Current News
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Vermont State Police On June 8, 2018, at 18:30 hours, VSP Dispatch received reports of multiple individuals who entered the Home Depot in Rutland (VT) and were actively stealing items. Troopers responded to the area and encountered the individuals in the Home Depot parking lot.
Troopers identified the individuals as Sarah Lee (36), Nathaniel Newton (33), Nicholas Doane (31) and Christopher Coccia (42).
During further investigation, Troopers recovered items on the above individuals and within a vehicle owned by Newton that had been stolen from the Home Depot. Troopers have seized a second vehicle that is believed to be connected to the theft and are currently applying for a warrant to search the vehicle for potential evidence.
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Senator Patrick Leahy: With this draft, the Senate is moving toward next week’s committee consideration of the Farm Bill on a starkly more bipartisan footing than the House has done with the pending partisan Republican bill. I applaud Chairman Roberts and Ranking Member Stabenow for working together to draft this proposal as a bipartisan starting point.
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Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott is launching a new “Capitol for a Day” initiative, which will kick off in Rutland County on Monday, June 11. The Governor, along with members of his cabinet and extended cabinet, will spend the day in Rutland County, meeting with area constituents, lawmakers, local partners and state employees throughout the day. The initiative aims to give regional constituencies direct access to Administration leadership, as well as giving Administration officials an opportunity to visit regional businesses, schools, community organizations and municipal offices. The Administration expects to visit each of the state’s 14 counties throughout the summer and fall.
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Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott celebrated legislation on Friday that enhances businesses, particularly manufacturers, ability to be more energy efficient, while simultaneously helping the state meet its energy goals. “When some of Vermont’s larger energy users told me the way the state had been incentivizing energy efficiency investments didn’t work for them, I knew we needed to take action,” said Scott. “This new tool will help companies like WestRock make investments they simply would not have done under the limitations of the existing energy efficiency program. This new approach will help reduce operating costs, strengthen our economy, and – importantly – help the state meet its energy goals.”
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Vermont Business Magazine Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced that an appropriations bill approved by the committee on Thursday includes $50 million for Domestic Violence Supportive Housing, a program that provides rapid and transitional housing to victims of domestic violence. Leahy, who led in writing and enacting the 2013 law that strengthened the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and was the bill’s chief sponsor, made it a priority for the panel to include this funding in the annual funding bill for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for the second fiscal year in a row.
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Vermont Business Magazine The Agency of Natural Resources Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced today that G.W. Tatro Construction, Inc, a commercial-scale construction company in Jeffersonville, was fined $10,000 for failing to conduct leak detection and train operators to manage two 10,000-gallon underground storage tanks on the company’s property, in violation of Vermont Underground Storage Tank Regulations.
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Vermont Business Magazine This week, the Vermont Drug Task Force partnered with the Montpelier Police Department, the Barre City Police Department and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to conduct criminal investigations and arrests into drug sales and drug trafficking in the Washington County area. These investigations have been ongoing for several months.
Vermont has seen and continues to see an increase in the trafficking and sale of heroin and fentanyl. Fentanyl is an extremely dangerous drug that is 80-100 times stronger than heroin. It continues to be a serious public safety concern for illegal drug users and for first responders who may be exposed to the drug. All of Vermont’s law enforcement agencies recognize the importance of working together as a team to target and arrest dangerous drug traffickers.
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Vermont Business Magazine Burlington International Airport received its first American Airlines direct flight from Chicago on Thursday. In the tradition of first-flights into the airport, the celebration included a traditional water cannon salute, remarks from Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger, and a pop-up performance by Jazzfest artists – as all welcomed the new daily nonstop. AA is initially testing the service with seasonal flights for now.
“American Airlines has made an important commitment to this airport and this region by expanding their service. We are very excited for this new service and the continued partnership and commitment from American Airlines to our airport and our region,” said Gene Richards, Director of Aviation.
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Vermont Business Magazine Weekly unemployment claims were up slightly last week but continue at low levels typical for this time of year. For the week of June 2, 2018, there were 396 claims, 9 more than than they were the previous week, and 67 more than they were a year ago. Altogether 3,472 new and continuing claims were filed, a decrease of 154 from a week ago, and 461 fewer than a year ago. For most weeks of 2017 and 2018 claims have been below the year before.
For UI claims last week by industry, Services, which typically accounts for most claims, accounted for 56 percent of all claims, as claims in most categories held steady except Manufacturing, whose claims nearly doubled to 71 from the week before.
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Vermont Business Magazine The Thomas Hirchak Company of Morrisville, Vermont, has been retained to sell the assets of noted photographer Robert Lyons. The real estate auction takes place at the artist’s home, at 2239 Coles Pond Road in Walden on Friday, June 22. Bidders may register for the auction and inspect the property at 2 pm. The auction will begin at 3 pm. The property is comprised of a 1,862±SF custom Lindal cedar home on 19± acres, surrounded on three sides by 10,000 acres of the Steam Brook Mill Wildlife Management area. The property is within walking distance to Coles Pond.
An accomplished photographer, Lyons spent time photographing the nature around him and delving into the worlds of ham radio and weather monitoring. Lyons’s ham radio equipment, art mounting and framing equipment, electronics and home furnishings will be sold via online auction ending Wednesday, June 13. The lots will begin closing at 6:00 p.m.
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Vermont Business Magazine US Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) will speak at the Vermont Employee Ownership Conference Friday afternoon at the University of Vermont, detailing how employee ownership plays a key role in creating a sustainable economy with jobs that pay a living wage. The 16th annual Vermont Employee Ownership Conference, which features 19 workshops, is the largest annual gathering of Vermont's employee-ownership community.
Friday, June 8
What: Sanders addresses the Vermont Employee Ownership Conference
When: 1 p.m.; Friday, June 8
Where: UVM Davis Center; 590 Main Street; Burlington ,Vermont
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Vermont Business Magazine Two southern Vermont organizations and a state agency will get $500,000 for borwnfield remediation from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The organizations are the Southern Windsor County Regional Planning Commission, the Windham Regional Commission and the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development.
The awards are part of approximately $5.3 million in supplemental funding EPA has awarded to New England communities to assist them in cleaning up contaminated brownfield properties. EPA plans to provide supplemental funding to 11 successful, existing Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) grantees in the region, helping communities carry out cleanup and redevelopment projects.
“Brownfields redevelopment is a win-win for New England communities” said EPA regional administrator Alexandra Dunn. “These supplemental funds can help cleanup projects get to completion and ready for redevelopment.”