Current News

Grafton Village Cheese, a business of the nonprofit Windham Foundation in Grafton, Vt, was awarded five ribbons at the 31st annual American Cheese Society (ACS) Awards on July 31 in Sacramento, Calif. Two days prior to ACS, the company took home seven awards and two trophies at the International Cheese Awards (ICA) in England, including the trophy for Best USA Cheese. Grafton Village Cheese produces handmade aged cheddar and specialty cheese using milk from small family farms, with the proceeds supporting the charitable efforts of the Windham Foundation.

ACS Awards for Grafton Cheese

· First for Queen of Quality Clothbound Cheddar in the Cheddar Wrapped in Cloth, Linen, Aged Over 12 Months

· First for Shepsog in the American Originals Original Recipe / Open Category

· Second for Bull Hill in the Open Washed Rind Cheeses category

by John Herrick vtdigger.org The Department of Public Service is recommending that state regulators order Vermont Gas to pay a $35,000 fine for the delayed announcement of a 40 percent cost increase to the company’s pipeline extension. The Public Service Board approved Vermont Gas’ 41-mile natural gas pipeline extension through Addison County in December. The company announced this month that the cost of the pipeline is now estimated at $121 million, $35 million more than expected when regulators approved the project. The department said the company should have known about market forces that would increase the cost of the pipeline well before it notified state regulators.

“The utility is obligated to pay attention to the costs in the industry,” Public Service Commissioner Chris Recchia said.

Vermont Business Magazine New unemployment claims in Vermont but held at a relatively low level. In early June, claims fell to 400, as filings have spiked and then fallen for most of the year. For the week of July 26, 2014, there were 430 new, regular benefit claims for Unemployment Insurance in Vermont. This is an increase of 26 from the previous week's total, and 33 fewer than they were a year ago. Claims have been generally lower than were at the same time last year. The summer typically produces fewer claims.

On Wednesday, August 6 at 11 am, Woodchuck Hard Cider will hold a formal ribbon cutting ceremony at the site of its new state-of-the-art cidery. The $34 million dollar cidery has been under construction for the last 15 months. It represents Woodchuck’s commitment to Vermont and keeping the state at the forefront of the rapidly growing national hard cider movement. Woodchuck Hard Cider introduced the US to craft cider from a two car garage in Proctorsville, Vermont, and 23 years later, craft cider has caught on and Woodchuck continues its leadership role in the craft cider industry.

The Senate on Thursday tonight approved and sent to President Barack Obama a bill to improve access to health care for veterans and reform the Department of Veterans Affairs. Crafted by the Senate and House Veterans’ Affairs Committee chairmen – Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and Jeff Miller (R-Florida) – the $16.3 billion bill passed the Senate by a vote of 91-3. The House of Representatives voted 420-5 on Wednesday to approve the same measure.

There is a Veterans Administration hospital in White River Junction.

Governor Peter Shumlin and Vermont Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security Director Joe Flynn have asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to join state and local teams to conduct a Joint Preliminary Damage Assessment in areas of Vermont impacted by flooding on July 28. The assessment is to determine if Windsor and Windham counties qualify for federal Public Assistance disaster funds to help towns repair public infrastructure damaged in the floods.

“The towns and individuals hit by this flooding suffered significant damage and we’ll continue to do everything we can to help all those affected get back on their feet,” Governor Shumlin said. “I encourage communities that have yet to report damage to do so as soon as possible so that we can ensure all available resources are directed to those working hard to rebuild.”

In a new list from Forbes magazine of “Ten Top Colleges to Watch,” UVM ranks second among four schools in the top 200 that have consistently risen up the list since the rankings began in 2009. The university has moved up 230 positions, from 370th to 140th this year. A number of stand-out factors explain UVM’s rapid rise, according to Forbes, including a high graduation rate and a lower than expected rate of student borrowing -- the university, in fact, is in the top 6 percent of all 650 ranked schools in both of these categories.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont PBS will not lose any funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting as a result of its board failing to fulfill its open meeting obligations. However, the CPD, in a formal response released Thursday afternoon, did levy a fine of $15,000. As Vermont PBS said it expected, CPB did not impose any penalty affecting the station’s eligibility for federal grant programs or jeopardizing the approximately $1 million in grant funding the station receives from CPB each year. CPB levied the fine as a result of the CPD Inspector General’s finding that Vermont PBS (which recently changed its name from Vermont Public Television) did not post on its website notifications of some closed Board meetings. Vermont PBS said it is disappointed with this decision, and feels strongly that a financial penalty should not have been issued.

The Vermont Cheese Council (VCC), an organization dedicated to the production and advancement of Vermont Cheese, announced that Vermont took home its second consecutive Best in Show first place designation, along with 36 ribbons from 16 cheesemakers at the 31^st annual American Cheese Society competition in Sacramento, Calif. earlier this evening. The Best in Show First Place was awarded for Farms for City Kids Foundation/ Spring Brook Farm’s Tarentaise Reserve cheese. The American Cheese Society (ACS) is the leading organization supporting the understanding, appreciation and promotion of farmstead, artisan and specialty cheeses produced in the Americas. Since its founding in 1983, ACS hosts North America’s foremost annual educational conference and world-renowned cheese judging and competition.

The Community Health Center of Burlington will be awarded a $250,000 grant to expand their mental health services, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) announced today. The Burlington center is one of 221 Federally Qualified Health Centers in 47 states that will receive a total of $55 million in funding for mental and behavioral health service expansion. This funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration comes from $11 billion in health center funding that Sanders helped to secure in the Affordable Care Act.

Health centers across the country provide high quality care to 22 million people, including behavioral health services for 1.2 million. The 11 Vermont health centers operate more than 50 clinics around the state. They will provide health care this year for 1 in 4 Vermonters, including mental health services for more than 6,000 Vermonters.

The historic Juniper Hill Farm - Maxwell Evarts House (now known as Juniper Hill Inn) located in Windsor, Vermont, is set to be auctioned by the Thomas Hirchak Company in August. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988, the grand 28-bedroom colonial revival was built in 1902 by Maxwell Evarts, a prominent New York attorney and a captain of American industry. US Presidents Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, among other prominent figures, artists and celebrities, have been entertained at the mansion.

Of more recent fame, the mansion was featured in 2012 on Fox’s Hotel Hell. In the 2-part premier episode, celebrity Chef Gordon Ramsay worked with then-owners to revamp the Inn, giving it further national exposure.

FairPoint Communications, Inc (Nasdaq: FRP), a leading provider of advanced communications in northern New England, has expanded broadband to 175 homes and businesses in Irasburg. According to FairPoint, its new fiber-based, high-capacity network offers customers a better, faster way to communicate.

“Our next-generation network allows us to expand broadband service into areas with no high-speed Internet access and provide enhanced services across the state,” said Beth Fastiggi, FairPoint state president for Vermont. “Broadband availability opens the doors to the world for the residents and businesses in Vermont and is fundamental to the state’s future economic growth.”