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Most of us went to bed to the sound of rain hitting our windows. The slow cold front that parked over the region pushed downpours and a flood watch into the early hours, so a few low spots and rural roads around the area may still be soggy as you head out this morning. The good news is that the worst has moved on. Monday settles into something much calmer and cooler, partly sunny with highs only reaching the upper 60s to around 70 and refreshingly low humidity to go with it. Tonight turns genuinely chilly, with temperatures dipping into the 40s, so keep a light jacket by the door if you are out early Tuesday. Tuesday itself looks like the pick of the stretch, pleasant and partly sunny with highs in the mid 70s. From there the week gets busier again. Wednesday brings a chance of scattered showers and maybe a rumble of thunder in the afternoon, and Thursday looks wet, with a soaking rain that could drop an inch or more on the city. Friday and Saturday offer some sun mixed with passing shower chances, and Father's Day, which also marks the first day of summer, is shaping up nicely with partly sunny skies and highs back in the 70s.

Plenty of things to check out today. Early in the day, downtown gets festive when the Burlington High School parade rolls down Church Street Marketplace from 10 to 11 a.m., a farewell celebration as the new high school opens its doors. Author and climate writer, Bill McKibben, sits down at the Fletcher Free Library tonight from 6 to 7:30 for a conversation about resilience and climate action. It is free, though you will want to register ahead since seats fill up. Booklovers have a good option too, with finalists and winners of the 2026 Vermont Book Awards gathering at Phoenix Books from 7 to 9 p.m. for a conversation moderated by Miciah Bay Gault. If you would rather move than sit still, Skirack's run club meets at 85 Main Street at 5:45 for a casual three to five mile loop at whatever pace suits you. Night owls can catch the world's leading Luke Combs tribute band at Higher Ground's Showcase Lounge, doors at 7:30, or head over to Essex Cinemas for a Monday movie night [MEETUP] showing of Spielberg's Disclosure Day at 7.

Tuesday brings a little of everything. UVM OLLI runs two standout sessions, starting with a morning demonstration from North Country Search Dogs from 10:30 to noon, where handlers explain what it takes to train wilderness search dogs and introduce a couple of very good crowd favorites in K9 Harley and K9 Mookie. In the afternoon, OLLI shifts gears to the art of drinking chocolate from 1:30 to 3, an interactive workshop with Prophecy Chocolate's founder that includes plenty of tasting. Over in South Burlington, the city's free Recreation on the Go trailer pulls into Szymanski Park from 5:30 to 7:30 with food, yard games, face painting, and music, no registration needed. Soccer fans can settle in at Switchback for World Cup matches on the big screen all day, with Iraq versus Norway the featured 6 p.m. game. Mountain bikers have the casual Fellowship of the Wheel enduro at Cochran's in Richmond starting at 4:30, and the night wraps with a showcase of five rock and emo bands at the Monkey House in Winooski at 7.

Wednesday fills up fast. At lunchtime, Burlington City Arts keeps its long running summer tradition going with a free HuDost concert in City Hall Park from 12:30 to 1:30, folk and global rock to break up the workday. As evening rolls in, Winooski takes the spotlight. The Woke Women's Club gathers at Standing Stone Wines from 6 to 8 with special guest Esther Charlestin, a candidate for Vermont Lieutenant Governor, and just up the way Juneteenth Winooski runs from 5 to 8 with music, food, and a celebration of Black joy and community. Dads and guardians get their own night at the Queen City Brewery tasting in Burlington, also from 6 to 8. Soccer carries on at Switchback, where the day's slate includes England versus Croatia at 4, and that same match anchors a watch party with giveaways at RiRa from 4 to 6. Over in South Hero, Seven Days producer Eva Sollberger looks back on two decades of her Stuck in Vermont series at 6:30, though that one has already sold out, so grab the waitlist if you are interested. Dog owners can also start a four week calm leash class in Williston at 6.

