Stockbridge News

A high water mark is visible on a flag along Elm Street in Waterbury in the wake of tropical storm Irene on Monday, August 29, 2011.

My plan was to make coq au vin, but a couple of things got in the way. The first was my mother.

Many of the suggestions in a 71-page report released Friday on the state's recovery efforts after Tropical Storm Irene should be taken to heart and become official policy in an era when the severity of storms and their variability has been increasing.

Vermont needs to build longer bridges to make more room for swollen rivers and encourage the relocation of housing at risk of flooding, according to a report released Friday on the state's recovery from the remnants of Hurricane Irene.

Vermont Route 107 between Bethel and Stockbridge - a major east-west route through the state closed for four months due to damage caused by Hurricane Irene - finally reopened Thursday.