Why a central Vermont school board decided not to ask voters whether to close two of the district’s elementary schools in November. Plus, the young NFL season has brought a huge upswing in Vermont online sports betting, Northeast Kingdom residents whose jobs were affected by the late-July floods may now be eligible for federal unemployment aid, West Windsor adopts short-term rental fees, why Burlington’s former racial equity director is demanding a multimillion dollar payment from the city, for the first time ever Vermont went nearly a year without a vehicle getting stuck at Smuggler’s Notch, and in our sports report we discuss the harsh realities for first place teams knocked out of the playoffs in the league’s new wild card format.