Current News

by Laura Krantz vtdigger.org Governor Peter Shumlin highlighted the opiate addiction crisis in Vermont in his State of the State address, but statistics show no significant rise in accidental drug overdose deaths from opiates over the past eight years, according to a new Health Department report.
In 2013 there were 62 drug overdose deaths in Vermont from Schedule II, III or IV drugs, the report says. In 2006 there were 57 overdose deaths. In the interim years, the number of overdose deaths rose and fell slightly.
Of 62 deaths last year, 51 involved a prescription opioid. Eleven were suicides, the report says.
For the purposes of comparison, there were 71 traffic fatalities in 2013.

by Laura Krantz vtdigger.org Gun rights advocates Sunday gathered on the Statehouse steps for a three-hour rally to oppose votes the Legislature could take in the next two months about guns.

Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, a subsidiary of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE:TEVA) and Volunteers in Medicine (VIM), based in Burlington, Vermont, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to helping communities provide free primary healthcare clinics for families and individuals, today announced their 2014 National Partnership to make healthcare services more readily available to the uninsured.

by Anne Galloway vtdigger.org
Crossover — the deadline for bills to be passed out of committees in the Statehouse — is Friday, and that means lawmakers will be scrambling to nail down language for a large number of bills that are still in play.
In the Senate, the Finance Committee will review a jobs bill, while the Economic Development Committee considers new legislation that would require testing for toxic materials in consumer products.
A bill that would lift the net metering cap for local distribution of solar power will be on the Senate floor Thursday and Friday, and legislation that will expand the state’s medical marijuana dispensaries will be considered by the full Senate on Tuesday.
The House, meanwhile, will be digging in to the 2015 budget. Lawmakers in the House Appropriations Committee hope to spend less than the governor’s recommended budget proposal.

This year’s “Big Change Roundup for Kids” raised $227,237.93 in donations to support health care services and programs provided by Vermont Children’s Hospital at Fletcher Allen Health Care. The Roundup is the largest fundraiser each year for Vermont Children’s.

The coin collecting campaign is a joint effort of the hospital and 98.9 WOKO-FM with support from hundreds of local businesses and community groups and thousands of school children from throughout the region. Key sponsors this year include Maplefields, New England Federal Credit Union, Walmart and Pete’s RV Center.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc, based in Waterbury, Vermont, has legally changed its name to Keurig Green Mountain Inc. The name change received overwhelming approval at the company's annual meeting held March 6. When the name change was suggested by management in January, it received a generally negative reception in Vermont, but shareholders approved it last week by over 130 million votes. Less than 2 percent of shareholders did not vote for the name change.

The company's consumer brand names, including Keurig and Green Mountain Coffee among others, will not change and consumers will continue to be able to purchase the brands on shelf and online. The company will retain its ticker symbol of "GMCR" on the NASDAQ stock exchange.

Joined by several business owners, Governor Peter Shumlin today called on lawmakers to approve a phased-in increase in Vermont’s minimum wage to $10.10 by 2017. The governor, President Obama and several regional governors had issued a similar appeal for an increase at the national level, and are supporting an increase in the wage in their respective states.
“Although we are seeing some economic recovery and turnaround, we know that the folks at the bottom are not seeing prosperity,” Shumlin said today at a press conference held at Bear Pond Books, a locally owned store in downtown Montpelier. “Raising the minimum wage will give a boost to many hard-working Vermonters, particularly women, as well as the state’s economy.”
The governor added, “It’s the right thing to do.”

by Anne Galloway vtdigger.org
The Chittenden County Transit Authority announced on Sunday morning that bus services will operate as scheduled on Monday in the Burlington area.
Last week the local Teamsters union threatened to strike on March 10 if CCTA and union members couldn’t agree to a three-year contract in negotiations this weekend.
After 19 hours of negotiations that began Saturday afternoon and concluded early Sunday morning, the two sides came to an agreement. The Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service assisted with the talks.
CCTA has given the union a contract proposal that now needs to be ratified by members who will vote on whether to accept the proposal early this week including the possibility of a strike.
Rob Slingerland, a union spokesman, said in a statement that bus drivers don’t want “a disruption in the Chittenden County public transportation system.”

Vermont is home to some of the most vibrant locally made products in the country. Vermont Business Magazine, the Vermont Agency of Commerce & Community Development and the Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets are presenting the First Annual Made in Vermont Marketplace tradeshow on April 12 & 13 at the Champlain Valley Exposition in Essex.
Vermont Business Magazine Publisher John Boutin said, “The Made in Vermont Marketplace trade show will feature a great variety of Vermont made products. From furniture, wine, spirits, specialty foods, and crafts to home goods and fine art, and so much more. You will be amazed at what you can find in your own backyard!”
Why Attend

by John Herrick vtdigger.org The Shumlin administration has stepped in to soothe contentious right-of-way negotiations between Vermont Gas Systems and a group of Monkton landowners.
Vermont Gas recently sent letters to several landowners along the company’s proposed natural gas pipeline extension stating that their land will be taken by eminent domain if they fail to negotiate an easement agreement. On Thursday evening, state officials assured residents the rhetoric would be toned down.
“We’re not happy with that process. They are going to restart that process,” Public Service Department Commissioner Chris Recchia told the group.
Vermont Gas plans to break ground on a 41-mile, $86 million natural gas pipeline extension from Colchester to Middlebury this year. The Public Service Board, the state’s utility regulator, approved the project last year.

by Anne Galloway vtdigger.org Vermont has one of the most extensive private land conservation efforts in the country. Over the past 30 years, the Vermont Land Trust, community land trusts and The Nature Conservancy have preserved hundreds of thousands of acres in Vermont.
The cornerstone of the land conservation movement has been the notion that property — working forests, farms and ecologically important lands — would remain undeveloped in perpetuity.
One of the tools used to conserve parcels is a legally binding land covenant known as a conservation easement. An easement eliminates a landowner’s interest in “development rights.” Those rights, which have monetary value, are transferred to a land trust that holds the easements in perpetuity.

AT&T has invested nearly $60 million its best-in-class wireless and wired networks in Vermont between 2011 and 2013, driving a wide range of upgrades to enhance speed, reliability, coverage and performance for residents and business customers.
Advancing its Project Velocity IP (VIP), an investment plan to expand and enhance its wireless and wired IP broadband networks, AT&T in 2013 made nearly 80 network upgrades in Vermont, including new cell sites, addition of wireless and wired network capacity, and new broadband network connections.