Current News

Nominations are now open for the 2016 Vermont Teacher of the Year program. The public is being invited to join Vermont educators in going online to directly nominate teachers for the prestigious statewide distinction; the winner serves as an advocate for Vermont’s teachers, students, and education system.

Nominations can be completed through April 10 at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TOY2016. To encourage more submissions, the process has been simplified to require only the most basic information about the nominator, the nominee, and their school, as well as a short overview of what makes the nominee an extraordinary teacher.

The Economist has launched a Case Study Competition called "find a zero." Eighteen teams representing 17 universities will compete for the grand prize of $15,000. The competition, conducted in partnership with Kerrisdale Capital, an investment research firm and private investment manager, invites competing teams to find a conventional market view that is demonstrably misguided, and ought to be debunked. The teams are challenged to "find a zero" – that is, predict which billion dollar market cap company will be bankrupt by 2020.

The annual “Big Change Roundup for Kids” raised $292,755.92 to support specialized care provided at The University of Vermont Children’s Hospital. The Roundup is the largest fundraiser each year for Vermont Children’s. The total surpassed last year’s tally of $268,136.69.

The three-month-long coin collecting campaign is a joint project of the hospital and 98.9 WOKO-FM with support from hundreds of local businesses and community groups, and thousands of volunteers from throughout the region. Key sponsors this year include Maplefields, New England Federal Credit Union, Walmart and Pete’s RV Center.

Highlights

Vermont Business Magazine In Vermont, 31,619 consumers selected or were automatically re-enrolled in health insurance coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace as of February 22, according to a report released today by the US Department of Health and Human Services. Of the consumers with a Marketplace plan selection, 62 percent (19,667 people) qualified for financial assistance to help with the cost of monthly premiums.

In Vermont, 8,980 consumers under the age of 35 are signed up for Marketplace coverage (28 percent of all plan selections). And 6,956 consumers 18 to 34 years of age (22 percent of all plan selections) are signed up for Marketplace coverage. These are below average for all the states. The state does have a higher enrollment of for children under 18, which could be related to Vermont's already low uninsured rate for minors.

A Buffalo, NY, manufacturer has acquired Vermont-based medical device maker Vermed Inc. Vermed, located in Bellows Falls, manufactures medical devices, electrodes, line care products, electrotherapy devices, urethral catheter support, topical skin adhesives and other similar products. The news was announced today by Citizens Bank, which arranged financing for Graphic Controls to acquire Vermed. Terms were not disclosed, including whether local staffing and operations in Vermont would change.

Graphic Controls is a leading supplier of consumable products for industrial, medical and gaming markets with manufacturing operations and sales offices in the United States, Canada, Europe and the United Kingdom.

A buffalonews.com story says that Graphic Controls is getting back into the medical device business and this acquisition allows them to do that with an established company. It also has acquired two other medical device companies in recent years.

Morgan True vtdigger.org The backlog of requested coverage changes at Vermont Health Connect has ballooned to more than 11,000 and completing the exchange is now projected to hit $200 million, according to state officials. Change requests range from updating an address to reporting new income, new dependents or even just terminating a plan after gaining health insurance through an employer. The exchange has carried a backlog since it launched and reached a high of 15,000 in August. That number was reduced to a manageable figure prior to this year’s open enrollment, but is now close to 11,200, officials said.

At 10:14 am this morning, a lone male suspect entered through the rear entrance of TD Bank in Enosburg Falls dressed in a black ski mask, dark jacket with blue stripes down the arm, a blue hoodie sweatshirt, black pants, black gloves, and white sneakers.
The suspect was a white male approximately 5'6" - 5'8" tall, with a slender to medium build. The suspect leaned onto the counter, verbally demanded cash, and put it into a plastic bag that he brought with him. The male then exited the bank with the bag and took off on foot, followed by a customer who witnessed the event. James Marshia, an off-duty Customs and Border Protection Officer, was able to track the suspect for about a quarter mile, where he lost sight of the male, who headed in an unknown direction of travel.

Governor Peter Shumlin issued the following statement on the death of former Governor Ray Keyser Jr. The governor has ordered that flags be flown at half-staff in honor of Governor Keyser. He died Saturday at his daughter's home in Brandon. He was 87.

"Vermont has lost a faithful public servant who showed his love for this state and its people through his years of service. My thoughts are with Governor Keyser's family and friends. I know I join all Vermonters in being thankful for Governor Keyser's dedication to Vermont."

Governor Keyser, far right, with, from left, Governors Douglas, Salmon and Kunin in 2012. VBM file

Congressman Peter Welch made the following statement on the passing of Governor Kesyer:

Lieutenant Governor Phil Scott and the Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation are hosting the "Southern Vermont Economy Pitch" today, March 9, 2015. Windham and Bennington County legislators have been invited to attend the Economy Pitch at Vernon Elementary School to hear representatives from the region’s business community make short, five-minute pitches about the economy from their perspective. This is the fourth "Economy Pitch" held this year, following events in Montpelier, Rutland and St Albans.

DATE: Monday, March 9

TIME: 4:00 – 6:00 PM

PLACE: Vernon Elementary School cafeteria, 381 Governor Hunt Road, Vernon

Participants

Attendees will hear from representatives of the following organizations:
Storm Petrel LLC, Halifax

Vermont Technical College, Randolph Center

Bennington Area Chamber of Commerce

Bellows Falls Downtown Development

by Governor Peter Shumlin As we head into the second half of this year’s Legislation session, it’s a good time to evaluate the progress that has been made in the two months since the session began. In January, I laid out a number of priorities to keep Vermont moving forward that included cleaning up Lake Champlain and other waterways, investing in clean energy to create jobs and save people money, addressing the Medicaid cost shift to save individuals and businesses on rising health care premiums, working to reduce school spending to relieve the property tax burden on hard working Vermonters, passing economic development initiatives to help Vermont businesses continue to grow jobs, and developing a balanced budget that sets the state on a sound fiscal footing going forward. While we still have lots of work ahead, I am encouraged by the progress we have made on these priorities thus far.

Do you know who owns your beer? After a year of organization, planning, and home-brewing beer, the members of Full Barrel Cooperative Brewery & Taproom are one step closer to making the answer to be, as the founders put it, “you.” On Sunday, March 1, member-owners gathered in Burlington and voted to approve the brewery’s first bylaws, elect a board of directors, and select the brand’s first logo. The milestones come on the heels of the brewery receiving incorporation status from the State of Vermont in early February.

by Shawn Shouldice The Vermont General Assembly is dealing with a $120 million budget deficit, while the Governor is simultaneously recommending increased spending at many levels including a request for increased Medicaid spending to address a portion of the $135 million cost shift caused by the chronic underfunding of Medicaid. (The cost shift is considered by some to be the cause of higher than necessary private health insurance premiums). Some cuts have been proposed but for many legislators they appear to be too hard for legislators to swallow, as well as new and increased taxes, most, if not all of which, will take additional millions out of the pockets of small business owners.