Still smokin’
Back on track
Charlotte bistro marks five years with BBQ party in its backyard
Summer elementary and middle school track team earns silver at states
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August 6, 2026
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For female athletes: No white shorts, no worries
Hop to it
BRIANA BRADY & LIBERTY DARR STAFF WRITERS
For anyone with a period, the anxiety is familiar: the worry that standing up from a seat or bending over to pick something up might reveal a red stain, that a tampon or pad might leak and everyone else will notice. For girls playing for their middle school or high school sports teams, a new initiative from the Vermont Principals Association contends, that worry adds to the reasons why one in three girls quit sports by the time they’re 14 years old. For Lauren Young, the VPA’s executive director of activities and athletics, there’s one obvious solution: no more white shorts. On the first Thursday of every month, Young said, the VPA hosts a “Girls and Equity” conversation. The organization invites coaches and athletic directors, primarily women, to talk through the issues that girls might be facing when they partic-
ipate in school sports. Most importantly, Young said, the group has also been hearing from the girls themselves. Different girls’ teams from schools around the state have shared about their lived experience, Young said, and have covered issues from harassment to small crowd sizes. “Then (there’s) this whole thing around period anxiety and being comfortable in their uniforms,” Young said. “Which, man, that goes back decades for me — having a uniform that fit and I felt confident in.” The VPA has made available small grants for schools interested in phasing in darker shorts for their girls’ teams. With support from the National Federation of State High School Associations and the GRL Initiative (Young’s organization promoting women’s leadership in sports), the state association is helping schools buy new shorts for their See SPORTS on page 10
Charlotte may put its charter change to town meeting vote LIBERTY DARR STAFF WRITER
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Katherine Levasseur performed at the national Highland dance championships in Dallas last month. See story, page 3.
CORNINSPIRED FOOD & DRINK SPECIALS
For the past several months, two Charlotte Selectboard members have been tasked with studying the possibility of a hybrid Town Meeting Day, and now the whole board is preparing to take action to preserve some of the beloved tradition. The topic of a traditional in-person Town
Meeting Day has been one of the most debated topics in town in recent months, particularly after 106 people voted at this year’s annual meeting to do away with future budget floor votes. In Charlotte, most of the debate hinged on accessibility. Only about 250 of the nearly 3,400 regis-
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