The 2024 listening session events include seven events in eight locations, covering eleven counties, and one state-wide virtual event
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Our primary goal is to create space with Vermont’s agricultural producers, processors, and distributors; hear directly about their experiences, needs, priorities and concerns; and utilize this feedback to inform and guide our programs and future funding opportunities. (Courtesy photo)
MONTPELIER, Vt. — The Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets is developing a series of in-person and virtual listening sessions for the agricultural community over the 2023-2024 winter. Our primary goal is to create space with Vermont’s agricultural producers, processors, and distributors; hear directly about their experiences, needs, priorities and concerns; and utilize this feedback to inform and guide our programs and future funding opportunities. We welcome your participation in one or more gatherings!
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Upcoming Listening Sessions
The 2024 listening session events include seven events in eight locations, covering eleven counties. We will also be having a state-wide virtual event to conclude the series in March. Unless indicated, each of the following events will be held in-person, with on-site parking and ADA accessible spaces. Light snacks and refreshments will be provided for each in-person meeting. Registration is required if noted with an asterisk.
February
Addison county
**ACORN will provide childcare services during this event.
Orange and Windsor counties (virtual)
When: February 22nd from 6:30 – 8:00pm
Where: Virtual meeting – sign up here
Co-host: White River Natural Resources Conservation District
***For this session, we are attending an existing Local Working Group meeting; learn more about the event structure here.
March
Statewide (virtual)
When: March 18th from 12:30 – 2:00pm
Where: Virtual (register here)
Rutland county
*Registration is required for this event – register here.
Franklin and Grand Isle counties
When: March 25th from 4:00 – 6:00pm
Where: St. Albans Bay Town Office
Co-hosts: Franklin & Grand Isle Counties Natural Resources Conservation Districts and Farmers’ Watershed Alliance
Logistics and Feedback Form
The Agency greatly values the in-person components of these sessions, but we want to be transparent that we are not able to offer stipends, childcare (unless indicated), or translation services. It is our hope that as this program develops in future iterations that those services can be offered, but unfortunately there is not capacity currently. We acknowledge this will impact individuals’ ability to attend and we apologize for this.
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If you are unable to attend for any reason but would like to share your experiences, we welcome you to fill out this form. We also welcome feedback on the structure and accessibility of this process.
Past Listening Sessions
November and December 2023: Windham county (co-hosted with Food Connects); Chittenden and Washington counties; one virtual event.
Early 2024: Orleans and Essex counties (co-hosted with Essex and Orleans Natural Resources Conservation Districts); Caledonia and Lamoille counties (co-hosted with Caledonia Co. Natural Resources Conservation District and Center for an Agricultural Economy); Bennington county (co-hosted with Bennington Co. Natural Resources Conservation District and Merck Forest and Farmland Center)
Questions
If you have questions about this process or want to offer direct input, please reach out to Sarah McIlvennie at Sarah.McIlvennie@vermont.gov or 802-261-5866.
A man died Saturday after falling while skiing at Sugarbush Resort in Warren, Vt., officials said.
The man fell and slid into a wooded area while skiing Stein’s Run, a double-black diamond trail on Lincoln Peak, Vermont State Police said in a statement.
The double-black diamond rating is the highest difficulty designation in skiing, according to the National Ski Areas Association.
The man was found unresponsive by ski patrol members and was brought to an ambulance at the base of the mountain, police said. He was pronounced dead due to his injuries, according to the statement.
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The man’s name was not released pending notification of his family, officials said.
Police said the death did not appear suspicious. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Burlington, Vt., will condut an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of death.
No further information was immediately released.
Collin Robisheaux can be reached at collin.robisheaux@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @ColRobisheaux.
WARREN, Vt. (WCAX) – Vermont State Police are investigating the death of a skier at Sugarbush Resort.
Police were notified at about 3:26 p.m. Saturday that a skier had died following a fall on Stein’s Run at Sugarbush Lincoln Peak.
The male victim fell and slid into a wooded area off the trail, according to police.
Ski patrol members found the man unresponsive and brought him to the base of the mountain, where they were met by the Mad River Valley Ambulance. The victim was pronounced dead due to his injuries.
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Police say the death does not appear suspicious. An autopsy will be performed at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Burlington to determine the cause and manner of death.
The victim’s name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
Thousands of Vermonters took to the streets Saturday, condemning the actions and policies of President Donald Trump in peaceful protests at dozens of locations.
They lined up on Main Street in Newport and on Creamery Row in Hardwick, on the village green in Fair Haven and in towns from Burlington to Brattleboro. In all, around 50 “No Kings” demonstrations were held.
Nina Keck
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Vermont Public
Castleton resident Robert Revell came to Rutland Saturday to show his anger at the Trump Administration. “We have a war that we’re not supposed to be in, we have a president who does nothing but lie… I am just fed up,” said Revell.
Castleton resident Robert Revell stood along Route 7 in Rutland with hundreds of others.
“I’m just so angry,” said Revell, who held a three dimensional sign that incorporated a blow-up planet Earth with words below that read “Mother DEMANDS NO kings, no pedos and no liars.”
“We have a war that we’re not supposed to be in, we have a president who does nothing but lie,” he said. “I am just fed up. I’m 73 in a couple weeks and I lived through the Nixon thing and I’m just here to protest and share my heart.”
Around him, throngs of people, many in costume, lined several blocks along Route 7 waving flags and handmade signs. Some rang cow bells or thumped tambourines. Many passing motorists responded with staccato horn blasts.
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Nationwide, more than 3,000 protests were planned for Saturday in large cities and small towns. They have been organized by national and local groups, including well-known progressive coalitions such as Indivisible, 50501 and MoveOn.
Nina Keck
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Vermont Public
Hannah Abrams, of Mendon (in blue jacket) was among hundreds of protestors who stood along route seven in Rutland Saturday. This was her third NoKings protest. “I’m not tired of protesting,” she said, “but I’m really tired of the current administration.”
“For me, it boils down to the cruelty I’m seeing in the world right now,” said Hannah Abrams, of Mendon. “I think that our president instills a lot of cruelty among the people he doesn’t like. And actually for the people who do vote for him too, because they’re not any better off with him in office.”
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“There are a lot of people who say this is not America,” Abrams added. “And I would like to say, it’s exactly America, it’s just targeting different people now … Sadly, this is not new.”
Nina Keck
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Vermont Public
Stephanie Brush and her 89-year-old mother Mary Jane Demko (in wheelchair) of Rutland Town came out to protest President Trump on Saturday in Rutland. Said Denko, “I couldn’t stay in, he’s too evil.”
Mary Jane Demko, 89, of Rutland, showed up to her local protest in a wheelchair driven by her daughter, Stephanie Brush. Demko carried a sign on her lap that read “IMPEACH THE SOB!”
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“I couldn’t stay in and not be part of this,” Demko said. “He’s too evil.”
Karen Lorentz of Shrewsbury said she too couldn’t stay away. At 80, she said Saturday’s event in Rutland was her first protest. She held a handmade sign she said a friend had helped her make.
“I’m really old and when the Vietnam War was on I was a new teacher and I didn’t have time,” she said. “But I felt strongly that I needed to be here today.”
