Tropical Storm Irene totally cut off 13 communities and blocked travel on every major east-west route. So it may be no surprise that two of the leaders who rose to the challenge when the state needed to lead the recovery effort came from the Agency of Transportation. 

Many of Vermont's rivers surged across farmland during Tropical Storm Irene, tearing up the land itself, damaging homes and buildings, and ruining crops.

Walk across a Vermont river this summer and you're likely to find footing on stones that were upstream a year ago. Tropical Storm Irene threw them down river, along with trees and roots, chunks of asphalt, parts of houses.

For years, a portrait of New Hampshire's 56th governor hung in the Statehouse. Now it's been removed, because it may not actually be him.

Vermont State Police are investigating a case that's apparently fairly black-and-white. They're looking into the suspected theft of a cow from a farm in Orwell.

State police say swimmers pulled a drowning man from the West River in Dummerston yesterday, and revived him.

A Vermont committee has been appointed to conduct a national search for an education secretary after a state law was passed that gives the governor the authority to make that appointment.

In the weeks after Irene hammered so many small towns across Vermont, Pittsfield became an example of a community coming together. But the recovery has been more difficult than the immediate aftermath of the storm.

The Shumlin Administration has taken the first step to design the specific health care benefit packages that will be available in Vermont through the new marketplace exchange beginning in 2014.

Vermont authorities say they will try to collect any over-payments that may have been made to a former state trooper accused of falsifying his time sheets.

Secretary of State Jim Condos is urging Vermonters to cast their ballots in next week's primary election.

A Vermont State Police investigator says the cause of the fire that destroyed a Jamaica convenience store is undetermined, but not suspicious.

Police have arrested the former office manager of a Timber Harvesting company. Forty-five-year-old Sherry Parent, of Enosburg, is accused of taking nearly $8,000 from the business.

In Northfield, homeowners who are part of a FEMA buyout program have learned it will be fall before they can expect to see any money for their Irene-damaged homes. Residents are grateful that the end is in sight. But for some, the months of waiting has exacted an emotional toll.

Every Irene flood survivor has their own story about when they first realized this was no ordinary storm. For Red Gallagher, who lives at Weston's mobile home park in Berlin, the moment came when he saw the Dog River spread like a rising tide over the road and toward his home.

By the time Tropical Storm Irene swept through Vermont, more than 3,500 homes were either heavily damaged or completely destroyed by the storm. One of the houses totally wiped away by Irene belonged to Jon Graham and Beth Frock of Rochester.

Public Safety Commissioner Keith Flynn says the state has no immediate plans to use domestic drones for law enforcement purposes and Flynn says the Shumlin Administration will implement a comprehensive public vetting process if it decides to use this new technology.

FairPoint Communications CEO Paul Sunu says he expects the company's years-long revenue decline to reverse itself in 2013.

Federal prosecutors in Vermont say a Rutland man has been sentenced to 21 months in prison for his role in a prescription drug selling ring.

Police say a woman was sexually assaulted in downtown Burlington Monday.

A conservation group working to block an electrical project from Canada into southern New Hampshire is seeking to disrupt the project by paying for conservation easements.

A teenager has been rescued after falling about 50 feet while hiking at Smugglers Notch yesterday morning.

Over the past year a lot of numbers have bandied about in relation to Tropical Storm Irene, but it's a challenge to come up with a grand total for the damage done by the storm.

Nearly one year ago Tropical Storm Irene clawed apart more than 500 miles of state roads and dozens of bridges, isolating 13 communities. The flood washed about 1,700 Vermonters out of their homes. Today most of the roads and bridges are back and people are safe and secure. But many are still unsettled and the wounds are still raw.

As high school athletes start practicing again, coaches are drilling them on the basics. Football and soccer players are the most likely to be injured, so they're being taught how to recognize signs of concussions.

The Vermont Supreme Court will consider the constitutionality of a law allowing the state to take DNA samples from people charged - but not yet convicted - of crimes.

Crews are cleaning the Vermont Veterans Home after air samples showed mold in the heating and cooling units and on stored medical records.

With the growing interest in local food, Vermont has come out with a new interactive website to help link people to nearly 400 food experiences around the state.

An athlete who died after suffering medical distress during the swimming portion of the USA Triathlon in Vermont has been identified.

Lawyers will clash this week over whether a man deemed incompetent to stand trial for attempted murder should be moved to a less restrictive environment.

The Green Mountain National Forest staff is seeking public comments, over the next month, on its preliminary Environmental Assessment for the Dorset Peru Integrated Resource Project.

A 62-year-old woman has been killed in a head-on collision that also injured three other people.

Morrisville golfer Holly Reynolds dominated the Vermont State Women's Golf Association amateur championship in St. Johnsbury this week. And she set a record along the way.

Police say the Vermont couple charged with killing a St. Johnsbury teacher has written letters to each other in jail discussing the crime.

A Massachusetts driver is facing charges in Vermont of reckless endangerment and speeding.

Police say two molotov cocktails, including one that had detonated, have been discovered in Thetford.

Business has been good this summer in Manchester despite a major construction project.