ST. ALBANS CITY — After Tatro’s Gourmet Soup and Sandwich closed its doors weeks ago, former employee Kim Murphy found herself out of a job and wondering what to do next. But her husband had an idea.

ST. ALBANS — If you filled your gas tank in Franklin County between 2012 and 2015, you may be part of the settlement class in a lawsuit alleging R.L. Vallee, Inc., S.B. Collins, Inc., Champlain Farms/Wesco, Inc. and Champlain Oil Company, Inc. agreed to fix prices in Chittenden, Franklin and…

ST. ALBANS – For the first time in several years, Vermont has recorded a net loss in annual greenhouse gas emissions and is projected to continue seeing annual losses, according to a January report from the Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC).

MONTPELIER – The Vermont House of Representatives’ Natural Resources, Fish and Wildlife Committee has approved a spate of recommendations for updating Act 250, Vermont’s longstanding development standards.

BURLINGTON – The Vermont Dept. of Children and Families (DCF) and MENTOR Vermont were awarded $1.25 million in federal funds to support mentoring services for youth in communities affected by the opioid epidemic, the organizations announced last week.

ST. ALBANS — An Enosburg man has been charged with driving under the influence after being stopped on Sunday while driving on Route 105 here.

BURLINGTON — Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and University of Vermont officials on Friday announced new federal funding for research on the region’s forest ecosystem and economy. The Northeastern States Research Cooperative (NSRC), first …

ST. ALBANS TOWN – The St. Albans Town selectboard approved connecting its proposed municipal pool project to St. Albans City’s wastewater infrastructure, a typical process for most projects built within the town looking to connect to the city’s sewer infrastructure.

HIGHGATE — Proposed tax funding for the town of Highgate’s Capital Improvement Plan, Highway Fund and General Fund mark important budget items on the town’s upcoming warning as Town Meeting Day approaches.

FAIRFIELD – Voters in Fairfield will be met with a relatively similar budget to what voters approved last year, with about $75,000 in increased expenses coming courtesy of salary increases, and extra labor and material costs for Fairfield’s highway department.

ST. ALBANS CITY – Last week’s special meeting of the St. Albans City Council saw time allotted to review two large projects to be considered by city voters this March: the redevelopment of the Fonda site and the completion of the city’s years-long sidewalk project.

The following incidents are from the St. Albans Police Dept.’s weekly activity log. These incidents are previously unreported in the Messenger.

ST. ALBANS CITY—Juice Amour brings fresh options to those in the St. Albans area seeking healthier food and a healthier environment.

FAIRFAX – The Town of Fairfax will continue providing trash and recycling services to residents through Casella Waste Systems for the next five years, officials agreed during the Fairfax selectboard’s last regular meeting.

SWANTON – Richard Menard has lived in this area most of his life – in his words a “Swanton boy, born and raised.”

ST. ALBANS/RICHFORD – A deputy with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) was celebrated earlier this week with an award from AmCare Ambulance Services for his role in saving a prematurely delivered baby in Richford in late December.

MONTPELIER – The Vermont Senate voted Thursday to override Gov. Phil Scott’s veto of a bill raising Vermont’s minimum wage to $12.55 over two years, setting the stage for a likely House of Representatives vote.

ST. ALBANS – The St. Albans Police Dept. (SAPD) is warning people in the St. Albans area of a new scam involving the sale of rental properties and other items over Facebook and Craigslist.

HIGHGATE – Vermont State Game Wardens have charged a Franklin County ice angler for illegally harvesting and possessing a muskellunge – or “muskie” – caught on Lake Champlain despite state law prohibiting the harvest of muskellunge.

BAKERSFIELD — Aging equipment and still-needed repairs following the Halloween storm are creating a financial challenge in Bakersfield.

ST. ALBANS CITY — St. Albans City Council formally staffed the city’s inaugural historic preservation commission during its Monday meeting, appointing seven locals to the newly minted preservation board.

HIGHGATE – Former Franklin selectperson and current Highgate town moderator Kyle Lothian will likely be joining Highgate’s selectboard this coming Town Meeting Day, running unopposed for a seat being vacated by Joshua LaRocque, who is not seeking another term.

ST. ALBANS CITY/ST. ALBANS TOWN – In their second joint meeting in less than a year, members of the St. Albans City Council and St. Albans Town selectboard came together Monday to further detail the municipal pool project both communities have proposed for Town Meeting Day.

FRANKLIN COUNTY — The Better Business Bureau is warning consumers that there have been recent reports of the “Can you hear me?” scam in Vermont.

GEORGIA — The Halloween storm continues to disrupt traffic on I-89. On Thursday, the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) will close one lane southbound north of Exit 18 as part of its efforts to repair a 580-foot culvert damaged by the storm.

GEORGIA – The Franklin West Supervisory Union (FWSU) announced Wednesday that James Tager would be taking over as Superintendent of Schools starting July 1, 2020.

In a presentation to St. Albans City Council Monday, economist Jeff Carr said the city’s proposed local options tax could raise more than $650,000 annually for the city and echoed his last appearance before city council by calling it a “logical extension” to the city’s redevelopment.

BERLIN, Vt. – Four Franklin County towns were among the 31 cities and towns that will receive planning grants for their communities.

MONTPELIER – State officials are advising people to avoid disturbing or providing food for Vermont’s bear population who, according to Vermont Fish and Wildlife’s bear biologist Forrest Hammond, are not getting much rest this winter.

MONTPELIER — Gov. Phil Scott vetoed legislation Monday night that would have raised the state’s minimum wage to $12.55 an hour by 2022, anchoring his veto to concerns around the economic impacts of a mandated minimum wage hike.

ST. ALBANS CITY/SWANTON – A study examining sources of PFAS in the intakes and outtakes of Vermont’s wastewater facilities found examples of the sometimes-harmful chemicals in each of the state’s treatment plants – including facilities in St. Albans City and Swanton.

SWANTON – An investigation into a series of BB gun vandalisms from 2019 resulted in the seizure of several firearms and several thousand rounds of ammunition from a Church Street home, Swanton Village Police Department (SVPD) said Sunday.

ST. ALBANS – As members of the agriculture and water quality communities came together amid Friday’s snowstorm for an annual winter farm meeting, presenters returned to a common theme: most of the progress in improving Lake Champlain came courtesy of agriculture.

BURLINGTON – A study from the Vermont Dept. of Health appears to show meeting the state’s energy goals would also bring public health benefits, largely due to the emphasis placed on improving access for walkers and bikers.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Bipartisan legislation introduced by Rep. Peter Welch, D – Vt., last week would more than double federal funding for programs supporting the development of recreational trails, Welch’s office announced Thursday.

ST. ALBANS – Dairy producers may be looking at a brighter year in 2020, Secretary of Agriculture Anson Tebbetts told an audience largely made up of farmers Friday.