West Branch Gallery & Sculpture Park in Stowe is getting a jump on spring by featuring two painting exhibitions that are decidedly unwintry: bright and sunny oils by Aline Ordman and a herd of stylized animals, including some found in warmer climes, by Christopher Griffin .

Myths die fast on Wall Street. If you follow enough of them, like the dot.com craze of the early 2000s, or the 2003-2006 real estate bubble, you can easily follow them into the poorhouse.

Vermont voters may feel pinched by the economic crisis, but for the most part they voted on Town Meeting Day to support budgets that could increase their taxes.

Here I am sitting at a fancy Stowe, Vt., sandwich shop - the kind with WiFi and $5 a cup coffee - typing my weekly column on a sleek, silver laptop.

Stowe's three elected auditors have garnered enough votes to fire themselves. Eliminating the elected auditor positions was one several charter changes approved by town voters Tuesday.

There was low voter turnout in Stowe and the night ended with uncertainty about a school board seat.

Innkeeper Patti Clark is very excited about the news. "Escaping the daily grind to unwind and recharge is more important than ever," said Clark.