Current News

The Samara Fund for LGBT Issues, a component fund of the Vermont Community Foundation, announces the 2012 call for applications to support Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community organizations and projects. TheSamara Fund's mission is to help create a vibrant Vermont LGBT community and ensure that these Vermonters are connected, healthy, appreciated, safe, and empowered.

The Samara Fund recently joined in partnership with the Community Foundation, a move that it hopes will build on Samara’s 20-year history of making grants in support of Vermont’s LGBT community.

‘Our new partnership with the Community Foundation increases our capacity to make more and larger grants,’ said Samara Fund Grants Committee Chair Carol Maloney. ‘We are excited to announce that the Samara Fund will award significantly more dollars in 2012 than we have been able to do over the last several years.’

EPA recently announced that Vermont has been one of five selected recipients of the Smart Growth Implementation Assistance (SGIA) program nationwide. This program will offer assistance to help understand new or cutting-edge development issues in five areas of the country, and then replicate that assistance to other places facing similar challenges.

In the fall of 2011, the state of Vermont experienced major damage to roads, houses, and businesses due to flood impacts from Tropical Storm Irene. With this SGIA assistance EPA will help communities in the Mad River Valley recover from flood damage, become more resilient to future natural disasters and plan for future growth.

The air across Vermont soon may be a bit more pungent. As a result of unusually warm and dry weather, lack of snow and projected weather forecast over the next few weeks the Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets in agreement with the Agency of Natural Resources and Vermont Association of Conservation Districts, is lifting the winter spreading ban that normally is in place until April 1.
According to Secretary Chuck Ross, ‘I am lifting the ban because I believe it will help farmers best manage their manure resources and is in the best interests of Vermont’s waterways.’
David Mears, Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation agreed stating ‘Current conditions are favorable for manure application. Taking advantage of good weather now may prevent application of manure later when conditions may not be as good.’

Starbucks Coffee Company(NASDAQ: SBUX) andGreen Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc.(GMCR) (NASDAQ: GMCR), a leader in specialty coffee and coffee makers, today announced the expansion of their strategic relationship for the manufacturing, marketing, distribution and sale ofStarbucks-branded Vuepacks for use in GMCR's recently introducedKeurigVueBrewer.
On the news GMCRreversed a recent slide in stock price and was up $5.09 (10.04%) to$55.79for the day. The stock price has been on a volatile run, falling from over $100 last fall down to nearly $40, climbing back up near $70 before falling again near $50 on the news of Starbucks new espresso machine. GMCRalso will have an espresso machine coming out. Both companies indicated those high-pressure brewers would be available later this year. Starbucks saw only a marginal gain today in stock price.

Home prices fell across New England last month, especially in Vermont, where homes on average sold for 15.4 percent less than they did in 2011. However, total homes sold increased in every state except for Connecticut, according to The RE/MAX of New England February Monthly Housing Report.
The RE/MAX report indicates that the increase in home sales further reduces the inventory of homes on the market. Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maine and New Hampshire all experienced a significant increase in sales, while Vermont and Connecticut remained relatively flat. Year-over-year, every state in New England saw average home prices fall, however.
‘Increased sales across New England indicates a strengthening market,’ said Jay Hummer, Executive Vice President, RE/MAX of New England. ‘With the Obama Administration reporting that we’re seeing the lowest national inventory of homes for sale since 2006, we should see pricing start to adjust accordingly.’

Central Vermont Public Service received the electric industry’s highest honor for storm recovery today for its historic response following Tropical Storm Irene.
CVPS was presented the Edison Electric Institute’s 2011 Emergency Recovery Award for its response to the August storm, which washed away roads, bridges, homes and more than 450 utility poles in CV’s territory. Despite overwhelming challenges, including 73,000 customer outages and the isolation of 13 towns and thousands of customers, CVPS restored all electrical service in just five days.
‘Irene presented some of the most difficult challenges in our history, but our employees reacted with poise and professionalism,’ President and CEO Larry Reilly said. ‘They put customers’ needs above all others and worked with extraordinary determination to restore service quickly and safely, and demonstrated once again their remarkable dedication.’

