Current News

Vermont Business Magazin On Saturday, Mayor Miro Weinberger released the following statement in response President Trump’s proposal to transport migrants to “sanctuary cities:”

Vermont State Police VERNON, Vermont (April 12, 2019) — While the Vermont State Police Tactical Services Unit was searching for murder suspect Derrick Shippee on and around the Shippee family property at 138 Sak Rd. in Vernon, TSU members located a body at about 4:35 p.m.

The individual has been preliminarily identified as Mr. Schippee. The body is being transported to the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington for an autopsy to confirm the cause and manner of death. State police investigators do not consider the death suspicious.

Subsequent updates regarding this case will be provided by the New Hampshire State Police. 

***Initial news release, 3:40 p.m. Friday, April 12, 2019***

The Vermont State Police is assisting New Hampshire authorities that are investigating the murders of two individuals in the town of Hinsdale.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine On April 1, Cassie Polhemus took over as CEO of the Vermont Economic Development Authority. Created by the Legislature 45 years ago, VEDA is a vital financial institution that the person on the street may not be familiar with. But the average person certainly knows its work as a contributing lender to some very significant projects across the state.

by Robert Zulkoski, Social Entrepreneur, and Edward Cameron, Climate Advocate and Strategist Recently there were two powerful commentaries in VTDigger: the first by Dante DiBiase, 19, entitled Vermont’s no longer a place for young nonconformists; and the second by Karen Gross, the former president of Southern Vermont College, entitled Why aren’t more people fighting for Southern Vermont College’s survival? A common theme of these two articles is anger over apathy.  [Anchor] When the neighbor’s cows get loose and wander on over to your field to munch on your tender grass for the fifth time, getting riled up and yelling at the cows won’t do any good. Cows don’t care if you are angry; they’re just looking for greener pastures and tastier turf. Don’t get mad at the cows – let the energy brought on by your anger motivate you to quit bitching and get to work. Mend the fence!

Vermont Business Magazine Burlington School District (BSD) announced a new partnership with the French Embassy to explore offering Dual-Language French and English Immersion programming in Burlington. As part of the partnership, the French Embassy will provide grant funding to support community members who want to get certified to teach this level of programming. The Embassy will also help recruit qualified instructors for the program and will provide BSD with start-up grant funds. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Fletcher Free Library in Burlington, Vermont received $5,000 for children’s books from JetBlue as one of three runner-up cities in the SOAR with Reading Contest, along with Cleveland, Ohio and Long Beach, California.  Jacksonville, Florida was announced as the grand prize winner, and will receive $25,000 worth of children’s books and a reading room makeover. More than 544,300 online votes were cast. Since 2011, JetBlue has donated more than $3 million worth of children’s books in areas of need.

Thanks to the overwhelming support of the community, Burlington won in a field of significantly larger cities. Burlington’s population of 42,239 compares to Cleveland with 385,000, Long Beach with 470,000, and Jacksonville with 940,000 residents, showing that the brave little state has a powerful voice.

Vermont Business Magazine Marlboro College concluded their Sugar Rush 2019 spring fundraising challenge on April 3, exceeding their donor goal and unlocking $350,000 in challenge funds. The Sugar Rush goal was to reach 225 donors during the two weeks leading up to April 3, and the final donor count was more than twice that number at a stunning 455 gifts, raising a combined total of more than $429,000 in gifts and challenge dollars.

“We couldn’t be happier with the results, both in terms of the number of people who participated but also the awareness raised,”said Rennie Washburn, director of advancement at Marlboro. “This effort blows all of our recent spring campaigns out of the water. It will result in a substantial contribution to our Annual Fund, moving us closer to our total goal of $2 million.”

Vermont Business Magazine A bipartisan official US Senate delegation of nine Senators will visit South Korea and Vietnam for meetings with government and military leaders during the Senate’s April recess. They will depart Washington on April 14 and return on April 23. The delegation is headed by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), the Vice Chair of the Appropriations Committee and the ranking member of its Subcommittee on the State Department and Foreign Operations. 

Vermont State Police The Vermont State Police is assisting New Hampshire authorities that are investigating the murders of two individuals in the town of Hinsdale. Arrest warrants have been issued for Derrick Shippee, 28, on two counts of second-degree murder. Mr. Shippee has ties to southern Vermont. State police are asking the public to be aware and alert during this active and ongoing investigation.

VSP photo of Derrick Shippee

The murders of a man and woman were reported Thursday afternoon, April 11, at a home on Plain Road in Hinsdale, a town on the New Hampshire border with Vermont near Vernon.

Vermont Business Magazine The April shower this week with another system moving through dropping four inches of snow Tuesday through Wednesday at Burke Mountain Resort. The 2018+19 season now holds the title for the largest snow accumulation (within the last 8 seasons ) of 232 inches recorded since opening day back in November, and may just hold the title for the longest season as well.  

Vermont Business Magazine An important component of ReArch Company’s corporate mission is giving back to our communities.  This philosophy is embodied in a portion of our Mission Statement, as follows: ReArch will be a recognized and well-respected leader, in the project development and construction industry, through supporting our communities by being involved, engaged and philanthropic.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Smoke & Cure, a Hinesburg-based maker of smoked meats and meat snacks in Vermont since 1962, was granted more than $15,000 in Vermont Training Program (VTP) funding.  Vermont Smoke & Cure’s steady growth (30% annually) pushes toward the need for ten new hires as the company works to plan and create a second shift.

Employee training will include food systems, machine operations, and leadership training.  Being a ready-to-eat meat facility adds additional risk and food safety requirements.  Training will keep employees on top of best practices amidst the company’s rapid expansion.