Meet Danielle Fitzko, the state’s new Director of Forests and the first woman to hold the position. Danielle, or Danny to her friends and colleagues, spent the last 15 years building the Urban and Community Forestry Program, designed to help communities plan, plant and care for their community trees. As Vermont’s new Director of Forests, she intends to bring to her new role the wealth of knowledge and experience she has gained connecting people to the incredible resource Vermont has in our forested landscapes.

Taryn Noelle, of Stowe, was honored as the “Western Swing Female Vocalist of the Year” at the 23rd Annual Academy of Western Artists (AWA) Will Rogers Awards Ceremony at the Brown-Lupton Ballroom on the campus of Texas Christian University on March 14th in Fort Worth, TX, the birthplace of Western Swing music.

Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC) and Andrew Cowder, MD, are pleased to announce that Nurse Practitioner Stefanie McGowan, RN, AG-ACNP, has joined Dartmouth-Hitchcock Putnam Medical Group and SVMC Urology. McGowan will practice in Suite 100 of the Medical Office Building at 140 Hospital Drive in Bennington.

Castleton University student Weslee Thompson has been named the recipient of the 2019 statewide Vermont Educational Opportunity Programs (VEOP) Student Support Services Scholarship. Thompson, a junior from Wells, Vermont, will receive $1,000 toward his educational expenses.