Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The winners of the 2021 Vermont Writers’ Prize are Lindsay Knowlton of Glover for poetry and Douglas Robert Boardman Jr of Johnson for prose. Each winner receives $1,500 and their works appear in the summer issue of VERMONT Magazine. The Prize was launched in 1989 to celebrate writing about Vermont and Vermonters, while honoring the literary legacy of the late Ralph Nading Hill Jr, a Vermont historian and writer and longtime member of Green Mountain Power’s board of directors. It is considered by Vermont writers to be one of the state’s premier literary prizes.

Vermont Business Magazine While Americans face challenges unlike any other time in our history, VPR in partnership with StoryCorps, the national nonprofit dedicated to recording and preserving personal stories, invite people to take part in meaningful conversations to help bridge divides and strengthen communities. With support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Vermont is one of six locations across the country selected to take part in StoryCorps’ nationwide One Small Step initiative to facilitate and broadcast conversations with Americans of opposing viewpoints.

Vermont Business Magazine 14th Star Brewing Company announced it will once again launch its limited-release Forget Me Not beer to raise awareness and funds in the fight to end Alzheimer’s disease. A portion of the proceeds from sales of the special brew will be donated to the Alzheimer’s Association. Forget Me Not Kölsch will be packaged and available on store shelves in early June to support the Alzheimer’s Association’s The Longest Day initiative. On and around June 20 — the summer solstice and the day with the most light — thousands across the world will participate in The Longest Day to fight the darkness of Alzheimer’s through an activity of their choice. Together, participants will use their creativity and passion to raise funds and awareness to advance Alzheimer’s Association care, support and research programs.

Vermont Business Magazine Health Care and Rehabilitation Services (HCRS), southeastern Vermont’s non-profit community mental health and developmental disability services agency, was recently selected to receive $63,945 in funding from the Summer Matters for All grant program. According to Governor Phil Scott, the Summer Matters for All grant program will award up to $3.85 million to programs in 13 counties of Vermont, with the goal of expanding access to summer enrichment opportunities for K-12 youth this summer.

Vermont Fish & Wildlife If you have not applied for a moose permit yet, there's still time! The deadline to apply for a 2021 Vermont moose hunting permit is June 30.

The department will issue 60 either-sex moose hunting permits and 40 antlerless moose hunting permits available this year for a hunt limited to Vermont’s Wildlife Management Unit (WMU) E in the northeastern corner of the state.

Hunters who held a permit within the past five years are not eligible to apply for a permit or to buy a bonus point.

Lottery applications for hunting permits are $10 for residents and $25 for nonresidents. Winners of the permit lottery will purchase resident hunting permits for $100 and nonresident hunting permits for $350.

Vermont Business Magazine Community Bank N.A. recently presented Central Vermont Adult Basic Education Inc. (CVABE) with a $5,000 donation. CVABE is a community-based private nonprofit organization that has provided adult education and literacy services to adults and teens throughout Washington, Orange and Lamoille counties for more than 50 years.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) on Friday joined University of Vermont leaders to announce federal funding for the Food Systems Research Center. Leahy, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, secured $11 million in 2021 to support the Center’s work researching all facets of the regional food system, from production agriculture to food security. The Research Center is a collaboration between UVM and the USDA, with USDA scientists now being chosen to work on campus alongside university researchers.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Regular initial unemployment claims remain at levels more typical of low summer, pre-pandemic weeks after the Vermont Department of Labor was able to eliminate the vast bulk of fraudulent claims. On June 12, 2021, the VDOL reported 388 new weekly filings. Claims are 41 more than the week before. But they are 1,471 fewer than the same time last year.

Vermont Business Magazine Disassembly of the Alternate Healthcare Facility (AHF) established in the Champlain Valley Exposition Center will begin on June 21, 2021. The Vermont National Guard will store all modular components of the AHF on Camp Johnson, Colchester, for potential reuse when needed.

Vermont Business Magazine The Chittenden Solid Waste District (CSWD) is pleased to announce that Salvation Farms will be receiving $77,550 for the second Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP) awarded by CSWD and approved by the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources. Salvation Farms is a federally recognized non-profit with a mission to build increased resilience in Vermont's food system through agricultural surplus management.

Vermont Agency of Transportation This weekly report is a list of planned construction activities that will have traffic impacts on state highways throughout Vermont for the week of June 21, 2021. Please remember to drive safely in all work zones. Lives depend on it.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) Tuesday alongside Senators Edward Markey (D-Mass), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore), and Representatives Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass), and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich), reintroduced bicameral legislation to stop government use of biometric technology, including facial recognition tools. The Facial Recognition and Biometric Technology Moratorium Act responds to reports that hundreds of local, state, and federal entities, including law enforcement agencies, have used unregulated facial recognition technologies on US citizens.