Thursday is the busiest day on the calendar. Early risers can join the Burlington Clean Up Crew at Kru Coffee at the top of Church Street at 7:30 a.m. for a walking litter pickup that is about as easy a way to give back as you will find. The big evening draw is the SB Nite Out Juneteenth kickoff at Veterans Memorial Park in South Burlington from 5:30 to 8, with live music from Jenni Johnson and the Junketeers, a stack of food trucks, and a free kids zone. The first day of the three day Vermont Quilt Show also opens at the DoubleTree Expo Center, 9 to 4 and free to walk through, with more than 200 quilts and dozens of vendors.

There is no shortage of options after dark either. Booklovers get bestselling cartoonist Tillie Walden at Phoenix Books at 7 for her new release Charity and Sylvia, while comedy fans can catch LA comedian Sam Salem at the Vermont Comedy Club, also at 7. Music runs late and varied, from indie rockers Ratboys in the Higher Ground Ballroom to a hip hop night at Third Thursday on Howard Street starting at 8, and DJ Kate Kush spinning at Radio Bean from 10. For something lower key, there is bike night at Switchback from 6 to 8 so bring your motorcycle, a pebble art workshop at Sam Mazza's in Colchester from 4 to 6, the third Thursday ‘OUT in the 802’ happy hour at Lincoln's speakeasy from 5 to 7, a slumber party themed Glow and Gather in Essex Junction from 6 to 8, a Local Maverick Father's Day pop-up on Sears Lane from 3 to 6, and a learn to skate session with Green Mountain Roller Derby in Essex Junction from 8 to 9:30.

See Events Section for full list of events Monday-Thursday.

The Btown Brief IRL - We’re now seeing 20–30 people at our weekly events! Here is what we have coming up:

This Coming Week:

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If any of those sound fun, be sure to RSVP on Meetup.com. So, be sure to stop by, everyone is welcome! Especially coffee, since it’s a great place to talk about weekend events too, along with news and life updates. So come find things to do this weekend together:

Burlington High School Checks Out of the Old Macy's

After five years inside the former downtown Macy's, BHS holds its final classes there Monday, June 15, with graduation Tuesday in the new $204 million building back on its original New North End campus. The temporary school began when toxic PCBs shuttered the original buildings in 2020, and the makeshift digs became legendary for broken escalators, fluorescent headaches and a layout some families left the district over. Even so, students racked up championships, national writing awards and college acceptances, and many say the cramped quarters bred a rare closeness. Monday's 10 a.m. farewell parade down Church Street doubles as a citywide goodbye to a very strange chapter.

Vermont Chips Could Be Headed to Space

A senior director at Essex Junction's GlobalFoundries says the plant's semiconductors are built to handle the extreme temperatures and radiation of space, powering everything from satellite communications to onboard AI. He couldn't name specific missions but framed the local fab as ready for whatever launches next. It’s a good reminder that the roughly 1,800 person Essex Junction operation reaches well beyond Vermont. It also arrives as the chip industry leans harder into aerospace and defense work.

UVM Health Cuts 142 Positions

Vermont's largest health care provider eliminated 142 jobs this week, 76 of them permanently and 66 to be reposted with new duties, as it chases a projected $100 million shortfall. Leadership says most affected roles are administrative, but unions counter that the list includes primary care nurses, lab techs and OB-GYN clinic staff, with effects possibly hitting as soon as July 24. UVM Health also cut 146 administrative jobs last summer, and the Green Mountain Care Board chair expects more restructuring across Vermont hospitals. With the flagship hospital losing roughly $460,000 a day, the squeeze is far from over.

Vermont's Biggest Insurer Pitches a Cheaper, Riskier Plan

BlueCross BlueShield of Vermont wants to sell new "Basic" plans with premiums 5 to 9 percent lower than today's cheapest options, but with deductibles that could top $11,800 and a network limited mostly to Vermont and bordering counties. The Green Mountain Care Board pushed its decision to August and wants proof the savings are real, which the insurer says could force it to pull the plans entirely. The fight matters because more than 9,000 Vermonters lost federal subsidies when they expired at the end of 2025, leaving many hunting for anything more affordable. Skeptics worry the high deductibles will push people to skip care and rack up bigger bills later.

