Current News

US Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) is bringing US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to Capitol Hill on Wednesday (today) to discuss an effort Leahy is leading to boost USDA s floor price for purchasing dairy products. More than a dozen senators including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) -- from several regions of the country are expected to attend the meeting with Vilsack on Wednesday afternoon in the Senate Agriculture Committee hearing room.

Representative Peter Welch will announce the creation of the Congressional Dairy Farmers Caucus at a Capitol Hill press conference later this morning. The Caucus will be a bipartisan organization consisting of more than 40 lawmakers from across the nation. The group will seek to confront the growing crisis in the dairy industry, which has been suffering from low milk prices and escalating production costs. Welch is one of the four founding co-chairs of the caucus, will be joined by more than a dozen colleagues, in addition to representatives from the National Milk Producers Federation.

Representative Peter Welch voted yesterday in favor of several bills designed to support disabled veterans. All of the bills were later passed by the House.
The legislation will provide for family members who care for disabled veterans, increase compensation to certain veterans, and facilitates research programs at Veterans Administration (VA) hospitals.
The Caregiver Assistance and Resource Enhancement Act has laid the foundation for a caregiver program to assist family and non-family members who care for disabled, ill, or injured veterans. The program offers education session for improve care-giving, counseling and respite care to the family caregiver – or another individual designated by the veteran – and grants caregivers of veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan with a financial stipend and medical care.

Senator Bernie Sanders has called upon Dean Foods - the top producer of fluid milk in the U.S. and a company that controls fully 70 percent of the New England milk market - to rise the low prices it currently pays to dairy farmers.
Sanders made his statements in a recent letter to the head of the Dallas-based company, CEO Gregg L. Engles, In his letter, Sanders noted that Dean's profits more than doubled during the first quarter of 2009, while prices for farmers have been at their lowest level in almost four decades. “How can it be that while milk prices for farmers are so low, the profits of Dean Foods are skyrocketing?” wrote Sanders.

Speaker Smith and Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin today sent a letter to Entergy Corporation to inform them that it will be very difficult for the Vermont General Assembly to act on the question of continued operation of the Vermont Yankee plant unless a power purchase agreement is reached between Entergy and Vermont utilities before November 1, 2009.
The letter is pasted below.

July 28, 2009
Mr. Jay Thayer
C/O MacLean, Meehan and Rice
45 Court St
Montpelier, Vt 05602

Dear Mr. Thayer:

We are writing to inform you that it will be exceedingly difficult for the Vermont General Assembly to act in 2010 on the question of continued operation of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station unless a power purchase agreement between Vermont utilities and Entergy is filed with the Vermont Public Service Board before November 1, 2009.

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) announced Tuesday morning that Vermont will receive $5,045,045 in economic recovery grants to fund the hiring and rehiring of law enforcement officers. The grants to 25 law enforcement agencies across Vermont are administered by the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) through the federal agency s COPS Hiring Recovery Program.
The grants provide 100 percent of the approved salary and benefits for newly hired entry level officer positions over a three year period. Police departments receiving the grants will then be required to retain the grant-funded positions for a fourth year. Leahy said the funding comes amid extreme budget pressures as communities cope with falling revenues under the economic downturn and will help Vermont s law enforcement agencies add and retain the staffing levels needed to fight crime more effectively through community policing.

The Vermont Institute of Natural Science recently welcomed Food Network star Rachael Ray to the VINS Nature Center in Quechee. On Wednesday July 22nd, Rachael and her husband, John Cusimano, lead singer of the band The Cringe, visited VINS to film a segment for Rachael s popular television show, Rachael s Vacations.
During their visit, Rachael and John were given a personal tour of VINS natural science exhibits, live birds of prey enclosures, and avian rehabilitation facilities by VINS naturalists. "Our staff was really impressed by Rachael s interest in VINS environmental education programs and rehabilitation work. It was an honor to have her and John choose the VINS Nature Center from among all the exciting visitor destinations in this region, and we appreciate the national media exposure she is giving us," commented VINS president John Dolan.

Rutland Town will soon host one of the largest – and most visible – solar projects in the state. The Vermont Public Service Board has approved Central Vermont Public Service’s plans to build a 50-kilowatt solar array along Route 7, just south of the black water tower near the CVPS Rutland District Service Center. Several elements of the project have been planned and will be built or installed by Stafford Technical Center students, including a shed, signage and landscape designs.
CV Solar and Wind, a small Rutland company, and ReKnew Energy Systems Inc. of South Royalton will oversee construction of the project with assistance from Stafford students.

The Nuclear Energy Institute has produced four video news releases that examine innovations that have been recognized with a Top Industry Practice award. The final video features the Entergy Vermont Yankee plant in Vernon. The video, "Robotic Inspectors," highlights new inspection devices developed at the Vermont Yankee nuclear energy station to closely analyze the facility's steam dryer. Entergy Nuclear employees at Vermont Yankee are recipients of the Maintenance Process Award for developing innovative tooling for the inspection of a boiling water reactor steam dryer. The steam dryer is located in the top of the reactor.

US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today announced that more than $52 million is now available for Vermont under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. This funding will lay the foundation for a generation of education reform and help save hundreds of thousands of teaching jobs at risk of state and local budget cuts. Vermont will be eligible to apply for another $25 million this fall. Today s funding is being made available per Vermont s successful completion of Part 1 of the State Stabilization Application, which was made available on April 1.

Vermont's congressional delegation announced today that $8,799,600 in recovery funding for renewable energy and energy efficiency programs in Vermont. The latest installment from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, this funding will go to State Energy Program (SEP) projects that prioritize energy savings, create or retain jobs, increase the use of renewable energy and reduce harmful carbon emissions. The money is part of $54 million awarded to four states Monday by the Department of Energy and constitutes 40 percent of the $22 million Vermont’s SEP will receive as a result of the ARRA. In order to ensure that stimulus funds are being deployed effectively and efficiently, states will not receive the remaining 50 percent of ARRA funding until they meet reporting, oversight and accountability milestones required by the recovery act.

According to a story on timesargus.com, Steven Pappas has replaced Sue Allen as editor of the 10,000 circulation Times Argus, which serves Barre-Montpelier and the surrounding area. Pappas had been a reporter in the paper’s Capital region and editor of The Times Argus/Rutland Herald Sunday edition. The two newspapers share ownership. Allen is one of the state’s most well known journalists. She has been the editor of The Times Argus since 2006. She has also been a reporter and editor for The Burlington Free Press and Vermont Public Television. She also served as Governor Dean’s press secretary during his final years in office. She will stay with the paper as a reporter covering Montpelier.