Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont State Police is assisting federal law-enforcement authorities investigating a kidnapping that was interrupted Thursday, Dec. 2, 2021, at the US border with Canada on Interstate 89. State police investigators are asking that anyone who saw something out of the ordinary at the Exit 16 Champlain Farms or Maplefields convenience stores in Colchester between 3 am and 7 am Thursday contact the authorities.

​Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott, the Agency of Commerce and Community Development (ACCD), and the Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) announced today that more than $7 million of the $25 million appropriated for brownfield site remediation has been committed to 10 projects across the state. The funding was previously announced by Governor Phil Scott as part of Act 74 and represents the first-time state dollars have been allocated to brownfield sites. Historically, remediation projects have been funded exclusively by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Vermont Business Magazine As the 2021 mountain bike season comes to an end, the Vermont Mountain Bike Association has just announced the recipients of their annual naming grants, highlighting some of the new trails we can expect to see in 2022. One of these naming grants is going to Richmond Mountain Trails (RMT) to launch a new trail network, “The Driving Range”, located off route 2 in Bolton. The network is named for the driving range that was once at the base of the property. The grant is provided by local solar installer SunCommon, covering roughly half of the anticipated costs of the first uphill and first downhill on the property.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Technical College’s Architectural and Building Engineering Technology Department at Vermont Technical College had both its bachelor’s degree and associate degree accreditations extended for an additional six years, the longest term that the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) grants. The programs, assessed under ABET’s Engineering Technology Accreditation Commission, received a final evaluation of “no findings,” which means the programs had no deficiencies, weaknesses, or concerns.

by Catherine Coteus, Board Member, Vermont Access to Reproductive Freedom The future of reproductive freedom is at stake. This week, the US Supreme Court heard arguments in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization case, which challenges the constitutionality of Mississippi’s law banning abortions after 15 weeks. The Mississippi law is part of a growing trend among states to restrict, dismantle, hinder and eliminate abortion access that was firmly established in the US through extensive case precedent that bases the right to an abortion in the constitution.

​Vermont Business Magazine US Senator Patrick Leahy (D) and Vermont Governor Phil Scott (R) on Thursday announced that Vermont will be receiving $63,041,000 in funding for drinking water systems and wastewater treatment as a result of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act signed by President Biden late last month. The funds will go into the State’s revolving loan funds for drinking water and wastewater. Those funds are loaned or granted to municipalities for constructing, improving or expanding public drinking water and wastewater systems.

Vermont Business Magazine Sixteen new cases of COVID-19 were detected at Northern State Correctional Facility (NSCF) in Newport. Thirteen of the cases were identified in the incarcerated population and three among staff in outbreak testing conducted on November 29. A total of 40 incarcerated individuals and 14 staff have tested positive in the NSCF outbreak, which began on November 10. There are now a total of 13 active incarcerated cases and six active staff cases at NSCF; 27 individuals and eight staff have been medically cleared of the virus. The facility remains on full lockdown and contact tracing on the new positives is underway.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today issued the following statement in response to President Biden’s COVID-19 Winter Action Plan. Governor Scott: “President Biden today outlined a strong plan to confront COVID-19 that will help the country keep moving forward. Like Vermont’s current policies, it strongly prioritizes vaccines, boosters and testing. I share the President’s commitment to progress by prioritizing what we know will work best, which are not the broad restrictions of 2020, because we need to be able to bring Americans and Vermonters along with us 20+ months into the pandemic."

Vermont Business Magazine CVFiber has begun network developer and operator negotiations with the joint partnership of three firms, the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative (NRTC), Waitsfield Champlain Valley Telecom (WCVT) and Mission Broadband. This is a major step forward to delivering fast, 100/100 Mbps, broadband service to all addresses connected to the electrical grid in the 21 communities in the CVFiber Communications Union District. CVFiber believes that it has selected a team that shares its values and brings extensive experience building and operating a future-proof fiber-optic network.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health today reported a daily record COVID-19 cases with 604 (up more than 100 from Wednesday's 497). Health Commissioner Dr Mark Levine Tuesday that case counts have been up and down since the Thanksgiving holiday as there had been fewer people seeking to be tested. Now people are back to getting tested. Dr Levine has said he is concerned that the holiday would lead to higher case counts, which appears now to be the situation.

Vermont Business Magazine Dartmouth College dedicated the new home of the Arthur L Irving Institute for Energy and Society today during an online event. The event celebrated the five-year, $160 million investment in the Irving Institute.The Irving Institute is a nexus for interdisciplinary research and teaching that will harness Dartmouth’s liberal arts strengths and research excellence to shape a more sustainable, equitable energy future for humankind.

Vermont Business Magazine The Northwest Communications Union District (NWCUD) is now operating under Northwest Fiberworx (NWFX) Northwest Fiberworx is quickly becoming a leader in bringing an open-access fiber-optic network to Northwestern Vermont. NWFX recently hired a full-time Executive Director (Sean Kio of Enosburgh); was awarded $1,275,028 from the Vermont Community Broadband Board (VCBB) for pre-construction planning and network design; is working with National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative to develop the organization’s business plan; and is actively looking to expand the employee roster with a full-time Operations Project Manager.