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Flooded Northeast Kingdom farmers try to salvage another season

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Flooded Northeast Kingdom farmers try to salvage another season


WATERFORD, Vt. (WCAX) – Vermont’s Open Farm Week is celebrating its 10th year, but after severe flooding in the Northeast Kindgom over the past month, some farmers are not able to take part.

“If every other storm, or every storm we get is three, four inches at a time, then I’m not sure what we are going to do,” said Shawn Gingue with the Gingue Family Farm in Waterford.

He says they are still picking up the pieces following last month’s flooding. The farm lost some of its sweet corn, 25 chickens, their soybean crop, among other damage. “The biggest thing we found — underneath Interstate 93 was a complete river. The culvert was plugged at the top and then all that water came rushing down from underneath the underpass. Our whole day was just assessing damage and kind of scratching our heads,” Gingue said.

Open Farm Week comes as farmers are looking for community support after losing an estimated $4 from the flooding, according to Vermont Agriculture Secretary Anson Tebbetts. “We are looking at long-term strategies. We do have some of our farmers thinking about — can I plant there again? Because they have been flooded out twice, three times. One particular farmer told me it’s been five events he has… as far as dealing with the floods,” he said.

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Paul Gingue, who has been working the Waterford farm since he was a child, says he hasn’t seen storms like this since the ‘70s.

“You can tell that there’s gotta be something to do with climate change. That I did not believe in at all when they first started talking about it. I worry about what kind of effect it’s going to have on my son and daughter-in-law that are planning on taking it over,” he said.

The family says the best thing for them to do to recover is to salvage what they have and start planting again next spring. They do say their farm stand is open for Open Farm Week.



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Vermont

21-year-old killed in wrong-way crash on I-89 in Vermont; other driver cited

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21-year-old killed in wrong-way crash on I-89 in Vermont; other driver cited


A 21-year-old is dead after a pickup truck slammed head-on into her vehicle on Interstate 89 Wednesday evening in Bolton, Vermont, and the other driver involved has been cited.

State police say they responded around 5:22 p.m. to reports of a wrong-way driver in the area of mile marker 71. As troopers were responding, a multi-vehicle crash on the interstate was reported to dispatchers.

A preliminary investigation shows 45-year-old Timothy Wooster was driving a Toyota Tundra in the northbound lane when he crossed the median into the southbound lane, where he continued traveling the wrong way until he collided head-on with a Kia Sportage that was being driven by 21-year-old Hailey Westcot, police said.

A third vehicle, a Cascadia Freightliner, was traveling southbound when the head-on collision happened ahead, causing the vehicle to strike Westcot’s car and then rollover.

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Westcot, of Northfield, Vt., was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Wooster, of Jericho, Vt., was taken to University of Vermont Medical Center to be treated for serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

The third driver who was involved, 50-year-old Douglas Bailey, of Londonderry, New Hampshire, was evaluated on scene and did not report any injuries, police added.

Officials haven’t said what led Wooster to allegedly drive in the wrong direction on the highway. Wooster was cited on a charge of grossly negligent operation with death resulting. Further charges will be determined as the investigation continues, according to police.

Any witnesses are asked to contact Trooper Shawn Morrow at 802-878-7111. Anonymous tips can be submitted online here. The investigation remains ongoing.

It’s unclear if Wooster has obtained legal representation at this time. He’s due in Chittenden County Superior Court on Jan. 29, 2026.

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UVM men’s rugby team wins first-ever national championship – VTDigger

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UVM men’s rugby team wins first-ever national championship – VTDigger


The University of Vermont men’s rugby team celebrates after winning its national championship game against the University of Chicago on Sunday, Dec. 14. Photo courtesy of National Collegiate Rugby

The University of Vermont men’s rugby team romped the University of Chicago last weekend, 71-5, to win its first-ever national championship. It’s the second time, notably, that a UVM sports team has won a national-level title in the past year.

Rugby is not a varsity sport at UVM — such as soccer or basketball — which means the school’s men’s and women’s teams play outside of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, or NCAA. The men’s team plays in National Collegiate Rugby’s Division II, which has more than 100 teams in different regional conferences across the country.

The team’s win Sunday capped an undefeated season that also saw it dispatch rivals in earlier rounds of the Division II tournament by double-digit margins.

“It really hasn’t even set in yet, still. Every time I see a picture or something, I’m like, holy — I can’t believe it,” said Jack Worobel, a senior mechanical engineering major at UVM who plays in the No. 4, or “lock,” position. “It’s awesome.”

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In UVM’s rugby league, 15 players are on the field for each team at a time. Players advance the ball by running or kicking it but aren’t allowed to pass the ball forward. Points come primarily through “tries,” which are worth five points each and scored by bringing the ball into the opponent’s in-goal area and touching it to the ground.

Worobel credited UVM’s win to strong bonds that he said he and his teammates have built up over the past four years. A number of the players, including himself, have been on the team every year since they were first-year students, he said.

UVM has had a men’s rugby team since 1970, according to a school press release.

The University of Vermont men’s rugby team handily defeated the University of Chicago 71–5 to win its first ever national championship. Photo courtesy of National Collegiate Rugby

“We all do anything for each other. Anyone would do a favor for anyone else on this team — I think that’s where the win comes (from),” Worobel said Wednesday. “It’s not from the skill or the talents. Really, it’s what’s off the field.”

The rugby team’s win comes about a year after UVM’s men’s soccer team — which competes at the highest level of collegiate athletics — won the NCAA Division I championship last December. UVM has also won six NCAA championships in skiing, with the most recent coming in 2012.

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Police investigating after ATV stolen from Vt. driveway

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Police investigating after ATV stolen from Vt. driveway


Police are asking for the public’s help in their ongoing investigation into a stolen all-terrain vehicle in Derby, Vermont.

State police say they were notified around 4 p.m. on Oct. 31 that a Camouflage 2008 Yamaha Rhino 700 ATV had been stolen from a driveway on Main St. The theft occurred some time between 10 p.m. on Oct. 30 and 7 a.m. on Oct. 31.

No other details were immediately available. Police did released two photos as part of the investigation.

Anyone with information about this theft is encouraged to call Vermont State Police at 802-334-8881, or leave an anonymous tip online.

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