Current News

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Average gasoline prices in Vermont are $3.15 per gallon, down 2 cents per gallon from last week, down 4 cents/g from last month and down 3 cents/g from last year. The lowest price in the state this week was $2.85/g while the highest was $3.39/g, a difference of 54.0 cents per gallon. Prices were lowest in Bennington ($2.98/g) and Addison ($3.05/g) counties and highest in Chittenden ($3.24/g), Franklin ($3.24/g) and Grand Isle ($3.25/g), according to AAA. The national average price of gasoline has fallen 0.3 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.11/g today.

Vermont State Police Search crews have finished their work at the Weidmann Electrical Technology campus in St. Johnsbury following a bomb threat, and nothing out of the ordinary was located. Crews have cleared the scene, and the business will reopen. The investigation into the threat is continuing.

Vermont Business Magazine The Attorney General’s Office announced that Andrew Moffitt, 22, of Hartland, Vermont, was sentenced today in Vermont Superior Court, Windsor Criminal Division, after pleading guilty to one felony count of Luring a Child. The Court, Judge Elizabeth Mann presiding, sentenced the defendant to three to five years in prison, all suspended under a 10-year term of probation. Conditions of Moffitt’s probation include mandatory completion of sex offender programming, no contact with children under 18, and restricted access to the internet. If Moffitt violates the terms of his probation, he faces up to five years in prison. Moffitt is also required to register as a sex offender until 10 years have passed since the completion of his sentence.

Vermont Business Magazine On October 7, 2025, at approximately 11:25 a.m., Sergeant Jacobs, Inspector Johnson, and Inspector Lindor responded to a two-vehicle crash with injuries involving two commercial motor vehicles at the intersection of VT Route 105 and Lake Shore Drive in Island Pond. The investigation revealed that the operator, Nicholas Vanasse, 35, of Brownington, was operating a white 2013 Hino box truck loaded with clothing and traveling east on VT 105 at approximately 45 mph while inattentive and crossed over into the westbound lane of traffic. Vanasse attempted to swerve back into the eastbound lane to avoid a head on collision with a truck-tractor/semi-trailer combination, which was empty, identified as a blue 2023 Western Star with a white 2018 Great Dane Trailer, operated by Michael Provencher, 64, of Irasburg. Vanasse side-swiped the other vehicle, causing minor damage to both vehicles and minor injuries to Provencher, who was later transported to North Country Hospital. 

The Vermont State Police is investigating a suspicious death in the Franklin County town of Sheldon. The investigation began early Tuesday morning, Oct. 7, 2025, when first responders were called to a home on Bedard Road for a report of a man who was unresponsive. Crews located the victim, later identified as 55-year-old Matthew Turner, and he was pronounced dead on scene. The victim’s body was brought to the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington for an autopsy, which was completed Wednesday, Oct. 8. Cause and manner of death remain pending, but the medical examiner notified VSP that the death appears suspicious.

Vermont Business Magazine Polly, the Vermont-based, leading embedded auto insurance platform for automotive retail, today released its Q2 2025 Embedded Auto Insurance Report. Dealers continued to see more profit with embedded solution in Q2, while insurance rates continued to ease for car shoppers. The Q2 2025 report also reveals an important shift in consumer behavior: nearly half of car buyers now choose high deductibles, a 500% increase since 2019, helping to lower premiums but placing greater financial burden on buyers who file a claim.

Vermont Business Magazine This week Cathedral Square celebrated the official grand opening of Reid Commons, bringing 33 new energy-efficient, affordable apartments for adults 55 and older to St. Albans. Federal, state, and local officials gathered with community members to celebrate the momentous occasion, over a decade in the works. Located at 17 Lower Newton Street, Reid Commons offers one- and two-bedroom apartments with a range of rents to serve a mixed-income community. All apartments are designed with ADA accessibility in mind. Reid Commons offers SASH (Support and Services at Home), which includes an onsite care coordinator, part-time wellness nurse, and social emotional wellness clinician at no cost to residents.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today attended the Vermont League of Cities and Towns’ annual flagship event to help towns and cities navigate challenges and opportunities ahead, including civic engagement. Governor Scott highlighted the role each of us plays in tamping down the divisive rhetoric we’re seeing more often by listening to the perspectives of others and treating others with civility and respect. 

Vermont Business Magazine Burlington Electric Department (BED) is warning customers of a phone scam today. In a sudden surge of calls, the scammers claim to be from Burlington Electric Department, threaten customers that their power will be shut off in the next 30 minutes if they do not pay their bill, demand payment, and provide an 800 number that customers should call to make payments. If customers call the 800 number, they will hear the actual BED phone tree message providing options, including customer service and bill pay options. Selecting the customer service/bill pay option will lead the caller to a person claiming to be from BED. This person is not from BED.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) today will hold another livestream conversation with Sens. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) to update the American people on the state of the government shutdown and discuss the devastating impact that the Republican health care cuts will have on everyday Americans. Last week’s livestream with these senators has been viewed nearly 1.2 million times across Sanders' social media platforms. 

Vermont Business Magazine The New England Rural Health Association (NERHA) has received a Notice of Award from the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (HRSA FORHP) for the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP), Northern Border Rural Workforce Grant. The award totals $1.6 million over four years and will support training, placement, and sustainability efforts to strengthen the behavioral health workforce across rural Vermont and New Hampshire. NERHA will lead the development of the Vermont/New Hampshire Rural Behavioral Health Workforce Training Network (VT/NH RBHWTN), a consortium designed to expand access to care for individuals with substance use disorders (SUD). 

Vermont State Police As search efforts continued Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025, for 62-year-old Rodney Davis of Wallingford, the Vermont State Police Search and Rescue Team located human remains in the woods at about 12:30 p.m. in the vicinity of Davis’ home on Nash Drive. Positive identification was unable to be made. The body was recovered and will be transported to the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington for an autopsy to confirm identity and determine the cause and manner of death.