Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Residents and businesses can bring their flood-related hazardous materials to the State of Vermont hazardous materials collection site at the former Middlesex Police Barracks at 1078 U.S. Route 2 in Middlesex through this Saturday, August 12, 2023, at 4 PM when this temporary collection facility will be shut down for good. Businesses with hazardous materials can bring up to ten 5-gallon containers of flood-related hazardous materials to the State of Vermont collection site in Middlesex, Vermont.  

Vermont Business Magazine Disaster survivors in Caledonia, Chittenden, Lamoille, Orange, Orleans, Rutland, Washington, Windham and Windsor counties who applied for assistance from FEMA for the July severe storms, flooding, landslides and mudslides will receive an eligibility determination letter from FEMA in the mail or via email. It may say you are ineligible for assistance, but that is not a denial.

Vermont Business Magazine The Green Mountain Care Board (GMCB) issued decisions requiring Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont (BCBSVT) and MVP Health Plan, Inc. (MVP) to modify the premiums they wanted to charge individuals and small businesses for health insurance plans in 2024. In 2023, these plans covered just over 68,000 Vermonters.  The premium increases requested by BCBSVT and MVP were driven by a number of factors, including increases in hospital and prescription drug costs. During GMCB’s review of the requests, BCBSVT and MVP raised their proposed rates in response to new information. 

The Vermont State Police has received the final autopsy report from the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington regarding the March 10, 2023, death of Jeffrey Hall. The medical examiner determined the cause of death was complications of blunt force trauma of the head, and the manner of death was a homicide. In consultation with the Franklin County State’s Attorney’s Office, the Vermont State Police on Tuesday afternoon, Aug. 8, 2023, cited Mbyayenge Mafuta, 22, on a charge of second-degree murder. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Agency of Transportation (AOT) announced today that it has reopened two lengthy segments of the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail (LVRT) after completing damage assessment and some repairs from the recent flooding. The 30.3-mile section from Swanton to Cambridge Junction and the 19.5 miles from St. Johnsbury to Walden at the intersection of the trail and Vermont Route 15 are now open for public use. AOT’s District Maintenance crews repaired minor washouts, completed surface repairs, and removed debris from these segments of the LVRT in order to reopen them to the public. The LVRT runs from St. Johnsbury to Swanton and is approximately 93 miles long; the reopened sections total 49.8 miles. 

Vermont Business Magazine U.S. News & World Report, the global authority in hospital rankings and consumer advice, has named Rutland Regional Medical Center as a 2023-2024 High Performing hospital for hip replacement and knee replacement. This is the highest distinction a hospital can earn for U.S. News’ Best Hospitals Procedures & Conditions ratings. Rutland Regional was one of only two hospitals in Vermont to achieve high recognition for both Hip and Knee replacement.  

Vermont Business Magazine Mosquitoes collected in Alburgh and Vergennes during the week of July 24 have tested positive for West Nile virus at the Vermont Department of Health Laboratory. So far this season, 824 mosquito pools – groups of up to 50 mosquitoes of the same species collected from the same site – have been tested. These are the first detections of West Nile virus in Vermont in 2023. There have been no reported human or animal cases of West Nile virus disease so far this year. The last confirmed human case was in 2021. 

Vermont Business Magazine KeyBank Foundation, the non-profit charitable foundation of KeyBank, announces a three-year, $150,000 donation to The Committee on Temporary Shelter (COTS) to support a new supportive service role in their Housing program.  COTS is a Burlington-based nonprofit that advocates for long-term solutions to end homelessness and provides emergency shelter, services, and long-term housing for Vermonters who are experiencing homelessness or are marginally housed.  For more than 40 years, COTS has worked directly with people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Attorney General’s Office announced that Joel Daugreilh, 37, of St. Albans, Vermont, pleaded guilty to one count of Simple Assault at a court appearance yesterday in Vermont Superior Court, Franklin Criminal Division. The charges arose from an incident that occurred on November 26, 2017, when Mr. Daugreilh was an officer with the St. Albans Police Department. After taking a suspect into custody and placing them in a small holding cell where they were handcuffed and shackled to a bench, Mr. Daugreilh pushed the suspect’s head against the holding cell wall and deployed O.C. spray, commonly known as pepper spray, directly into the suspect’s eyes at close range. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Attorney General’s Office announced that David Razinha, 53, of Northfield, Vermont, was arraigned yesterday on seven counts of Felony Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material. The charges brought against Mr. Razinha are the result of a criminal investigation, including the execution of residential, cell phone, and online data search warrants, conducted by the Vermont Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (VT-ICAC), including personnel from the Attorney General’s Office, the Vermont State Police, Homeland Security Investigations, the Randolph Police Department, and the Northfield Police Department.

The Vermont State Police is investigating the death of a Derby man in a work-related accident that occurred Sunday morning, Aug. 6, 2023, at an apartment complex on U.S. Route 5 in the town of Burke. The victim, 25-year-old Casey Driver, was performing roof work for Vincent’s Carpentry of Derby at about 11:15 a.m. on the three-story apartment building when he struck a high-tension power line with a metal ladder, causing an electric shock and a fall of 25-30 feet off the roof. Mr. Driver was pronounced deceased on scene.

Vermont Business Magazine As part of the disaster assistance process, FEMA must determine ownership and occupancy of damaged primary residences. FEMA has made it easier for disaster survivors in Caledonia, Chittenden, Lamoille, Orange, Orleans, Rutland, Washington, Windham and Windsor counties who experienced loss from the July severe storms, flooding, landslides and mudslides to verify ownership and occupancy. Owners and renters must prove they occupied the disaster-damaged primary residence before receiving Housing Assistance and some types of Other Needs Assistance. FEMA now accepts a broader range of documentation.