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Weather & Monday Update:

Good morning, Burlington. The week opens with scattered showers rolling through the Champlain Valley and a gusty south wind that could push 40 to 50 mph in gusts at times today. Highs will still manage the low 60s, a mild step forward even if the umbrella is doing most of the heavy lifting. Rain sticks around tonight with lows in the 40s, and Tuesday brings more of the same, with a chance for thunderstorms. Between today and tomorrow, expect a quarter inch to a full inch of rain depending on where storms set up. Wednesday through Friday stays unsettled with on and off showers, but temperatures will keep climbing, reaching the upper 60s and brushing 70 by the end of the workweek. The real payoff comes Saturday, which is currently looking like the week's gem: partly sunny skies and highs in the low to mid 70s. Soak that one in, because showers look likely to return Sunday.

Rain or not, tonight’s got a lot going on. Burlington City Council meets at 6:00 PM at Contois Auditorium with a full agenda that includes updates on the SECORD development agreement, the city's approach to private and unaccepted streets, winter plowing, and a housing barriers report, plus a proposed zoning amendment related to affordable housing at Cambrian Rise. Public Forum begins at 6:30 if you want your voice heard (Zoom is also an option). Meanwhile, Citizen Cider kicks off a weeklong cellar sale today with discounts up to 50% on bottled ciders, limited releases, and merch running through April 19. Over on Steele Street, Local Motion's Smart Cycling workshop series begins tonight at 6:00 PM for anyone looking to build confidence riding in traffic, led by a League Certified Instructor across three consecutive Monday sessions. The Champlain Valley Lions are hosting a pie social at 6:00 PM at Allard Square in South Burlington, a sweet (literally) entry point if you've been curious about community service. And the Collage Collective gathers at Expressive Arts Burlington on Flynn Ave starting at 6:30 PM for an evening of cutting, pasting, and creating. All levels welcome, and you can even join via Zoom.

Tuesday is stacked. The headliner might be Ben & Jerry's Free Cone Day on Church Street, which needs no further explanation. Over at Phoenix Books, Vermont Poet Laureate Bianca Stone continues her State of Poetry tour with a discussion of Louise Glück at 7:00 PM. The Moth's April StorySLAM lands at Burlington Beer Company with doors at 6:30 and stories at 7:00; this month's theme is "deception or suspicion," hosted by Hilary Boone. If trivia is more your speed, Switchback Brewing hosts a Seinfeld Trivia Night from 7:00 to 9:00 PM. Down on Bank Street, A Single Pebble is doing something special: a chef's tasting menu and cookbook dinner starting at 4:30 PM, with a photographer capturing dishes and the dining room's spirit for an upcoming cookbook. Their regular menu will also be available, but reservations are encouraged. The Burlington Odd Fellows are hosting a Media Swap at 1416 North Ave from 6:30 to 8:00 PM where you can trade books, comics, zines, movies, and music. The Sandbox on Pine Street offers a free beginner sewing class at 4:00 PM (bring your own machine, fabric and thread provided). Knot Knite returns to Queen City Brewery on Pine Street for its monthly gathering of yarn crafters, stories, and good company. And over at Burlington Beer Company, the Burlington Landlord Connections event runs 4:00 to 7:00 PM in the Helios Room with free info on lead abatement, fair housing, weatherization, and energy efficiency from a roster of local partners. Snacks provided, beer and food available for purchase.

