St. Albans City has received site plan approval for a new 25,000 square foot commercial building on the corner of Congress and Main streets and 60 new units of residential housing on Maiden Lane.

The approval from the Development Review Board (DRB) comes with conditions. First, the city must provide documentation to both the DRB and Design Advisory Board (DAB) of 19th century buildings on Main and Congress street which will be demolished as part of the project. Before demolition may begin, the city must also receive additional approval from both boards.

When she first arrived eight months ago, Castleton University President Dr. Karen Scolforo said she found a university with overwhelming potential and a team eager to build.

“The challenges that we saw when I first arrived on scene are behind us, and we’re moving full force into the future,” Scolforo said. “We now get to work together to find new and exciting ways to identify cost savings, gain efficiencies and right-size, and hone our resource allocation.”

By fall 2019, Castleton University will also have a new lab offering childcare services, and educational opportunities to future teachers, and jobs to early education professionals.

The new Early Childhood Lab will be a childcare center on campus that will not only serve the parents of the children, but the university students as well. CU President Karen Scolforo said she envisions collaborations between the lab and students from Castleton’s master of arts in school psychology and master of arts in applied behavioral analysis majors, offering opportunities for hands-on learning while providing needed services to the community.

The intersection of Route 4 and North Main Street in Rutland City is one of the busiest in the state. The Agency of Transportation has figures showing an average of more than 17,000 vehicles per day passing through that intersection in 2015. Tourists from across the Northeast use that intersection to get up the mountain to Killington and pass through that junction again on their way home.

“Hester Street,” the third film of the 2018 White Mountain Jewish Film Festival, will be shown at the Colonial Theatre, Main Street, Bethlehem, 6 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 2. The story it tells of the struggles of immigrants coming to America over 100 years ago is relevant today.

The Brattleboro Rotary Club recently awarded a total of $16,500 in scholarships to six local high school students who will be attending college this fall. The Gateway Foundation, an affiliate of the Brattleboro Rotary Club, funds the scholarships.

This year’s recipients include: Ryan B. Boggio of Hinsdale, who will attend Fairfield University; Carter M. Falk of Brattleboro, who will attend Norwich University; Rachael E. Girroir of Hinsdale, who will attend University of New Hampshire; Alexander M. Province of Brattleboro, who will attend UMass Amherst; Rachel M. Sorrell of Newfane, who will attend University of New Haven; and Kassidy A. Wyman of Grafton, who will attend Southern Vermont College. Each student received $2,750.

Throughout the community, 15 rising high school juniors and seniors are getting a taste of jobs they may one day turn into careers.

The students are part of the Emerging Leaders program, a collaboration between the Bennington County Industrial Corporation, the Vermont Department of Labor and local high schools.

This week, come to the Robert H. Gibson River Garden for live ukulele music, a discussion about equine assisted psychotherapy, and more as part of the Strolling of the Heifers’ Brown Bag Lunch series.

All Brown Bag Lunch events take place from noon to 1 p.m. at the Gibson River Garden, 157 Main St., and are free and open to the public. Performers as well as speakers of all kinds are invited to be a part of this series. If interested, stop at the Stroll office at the River Garden, or call 802-246-0982.