Thursday September 2, 2010 NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks rose Thursday, extending their gains from the day before, after reports on housing, manufacturing and jobs all indicated that the economy continues to grow. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 50 points, having jumped 254 on Wednesday thanks to strong reports on manufacturing in the U.   Full Story

Thursday September 2, 2010 Concerning Sen. Sanders' column in the Aug. 20 Banner: His column is interesting and somewhat informative. However, what he does not tell you is that Congress borrows from the Social Security Trust Fund surplus, a practice that has been common since the early 1960s.   Full Story

Thursday September 2, 2010 POWNAL -- A proposed $500 million wood-pellet manufacturing facility and biomass plant at the former Green Mountain Race Track site might use a federal program that provides foreigners with green cards in exchange for capital investment. Beaver Wood Energy, LLC, a Massachusetts-based company, has applied for the EB-5 visa program to help raise capital for the   Full Story

Thursday September 2, 2010 MONTPELIER -- Vermont is tops in the country for the achievements of low-income students but ranks at the bottom of the list for education reform, according to a national group that promotes limited government. The Report Card on American Education by the American Legislative Exchange Council ranked the educational performance of the states and District of   Full Story

Thursday September 2, 2010 LAUREL SPRINGS, N.C. -- Local running phenom Tim VanOrden captured his second national championship title in less than a month at the U.S. 10k Trail Running Championships on Saturday. A very deep field of elite runners toed the line high atop a mountain in northern North Carolina to test their meddle on a very challenging course that included over 3,000 feet of   Full Story

Wednesday September 1, 2010 SALEM, N.Y. -- Book artist Ed Hutchins will be teaching a book-making workshop on Sept. 4 from 1 - 4 p.m. at the North Main Gallery in Salem. Hutchins is the artist-in-residence at North Main Gallery. In this workshop, he will teach students new skills for assembling unique papers into books that can be used for sharing poetry, stories, drawings, photographs,   Full Story