One of my readers had an idea, and I thought I’d try it out. Given Vermont’s sadly diminished and atomized news media, would it be worthwhile to monitor our various news outlets and regularly provide a sampling of worthwhile items that might not have gotten much attention?

I thought about it, and put together a pretty lengthy list of news/commentary outlets in our state. And now I’m giving this thing a test drive. Let me know what you think. In no particular order, here’s a bit of an honor roll of stories from the past week.

Montpelier Council continues to dither over Country Club Road housing. The Barre-Montpelier Times Argus reports that city officials had hoped to gain “nice, clear direction” from City Council over how to redevelop the former Elks Club property east of town. Those hopes were dashed by a Council who ought to remember the old maxim, “The best is the enemy of the good.” Councilors approved a concept plan to build significant new housing on the site two years ago, but still can’t bring themselves to provide anything like nice, clear direction. And you wonder why we have a housing shortage.

Sewer work to clog downtown Montpelier. The Montpelier Bridge reports that a major improvement on a sewer line will hamper traffic on State Street for the next three months or more, starting on St. Patrick’s Day. Merchants, already suffering through a post-epidemic decline in office occupancy and foot traffic, are “concerned about the potential for economic disruption.” For most of the time, traffic on State between Main and Elm will be westbound only. You have been warned.

Milton housing prices through the roof. The Milton Independent reports that local housing supplies are very tight and prices are skyrocketing. The median home price in Milton has hit the $400,000 mark, which means you’d better be making six figures if you want to buy an average home there. And if you want to rent an apartment, make sure you’ve got a job paying at least $30 an hour. One effect: the school district is dealing with far more homeless children than it used to.

Food insecurity on the rise in the Woodstock area. The Vermont Standard reports that food banks serving Woodstock, Bethel, Hartland, Reading, and West Windsor are dealing with rapidly rising demand*: “From 2021 to 2025, Woodstock’s food shelf has seen an 89% increase in visits. Over the same period, the Bethel Area Food Shelf (BAFS) saw a 200% jump.” You wouldn’t think of a place like Woodstock as suffering from food insecurity, but that’s life in the year 2025. Local food shelves are trying to meet the needs, but it’s a struggle.

*The Standard’s website is a bit wonky. All its news stories are in a single column. This article is first in the queue as of Sunday 3/16.

Former Brattleboro Select Board member reflects on “anti-incumbent, anti-Selectboard vote.” The Commons published remarks from Franz Reichsman, one of two incumbent Select Board members to be overwhelmingly defeated on Town Meeting Day. Reichsman pointed to the proposed city budget, which would lead to a 12.1% property tax increase if it’s approved by voters. Reichsman offered slightly barbed congratulations to the winners, who he said “now have gotten what they wished for” and may well have to begin their tenures by writing a new budget.

The Manchester area is down to a single pharmacy. The Manchester Journal reports that the closure next month of The Pharmacy Northshire will leave the town with only one pharmacy, and that one is a Walgreens, a chain that’s been retrenching of late. And as the Journal notes, Walgreens is being purchased by a private equity firm, a move that often brings cost-cutting. Even if the local store remains open, there’s still concern about a single pharmacy handling the business generated by some 12,000 people living within 15 minutes of Manchester plus a much larger seasonal and tourist populations.

Hinesburg prepares to create a town common. From The Citizen, the Hinesburg Selectboard has given its okay to creating a Common on a piece of land owned by the town. ““We all need more community,” Selectboard member Maggie Gordon told The Citizen. “We all need to hang out with each other and talk to each other and get to know our neighbors.” The town is contributing $60,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds to the project; the bulk of the cost will be paid by donations from community members. The plan has been talked about for years; Selectboard members are anxious to see it finally become reality.

Rebuilding an historic general store. The latest installment in videographer Eva Sollberger’s “Stuck in Vermont” series, published by Seven Days, chronicles a visit to the currently shuttered Elmore Store. It may have the most beautiful setting of any general store in Vermont, right on the shore of Lake Elmore. The store is getting a thorough restoration and will reopen later this year under community ownership; Sollberger’s story shows the challenges of the project and some of the curiosities discovered during the process, which are enough to outfit a fascinating small-town museum.

That’s it for the first edition of “News You Should View.” Same time next week?