Current News

Hundreds of contract utility and tree workers from as far away as Illinois, Missouri, Texas and Canada are on their way to assist Vermont utilities as Hurricane Irene bears down on the region. They are expected to arrive before the storm. Vermont crews and support staff are on standby, and supplies, lodging, food and other logistical details are being firmed up to ensure a strong response if the storm brings significant problems. Government officials are also coordinating efforts to assure the necessary resources are available.

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) says this year’s 15th Annual Vermont Women’s Economic Opportunity Conference, set for Saturday, October 8, in Randolph, will feature a special guest: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
Leahy said Justice Sotomayor will begin this year’s sessions with a question-and-answer forum with conference-goers.
‘Marcelle and I are delighted that she is coming to Vermont,’ said Leahy. ‘She personifies the American Dream, and her life and achievements already have inspired so many. She is a perfect match for this conference and its purpose.’

DISH Network, LLC will pay the State of Vermont $125,000 to resolve the Attorney General’s claims that it violated Vermont’s Consumer Fraud Act in mailings to consumers last summer. ‘Words like ‘urgent‟ ‘immediately‟ ‘necessary‟ and ‘free’ have significant meanings,’ said Attorney General William H Sorrell. ‘Using such language to trigger unnecessary action by Vermont consumers won’t be tolerated.’
In July 2010, DISH sent 310 letters to Vermont consumers. The letter included headings stating: ‘URGENT ACTION REQUIRED’ and ‘PLEASE READ IMMEDIATELY TO AVOID SERVICE INTERRUPTION OF YOUR HIGH DEFINITION PROGRAMMING.’ The letter further claimed that replacement of consumer equipment was ‘necessary’ and ‘free.’

Overall network performance levels for wireless handsets differ depending on whether devices are used for voice calling, text messaging or data service, according to the J.D. Power and Associates U.S. 2011 Wireless Network Quality Performance Study(SM)’Volume 2 released today.
The study finds that overall network performance varies widely by the type of activity being performed on the handset. For example, there are more reported problems among wireless customers while placing calls, compared with messaging and data-related activities. Overall, problems associated with calling, such as dropped calls, initial disconnects and audio issues, average 18 PP100. This compares with a reported 16 PP100 average for data-related issues, such as Web and email connection errors and excessively slow downloads. An even lower PP100 average is reported for messaging problems (5 PP100), such as transmission failures and late text messages.

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has awarded $28.3 million to 43 Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Other Related Disabilities (LEND) programs, including $550,000 to the University of Vermont, to help improve the health of infants, children, adolescents and young adults with neurodevelopmental and other related disabilities, including autism spectrum disorders.
LEND programs in communities across the United States prepare trainees from a wide variety of professional disciplines to assume leadership roles, ensure high levels of interdisciplinary clinical competence, and enhance the ability of clinicians to diagnose, treat, and manage complex disabilities in youth and adolescents. The programs also promote culturally competent, coordinated care and integrate families in all aspects of training and service.

Bernard Boutin passed away in Laconia, New Hampshire, on the evening of August 24, 2011. He was born in Laconia on July 2, and died peacefully after a short illness during which his family was constantly with him.
Mr. Boutin was a well known New Hampshire native and was prominent in national affairs throughout the 1960's. He was a valedictorian graduate of Saint Michael's College, Class of 1945 and Mayor of Laconia from 1955 to 1959. In 1958 and 1960 Mr. Boutin was New Hampshire's Democratic nominee for Governor. In 1959 and 1960, he was heavily involved in the primary and general election campaign of President John F. Kennedy, with whom he had a close relationship.

Governor Peter Shumlin today reiterated that Hurricane Irene is currently heading for the United States and is expected to make landfall sometime this weekend. The current track of the storm has Irene crossing into Vermont as a Tropical Storm overnight Sunday into Monday. A Tropical Storm designation is based on the fact that maximum winds could be between 39 and 73 miles-per-hour.
The Governor, after a briefing today with state and federal emergency officials, said the storm is expected to bring heavy rains and wind starting late Sunday, and could cause flash flooding throughout Vermont and high winds with widespread power outages. Additional briefings on the track and progress of the hurricane will continue throughout today, Friday and the weekend.

More than a hundred opponents of a proposed wind farm staged a rally on the lawn of Green Mountain Power’s headquarters Wednesday afternoon, hoping the utility would abandon plans to build 21 turbines on Lowell Mountain.
Bearing signs and chanting ‘Solar, not wind,’ the group was at GMP to deliver a letter addressed to president and CEO Mary Powell and signed by 120 opponents of the plan.
‘The desecration of the Lowell Mountains that will result if the Lowell project moves forward is, to us, irreversible and unacceptable,’ the letter stated. ‘Our efforts to resist this project will not fade if this project moves forward.’

Union Institute & University (UI&U), a private, non-profit university based in Montpelier, has announced the appointment of Roger Allbee to its Board of Trustees. Allbee is a leader in the advancement of agriculture in the United States and former secretary of the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets.
‘Roger Allbee’s knowledge, experience, expertise, and lifelong commitment to Vermont will help Union make a lasting, positive impact on higher education initiatives in Vermont and beyond,’ said Roger H. Sublett, president of Union Institute & University. ‘We are honored that he has chosen to serve on Union’s Board of Trustees.’

The US Small Business Administration reminds Private Non-Profit Organizations (PNPs) in Vermont that September 22, 2011 is the deadline to submit Economic Injury Disaster Loan applications. The loans are available from the SBA because of the severe storms that occurred on December 1-5, 2010.
Eligible non-critical PNPs located in Chittenden, Franklin and Lamoille counties in Vermont are eligible to apply to SBA. Examples of eligible non-critical PNP organizations include, but are not limited to, food kitchens, homeless shelters, museums, libraries, community centers, schools and colleges.

FairPoint Communications has made a $3,000 donation to the Vermont Foodbank to help the Foodbank provide 18,000 meals.
‘FairPoint is proud to support the Vermont Foodbank in its vital role of helping fight hunger,’ said Michael K. Smith, Vermont state president. ‘Almost 1 in 6 Vermonters doesn’t have enough to eat and the Vermont Foodbank steps in to fill the void.’
The Foodbank distributes food to its 280 partners around the state so that Vermonters can visit community food shelves, pantries and meal programs. There are hundreds of thousands of our Vermont neighbors ‘ including children, seniors and working families ‘ who are unable to put enough food on the table.
‘We thank FairPoint for this contribution, especially now, as we brace for the possibility of less federal assistance to help with the growing number of Vermonters who are hungry,’ said John Sayles, Vermont Foodbank CEO.
Source: FairPoint Communications

Not all of the excitement of the Champlain Valley Fair happens on the midway. Each year hundreds of Vermonters discover they have money waiting to be returned to them when they visit the Vermont State Treasurer’s Office unclaimed property booth.
The booth is located in the Robert E. Miller Expo Centre exhibitor’s area and will be open throughout the fair’s 10-day run, from August 27 through September 5. Booth visitors simply enter their names in a computerized database to see if any of the more than $52 million in unclaimed financial property is theirs. There are more than 275,000 individual listings.