Feds Approve $31.7 Million in Flood Aid for Vermont Farmers

Vermont farmers hit by the 2023 and 2024 floods will receive $31.7 million in USDA relief, aimed especially at those with little access to FEMA help for infrastructure, crop and market losses. The money is half of the $62 million the state requested, and officials are still waiting to hear about the rest, which is tied to wastewater and municipal projects. The state agriculture agency is building an application process now, so affected farmers will get a window to apply before checks go out. Given that the 2023 storm alone left more than $350 million in unmet needs, the aid is welcome but partial.

Stuck in Vermont Revisits a Ward 1 Family's Roots

Eva Sollberger's latest episode visits siblings Steve, 92, and Lucy, 85, who grew up in the brick building beside the Burlington-Winooski Bridge, children of parents who fled the Armenian genocide. The 1927 flood raised the street so much that the family's first floor became a basement, a piece of local history hiding in plain sight on Colchester Avenue. With the nearly century old bridge slated for replacement starting in 2027, the timing of this memory lap feels apt. Worth noting too, Sollberger gives a 20 year retrospective talk on the series Wednesday in South Hero, though it sold out fast.

South Burlington School Board Member Quits

Williams, the board's longest serving member and a 30 year educator, resigned June 3, citing governance breakdowns and meetings she felt had drifted toward personal agendas. She singled out a recent presentation on classroom neutrality that she read as a rebuke of district staff who helped during March's violent ICE raid at a South Burlington home. Her exit continues a long run of turnover that includes a former chair and clerk, the latter also unhappy with how the board treated former superintendent Violet Nichols. Her seat now sits empty until next Town Meeting Day.

Essex Junction Weighs Paying to Save the #4 Bus

Green Mountain Transit voted in April to cut the lightly used #4 to Essex Center, but doing so also ends the only paratransit service along that route, a real problem for aging riders who rely on it. Keeping full service would cost roughly $112,000 more, or about $58,000 for a reduced schedule, on top of what towns already contribute. Essex Junction councilors signaled willingness to keep paying, though the math shifts if the Town of Essex leaves GMT entirely, which Clark expects soon. The school district may get pulled in too, since the route runs near Essex Middle and Elementary.

Charlotte Studies a Hybrid Town Meeting

Charlotte voted this March to drop the floor vote on its budget in favor of Australian ballot, and now residents are pushing for a hybrid model that keeps in-person debate while letting more people vote by ballot afterward. Only about 250 of nearly 3,400 registered voters showed up at town meeting this year, which is the heart of the accessibility argument. A selectboard subcommittee is studying whether a charter change is needed and could report back as early as late June. Neighboring Jericho and Shelburne already run their own hybrid versions, so Charlotte has models to borrow from.

A Wave of CVU Retirements Closes the School Year

Twenty five people are retiring from Champlain Valley School District this year, among them a computer technician with 43 years in and special educator Karen Poulin, who spent three decades at Hinesburg Community School. Poulin's reflections double as a quiet case for the value of long tenure in a district, where staff watch kids grow into neighbors and adults. She also pointed to the strain of recent budget seasons, when teachers effectively negotiate pay and jobs with the very neighbors they serve.

AmeriCorps Program Feeds Rural Vermont Students

The Vermont Rural Learning Collective, based at Vermont State University, runs AmeriCorps members through a $386,780 SerVermont grant to chip away at food insecurity and education gaps across the Northeast Kingdom and other rural counties. Members work at host sites like Green Mountain Farm-to-School, Maplehill School & Farm and the Fairbanks Museum, running farm-to-school programs, community gardens and nutrition efforts. The backdrop is stark, since Vermont remains the most rural state in the country, with most residents and three quarters of high school students living in rural communities. The collective is still recruiting members for summer service.

Williston Habitat ReStore Rebuilds After Fire

An April fire forced the Williston Habitat for Humanity ReStore to throw out all its merchandise to water and smoke damage, and the shop is now rebuilding from scratch. They're asking businesses and neighbors to donate seasonal goods, racks, mannequins and carts, plus volunteers to help move everything back in. Every donation also feeds Green Mountain Habitat's broader housing work around the county. There's no reopening date set yet.

