Plainfield was also at the first No Kings rally in June. She attended Saturday’s Statehouse protest adorned in bright colors, including a neon green wig. “Things have gotten worse, and the power is with the people,” she said. “Transformation and change is something that requires all of us.”

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Loretta Gaidys came from Barre to protest. “I have a lot of relatives that are in the service, and I just look at the man that is leading this country, and it scares the hell out of me,” she said.

Isaac Jensen, a construction and excavation business owner from the Northeast Kingdom, took the stage “to reject the current subversion of American patriotism and the assertion that, because we refuse to allow them to seize unlimited power, we are somehow anti-American.”

As the last speaker, he led the crowd in the pledge of allegiance.

Cathy Resmer contributed reporting.



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