Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Attorney General’s Office today announced that Laurent Lussier Jr., 56, of Middlebury, Vermont, was arraigned on two counts of felony sexual assault. The charges brought against Lussier were the result of an investigation conducted by the Vermont State Police, New Haven Barracks. Lussier pleaded not guilty at the arraignment today in Vermont Superior Court, Addison Criminal Division. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Department of Public Safety can confirm that Dr. Etan Nasreddin-Longo is not currently a state employee. To protect individual privacy, the department cannot comment on personnel matters.  The department’s longstanding commitment to the principles of fair and impartial policing remains unchanged, and the work of the Office of Fair and Impartial Policing and Community Affairs will continue. The department has no further comment on this individual personnel matter. 

Vermont Business Magazine Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today released a new report revealing that prices for 688 prescription drugs have increased since President Donald Trump took office — despite his repeated promises to lower drug costs “almost immediately.” In July, Trump sent letters to 17 major pharmaceutical companies asking for lower prescription drug prices “within the next 60 days.” He later said he would cut prices by “1,200, 1,300 and 1,400, 1,500%.” Today marks 60 days since those letters were sent.

Vermont Business Magazine Average gasoline prices in Vermont are $3.18 per gallon, down 0.9 cents per gallon from last week's $3.19/g. The lowest price in the state yesterday was $2.85/g while the highest was $3.39/g, a difference of 54.0 cents per gallon. The national average price of gasoline has fallen 5.8 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.08/g today. The national average is down 11.1 cents per gallon from a month ago and stands 9.0 cents per gallon lower than a year ago.

Vermont Business Magazine Journalism faculty from colleges across the country will convene at UVM this week for the first ever Center for Community News National Conference. The event is an opportunity for the people leading student-powered community news reporting programs to forge collaborations, strategize around new ideas, and grow the field of student reporting across the U.S. College reporting programs that serve their communities – also called “news-academic partnerships” – have emerged in recent years as one of the solutions for reversing the disappearance of trustworthy local news and information. The Center for Community News is the only organization in the nation devoted to strengthening and growing the field of news-academic partnerships.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Corrections (DOC) today announced the death of Richard Davis, a sentenced individual incarcerated at Southern State Correctional Facility (SSCF) in Springfield, Vermont. Richard Davis, 78, of Orleans, Vermont, had been incarcerated since 1993. At approximately 4:41am on the morning of September 27, a correctional officer found Davis unconscious in his cell. The officer notified medical staff and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and immediately began initiating life-saving measures. Life-saving measures were unsuccessful, and EMS pronounced Davis deceased at the facility.  

Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets The Working Lands Enterprise Initiative (WLEI) Service Provider & Producer Association Grant is open now through noon on November 5. Grant projects should provide direct services to Vermont-based working lands businesses through technical assistance and/or other forms of support. Producer association grant projects can also relate to the development of the association itself.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Public Interest Research Group (VPIRG) has donated approximately 50 banker boxes of organizational records to the University of Vermont' Silver Special Collections Library. This collection includes advocacy notes, campaign materials, publications, letters, research data, and mementos from Vermont’s largest nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy organization. To commemorate this important collection coming to UVM, VPIRG and the Special Collections Library will host a celebration and sneak peek at the collection at UVM on Wednesday, October 1 at 11 a.m. Notable in the collection are VPIRG’s charter documents as a student group at UVM; the legal history of Randall v. Sorrell, the challenge to Vermont’s campaign finance law that went all the way to the United States Supreme; and history and artifacts from VPIRG’s decades-long efforts to protect the environment and promote clean energy.  

by Madelyn Nonni, Community News Service Picture flat white snow as far as the horizon. No trees, no rolling mountains. Just an endless scene of ice and frozen earth, underneath an illuminated sky with the sun high in the air, regardless of the time of day. This is what Castleton junior Environmental Science major Olivia Rutkowski saw as she stepped off the snowmobile in Cambridge Bay, Canada, this past May. For two weeks, Rutkowski and five others lived and worked in the Arctic environment, collecting cores of snow, sea ice and permafrost to uncover more about the microbes hidden beneath the surface. The research effort is in collaboration with the Dynamic Research of Arctic Cryospheric Organisms team, or DRACO. It’s a group of professors and students researching polar environments down to the nanoscale. 

Vermont Business Magazine This weekly report is a list of planned construction activities that will affect traffic on state highways and interstates throughout Vermont for the week of September 29, 2025.  Please remember to drive safely in all work zones. Lives depend on it.    

by Sam Donnelly, executive director, Building Burlington’s Future Burlington is more than just a beautiful place. Just like the rest of Vermont, it is full of neighbors who are always willing to show up for one another. It’s a community that doesn’t look away from hard problems. Burlington is a city where people care deeply and are willing to take action to make it better. But right now, our city is facing a pivotal moment. Lately, a lot of people in and around Burlington don’t feel as safe as they used to – whether they’re downtown for work, running a small business, or spending time with their family – for some, a sense of public safety in our community is at a historic low. At the same time, we know that some of our neighbors and community members are struggling with issues like substance use, mental health, and homelessness.

by Mark Millward (A4TD) The Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) is a lifeline for older workers and a vital source of staffing support for nonprofits and public agencies. Due to a delay in federal funding for Program Year 2025, SCSEP operations in Vermont have been sharply reduced. Participants have been furloughed, organizations that host SCSEP participants have lost valuable team members, and the local economy is feeling the effects. SCSEP is the nation’s only federally funded job training program for low-income, unemployed older adults age 55+ who have barriers to employment, helping participants gain new skills and work experience so they can transition into unsubsidized employment. Participants are placed at local nonprofits and public agencies, where they earn income while providing critical community services.