Starting next week, the town of Hartford will try something new, putting the fire chief in charge of the police department. The plan has the support of the selectboard, but even the Town Manager admits it's an experiment.

Education Commissioner Armando Vilaseca is asking all Vermont schools to review their crisis safety plans and he also wants schools to explore ways to control access to their buildings without turning the facility into a fortress.

Vermont State Police now say a third vehicle may have hit a Dartmouth College graduate student whose body was found in a travel lane of Interstate 91.

More than a year after Tropical Storm Irene, Randy and Lynda Hart still aren't back home. But they're getting close, thanks to a steady stream of volunteers who've been helping rebuild their house from the foundation up. The Hart's home is among at least 140 still being repaired after last fall's floods.

Vermont's newest highway welcome center opens Monday. It's a major upgrade of an old rest area in Hartford.

The state Supreme Court ruled Friday that the town of Hartford must turn over records about a 2010 incident when a man was beaten, pepper-sprayed and dragged from his own home by town police. The court's decision reverses a lower court ruling that restricted full access to the records.

An unarmed Wilder man who was beaten and pepper-sprayed by Hartford police inside his home filed a federal civil rights lawsuit yesterday against the officers and town officials, alleging that they targeted him with excessive force because he is African-American.

Police officers have always kept a sharp eye out for vehicle license plates. But more and more of that looking is being done by cameras hooked up to computers in their cruisers.

Finding greater energy efficiency is a proposition facing many Vermont communities, and towns hoping to save on energy costs are starting small - with their streetlights.

With shrinking tax revenue and less federal aid, many cash-strapped Vermont cities and towns are employing a complicated financial tool designed to help them build public projects that they can't currently afford.

The voters in Hartford opened their wallets last night, and went into debt to replace a bridge and a library destroyed by Tropical Storm Irene. They also approved a $4 million school bond.

The local economy in Hartford depends heavily on the historic Quechee Bridge, which was ravaged by Tropical Storm Irene, and voters now have to decide whether to repair it, or build a bigger, longer one.

When the West Hartford Library was damaged by Tropical Storm Irene, people in the village started to think about how it would get rebuilt. That may indeed happen, but at a select board meeting recently, one board member cast some doubt on moving ahead, at least too quickly.  

Hartford residents are debating whether to repair or replace the Quechee Covered Bridge which suffered serious damage to its foundation from Tropical Storm Irene floodwaters.

More than a month after Tropical Storm Irene turned many Vermont houses into piles of rubble, a couple from the Upper Valley are still picking up their neighbors' debris and hauling it to the local transfer station. But Hartford, like many other towns, can no longer afford to waive the disposal fees.

Three times over the past year, police in the town of Hartford have been accused of using unnecessary force in investigating an alleged crime. The chief defends his officers. But some in town want independent oversight of police.

A driver whose car slid and tipped over in a ditch last month has helped to refuel a debate about whether police in the Upper Valley town of Hartford have been too heavy-handed in some recent arrests.