In the year that Tropical Storm Irene brought to the forefront of public attention the need to address issues related to our lakes and tributaries, three funds focused on preserving Lake Champlain and Vermont’s waterways collectively awarded 19 grants totaling $98,967.
The Lake Champlain and Tributaries Restoration Fund awarded five grants totaling $57,471; the South Lake Champlain Fund awarded 10 grants totaling $26,496; and the Deerfield River Enhancement Fund awarded four grants totaling $15,000.
The Lake Champlain and Tributaries Restoration Fund was established by Central Vermont Public Service (CVPS) in 2009 as part of a comprehensive settlement agreement with the Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) for the Lamoille River, Carver Falls, and Silver Lake Hydroelectric Projects. CVPS contributed $500,000 to the fund.

Vermont and New Hampshire (9.0 percent) ranked behind only Virginia (8.3 percent) with the lowest percentage of bad mortgages east of the Mississippi. Vermont ranked 14th overall, one spot ahead of New Hampshire. Virginia was 10th. North Dakota was best (4.2 percent) and Florida worst (22.4 percent), according to Lender Processing Services, Inc (NYSE: LPS).
LPS is a leading provider of integrated technology, data and analytics to the mortgage and real estate industries. It reports the following "first look" at

by Alan Panebaker vtdigger.orgOn the day of Vermont Yankee’s original license expiration, pressure is mounting.
A ruling Monday by federal judge J Garvan Murtha says the state cannot enforce a law prohibiting the plant from storing spent nuclear fuel at the Vernon site that was produced after the plant’s license expires today. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has granted a license extension to Vermont Yankee owner Entergy last year, which the state of Vermont is disputing.
The 40-year saga of the nuclear power plant in Vernon is reaching an apex of sorts as opponents of the plant mount a protest Thursday for when they say the plant is operating without a license.
Deb Katz, executive director of the Citizens Awareness Network, which has pushed for the plant’s closure since the 1990s, said an affiliation of groups called the SAGE Alliance plans to march to Entergy’s headquarters in Brattleboro Thursday and face arrest.

Regional and state financial institutions are providing a critical $20 million boost to the state’s nonprofit affordable housing developers. Housing Vermont announced that a consortium of eight financial institutions is making $20 million in private equity available to developers of affordable apartments through the federal Low Income Housing Tax Credit program.
‘Once again Vermont brings a high level of leadership and commitment to providing quality rental housing to all of our residents,’ said Housing Vermont President Nancy Owens. ‘The $20 million in capital committed by the investors in our Green Mountain Housing Equity Fund will help finance at least eight rental housing developments with roughly 200 apartments throughout the state.’

The State Board of Education elected officers at its March 20, 2012 meeting, the Department of Education announced today. Stephan Morse of Newfane was elected Board chair, and Kathy Larsen of Wilmington will continue serving as vice-chair.
‘My approach as Board chair is to be all inclusive, and hopefully reach consensus on key issues,’ said Morse. ‘I plan to meet frequently with education leaders. There will be differences along the way, but the goal is to find agreement where we can. We owe it to our students to speak with one voice.’

Comcast today announced the launch of Xfinity®Home in Vermont. Xfinity Home offers traditional home security components, like police and fire alarm protection backed by 24/7 professional monitoring, as well as the ability to remotely adjust digital thermostats, turn lights on or off and watch secure live streaming video from wireless cameras while away from home. The service also comes with the Xfinity Home app, which is available for free on Apple’s iTunes App Store®.

‘Xfinity Home brings digital home monitoring to a new level and we are pleased to introduce it to our Vermont customers,’ said Mary McLaughlin, Senior Vice President of Comcast’s Western New England Region, which includes Vermont. ‘This state-of-the-art product leverages the power and flexibility of our fiber optic broadband network to bring a whole new level of innovation, choice and value to our customers, empowering them to stay better connected to their home virtually anytime, anywhere.’