Current News

Keurig Green Mountain, Inc (NASDAQ: GMCR) has announced the addition of Keurig K-Mug pods: pods that brew a large travel mug-size of your favorite beverage, offering more brewing options within the Keurig 2.0 brewing system. Keurig 2.0, which debuted in Fall 2014, is the most advanced hot beverage system ever made by Keurig and the first Keurig brewer with the ability to brew a single cup, a four-cup carafe, and now a travel mug size of coffee.

Available exclusively on Keurig.com, the new K-Mug pods are specially formulated to deliver the quality and strength of flavor that Keurig 2.0 brewer users expect when brewing 12-, 14-, and 16-ounce coffee and other beverages, accommodating both on-the-go lifestyles and those mornings that require more than a cup but less than a carafe.

PC Construction has completed construction of the 110,000-square-foot Virtue Field House, passing the baton to Middlebury College student-athletes at the varsity, club, intramural, and recreational levels, who now will be able to compete and play in the state-of-the-art sports facility.

Designed by Boston-based Sasaki Associates, with PC Construction of South Burlington serving as the general contractor, the $29 million construction contract was funded entirely by donors and built with sustainability as a top priority. In fact, Virtue Field House consumes less energy than its predecessor even though it’s almost twice as large.

It began with a vision: a place where seniors could remain a part of the Randolph community as they aged, and private patient hospital rooms to accommodate state-of-the-art medical care. This month Gifford Medical Center officially launched a $5 million campaign to fund a multi-phased project that makes the vision reality: a new Menig Nursing Home anchoring the Morgan Orchards Senior Living Community in Randolph Center, and 25 private patient rooms at the hospital.

The “Vision for the Future” committee, led by Dr Lou DiNicola and Lincoln Clark, has already raised 68 percent of the $5 million goal in the 18 months leading to the public launch: $3.4 million has been pledged, thanks to generous early support from members of Gifford’s volunteer Board of Trustees and Directors, medical staff, employees, and the hospital’s Auxiliary.

Dr Mark Yorra and Granite City Primary Care (GCPC) are now open in their new and expanded location in the Blanchard Block Building on Main Street in Barre. The practice is part of the University of Vermont Health Network- Central Vermont Medical Center (UVMHN-CVMA) group. Cutting the ribbon (L to R): Vice Chair UVMHN-CVMC Board of Trustees,

Dartmouth-Hitchcock (D-H), New Hampshire’s largest private employer with more than 9,000 employees statewide, has been named one of 150 “Great Places to Work in Healthcare”by the industry journal Becker’s Hospital Review. Becker’s announced the designation earlier this month, citing D-H on the basis of its benefits offerings, wellness programs, commitment to diversity and inclusion, professional development opportunities and environments that promote employee satisfaction and work-life balance.

Theresa Ambrose of Springfield, Vermont, was convicted on March 16, 2015, in Vermont Superior Court, Windsor Criminal Division, of two misdemeanor counts of False Pretenses. The convictions stemmed from Ambrose’s submission of false timesheets in order to obtain payment for services that she did not provide while she was employed as a home-based health care worker under the Choices for Care program, a Vermont Medicaid program.

Ambrose was sentenced to 12 to 24 months in jail, all suspended, and placed on 24 months of probation subject to standard conditions, and the additional conditions that she complete 40 hours of community service and not work as a care provider under any Vermont Medicaid waiver program. Ambrose was also ordered to pay $4,841 in restitution to Vermont Medicaid.

The case was investigated and prosecuted by the Medicaid Fraud and Residential Abuse Unit within the Vermont Attorney General’s Office.

In an effort to understand the effectiveness of its traffic safety efforts, the Vermont State Police is looking for public feedback. A new survey has just been posted on the Vermont State Police website, where people are invited to share their observations on certain topics like seatbelt and cellphone use. This survey provides the public an opportunity to have input into an important statewide safety campaign.

Vermont has made positive strides saving lives through enforcement, education, engineering safer roads and an improved ability to render medical aid immediately following a crash, but the VSP needs the public's assistance in keeping the roads safe for everyone. 2014 saw the lowest number of fatalities since 1944 and the lowest number of alcohol impaired related fatalities (6) in decades. But even one fatality is an enormous.

Governor Peter Shumlin today renewed an historic agreement between the States of Vermont and New York and the Government of Québec to collaboratively enhance and preserve Lake Champlain and its watershed. The partnership dates back to 1988 and has been renewed seven times in the 27 years since. Through a memorandum of understanding signed today, Vermont, New York, and Quebec agree to share research and information on water quality and conservation, improve the flood resilience of communities in the Lake Champlain watershed, protect natural and cultural resources, reduce polluted storm water runoff and blue-green algae blooms, and protect the lake from aquatic invasive species. The partners will also work closely with the Lake Champlain Basin Program to implement Lake Champlain’s long-term management plan, Opportunities for Action.

So far this year, the Vermont Attorney General has filed four Assurances of Discontinuance, settling violations of Vermont’s Prescribed Product Gift Ban and Disclosure Law by prescribed product manufacturers. Each of the four manufacturers agreed to prospective compliance with the law, which bans most gifts to Vermont health care providers and requires manufacturers of prescribed products to disclose expenditures deemed appropriate by the legislature. All violations were self-reported. The four manufacturers paid a total of $137,750.00 to settle the claims.

In re Leica Microsystems, Inc of Buffalo Grove, IL, paid $50,000. Assurance of Discontinuance. March 9, 2015

A national firm has released its monthly mortgage data indicating that the number of bad mortgages (delinquent plus foreclosures) are falling faster than the national average and that homes are more affordable now than before the housing bubble on the mid-2000s. Nationally, every state has shown a decrease in the number of non-current mortgages, while some states are now less affordable than they were.

Black Knight Financial Services has released its latest Mortgage Monitor Report, based on data as of the end of January 2015. The month's data showed that both first-time and repeat foreclosure starts reached 12-month highs, although there was clear separation in the levels of increase between the two. According to Trey Barnes, Black Knight's senior vice president of Loan Data Products, separation also continues to be seen between judicial and non-judicial foreclosure states across multiple performance indicators.

The Vermont Environmental Consortium and Vermont Technical College (VTC) have announced that registration is open for its spring conference: “The 4th Annual Water Quality Conference: Learning from Other Successes.” The conference will be held Friday, May 29, 2015 at VTC’s Judd Hall on its Randolph Center campus.

by Bruce Lisman Recently, I pointed to a few examples of how our government has failed us – the large budget deficit and the failed rollout of Vermont Health Connect are headliners. But, so is the stubborn insistence by the Governor and many legislators that the education system and its ruinous funding system work for Vermonters. It doesn’t.

Even the proposed solutions to the budget deficit – a relentless search for increased fees, taxes and a new payroll tax suggest our Governor has learned little from four years of budget mismanagement. Add to that, the newly proposed education reforms that would do little to solve our funding problems while advocating for forced consolidation of school districts which is unsupported by available research.