Vermont

Terminally ill Connecticut woman ends life with assisted suicide in Vermont after helping to change state law

Published

2 years ago

January 4, 2024

Terminally ill Connecticut woman ends life with assisted suicide in Vermont after helping to change state law

A Connecticut woman who helped convince Vermont lawmakers to extend euthanasia rights to people from out of state died a “comfortable and peaceful” death Thursday after a years-long battle with fallopian tube cancer.

Lynda Bluestein, 76, was able ended her life on her terms with prescribed medication.

According to her husband, Paul, Bluestein’s final words were, “I’m so happy I don’t have to do this anymore,” he shared in an email with advocacy group Compassion & Choices.

The group filed a lawsuit on behalf of Bluestein in August 2022, arguing that Vermont’s denial of assisted-suicide services to non-residents violated the U.S. Constitution.

The state agreed in March to let Bluestein die there legally, then in May extended that right to all terminally ill people wishing to end their lives when they choose. Oregon is the only other state to allow medically assisted suicide for non-residents.

Bluestein told The Associated Press last year she hoped to die on her own terms, surrounded by family, friends and her dog.

“I wanted to have agency over when cancer had taken so much for me that I could no longer bear it,” she said. “That’s my choice.”

The retired community public health professional was diagnosed with cancer in March 2021, according to the Hartford Courant. At the time, she was given six months to three years to live.

Bluestein said she watched her mother die from cancer and didn’t want to be remembered as someone who spent her finals days “in an adult diaper, curled up in a fetal position, drugged out of my mind.”

Vermont began allowing terminally ill residents to die by medically assisted suicide more than a decade ago, so long as their prognosis was for six more months of life or less.

With News Wire Services

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Vermont

74-year-old woman fulfills childhood dream as EMT at fair in Vermont

Published

18 minutes ago

April 20, 2026

Press Room

74-year-old woman fulfills childhood dream as EMT at fair in Vermont

ESSEX JUNCTION, Vt. (Aging Untold) — For 10 days, the Champlain Valley Fair, a county fair in Vermont, becomes its own little town with thousands of people, hot afternoons and the occasional emergency.

Charlene Phelps, 74, runs the fair’s emergency response team.

“We have a lot of seniors that come and people don’t drink enough water,” Phelps said.

The team handles sprains, bee stings, heat exhaustion and whatever comes through.

“I like taking care of people, I like helping people,” Phelps said.

Living out a childhood dream

It’s also a childhood dream.

Phelps wanted to be a nurse, but college wasn’t possible, so she found another route into care and has been showing up year after year at the fair.

Aging Untold expert Amy O’Rourke said living out your purpose can improve mental and spiritual well-being.

“When you tap into that, you’re tapping in on a place that’s a risk, that’s a challenge that inevitably creates growth inside you, gives you confidence so that if you’re in another situation you can build on that,” O’Rourke said. “Or, if you’re in an everyday situation where you’re a little anxious, it’ll help create stabilization in that place as well.”

Saving lives at the fair

Sometimes it’s bigger than a bandage.

“Over on there near the swings way over there is Gustovo, and we saved his life,” Phelps said.

Gustovo had gone into cardiac arrest at the fair a few years ago.

“I mean he was gone,” Phelps said.

Now he’s back and working the rides.

“Came for my hug, Gustovo,” Phelps said.

O’Rourke said stories like this are also why some people keep working past retirement age. Purpose isn’t a number, it’s a role.

“I’ve seen a 92-year-old still working as a nurse’s aid. I’ve seen people in my neighborhood chilling out and loving it,” O’Rourke said. “So, I think it’s being really self-aware of what you need and making sure that you’re getting those needs met.”

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Vermont

Vermont lawmakers reject digital lottery initiative – Valley News

Published

12 hours ago

April 19, 2026

Press Room

Vermont lawmakers reject digital lottery initiative – Valley News

A plan by Gov. Phil Scott’s administration to make all of the state’s lottery games, including scratch-off tickets, available on a person’s phone never got off the ground at the Statehouse this year.

Lottery Commissioner Wendy Knight told lawmakers in January that the plan was a way to modernize the lottery “because you need to keep pace with technology — you need to meet your players where they are.”

Fifteen states have created a “digital” lottery system, and many have discovered there’s a distinct market of people who don’t buy lottery tickets at retail outlets but will do so on their phones, according to Knight. “We’re trying to ensure the future of the Vermont Lottery, ” the commissioner said.

But state lawmakers have not been persuaded.

Vergennes Rep. Matt Birong, the Democratic chair of the House government operations committee, said members of the panel felt this year was not the time to move forward with this plan, especially given the recent legalization of sports betting.

“It is digitizing a current system and after moving forward with the sports wagering — people just wanted to take their time with it — so my committee decided to tap the brakes on further testimony.”

The administration estimated that the plan would have raised roughly $5 million a year for the state’s education fund after two years of implementation.

The prospect of that additional revenue is appealing to lawmakers, and Birong said they may reconsider the plan next year.

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