Current News

Late Thursday night Red Cross Disaster Services volunteers responded to Main Street in St Johnsbury to meet the needs of at least 9 families displaced by a late night, four-alarm fire that raged through the residential/commercial building where they lived. The responding personnel are all members of the Northern Vermont Chapter s Disaster Action Team program. The fire appeared to have started in a convenience store on Main Street before spreading to three other buildings. There were no injuries reported.

US Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vermont) on Thursday introduced legislation that would index to inflation Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) Program payments to dairy farmers.
The Dairy Fairness Act of 2009, which is co-sponsored by eight Members of Congress, would amend the Farm Bill to tie MILC payments to the Consumer Price Index, thereby increasing payments to farmers each year. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.) is introducing companion legislation in the Senate.
We are in the midst of a dairy crisis like Vermont has never seen. Throughout the state and throughout the Northeast, dairy farmers are struggling to hang on as the disparity between the price of milk and the cost of production shows no sign of easing, Welch said. While this legislation faces an uphill battle in Congress, I will continue to do everything I can to raise awareness about this devastating situation and educate my colleagues about the importance of saving our prized Vermont dairy industry.

Today, Vermont Secretary of State Deb Markowitz announced a new program the Guard Card Project to provide free Verizon telephone cards to all deployed Vermont National Guardsmen and women. In partnership with the Vermont National Guard, the USO (United Service Organizations) and Verizon, the Office of the Secretary of State has created a program to engage students in service learning projects that will help guard families by putting a free, 100 minute calling card in the pocket of every soldier who is deployed as a result of the mobilization order announced by Adjutant General Michael Dubie last week.

With Mississippi as the highest and Vermont the third lowest, the TransUnion Credit Risk Index, a statistic developed to measure the changes in average consumer credit risk within various geographies, increased 1.98 percent from 124.79 in the fourth quarter of 2008 to 127.26 in the first quarter of 2009. On a year-over-year basis, the Credit Risk Index increased 7.10 percent (from 118.83 in the first quarter of 2008), the largest increase for that time period in this decade. The Credit Risk Index is defined as the weighted average probability of 90-day delinquency or worse among consumers in a given region relative to the nation as a whole.

BioTek Instruments of Winooski, Vermont, has appointed Millennium Science Pty. Ltd., as their official distributor in New Zealand. Millennium now retains responsibility for sales and support of the entire BioTek line of microplate-based instrumentation and software across the Tasman.
"Millennium has a strong focus on applications with expert technical sales and support. They are a natural fit for BioTek as we grow in
Australasia," noted Dominic Herring, Business Development Manager of BioTek Instruments Singapore. "By having dual representation pan-Tasman, our customers will have access to greater levels of support, which is critical as life science and biotech collaborations between the two nations continue to increase."

US Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vermont) on Wednesday voted against a bill that he said would harm Vermont s small businesses by diverting key federal funding to larger, venture capital-backed firms. The Enhancing Small Business Innovation and Research Act of 2009 (H.R. 2965), which passed Wednesday afternoon on a vote of 386 to 41, reauthorizes the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. The bill rewrites the definition of small businesses to allow large corporations to compete for this vital seed money, effectively crowding out true small businesses.
Created in 1982, the SBIR program has been highly effective at spurring entrepreneurial innovation, resulting in more than 60,000 patents and launching countless Vermont small businesses. The program funds $2.2 billion a year in research and development.

Governor Douglas will join via interactive television U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Sebelius, Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano, Education Secretary Duncan, and White House Homeland Security Advisor Brennan today for an all-day H1N1 Influenza Preparedness Summit with representatives from 54 states and territories. Vermont officials participating in Washington, DC include AHS Secretary Rob Hofmann, VDH Commissioner Dr. Wendy Davis and Vermont Homeland Security Unit Director Captain Chris Reinfurt.
The Flu Summit will focus on preparation and planning at every level of government for a fall flu season that is expected to include the seasonal flu and the H1N1 (swine flu) virus. The Summit will be held at the Natcher Conference Center at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.

New England Federal Credit Union (NEFCU) has made a $25,000 donation to Burlington s Committee on Temporary Shelter (COTS). Appearing onstage on July 2 at the Flynn Theater before the Queen City Music Hour, NEFCU President John Dwyer presented the donation to COTS Grants Manager Beth Krueger.
We at NEFCU feel strongly about supporting our community, and today we d like to recognize an organization that we believe deserves our special support, said Dwyer. For more than 25 years, the Committee on Temporary Shelter, better known as COTS, has provided needed services and shelter for the homeless Among its many services, the COTS family Services program focuses on the unique needs of families with children under the age of 18. On behalf of our management, employees and members of NEFCU, we are pleased to make this contribution to COTS to help them continue their good work.

Commissioner Paulette Thabault of the Department of Banking, Insurance, Securities and Health Care Administration (BISHCA) announced that her Department has received no 4th quarter rate increase requests for Catamount Health Insurance. The state-subsidized health plan is sold by both Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Vermont and MVP Health, and neither has filed for an increase since the inception of the program in October 2007. Commissioner Thabault said, The rates are so far holding steady. That speaks well for the early success of Catamount as a public/private partnership to provide affordable health insurance to all Vermonters. All health insurance rate changes must be filed with and reviewed by BISHCA, and may be approved, adjusted or denied by the Commissioner.

According to a new study from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), Vermont s economic outlook now ranks 49th out of 50 states. The second edition of Rich States, Poor States: ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index offers a roadmap for economic recovery based on state policies that have a proven impact on growth. High personal income taxes, high property taxes, along with some of the highest labor costs in America all hurt Vermont s economic outlook. On the positive side, the study gives good marks to Vermont for a relatively low sales tax burden and a quality legal system.
Among bordering states, New Hampshire ranks 37th, Massachusetts ranks 26th and New York ranks 50th.

For the Week of 08/01/2009. There were 785 new regular benefit claims for Unemployment Insurance last week, a decrease of 45 from the week before. Altogether 12,752 new and continuing claims were filed, 324 fewer than a week ago and 5,423 more than a year earlier. The Department also processed 3,862 First Tier claims for benefits under Emergency Unemployment Compensation, 2008 (EUC08), 63 more than a week ago. In addition, there were 749 Second Tier claims for benefits processed under the EUC08 program, which is an increase of 8 from the week before. The Unemployment Weekly Report can be found at: http://www.vtlmi.info/. Previously released Unemployment Weekly Reports and other UI reports can be found at: http://www.vtlmi.info/lmipub.htm#uc

Boralex Inc and Gaz Metro Limited Partnership have learned that the minister of Quebec's Natural Resources and Wildlife, Nathalie Normandeau, has approved for their two wind power projects in the northeast part of the province. The installed capacity of the facilities is 272 megawatts. Gaz Metro owns both Vermont Gas and Green Mountain Power.
"The announcement of this decree, the first to be awarded to a project under the latest Hydro-Quebec call for tenders, is excellent news for the Consortium and clearly proves the environmental merit and social acceptability of the Seigneurie de Beaupre wind farms. We are enthusiastic about contributing to the expansion of wind power in Quebec," said Patrick Lemaire, president and chief executive officer of Boralex and Sophie Brochu, president and chief executive officer of Gaz Metro.