Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Representative Peter Welch (D-Vermont) voted on Monday to pass a $900 billion bipartisan bill to deliver immediate relief to Americans suffering because of the coronavirus pandemic. The bill includes significant relief for families, individuals, small businesses, schools, and healthcare providers. It also includes robust funding for vaccine distribution and COVID testing and tracing.

Senator Bernie Sanders While we did not get as much as we wanted, because of opposition from the Republican leadership and too many Democrats, the bill does include a $600 direct payment for every working-class American earning less than $75,000 a year, and a $1,200 direct payment for couples making less than $150,000 a year, plus $600 for each child. That means that the average family of four will receive a direct payment of $2400.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Network has launched a new community engagement campaign, Uplift VT, to raise awareness around domestic and sexual violence (DSV) in Vermont, its costs to our communities, and the ways in which Vermont can do more to prevent it from occurring. Although it is often unseen, domestic and sexual violence happens in every corner of Vermont. Research indicates that one in three women and one in four men will experience sexual violence in their lifetime and that one in four women and one in nine men will experience domestic violence in their lifetime.

Vermont Business Magazine Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC), part of Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC), will conduct a digital information session regarding the COVID-19 vaccine in cooperation with CAT-TV and the Southwestern Vermont Chamber of Commerce at 1 pm on Tuesday, December 22.

Vermont Business Magazine Caledonia Home Health Care & Hospice, a division of Northern Counties Health Care (NCHC), has received a donation of 105 Scentsy Buddies, or stuffed animals, to the Maternal Child Health Department. The donation was organized by local community member Jean Guest, Independent Scentsy Family Consultant. Guest has been collecting donations for the Maternal Child Health Department since October through her Annual Buddy Drive.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) Monday evening announced key Vermont highlights of the bipartisan agreement to fund the government for the remainder of fiscal year 2021, which includes the COVID relief package to provide relief to the thousands of Vermonters suffering during an unprecedented health and economic crisis. The overall bill – which includes the 12 annual Appropriations bills that fund the federal government – totals more than $2.3 trillion in funding for programs across the federal government and efforts to combat the pandemic and provide relief to the American people.

Vermont Business Magazine White River Junction VA Healthcare System began COVID-19 vaccination with the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine today, following the US Food and Drug Administration’s Emergency Use Authorization for this vaccine. White River Junction VA Healthcare System is one of 113 VA Medical Centers across the country to receive the first limited supply of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. Sites were identified based on need for the vaccine according to CDC’s 1A prioritization and capacity to store the vaccine at -20◦C.

Vermont Business Magazine Green Mountain Power (GMP) announced today that popular rebates that help customers save money and reduce carbon emissions by switching to electric vehicles, heat pumps and more will continue into 2021. The rebates were set to expire on December 31, 2020. The company also announced that for the first time, GMP will offer new rebates on yard and garden equipment and electric transportation like motorcycles.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health today reported that four Vermonters have died of COVID-19 since last Friday for a total of 111 since the beginning of the pandemic. They reported 93 new COVID-19 cases today for a statewide total of 6,534. Cases have been averaging just under 100 per day. There are currently 25 Vermonters hospitalized for the novel coronavirus.

Senator Patrick Leahy After months of delay and painstaking negotiation, this afternoon we will have before us a spending package that includes all 12 appropriations bills for fiscal year 2021, and a vitally important COVID relief package. It provides funding for programs that are critically important to the American people, and I urge its swift passage. We are already 2 months and 20 days into the fiscal year. We cannot delay further.

Vermont Business Magazine Speaker Mitzi Johnson announced the appointment of Brian Gray, General Manager of the Energy Co-op of Vermont, to represent the fuel sector on the Vermont Climate Council. Gray brings a broad range of important experiences to the Council. He grew up in the Northeast Kingdom, worked for Vermont Gas for 30 years, and now manages a cooperative not for profit energy business that delivers heating oil, kerosene, and local Vermont wood pellets to rural and more developed regions of Northwest and central Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General TJ Donovan today announced a settlement of the Consumer Protection Act enforcement action brought to stop a price-gouging scheme involving surgical masks by Big Brother Security Programs, Inc and its owner Shelley Palmer. The settlement required the defendants to provide nearly 80,000 units of personal protective equipment (PPE) to Central Vermont Medical Center (CVMC) and 10,000 units of PPE to the State of Vermont for distribution throughout the state. The distribution of PPE will serve as restitution for charging exorbitant prices for critically needed surgical masks during the COVID-19 pandemic.