Vermont

CCTV Productions 24-117.

From Andrea Marion:

A 20-minute guided mindfulness practice to tap into a field of love that has no object. No person or event or thing to love. Just love for its' own sake. And we access it with the breath. Tapping into this love brings a sense of pleasure, however subtle, and the pleasure can develop into stillness, peace and equanimity. Even in challenging times.

What is Community Mindfulness? It is 20-minutes of guided mindfulness practice. This level of instruction is appropriate for beginners or experienced practitioners. There are many benefits! Brain studies show compassion and loving-kindness activity during mindfulness moments. Mindfulness decreases the stress response and biases as well as destructive thoughts, feelings and distortions around wants, needs and desires. (Wright, Sanguinetti, 2023).

This practice helps us learn not to be driven by emotions but to hold them in a beneficial way. As a result, our actions related to feelings change for the better. This positivity affects us as individuals and is also an opportunity for the wider collective.

14.2 % of the U.S. population practices some kind of mindfulness; and 6% of the population worldwide. (National Center for Complimentary Health, 2022).

Community Mindfulness started meeting in 2014, thanks to a grant from the Vermont Community Foundation to the City of Winooski. For information on the weekly Zoom/In Person Community Mindfulness practice and discussion, contact andreamarion193@gmail.com.

Discussion of VAN’s FY26 Budget Request at the Vermont House Appropriations Committee.

On Wednesday, we got our first look at “the box” for the FY26 budget, a kind of priority list used by House Appropriations. The box contained an addition of $50k for VAN, which together with the Governor’s recommendation in his budget of $1.3 million, would bring your appropriation to your full ask amount of $1.35 million in base funding. On Thursday, Emily Byrne, Deputy Fiscal Officer for the Joint Fiscal Office, reviewed a list of proposed base increases to the FY26 budget. Line 22 showed the additional $50k for VAN, which she said was to “fully fund” your grant.  

Here is “the box,” with VAN’s $50k on line 5: https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2026/Workgroups/House%20Appropriations/FY%202026%20Budget/House%20Recommended%20FY%202026%20Budget%20Documents/W~Emily%20Byrne~Draft%20Big%20Bill%20Box%203-20%20AM~3-20-2025.pdf

Here is the spreadsheet list of base budget increases, with VAN’s additional $50k on line 22: https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2026/Workgroups/House%20Appropriations/FY%202026%20Budget/House%20Recommended%20FY%202026%20Budget%20Documents/W~Emily%20Byrne~FY26%20Budget%20Base%20Increases~3-20-2025.pdf  

From Green Mountain Transit:

Green Mountain Transit (GMT) invites members of the media to a press conference to discuss upcoming changes to transit services, including urban service reductions, the potential transfer of rural services, and the end of the "Let Them Ride" policy.

GMT leadership (Clayton Clark, General Manager) provides an overview of these significant changes, the financial and operational factors driving them, and what they mean for riders and the community. There will be an opportunity for media questions following the presentation.

To find the most current information regarding service reductions, please visit www.RideGMT.com/service-reductions. Anyone who wishes to make a public comment can do so by emailing planning@ridegmt.com.