The state is looking for Vermonters who can’t get on an available high-speed broadband network due to a lack of computer equipment or digital literacy.

The Vermont Community Broadband Board says it’s moving ahead with a $5.3 million federally funded program, the Digital Equity Plan, to help aging, low-income, and other groups in Vermont get online, as the state moves ahead with its buildout of a high-speed broadband network.

“Digital Equity’s role is to ensure that every individual in Vermont has the access, the affordable technology, and the skills to be able to be on the internet and navigating it meaningfully and safely,” said Vermont Community Broadband Board Digital Equity Officer Britaney Watson.

Watson has been meeting with groups around the state to determine where there is a need to supply people with equipment, or offer training, so people know about the resources that are available over the high-speed broadband network that the state has been building out.

The VCBB is holding virtual and in-person meetings, and communicating closely with groups around the state that work with seniors, veterans, low-income Vermonters and other marginalized groups, to try to determine on a house-by-house basis who needs help with the new technologies.

Watson said there has been some confusion with the Trump administration’s actions to slow down or eliminate some federal programs, especially those that target diversity and inclusion.

But she said the money has been delivered, and so the state has begun holding sessions to begin the work.

“The DE program is underway,” she said. “So we’re moving forward until somebody tells us that we can’t, and right now we don’t have anyone telling us that we can’t.”

The funding for the program was included in the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, which included $65 billion to help Americans access broadband services.

According to the VCBB, about 95% of the state identifies with one or more of the criteria the federal government used to develop the Digital Equity program, and include low-income, aging or rural households, incarcerated individuals, veterans, people with disabilities, or a language barrier, and ethnic or racial minorities.

She said the board hopes to set up a donation and refurbishment program to help collect outdated equipment, and then update that equipment to distribute to people who need it.

As part of the federal funding, Vermont expects to use about $2 million to refurbish computers, as well as offer training and workforce development.

VCBB Executive Director Christine Hallquist said the state is 94% done with its buildout, but is still hoping to get $228 million from the federal government through the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program, which the Trump administration has also threatened to eliminate.

Vermont’s final push to connect the most rural addresses is very expensive, and so even though well more than half of the money has been used, the last chunk of federal money is needed to connect the final and most expensive addresses.

“Our state and country have made this unprecedented investment in broadband infrastructure,” Hallquist said in a press release. “Now we need to maximize the social impact of that investment and make sure everyone can benefit from the power broadband has to enhance and transform lives.”

Watson said the board expects to continue meeting with Vermonters, and then publish a report in the late summer outlining the needs across the state.

For more information on the plan, or to find out about how you can take part in the information gathering, go to the VCBB website.

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WATERBURY, Vt. (WCAX) – The State Police Advisory Commission on Friday released its semi-annual summary of internal investigations involving Vermont State Police members.

There were 19 investigations between January and June of last year. Eighteen of those were from concerns raised internally and one came from a community member.

The investigations determined eight VSP members violated policy and eight did not. In three other cases, those involved resigned before the internal review was complete.

Copyright 2025 WCAX. All rights reserved.

Confusion surrounds a plan by the Trump Administration to sell 443 federal buildings across the country deemed “not core to government operations,” after a list of the buildings published on the U.S. General Services Administration website on Tuesday was replaced on Wednesday with a blank space and a new headline that read, “coming soon,” according to USA Today.

The list published on Tuesday included four buildings in Vermont: the former U.S. Passport Agency and former Customs House in St. Albans, an impressive brick structure more than 100 years old; the Winston Prouty Federal Building in Essex Junction, which houses the Lake Champlain Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office; the Social Security Administration building in Montpelier; and a “shed” at the Derby and Port of Entry.

The list of buildings also included some of the federal government’s most iconic buildings, many on the National Register of Historic Places. USA Today reported the list included the Robert F. Kennedy building in Washington, which houses the Department of Justice, as well as the headquarters of nearly every major federal agency.

When asked why the list was taken down, Stephanie Joseph, acting associate administrator for the GSA’s Office of Strategic Communication, said in a statement that the agency is reviewing the properties. She said it will consider “compelling offers (in accordance with applicable laws and regulations) and do what’s best for the needs of the federal government and taxpayer,” according to USA Today.

St. Albans City Manager: ‘It’s hard to imagine a building more linked to the city’

St. Albans City Manager Dominic Cloud told the Burlington Free Press on Thursday he is “monitoring” the situation with the U.S. Passports Agency building on Main Street, but that he had heard nothing directly from GSA.

“It’s obviously a prominent building that contributes to the city’s sense of place,” Cloud said. “It’s full of murals on the inside that date back to the long history of the Customs House. It’s hard to imagine, frankly, a building that isn’t more inextricably linked to the identity of the city than that building.”

Cloud said the building is also an important economic driver for St. Albans, as people come from across the region to get passports.

“A regional federal agency where people come from out of town, then have a few hours to kill while waiting for their passports is kind of the gold standard (for attracting business),” he said. “That’s exactly why Sen. Leahy had the foresight to put (the passport agency) there, reflective of his vision to save small towns.”

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, retired in January 2023 after eight terms in the Senate.

Cloud also stressed that the building is in great condition, despite its age.

“The federal government has consistently invested in it, this is no white elephant,” he said.

And he worried about the fate of the 75-100 employees he said work in the building, who he said were recently ordered to return to the office instead of working from home.

“If you’re selling (the building) where are the employees going?” Cloud asked. “A month ago they were all ordered to come back to work. Now the building is for sale. It’s hard to get a bead on where it’s going.”

Contact Dan D’Ambrosio at 660-1841 or ddambrosio@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanDambrosioVT.