Current News

Attorney General William Sorrell will hold three public meetings this month to introduce the draft rules to implement Act 120, the law requiring the labeling of food produced with genetic engineering (GMO). The meetings will be held the week of October 20, 2014 in Burlington, Montpelier, and Brattleboro.

The Attorney General is responsible for promulgating the rules that will implement Act 120. These rules will provide clarity on the scope and reach of the law with the goal of both providing information and minimizing burdens on the regulated community. While the Attorney General will later solicit official public comments on the proposed draft rule, these public meetings will serve as an important opportunity for obtaining feedback from producers, retailers, and consumers.

New Hampshire Thrift Bancshares, Inc (NASDAQ: NHTB), the holding company for Lake Sunapee Bank, fsb, with 16 offices in Vermont, has reported consolidated net income for the nine months ended September 30, 2014 of $7.2 million, or $0.85 diluted earnings per common share, compared to $6.4 million, or $0.87 diluted earnings per common share, for same period in 2013, an increase of $770 thousand, or 12%. For the quarter ended September 30, 2014, we reported consolidated net income of $2.7 million, or $0.32 diluted earnings per common share, compared to $2.6 million, or $0.35 diluted earnings per common share, for the quarter ended September 30, 2013, an increase of $132 thousand, or 5.13%.

The AutoSaver Group will help drive awareness for the American Cancer Society to benefit the organization’s Making Strides Campaign for National Breast Cancer Awareness Month by matching donations made in the month of October up to $25,000. At the end of the month, AutoSaver Group partners – Ronney Lyster and Abel Toll – will match the donations with a goal for total donations to equal or exceed $50,000.

AutoSaver Group employees, customers and community members will be encouraged to make donations at any of the company’s 12-dealership locations. A ‘Wall of Hope’ will be setup at every dealership in the service and parts areas as well as the in the showrooms. Individuals who donate will have an opportunity to sign a card with their name and add it to the ‘Wall of Hope’ to show their support for the American Cancer Society and the Making Strides Campaign.

A long-awaited gathering place for University of Vermont graduates is another step closer to reality after a groundbreaking ceremony for the Alumni House on Saturday morning. The university’s first Alumni House, located at 61 Summit Street, will open in the fall of 2015 after undergoing extensive renovations, including an added pavilion to be used for university and community events.

“This Alumni House project truly has been a University-wide source of excitement for us since we first acquired the Delta Psi fraternity House, originally the Edward Wells House, back in 2007,’’ UVM President Tom Sullivan told a crowd assembled for the groundbreaking Saturday morning. “Not only will it be the long hoped-for venue for alumni events and the day-to-day operations of the Alumni Association, but it is expected to be a popular spot for community gatherings such as wedding receptions and other private functions.”

by Morgan True vtdigger.org A letter sent this week from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to the Brattleboro Retreat psychiatric hospital sheds more light on the process that is expected to allow the facility to keep its federal certification. The letter from CMS Associate Regional Administrator William Roberson confirms that the latest survey of the Retreat, conducted Oct. 1 by state investigators acting on CMS’ behalf, identified “deficiencies” that “posed immediate jeopardy” to patient health and safety. However, the letter also states that the cause of that immediate jeopardy was removed the same day.

Retreat officials did not immediately respond to VTDigger’s questions about what conditions posed the immediate jeopardy.

by Hilary Niles vtdigger.org Developers of a proposed high-voltage transmission line bringing Canadian hydropower through Vermont presented their vision at a three-hour symposium in Burlington on Thursday morning. Transmission Developers Inc is seeking approval to build a 154-mile line from the Canadian border at Alburgh, southward under Lake Champlain, and then across central Vermont to a converter station in Ludlow using existing rights-of-way. The power would then be released to the New England grid. The line would carry 1,000 megawatts of DC power, enough to provide electricity to a million homes, according to the developers. The plan for a $1.2 billion, privately financed New England Clean Power Line was presented at the ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center.

On Monday, the Clerk/Treasurer’s Office notified the public about an error on the Vermont General Election Ballot, where the names of five Republican candidates for Justice of the Peace inadvertently were omitted from the November ballot. The City had suspended early voting until corrected ballots were printed. The corrected ballots now have been printed and will be mailed today, along with a copy of the attached letter, to the 422 early and absentee voters, who already had requested and been provided with ballots. Additionally, beginning the week of October 20th, the Clerk/Treasurer’s Office will be calling individuals who voted the incorrect ballot, but have not yet returned the new, corrected ballot to ensure they are aware of the error and opportunity to vote the new ballot. Early voting resumed today.

by Tom Brown vtdigger.org The Vermont Public Service Board on Friday decided to allow Phase One of Vermont Gas’ pipeline expansion to proceed without further review. The regulatory body said in its decision that a 40 percent increase in the estimated cost of the natural gas project through Addison County was not enough to require a re-examination of the company’s certificate of public good. “Having carefully considered the record developed at the hearing we convened on September 26, 2014, as well as the briefs subsequently filed by the parties, we have concluded that the new cost information is not of such a material and controlling nature so as to change our previous determination that approval of the Project pursuant to the criteria of 30 V.S.A. § 248 will promote the general good of Vermont,” the decision reads.

Phil Scott is asking Vermonters to spare those tires no longer in use by donating them to the tenth annual Wheels for Warmth tire recycle and resale event. In nine years, Wheels for Warmth has raised more than $213,000 for emergency fuel assistance, sold more than 11,000 safe, donated tires, and recycled almost 18,000 unsafe, unusable tires.

Established by Phil Scott in 2005, Wheels for Warmth’s three goals are to:

• Raise funds for emergency fuel assistance;
• Create a resource of DMV-inspected tires that are deemed safe for at least one season of use, for sale at no more than $25 per tire;
• Reduce the number of tires being discarded in rivers and along the roadside, by providing a convenient, inexpensive way to dispose of unwanted tires.

Tires will be collected through Friday, October 17, from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the following locations:

In an emailed letter dated October 6, 2014, the owners of the Golden Eagle Resort on the Mountain Road in Stowe announced that they had sold the resort and that it was now part of Linchris Hotel Corporation, which is a hotel management company based in Hanover, Massachusetts. In a twitter feed September 26, @linchrishotelco , said, "Please join us in welcoming the Golden Eagle Resort-Stowe, VT to the Linchris family!" The Hillman and Van Dyke families thanked guests and friends and said that after 50 years in the hospitality business that they didn't have "the energy to proceed into the future."

LETTER:

"Dear Guests and long time friends of the Golden Eagle,

Uber, the car service that allows riders to have a car pick them up through an online/mobile application, arrived in Burlington Thursday. Uber connects riders with the closest available driver in town. Riders see a photo of the driver, the driver's vehicle make and license plate number, and can even watch the driver on the app's map come towards them.

Uber has been controversial in places because of concerns that it will undermine the local taxi industry, while not meeting the same regulatory requirements that cabbies and their companies must adhere to.

Five universities that make up the National Cybersecurity Preparedness Consortium (NCPC) will blend their cyber terrorism and incident response education programs in order to provide nationwide critical infrastructure protection training. Norwich University Applied Research Institutes (NUARI) has been awarded $2.3 million by the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help better prepare the country to defend itself against continuous cyberattacks and intrusions.

For the project, NUARI has partnered with the Criminal Justice Institute of the University of Arkansas System, the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service, the University of Memphis and the Center for Infrastructure Assurance & Security at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

NUARI and its partners will develop numerous training products on cybersecurity over the next three years.