Stowe Officer Shoots Bear After Cooler Break-Ins

A Stowe officer shot and killed a black bear early this month after it repeatedly broke into the Matterhorn's outdoor cooler, following Fish & Wildlife protocol that calls for lethal action once a bear keeps entering a building. The restaurant's owner says he is horrified and now faces boycott threats and people yelling "bear" as they drive past, while wildlife advocates blame the restaurant for drawing it in. The episode lands amid a documented spike in Vermont's bear population and a sharp rise in human encounters. Stowe has wrestled with bold bears for years, even ticketing residents over poorly stored trash.

A Barre Trail Network Built for Neurodivergent Explorers

Lavallee spent her own savings and retirement to build the quarter mile Milestone Nature Center in Barre Town, a wheelchair accessible trail with stations for each of the five senses aimed at people who learn in nontypical ways. She was inspired by the Autism Nature Trail in western New York and discovered her own learning disability only as an adult. Admission is free, donations welcome, and the system for knowing she's open is charmingly low tech.

New Sculpture Caps Years of Main Street Construction

Lakebone is a 48 foot black locust by Shelburne artist Nancy Winship Milliken, hoisted twelve feet above the new Main Street sidewalk after a parade and a slow train ride from Charlotte. It is the priciest of four public art pieces commissioned under the city's 2021 ordinance tying art funding to construction budgets, with two more arriving June 24 outside the courthouse and Honey Road. The Charlotte News followed the tree's journey north by rail, where Milliken shrugged off any sentimentality and said simply "it's part of nature." Burlington City Arts caps the whole Great Streets saga with a block party on July 17 and 18. They also took some great photos.

Gondolas Brings Stacked Creemees to Two Morristown Spots

Gondolas, the smash burger and stacked creemee operation that took over the old Mountain View spot, is now running two locations five miles apart heading into its third summer. The downtown Morrisville shop opened in December for year round takeout, while the Route 15 snack bar handles the creemee crowds, where roughly three quarters of customers order one. Their not so secret weapon is heavy branding and a TikTok account that keeps going viral with creemee and classic car clips. About 50 minutes from Burlington, but prime territory for a summer drive.

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

View the potential prizes on the Btown Brief Merch Store

In USL2 action, the No. 1 nationally ranked Vermont Green FC men's team produced a decisive 5-0 statement victory at home against No. 2 NEFC. Entering the heavyweight bout, the Boys in Green played for more than just Northeast Division supremacy, honoring centerback Nick McHenry's brother, Zach, who was recently diagnosed with lymphoma. Diego Rosas sparked the scoring in the 24th minute, followed quickly by goals from David Ajagbe and Samson Kpardeh to give the hosts a commanding lead before halftime. The pressure continued after the break, with Ryan Zellefrow and Marco Dos Santos adding second-half strikes to improve Vermont's perfect season record to 7-0-0. The men's side returns to Virtue Field on Tuesday, June 16, at 7 p.m. to face Seacoast United.

On the USLW side, Vermont Green FC engaged in a tightly contested battle with top-table rivals Hartford Athletic, resulting in a 1-1 draw. Hartford drew first blood in the 8th minute when Diana Baffor placed a shot into the bottom corner. The Women in Green found their rhythm and secured the equalizer in the 34th minute, with Olivia Grenda capitalizing on a curling cross from Emily Mara. Despite a flurry of offensive pushes in the second half and crucial stops by goalkeeper Olivia Shippee, the match concluded with each team walking away with a point, leaving the Northeast Division standings unchanged. The Women in Green will meet Hartford once more in the regular season on Monday, June 22, at 7 p.m. at Virtue Field.

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Full list of 202+ activities to do at anytime is always waiting here when you need a plan: 202+ Things to Do

Full list of restaurant reviews here.

View the full list of food & drink deals here.

That is the lay of the land for the next few days around Btown. The calendar is genuinely stacked this week, so pick a couple that catch your eye, and maybe say hi to a neighbor or two while you are out.

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