Wednesday and Thursday bring even more. On Wednesday, the Queen City Cat Lounge hosts its monthly Dungeons & Dragons night from 6:00 to 9:00 PM (newbies welcome, and yes, the cats are adoptable). Chicken Sketchatore: BEST OF! hits the Vermont Comedy Club with doors at 6:00 PM and a curated greatest hits set at 6:30 ($10 general admission, free for students). City Market's South End store offers a Vermont Spring Harvest Cooking Class at 5:00 PM with chef Adam Herschel for $55.20, and you take home a bag of groceries with the recipe. Green Mountain Roller Derby's Learn to Skate session runs 8:00 to 11:00 PM at the Champlain Valley Exposition in Essex Junction. The South Burlington Library Puzzle Swap goes from 2:30 to 5:00 PM at 180 Market Street (bring a complete piece puzzle to trade, or just come grab one). And out in Shelburne, UVM OLLI presents an interactive session on Music in Medicine and Healthy Aging at 10:30 AM ($20, pre-registration required). Thursday morning, the BTV Clean-Up Crew meets at 7:30 AM at the top of Church Street for their weekly volunteer litter pickup. That evening, the Wild & Scenic Film Festival takes over J Skis on Main Street at 6:00 PM for an evening of inspiring environmental short films, light snacks, a cash bar, and a raffle. Kelsey Cook opens a multi-night run at the Vermont Comedy Club on Thursday at 7:00 PM ($30), bringing her Happy Hour Tour through Saturday. Grateful Dead Yoga flows into SoulShine Power Yoga on Church Street at 6:00 PM with live music from local Dead tribute group Dark Star Project ($35). Charity Bingo with Amber LeMay gets rolling at Higher Ground with doors at 7:00 PM ($5 for three sheets), all donations going to the Ronald McDonald House of Burlington. The Mellow Climbing Film Tour screens at Outdoor Gear Exchange at 7:00 PM with all proceeds supporting CRAGVT and Vermont crag access, plus North Face swag and brews from Four Quarters. UVM's Percussion Ensemble performs works by contemporary composers Jessica Flannigan and Molly Joyce at 7:30 PM in Southwick Recital Hall (free). The CCV Early College info session in Winooski starts at 4:00 PM for rising high school seniors and families exploring tuition-free college credit options. And the South Burlington Library hosts a Fair Housing Month book discussion of Brave New Home by Diana Lind from 6:30 to 8:00 PM.

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"I was at one point making more money making YouTube than I was working," said retired builder Ken Grant. Per InvestigateTV.

Grant has been documenting the construction of a tiny home since last summer, putting in about nine hours a week with the camera always rolling. The videos have racked up millions of views, but it's the comments that keep him going, particularly one from a mother whose 7 year old son watches the channel to learn carpentry. His daughter says the on-camera personality is the real deal. Grant responds to every comment and plans to sell the tiny house when it's finished.

"An arms race is a race to the bottom. It's never-ending, and it sucks more and more resources from what we really need to make our lives better," Cohen said before the action. Per VermontBiz.

The Ben & Jerry's cofounder joined over 200 demonstrators at Lockheed Martin's facility in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania on Good Friday for a nonviolent direct action organized by a broad interfaith antiwar coalition. Participants carried the names of children killed in Gaza, Iran, and Lebanon before peacefully blocking the facility entrance, resulting in multiple arrests. The protest is part of a growing annual tradition at the site, drawing together groups ranging from Veterans for Peace to Mennonite Action to the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.

"I think we should be fully transparent," said Rep. Troy Headrick of Burlington, adding that he believed the press should have been allowed in. Per VTDigger.

The House Corrections and Institutions Committee toured the Northwest State Correctional Facility in St. Albans, which also holds most men in federal immigration custody in Vermont, but the Department of Corrections blocked reporters from attending. The department cited security concerns and group size, though it has facilitated media visits in the past. The episode raises questions about public oversight of the corrections system at a time when the committee is actively shaping how taxpayer dollars get spent on state facilities. VTDigger's Charlotte Oliver showed up anyway and was turned away at the door.

"This year, there were quite a few new people we've never had to chase before," said Marcel Lapierre, Waterford's delinquent tax collector. "People are stretched out pretty far right now." Per Seven Days.

Rising property taxes are colliding with stagnant incomes across rural Vermont, and the fallout is landing hardest on the state's smallest towns. In Cambridge, over $500,000 in unpaid taxes forced officials to cut capital fund contributions, delaying purchases like fire trucks. In Granville, delinquencies hit nearly 25% of the municipal budget. The state doesn't even collect centralized data on the problem, making it hard to know just how widespread the strain really is. Lawmakers are weighing a mix of stopgap relief and longer term reforms under Act 73, but most structural changes won't kick in until the end of the decade, leaving towns to absorb the pain in the meantime.

"What we experienced that day was terrifying… When officers ended up breaking down the door and entering the home, they began to ask us questions and demand answers about somebody that we didn't even know," said Cristian Jerez-Andrade, one of three people detained. Per MyChamplainValley.

The community meeting at Contois Auditorium gave the public its first chance to hear directly from one of the people swept up in the March 11 raid, which targeted a Mexican citizen who was never actually taken into custody. All three people detained were later ordered released by a federal judge. Migrant Justice presented a timeline that diverges in key ways from the account offered by Burlington Interim Police Chief Shawn Burke, particularly around the degree of cooperation between local officers and ICE. Mayor Mulvaney-Stanak said a use of force review involving a Burlington officer is nearing completion but won't be made public for about two weeks.

