Current News

The Agency of Natural Resources is holding three public comment meetings in July to gather feedback on the Draft Northern Lake Champlain Direct Drainages Tactical Water Quality Management Plan. The public is encouraged to attend the meetings, hear a presentation and offer their comments and suggestions. This plan will be used to establish priorities for clean water projects being pursued in fulfillment of the Vermont Clean Water Act (H.35), signed into law by Governor Shumlin on June 16, and related Lake Champlain restoration efforts. (See information regarding the Waits, Wells, Ompompanoosuc and Steven’s River Tactical Water Quality Management Plan below.)

Meetings will take place in the following locations:

Monday, June 29, 5 -6:30 pm, Swanton Municipal Building, Swanton, VT (hosted by Friends of North Lake Champlain)

The Burlington Free Press on Wednesday won three of Gannett's 12 National Edward R Murrow Awards, including an Overall Excellence award. The Edward R Murrow Awards honor outstanding achievements in broadcast and digital journalism and are sponsored by the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA). The largest daily newspaper in Vermont won these awards for its online service.

“Gannett has always been a company where content comes first and our commitment to quality journalism is second to none. These 12 awards, in addition to the 72 Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards we won earlier this year, are a testament to the exceptional work being done daily by our journalists that makes an impact in the communities we serve. It is always an honor to be recognized by the RTDNA and I congratulate all of our winners,” said Gracia Martore, president and CEO of Gannett.

Winners are:

Renewable Energy Vermont Beneath bluebird skies, Vermonters strolled sun-soaked solar farms and toured solar-powered homes during the inaugural Celebrate Solar Tours last Saturday. Like open sugarhouse weekend in the spring and open art studio weekend in the fall, Celebrate Solar Tours gave Vermonters the opportunity to get an up-close view of solar systems, learn how they work and the story behind improving our energy future with the sun. In St Albans, three local families participated in the statewide celebration by inviting neighbors and community members to visit their residential solar systems.

by Basil DN Waugh UVM A major international study finds that surprisingly few bee species are responsible for pollinating the world’s crops. The paper, published in Nature Communications, suggests that only two percent of wild bee species pollinate 80 percent of bee-pollinated crops worldwide. The study is one of the largest on bee pollination to date.

While agricultural development and pesticides have been shown to produce sharp declines in many wild bee populations, the study shows these “busy bees” can remain abundant in agricultural landscapes.

Vermont Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security (DEMHS) Director Joe Flynn has asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to conduct a preliminary damage assessment (PDA) in Vermont counties impacted by severe storms on June 9th. The state is asking for the assessment to determine if the state qualifies for federal public assistance to help cover the costs of cleanup and repairs from the storm.

Director Flynn has asked FEMA Regional Administrator Paul Ford to send assessors to work with local and state personnel to assess damages in Addison, Chittenden, and Franklin counties. The letter from Flynn to Ford is attached.

“(On June 9th) torrential rains resulted in flooding and erosion which washed out roads and destroyed drainage structures … causing more than a million dollars of damage to public infrastructure,” Flynn wrote in his request.

Vermont’s lottery for moose hunting permits closed June 17, but there’s one more opportunity to get a permit for this fall’s moose hunt. Vermont’s auction for five moose hunting permits is open until 4:30 p.m. August 13. Bids will be opened and winners notified on August 14. Auction winners will hunt in one of several wildlife management units (WMUs) open to moose hunting and choose to hunt during the October 1-7 archery season, or in the October 17-22 regular season.

photo credit: VFWD - Wayne Laroche

Vermont’s 2014 Moose Harvest Report on Fish & Wildlife’s website has details on last year’s hunt, including the towns where moose were taken. Look under moose hunting.

Sugarbush Resort’s Gadd Brook Slopeside development project, sixteen ski-in/ski-out condominiums at the base of Lincoln Peak, began construction last week. The resort received the necessary permits required for the project in May (Town of Warren) and mid-June (Act 250). A groundbreaking ceremony was held on Friday, June 19^th to celebrate the project’s inception.

Governor Peter Shumlin, Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger, and SerVermont today announced $380,000 in AmeriCorps funding dedicated to a new AmeriCorps State program that will create service positions for recent college graduates focused on supporting clean water in Vermont. The funding will give a significant boost to the State’s clean water efforts just one week after the Governor signed into law comprehensive legislation to clean up Lake Champlain and other Vermont waterways. The funding is part of $1.7 million in AmeriCorps grants that will enable 198 AmeriCorps members across the state to tackle this and other critical challenges in Vermont such as improving access to affordable housing, providing services to youth in military and veteran families, and increasing cultural competency in Chittenden County.

When it comes to holding onto your money after retirement, a national study suggests Vermont would be one of the worst places to live. Americans who want to hold onto their wealth should consider moving to New Hampshire and avoid settling down in New York, according to a new GOBankingRates study. With nearly a third of Americans reported to have no retirement savings, GOBankingRates identified the best and worst states to preserve wealth as a retiree, based on several regional factors that impact older Americans' finances most: taxes, living expenses and health care.

"Retirees depend largely on savings for income, so financial considerations should carry the most weight when deciding where to live in retirement," said GOBankingRates Editor-in-Chief Casey Bond. "Long-term happiness is directly related to quality of life; it's difficult to live happily in retirement when you can't afford quality healthcare and high taxes."

by Timothy McQuiston Vermont Business Magazine As the Public Service Board considers whether to re-open the case for Vermont Gas Systems' Addison County pipeline project, Vermont Business Magazine is re-publishing an interview it conducted with Vermont Gas CEO Don Rendall, which ran in the June issue of the magazine. The PSB technical hearings are scheduled to conclude today and a decision is expected later this summer.

Don Rendall was hired by Vermont Gas last November and officially took over leadership from long-serving president Don Gilbert on January 1, 2015. The transition took place during a time of great tumult for the company, which had for the vast majority of its 50-year history quietly served customers in Franklin and Chittenden counties.

What seemed like a relatively logical step in the company’s growth, and for the state’s economy, to extend the gas pipeline farther south almost immediately turned ugly.

Okemo Mountain Resort is preparing for the winter season with more improvements. In addition to a second bubble chair at Jackson Gore, Okemo is installing a new chairlift and creating a new trail at South Face Village, and adding snowmaking to two trails at Jackson Gore. Skiers and snowboarders visiting Okemo Mountain Resort this winter will view the snowy landscape through the bright orange tint of a retractable, transparent dome when they ride in the comfort of another new, high-speed bubble chairlift named Quantum Four. Okemo’s upgrade and renaming of the Jackson Gore Express Quad includes the replacement of chairs with comfortable four-passenger bubble chairs that protect skiers and riders from wind and weather as they ascend Okemo’s Jackson Gore summit. Okemo will become the first resort in North America to feature multiple bubble chairlifts.