Current News

Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and Representative Peter Welch (D-Vermont) Friday announced the Rutland Southern-Vermont Regional Airport in North Clarendon, Vermont, received a $8,127,261 grant from the US Department of Transportation to make safety improvements to the airport. In a joint statement, Leahy, Sanders and Welch said: “As the only Vermont airport with commercial air service other than Burlington, the Rutland airport is a vital link for transportation and commerce in the greater Rutland region. These upgrades will improve both the safety and the viability of the airport for the long term. This type of infrastructure investment is critical to growing our economy, and we look forward to seeing these improvements completed.”

FairPoint Communications, Inc (Nasdaq: FRP), a leading provider of advanced communications in northern New England, has upgraded high-speed Internet service to 100 homes and businesses in Stockbridge. FairPoint’s 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.”

Vermont Business Magazine State economists presented a more somber report on projected tax revenues forecasts for the state of Vermont on Thursday and projected that revenues will be 1.8 percent lower going forward than anticipated last January for the fiscal 2015 (current) and 2016 years. Tom Kavet, for the Legislative, and Jeff Carr, for the Administration, restated for the Emergency Board what everyone already seemed to know: The recovery from the Great Recession has slowed, which has resulted, along with some technical changes, in a lowering of tax revenue expectations of $28.8 million for the current fiscal year, which started July 1, and $25.7 million for next year.

Standing a block from Main Street in Barre, Governor Peter Shumlin today announced two grants that will allow the City of Barre to address flood risks, clean up environmental contamination and redevelop a central part of its downtown known as Enterprise Aly. Long slated for improvements in Barre’s master plan, the area was flooded in the spring of 2011 when the Stevens Branch overflowed its banks during heavy storms. Flood waters damaged the area -- the site of environmental contamination – and flowed into the back of Main Street businesses, threatening the spread of hazardous materials.

by Anne Galloway vtdigger.org Scott Milne, the Vermont GOP-endorsed gubernatorial candidate, formally launched his campaign Wednesday in Barre with a one-two punch aimed at Governor Peter Shumlin. Milne promised not to vilify the governor’s character, and then promptly walked into a backhanded attack on Shumlin’s governing strategy. “Bullying tactics are not respected where I come from,” he said. “Leadership is defined by trust, not brazen displays of power.”

In a flat monotone, Milne described the Shumlin administration as “ultra-progressive,” “radical,” “brazen” and “reckless,” as he took swipes at the governor’s health care, energy and economic policies.

by Timothy McQuiston Vermont Business Magazine Governor Peter Shumlin and Administration Secretary Jeb Spaulding said Thursday that Vermont continues to recover from the deepest recession since the Great Depression and that the current state budget will need to be cut $31 million in order make up for lagging tax revenues. In Fiscal Year 2013, Vermont’s General Fund receipts were up $91 million over the previous year. This past fiscal year saw continued growth, with receipts $46.6 million higher than 2013. Since 2011, receipts have increased by a total of $179.6 million, helping reverse the trend of declining revenue brought about by the recession.

by John Herrick vtdigger.org The nation’s second-largest wind power operator wants to be the first to develop a utility-scale wind project on national forest land in the Green Mountain State. Spanish wind giant Iberdrola Renewables defended the project in federal court in Brattleboro Wednesday. Wind opponents have challenged the company’s special use permit to build a 30 megawatt project in the Green Mountain National Forest. The company in April 2009 received a certificate of public good to build 15 turbines on a ridge that divides Searsburg and Readsboro.

PSEG Solar Source of New Jersey has announced that it will acquire the ERWR Whitcomb Farm Solar project in Essex from juwi solar (JSI). The facility, which will now be known as the PSEG Essex Solar Energy Center, has a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Vermont Electric Power Producers (VEEP), Inc, as part of the Vermont Sustainably Priced Energy Enterprise Development (SPEED) program. During JSI's ownership of the project, it advanced the development work previously performed by Encore Redevelopment, Walden Renewables and Whitcomb-Smith Solar.

The PSEG Essex Solar Energy Center is located roughly 4 miles northeast of Burlington and has a nameplate capacity of 3.6MWdc. The acquisition will increase PSEG's Solar Source portfolio to 110 MWdc.

This is PSEG Solar Source's ninth solar project in eight states, including Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, New Jersey, Ohio and Texas.

Okemo Mountain Resort’s Operation Snowburst is returning for a second season of snowmaking improvements to include the addition of 100 new, energy-efficient tower guns. Operation Snowburst Part 2 brings Okemo’s mountain-wide total of HKD tower guns to 1,125. Okemo also utilizes several hundred snowmaking guns of varying types, but it is the HKD SV series of guns that will be making a big impression on skiers and riders visiting Ludlow's Okemo, and specifically the Solitude area, this winter.

HKD’s variable flow snow guns raise the bar for low-energy snowmaking technology. The multi-chambered, modular tower gun utilizes a double valve configuration with advanced variable flow nozzle design. The rugged frost-free valve allows the operator to achieve four levels of water flow, making the tower gun capable of a smooth transition from low-flow, high-temperature performance to high-flow, low-temperature production without the need for changing nozzles.

by Katie Jickling vtdigger.org Vermont’s new psychiatric hospital is on track to be at full capacity by mid-August. The House Mental Health Oversight Committee heard testimony Tuesday from the Department of Mental Health and officials from several Vermont hospitals about staffing and patient capacity at the new Vermont Psychiatric Care Hospital in Berlin. Three weeks after the doors opened at the Vermont Psychiatric Care Hospital in Berlin, the facility has eight available beds and all are in use, according to Jeff Rothenberg, CEO of the new facility. The hospital should be fully staffed and have all 25 beds available for use by August 15, Rothenberg said.

After Tropical Storm Irene damaged the Vermont State Hospital in Waterbury in 2011, the state opened the Green Mountain Psychiatric Care Center, an eight-bed temporary facility in Morrisville as it waited for a new facility to come online.

Patricia M Sears has been appointed State President of AARP Vermont, a volunteer position working closely with both staff and volunteers throughout the state to help AARP achieve its mission in Vermont. Her responsibilities include serving as primary volunteer spokesperson, chairing the AARP Vermont Executive Council, building networks and community partnerships and recruiting volunteers. Sears takes over the position held by Jim Leddy since 2008. Leddy has accepted the position of Regional Volunteer Director with AARP working with state offices throughout the Northeast.

Former Vermont Law School Dean Jeff Shields and wife Genie Shields have made a gift to the school of their Tunbridge home, President and Dean Marc Mihaly announced today. The funds from any future sale of the home will be considered an unrestricted gift to VLS, as per the Shields’ wish.