"As much as we would love to be at the forefront of pushing back, the reality is, I'm not willing to risk 2,200 vouchers or any retaliation from the federal government," said Burlington Housing Authority executive director Steven Murray. Per Seven Days.

HUD's "Cleaning House" initiative is requiring local housing agencies to reverify the citizenship and immigration status of Section 8 recipients. Burlington Housing Authority reviewed its roughly 2,200 voucher holders and narrowed potential issues to just eight households, most of whom simply need updated documentation. The bigger concern is a proposed rule change that would bar "mixed status" households entirely from receiving any subsidies, a shift that could affect nearly 80,000 families nationally, including children who are U.S. citizens. For now, no one is being evicted, but the administrative burden and the chilling effect on tenants are already being felt.

"Many of the depicted events turn out not to be the first of something or perhaps even inconsequential to the greater flow of history," the exhibition's introductory text acknowledges. Per Seven Days.

The Vermont History Museum in Montpelier is displaying 13 of 44 paintings originally commissioned for the 1976 U.S. Bicentennial, each one depicting a supposed "Vermont First." The twist is that the museum has paired them with corrections and context that gently dismantle many of the original claims. Vermont's first Eagle Scout? Actually the second. The first Statehouse? The painting shows the third. It's a clever, self-aware approach to the nation's 250th anniversary, choosing to interrogate mythology rather than simply celebrate it, and the show runs through June 30.

"We believe it was Jeff Nick who poured maple syrup on unhoused people's lunch spot because a trusted anonymous source close to the family confirmed it," the organization stated on Instagram nearly a year after the incident. Per the Vermont Cynic.

The post resurfaced during the heated Ward 8 city council race between Jeff Nick's son Ryan and incumbent Marek Broderick. Food Not Cops had served daily lunches at the Marketplace Garage for five years before community pressure, including an open letter from over 180 business owners, led to a reluctant relocation to City Hall Park. The organization says the move was never about the merits of the complaints but about finding a convenient scapegoat for downtown's broader economic struggles. Food Not Cops continues serving lunch daily from 1 to 2 p.m. in the park, now in its sixth year of uninterrupted volunteer service.

"We don't have any further information on a possible return for our airmen of the 158th Fighter Wing," said Guard spokesperson Joseph Brooks. Per Vermont Public.

Hundreds of Vermont Air National Guard members and their F-35s have been overseas since mid-December, first deployed on short notice to Puerto Rico and then immediately sent to the Middle East without coming home in between. The deployment is now past 100 days and approaching the length of the last major combat mobilization in 2016. Family members were originally told to expect a late March return, but that timeline has been pushed indefinitely. Guard leadership says the call to bring troops home rests with U.S. Central Command, and under Title 10, the mobilization can legally last up to two years.

"Whether you're Republican or Democrat, it's to our mutual advantage to work together in a way that's going to help people in West Virginia and help people in Vermont with access to housing," said Sen. Peter Welch. Per VTDigger.

Welch and Republican Sen. Jim Justice of West Virginia have introduced a bill to update the Farm Credit Act of 1971 for the first time in six decades. The key change would raise the population cap for towns eligible for Farm Credit System loans from 2,500 to 10,000 residents, potentially opening access for roughly 30 million rural homebuyers. Housing remains one of the few policy areas where bipartisan agreement still seems possible in Congress, though the bill has a long road ahead. Welch plans to pitch it directly to HUD Secretary Scott Turner.

"I've always been impressed with the backstories of people who live here," said Carol Tashie, cofounder and organizer of Wallingford University. Per Seven Days.

The Rutland County town of 2,100 is the latest Vermont community to embrace the pop-up university model, offering a weekend of free classes taught entirely by residents. The 19 courses range from foraging wild mushrooms to understanding life as a transgender person in today's society, and several are already full with waiting lists. The concept traces back to Bethel, which launched its version in 2014 after Tropical Storm Irene as a community rebuilding effort and has since grown to over 1,000 participants annually. Wallingford University runs April 10 through 12.

"We are urging you to immediately release this vital funding so that over 48,000 Vermonters and 10 million people throughout America living in poverty can receive the help they desperately need to keep a roof over their heads, feed their families, keep their jobs, send their kids to child care and pay their energy bills," the delegation wrote. Per VermontBiz.

