Fixed costs drive Career Center’s FY26 budget increase

Most Addison County voters on Town Meeting Day will field a proposed Patricia Hannaford Career Center budget of $6,271,915, representing a 9.95% increase compared to the current spending plan.

The Bar, a new gym at 656 Exchange St., is stuffed with free weights, an assortment of lifting and cardio machines, and even a huge tractor tire.

The Middlebury Development Review Board (DRB) has approved a 35-unit, four-story apartment building — that will also host a restaurant — on a 0.71-acre lot near the intersection of Middle Road and Route 7 South.

Middlebury during the next few years will likely see an infusion of more than 200 new housing units.

Addison County State’s Attorney Eva Vekos pleaded no contest Tuesday to a charge of drunken driving and received a six-month deferred sentence.

The 70-year-old building requires around $15.4 million in repairs just to properly serve current enrollees.

Middlebury voters at their annual March gathering will likely field a proposed fiscal year 2027 municipal spending plan of $16,057,539.

Around 80 Porter Medical Center workers have formed a new union and will soon sit down with hospital and University of Vermont Health Network officials to hammer out an inaugural collective bargaining agreement.

The shop provides free holiday gifts and ensures there are presents under the tree for Addison County families.

Selectboard members at their Tuesday meeting were gobsmacked to learn that the draft budget would require a substantial increase in the municipal property tax rate.

The Addison Central School District board on Monday received an initial draft of a fiscal year 2027 PreK-12 budget of $52.9 million that reflects a 4.9% increase in overall spending and an estimated 3.7% increase in education taxes.

ACSD Superintendent Wendy Baker says the school board’s decision to merge the two elementary schools is final.

The political organizing group is working on expanding its ranks, outreach and impact.

Proposed improvements to the crowded middle school building include expansions to the gym, library, kitchen and cafeteria, along with new classrooms and common space.

Citing mounting professional and family responsibilities, longtime Middlebury selectboard Chairman Brian Carpenter says he won’t run again in March.