Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Brattleboro Retreat, a leading provider of mental health services in Vermont, has released its 2024 Annual Report. The report highlights the Retreat’s ongoing commitment to compassionate care, its resilience in the face of healthcare challenges, and a renewed focus on services for Vermont’s youth and underserved populations.  One of the most significant announcements in the report is the revitalization of the Retreat's adolescent residential treatment services. The Retreat has proposed the reopening of its adolescent residential program as a Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility (PRTF) for youth aged 12-18, providing intensive, around-the-clock care for adolescents facing mental health challenges. 

Vermont Business Magazine With the fall ahead, shoreland residents are getting ready to close their camps for the season. The Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is urging residents to either remove their docks from the water or, if ice damage is not a concern, to let them freeze in place. DEC also recommends forgoing aeration devices (that are designed to prevent ice buildup around your dock) to help protect Vermont lakes and public safety. If you are planning to install an aeration device like a bubbler, ice eater, or de-icer near your dock, you will need to apply for a Lake Encroachment Permit. Bubblers and other aerators attach to docks and circulate air in the water. They are intended to reduce ice, aquatic plants, or sediment. However, adding an aerator into a public lake or pond can impact the lake's environmental health.

Vermont Business Magazine During Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM) this October, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Vermont reaffirms our unwavering commitment to supporting survivors, raising awareness, and promoting justice for all affected by domestic violence. DVAM serves as a crucial opportunity to shed light on the profound impacts of domestic violence and emphasize the importance of collective action. Each year, millions of individuals are impacted by intimate partner violence, and far too many families endure the tragic consequences of domestic abuse. We are committed to ensuring that survivors are heard and perpetrators are held accountable and to strengthening partnerships with communities to prevent domestic violence. 

Vermont Business Magazine Barr Hill Gin has concluded its 8th annual Bee's Knees Week (Sept. 20-29, 2024) with resounding success. In just eight years, the campaign has grown to be the spirits industry’s largest sustainability focused campaign. This year's campaign achieved 320,000 square feet of new pollinator habitat pledged - the largest amount ever pledged in a single year. With this achievement, Barr Hill surpassed its goal of pledging and planting a total of 1 million square feet of pollinator habitat since the campaign’s inception in 2017, marking a monumental milestone in their ongoing pollinator conservation efforts.  

Lake Champlain Basin Program The transition from summer into fall has brought us to the close of the warm weather field and outreach season and into the heart of new funding opportunities. This is an exciting and busy time of year for the LCBP and our many partners, as we plan for future work and begin to receive proposals for innovative projects. We encourage you to explore our current funding opportunities, which support our core Opportunities for Action as well as emerging research, implementation, and outreach needs.

Northeastern Vermont Development Association For the past three years, the Solar with Justice Project, managed by the Clean Energy States Alliance (CESA), has helped state energy agencies (SEAs) and community-based organizations (CBOs) work collaboratively to advance the equitable development of solar to benefit underserved communities. The project has produced numerous reports, case studies, and video interviews, all of which are available on a dedicated webpage on the CESA website. Check out their website and paper summarizing the project’s main recommendations for SEAs and CBOs interested in expanding solar in low- and moderate-income and disadvantaged communities.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, State Treasurer Mike Pieciak joined Rutland Mayor Mike Doenges and Heritage Family Credit Union CEO Chris Gomez to announce an $8 million program to jump-start new housing investments in the City of Rutland. The program – Roofs Over Rutland – will add much-needed units to the city’s housing stock, helping fulfill Mayor Doenges’ vision of adding 1,000 new housing units to Rutland City over the next five years. Funding will support multiple initiatives for both developers and homeowners, including $3 million for new housing projects with one to four units and $5 million for larger developments. Funds may also support revitalization of previously inhabitable spaces.  The initiative is supported by the Treasurer’s 10% in Vermont program, providing low-interest loans that will leverage millions in private capital. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Transportation (AOT) is now accepting applications for the 28th year of funding through the Better Roads Grant Program to support projects on municipal roads that improve water quality and result in maintenance cost savings. The grant funds are provided by AOT in partnership with the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources. The Vermont Better Roads Program promotes the use of erosion control and maintenance techniques that save money while protecting and enhancing water quality throughout the state.

Vermont Business Magazine Four members of the Vermont State Police are heading to North Carolina to assist in the response to devastation caused by Hurricane Helene last month. Lt. Thomas Mozzer, Sgt. Christian Hunt and K-9 Loki, and Troopers Clay Knight and Zachary Trocki left Vermont in their cruisers at about 4 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 16, for the approximately 14-hour drive to Newton, North Carolina. Once on scene in Newton, the Vermont State Police members will be tasked with supporting local law enforcement in providing safety and security in the region. The deployment came in response to a request from North Carolina Emergency Management via the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, which provides for the sharing of assets between states in times of need.

The Vermont State Police is able to identify the victim a non-fatal shooting that occurred early Sunday morning, Oct. 6, 2024, in St. Johnsbury as Matthew Christman, 41, of St. Johnsbury. As of Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 16, 2024, he remains listed in critical condition at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire. The investigation into this shooting remains active and ongoing. No further details are available.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, Vermont Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas encouraged voters who are planning to mail their voted ballots back to their town/city clerk to do so as soon as possible. “Mailing your ballot back to your clerk’s office is a convenient, easy way to cast your vote, but it’s crucial that you mail it in time for your clerk to receive it by 7pm on Election Day,” Copeland Hanzas explained. “If you’re voting this way, make sure you get your ballot in the mail today!” All active registered voters in Vermont were automatically mailed a ballot for the November 5th General Election, a practice known as “Universal Vote by Mail” that is conducted in eight states and Washington, D.C.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General Charity Clark today announced a settlement with Amazon, resolving a dispute over violations of Vermont’s Delivery Sales Ban, which prohibits shipping any tobacco products, including e-cigarettes or vaping products, directly to Vermont consumers. The dispute centered on Amazon’s failure to thwart efforts by third-party sellers to circumvent Amazon’s internal rules to prevent sale of tobacco and vaping products. In the course of its investigation, the Attorney General’s Office found that over the past several years many tobacco products, and especially vaping and electronic cigarette products, were being sold by third-party sellers on Amazon’s platform. These third-party sellers circumvented the inadequate systems Amazon put in place to prevent the sale of vaping and tobacco products.