Vermont's entire congressional delegation is pushing back on what they call an illegal withholding of Community Services Block Grant funding by the Trump administration, now stretching past three months. The money flows to five community action agencies across the state, including CVOEO and BROC, which administer programs like Head Start and heating assistance. Nearly 50,000 Vermonters rely on these services, and with no sign of the funds being released, the standoff is becoming a real test of whether Congress can compel the executive branch to distribute money it already signed into law.

Quick Hits

The Strafford native will perform as musical guest on the May 9 episode of Saturday Night Live, hosted by Matt Damon. Kahan's fourth studio album, The Great Divide, drops April 24, and his Netflix documentary Out of Body premieres today.

Starting as early as today, a stretch of Colchester Avenue between Mansfield Avenue and the UVM Medical Center road will go one way only while crews work on a water main. Westbound drivers heading downtown will be detoured down East Avenue. Work runs 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. but traffic control will be around the clock. Expect the project to last one to two weeks.

Gov. Phil Scott is threatening to veto the state budget if education reforms don't include consolidation maps that he says would lead to strategic school mergers and better equity for students. House Democrats advanced a plan for voluntary regional mergers, but Scott argues it won't go far enough. The bill is currently in the House Ways and Means Committee.

Sens. Sanders and Welch helped secure $4.6 million in federal funding for a 49 chair dental clinic in Colchester that will treat thousands of patients a year and train the next generation of Vermont dentists. The clinic, run in partnership with the University of Detroit Mercy School of Dentistry, will accept Medicaid and offer care at roughly half the usual cost. The program begins with 32 students this fall, with full operations expected by May 2027.

How good of a reader are you? Think you’re keeping up with Burlington news? It's time to prove it. Every Monday and Friday, we're dropping a quick 5-question quiz covering the local news you just finished reading. You've got just 60 seconds to answer them all. No looking back allowed. Use the same unique name each time you play so everyone can track your stats in our Hall of Fame, where you'll compete for titles like Sharpshooter (highest accuracy), Speed Demon (fastest average time), and Streak Leader (most consistent player). Make your name (or cool nickname) known to Btown!

And yes, there are PRIZES. Each month, we'll reward the top performers based on the best combination of Total Score and Average Score. That means playing consistently AND playing well will pay off. The more quizzes you complete with high scores, the better your chances of winning. I mean, who doesn’t want cool Btown Merch gear sent to them?

Ready to play? Click the link below, enter your name, and show us what you've got. Btown Brief Quiz

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UVM Athletics: Kresge Departs Women's Basketball as Women's Lacrosse Secures Victory

In a major leadership shift, Alisa Kresge has announced her departure as the head coach of Vermont women's basketball to accept the head coaching position at the University of Richmond. Kresge concludes her tenure in Burlington as the winningest coach in program history with an overall record of 145-89, having guided the Catamounts to two America East regular season titles and three NCAA Tournament berths over the last four seasons. Associate Head Coach Sacha Santimano will serve as the interim head coach while the university immediately begins a national search for Kresge's successor.

On the turf, the Vermont women's lacrosse team secured a 13-8 victory over Binghamton. Junior Karina Sethi powered the Catamount offense by scoring a career-high five goals in the first half alone. Lydia Doraz also delivered an impressive performance, tying her career high with seven points off two goals and five assists. The win keeps Vermont undefeated at home in conference action. The team will return to Virtue Field to host UAlbany for their final regular season home game on Saturday, April 18 at 12 p.m.

Meanwhile, the men's lacrosse team fell 12-9 to UAlbany on the road. Ethan Pearson paced the Vermont offense with a hat trick, while Zack Toll contributed three assists, but a strong 4-0 run by the Great Danes to open the second quarter ultimately proved too much to overcome. In other action, the track and field teams set multiple personal bests while competing in Massachusetts and Connecticut. Freshman Sydney Greenidge highlighted the weekend by running the 100-meter dash in 12.17 seconds, marking the fourth-fastest time in program history. In the combined events, Jackson King earned a third-place finish in the men's decathlon.

  • Apr 18: Women's Lacrosse Season 2026 vs. UAlbany (Sat ⦁ 12:00pm)

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That’s All, Burlington!

That wraps up this edition of the Btown Brief. Whether you're braving the rain for City Council tonight, snagging a free cone tomorrow, or holding out for Saturday's sunshine, there's no shortage of reasons to get out and be part of what makes this city tick. If you read something in the news section that caught your eye, click through and give those local outlets some love.

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