Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Senate Budget Committee Ranking Member Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) released a statement on the Congressional Budget Office’s estimate today that US GDP will lose nearly $16 trillion over the next 10 years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

by Don Turner As the Vermont Legislature is deep in its budget-writing stages, the Vermont State Colleges (VSC) situation should be at the forefront of their minds. After hearing of the VSC crisis myself a few months ago, I stumbled upon a portion from the FY2010 budget proposal submitted by then-Governor Jim Douglas. It called for a 20 percent increase in funding for VSC, UVM, and VSAC.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont State Colleges System (VSCS) Interim Chancellor Sophie Zdatny today announced the creation of a new system-wide task force charged with developing plans and advising the Chancellor’s Office and Board of Trustees on how to move the organization forward to ensure quality, financial viability, and access to programs for students across Vermont. The 15-member task force, called VSCS Forward, is comprised of diverse and highly skilled individuals representing all VSCS entities, as well as faculty, staff, students, and trustees.

Each college and full-time bargaining unit was asked to select participants. An outside professional facilitator will be hired to lead the group discussion and support the team’s work.

Vermont Business Magazine Green Mountain Power customers would see no base rate increase if regulators approve the company’s request to hold them flat for the new rate year beginning on October 1, 2020. GMP filed its request with the Public Utility Commission (PUC) Monday afternoon. The PUC must approve rates before they go into effect.

Vermont Business Magazine Norwich University welcomes Colonel Mark Anarumo, PhD, USAF, (Ret) on his first day as 24th president of the nation’s oldest private military college. President Anarumo comes to Norwich most recently as the Director and Permanent Professor for the Center for Character and Leadership Development, US Air Force Academy, Colorado, a presidentially appointed position.

Vermont Research News Anthropology professor Teresa Mares discusses the exploitation of the 1000–1200 Latinx immigrant farmworkers laboring in Vermont’s dairy economy; a recent survey aimed at better understanding the early food insecurity impacts of COVID-19 (between March 29-April 12), finds a 33% increase in household food insecurity since COVID-19; 10.7% of women in the sample from Vermont experienced postpartum depressive symptoms, a common complication of pregnancy that can be addressed at multiple levels when diagnosed; and more.

Vermont Business Magazine SIT Graduate Institute is launching its first doctorate program, a hybrid EdD in Global Education grounded in SIT's experiential learning model and combining online coursework with brief summer residencies in Vermont. The EdD program, which is accepting applications through November 1 for the first cohort beginning June 2021, draws from SIT's brand of in-depth, reflective practice and intensive research training. It allows students to pursue their own specializations in education at any level, in any subfield, at any location.

Vermont Business Magazine In the midst of nationwide protests against racialized police brutality, the ACLU of Vermont joins the National ACLU and countless partners and allies in calling for justice for George Floyd, a black man, killed by Minneapolis police last week, and voicing solidarity with all communities impacted by police violence. The ACLU of Vermont is pointing to continued police killings of black people and the violent police responses to protesters as further proof of the urgent need for wholesale changes to policing in the United States.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health on Sunday reported six new cases of COVID-19 since Friday with over 2,000 tests being administered statewide. There were no deaths from the coronavirus over the weekend and only 2 in the last three weeks for a total of 55. Meanwhile, given the ongoing positive trend on suppressing the viral transmission, Governor Scott is opening more and more businesses. Notably gyms and salons and other personal services can restart Monday with restrictions and gatherings are increased from 10 to 25 people. Dentistry is expanded and overnight summer camps are allowed, including for out-of-state children.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders Saturday issued the following statement directed to Senate President Mitch McConnell: Let's be clear. We are in the midst of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. More than 100,000 Americans have died from the coronavirus, 40 million Americans have lost their jobs, millions have lost their health insurance and people across the country face hunger and the fear of being evicted from their homes.

Burlington Department of Public Works At 8:47 pm on Friday, May 29th there was a disinfection failure alarm at Burlington’s Main Wastewater Treatment Plant. During about a 50-minute time span there was a lack of disinfection for approximately 1.4 million gallons of wet weather flow (stormwater runoff and treated, but not disinfected wastewater).

While we are currently reviewing this event, it appears that the active disinfection tank ran out of sodium hypochlorite faster than it should have based on the dosage setting. Our operator who was on site during the entirety of the storm was able to switch supplies and restore disinfection for the remainder of the storm.

by Chris Graff, Vermont Business Magazine For almost every moment of the 20th century an Ernest W Gibson was in public service in Vermont. There was the grandfather – Ernest W Gibson Sr (1872-1940) – who served in the Vermont House in 1906 and was president pro tem of the Vermont Senate in 1908 before going to Washington to serve in the US House (1923-1933) and the US Senate (1933-1940). Then there was the father – Ernest W Gibson Jr (1901-1969) – who was appointed in 1940 to his father’s US Senate seat following the elder’s death and served out the term. Gibson Junior then won election as governor in 1946 and then was appointed by President Truman to a federal judgeship in 1950. Ernest W Gibson III (1927-2020) served as Windham County state’s attorney (1957-1961), was a member of the Vermont House (1961-1963), chair of the Public Service Board (1963-1972), Superior Court judge (1972-1983) and Vermont Supreme Court justice (1983-1997).