BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – A woman is facing an arson charge after police say she lit a tent on fire with someone inside.

It happened Just before 11:45 Friday morning. Burlington Police responded to an encampment near Waterfront Park for reports that someone was burned by a fire.

The victim was treated by the fire department before going to the hospital.

Police Carol Layton, 39, and charged her with 2nd-degree arson and aggravated assault.

Copyright 2025 WCAX. All rights reserved.

BRATTLEBORO, Vt. (WCAX) – C&S Wholesale Grocers, A Keene, New Hampshire-based company that is one of the country’s largest food distributors — including a facility in Brattleboro — says layoffs are coming.

It looked like business a usual Monday at C&S Wholesale Grocers in Brattleboro. Trucks were coming and going from the 300,000-square-foot facility. A “now hiring” sign was posted out front, But the company is cutting staff at the Brattleboro location at a minimum.

“Right now, we are looking at less than 50 employees and that would be affected by that — at least based on the information that was shared — and those layoffs wouldn’t occur within the next 45 days,” said Vt. Labor Commissioner Michael Harrington.

C&S supplies food to more than 7,500 supermarkets, military bases, and institutions across the country. At this time, we do not know what jobs are on the chopping block. Harrington says Vermont’s rapid response services have been activated. “Those services include everything from how to access unemployment insurance benefits to what type of supports can we offer for re-employment services,” he said.

They are also partnering with local officials. “We work closely with them to try to bring different tools and different resources,” said Adam Grinold with the Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation. He says they have a new AI-driven tool called the Vermont Employment Pathfinder, which will be available to laid-off workers. “Identify skills — it can help map those skills. It can help match those skills to local job opportunities. That and some training and re-skilling programs can really help start that next chapter.”

Harrington says while job cuts are never a good thing, there are more positions right now open across Vermont than there are people looking to fill them. “When that trajectory changes and there are more individuals who are laid off or unemployed than there are jobs, that is when we will see the market become very tight,” he said.

The current unemployment rate in Windham County is 2.7% and officials say companies are hiring. The ultimate goal is to make sure families do not have to leave the area because they can’t find work.

Copyright 2025 WCAX. All rights reserved.

The Vermont Air National Guard has deployed more than 200 members to the United States’ Kadena Air Force base in Japan for training and support operations in the Indo-Pacific region, according to a press release.

The deployment, which includes the latest F-35 aircrafts and equipment, is expected to last several months and will include exercises in Japan and area islands.

As a result, there will be fewer local flight operations during that time, the release stated.

“With this latest deployment, more than a third of our Airmen are actively contributing to critical missions worldwide,” said U.S. Air Force Col. Daniel Finnegan in the release, which noted that 50 members had deployed last fall.

Almost 18,000 Americans and more than 4,000 Japanese employees and contractors are stationed at the Kadena Air Base, which is known as the Keystone of the Pacific, according to the website.

F-35 aircrafts assigned to Vermont’s 134th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron touched base in Kadena today, according to a press release from the air base in Japan.

“Our squadron eagerly anticipates the chance to elevate our training by testing ACE (Agile Combat Employment) concepts during this deployment,” said Lt. Col. Trevor Callen in that release. 

The operation includes participating in Cope North, the largest multilateral joint exercise of its kind in the region, to “maintain an open and free Indo-Pacific,” Col. David Deptula said in the release.

“Exercise Cope North is a unique opportunity to work closely with our allied partners,” said  U.S. Air Force Col. Michael Blair, 158th Operations Group Commander, in the Vermont release. “The level of interoperability required during this exercise demonstrates our collective ability to respond to emerging threats and ensure regional stability.”