Current News

The Vermont State Police is investigating the death of William J. Barrett, 63, of Brattleboro, Vermont, who was found unresponsive in his cell by Department of Corrections staff at about 8:30 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. DOC staff called for emergency medical services to respond to the facility while attempting life-saving measures. Barrett was pronounced deceased at the facility at about 9:05 a.m. The death does not appear to be suspicious and is suspected to be the result of a medical event.

Vermont Business Magazine Average gasoline prices in Vermont are $3.14/g, up 2 cents per gallon from last week's $3.09/g, 4 cents higher from last month and 5 cents lower than last year, according to AAA. The lowest price in the state this week was $2.85/g while the highest was $3.35/g, a difference of 50.0 cents per gallon. The lowest prices in the state are in Bennington ($3.05) and Rutland ($3.04) counties. The highest are in Essex ($3.38), Franklin ($3.22) and Lamoille ($3.22). The national average price of gasoline has risen 3 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.13/g today.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General Charity Clark today announced that a bipartisan coalition of states and other parties have reached a $7.4 billion settlement in principle with members of the Sackler family and their company Purdue Pharma, Inc. for their instrumental role in creating the opioid crisis. Purdue, under the Sacklers’ leadership, invented, manufactured, and aggressively marketed opioid products for decades, fueling waves of addiction and overdose deaths across the country. The settlement ends the Sacklers’ control of Purdue and ability to sell opioids in the United States and will deliver funding directly to communities across the country over the next 15 years to support opioid addiction treatment, prevention, and recovery programs. Vermont will receive its payment of over $22 million immediately rather than being paid over 18 years as was the case in the previous settlement.

Vermont Business Magazine Norwich University was originally founded as the American Literary, Scientific and Military Academy, and has stayed true to its roots of providing a strong STEM education. Thanks to the generous $2 million continuing grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Norwich will help to remove the financial barriers often limiting academic opportunities for highly qualified undergraduates interested in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Dr. Darlene Olsen, a Charles A. Dana Professor of Mathematics and Norwich coordinator for the Vermont Biomedical Research Network, secured this second NSF grant aimed at recruiting and retaining low-incoming, high-achieving undergraduates. The project team includes Drs. Sarah Gallant (Chemistry), Allison Neal (Biology), and Tara Kulkarni (Associate Provost of Academic Research) from Norwich University and Dr. Liz Johnson, the external reviewer. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Northern Forest Canoe Trail (NFCT) celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2025, an occasion that will be marked with dozens of community events throughout the Northeast. The NFCT is a mapped inland water trail tracing 740 miles of Indigenous and historic travel routes across New York, Vermont, Québec, New Hampshire and Maine. The NFCT offers a chain of possibilities: inspiring day trips, weekend getaways, weeklong vacations or even an end-to-end thru-paddling expedition. The canoe trail starts in Old Forge, NY, and ends in Fort Kent, Maine, traversing 23 rivers and streams, 59 lakes and ponds, 45 communities and towns, and more than 65 portages.  

by Jared Duval One thing nearly all Vermonters seem to agree on is that we want living in our state to be more affordable. When it comes to energy, continued dependence on high-cost and price-volatile fossil fuels like gasoline, fuel oil, and propane is not a path to affordability. In 2023, $2.2 billion was spent on fossil fuels for transportation and heating in Vermont. The average Vermont household spent between $5,000 - $8,000 on combined transportation, heating, and electricity costs (and that’s just for fuel, not including equipment or maintenance costs), with the highest amounts spent on gasoline, fuel oil, and propane.  

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Attorney General’s Office and the Vermont Human Rights Commission issued the following joint statement today affirming their commitment to enforcement of laws protecting Vermonters against discrimination on the basis of gender identity: “Vermont’s motto, “freedom and unity,” reflects our values. This is a place where people can live freely and openly, and where we stand together to defend our neighbors. That’s why Vermont has long been a leader in protecting and advancing the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community. Vermonters are protected against discrimination on the basis of gender identity, including at work and in places of public accommodations, under Vermont law. The Vermont Attorney General’s Office and the Vermont Human Rights Commission will continue to enforce these laws and others protecting Vermonters against unlawful discrimination."

Vermont Business Magazine On January 21, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in Vermont launched the Vermont Biodiversity Protection Fund, a new grant program created to support land protection projects in priority regions across the state. This initiative will help fund projects that maintain regional forest connectivity, support biodiversity, and grow Vermont’s climate resilience. TNC is aiming to award $1 million in grant funding to projects in Vermont in the first year of this newly established fund. Vermont is the crossroads for wildlife movement in the northern Appalachian Mountains. 

Vermont Business Magazine Waterfowl hunters who did not remove their hunting blind from the waters of the state earlier must do so before February 15 on Lake Champlain or May 15 on inland waters according to a reminder from the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department. State law requires removal of the blind together with its contents and any surrounding debris located on or in the water before these deadlines to protect natural areas and to prevent boating accidents after the ice melts. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets has announced that Brooke Decker has been elected President of the Apiary Inspectors of America (AIA), a non-profit organization established with a mission to promote sustainable and healthy honey beekeeping conditions in North America.  Decker, the Pollinator Health Specialist and State Apiculturist for the state of Vermont, was elected to a one-year term at the AIA 2025 annual meeting in Reno, Nevada last week. The mission of the AIA is to support the work of apiary inspectors mainly through the detection, mitigation and ultimate suppression of bee pests, parasites and pathogens.

Vermont Business Magazine Fidium and Chittenden County Communications Union District (CCCUD) have finalized a partnership agreement that will bring Fidium’s multi-gig speed all-fiber network to more than 150 unserved and underserved locations in Essex, Jericho, Shelburne, Westford and Williston. Funding for fiber expansion will be supported through a grant from the Vermont Community Broadband Board to CCCUD, with additional investment provided by Fidium. Fidium's network construction is scheduled to begin in the coming months, with multi-gig speed fiber access anticipated by the end of 2025. With fiber broadband access comes economic growth, in particular for rural areas, as fiber access increases business growth by 213% and leads to a 44% higher GDP. 

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), today held a roundtable discussion with leading medical professionals on the importance of vaccines in America and their impact on public health. Senator Sanders: "Let me thank our distinguished guests who are with us today, the Senators who are here and all of those who might be watching virtually. As the Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, I have convened this roundtable today to get a better understanding about the importance of vaccines and the role they have played, decade after decade, in improving the public health of our nation and the world we live in."