Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation is now accepting applications for the Advanced Wood Heating Assistance program. Funded by a $300,000 USDA Forest Service Wood Innovations grant, the program provides partial funding for municipalities to install or upgrade advanced wood heating systems. Vermont municipal buildings, including town office buildings, town garages, schools, and grange halls, are eligible to apply for funding. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) invites the public to view the latest round of updates to the state wetland maps in over 100 towns, within the counties of Addison, Bennington, Orleans, Essex, Caledonia, Rutland, Chittenden, Lamoille, and Frankin. The draft maps show the approximate location and shape of existing wetlands where previous mapping had been absent or inaccurate.

Vermont Business Magazine With the beginning of summer and anglers fishing from shore, the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department reminds people that open fires and swimming are prohibited at all Vermont state fishing access areas. Open fires and their remnants, create unsafe areas for other anglers and boaters to use and enjoy.  The remnants of these fires are also unhealthy for the animals and fish that live in the adjacent waters.  Fish and Wildlife cleans up the toxic waste left by open fires on state lands annually at considerable expense. Swimming at fishing access areas is prohibited due to safety concerns and because the primary uses of the fishing access areas are for launching and retrieving motorboats and for shore fishing.

Vermont Business Magazine U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont), Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Rural Development, Energy, and Credit, on Wednesday pressed U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins about the Department’s progress in delivering over $62 million in disaster aid relief to Vermont communities impacted by devastating floods in July of 2023 and 2024. During his questioning, Secretary Rollins confirmed that $31.7 million in disaster aid block grant funding was approved for deployment to Vermont imminently. Governor Scott confirmed the grant was signed on Thursday.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General Charity Clark today joined a coalition of 20 attorneys general in suing the Trump administration over the addition of new terms to federal contracts that – in the name of purging “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) from federal contracting – impose unclear and confusing requirements on contractors that may violate antidiscrimination policies that contractors have followed for decades, and threaten severe penalties on federal contractors without adequate notice of what is prohibited.

Vermont Business Magazine U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont) has announced the delivery of $4,042,993 in federal disaster recovery funding, administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). This funding was awarded to the Vermont Studio Center, the Vermont Agency for Transportation (VTrans), and the Washington Electric Cooperative to support recovery, restoration, and mitigation efforts following the floods of July 2023 and 2024.

by Mike Donoghue, Vermont News First Four people, including a career criminal, were arrested during a drug raid at 501 Pleasant Street in Newport City on Tuesday, police said. Jennifer L. Sanville, 40, and Matthew R. Prue, 46, were both lodged at the Northern State Correctional Facility in Newport on charges from the drug raid and on some unrelated criminal counts, Newport Police said. Sanville, with a long court record, is facing two unrelated charges of being a habitual offender with each count carrying a possible life sentence, records show. City Police arrested Prue and Sanville on charges of sale of cocaine, trafficking fentanyl, possession of cocaine, and possession of narcotic drugs as part of a significant one-month drug investigation in Newport Police Chief Travis Bingham told Vermont News First.

Vermont Business Magazine Twenty child care programs across Vermont will receive a total of $264,500 through the latest round of Make Way for Kids (MWFK) Infant and Toddler Capacity Building Grants, supporting projects that will open new programs, expand existing capacity, and preserve critical child care services for Vermont families. Funded by the Vermont Department for Children and Families Child Development Division and administered by First Children's Finance Vermont, the grants support projects in 10 counties and reflect the many ways communities are working to strengthen Vermont's child care system. 

Vermont Business Magazine On June 5, 2026, the Vermont Department of Libraries announced the recipients of the 2025–2026 Vermont Youth Book Awards. A total of 17,437 Vermont students voted to select the winners from a curated list of books published in 2024. Whalesong: The True Story of the Musician Who Talked to Orcas by Zachariah Ohora won the Red Clover Book Award, chosen by students in grades K-4; Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell, illustrated by Ashley Mackenzie, won the Vermont Golden Dome Book Award, picked by students in grades 4-8; and Not Like Other Girls by Meredith Adamo won the Green Mountain Book Award, selected by high school students.

Vermont Business Magazine The San Francisco World Spirits Competition (SFWSC) has officially announced its winners for 2026. A highly anticipated global event in the spirits industry, this year’s edition saw Village Garage Distillery from Bennington, Vermont, awarded two highly coveted medals: a gold for Village House Gin in the category of American Gin, and a Silver for Village Bourbon in the highly competitive Small-Batch Bourbon category. This announcement comes only a few months after Village Bonfire, the distillery’s signature smoked maple bourbon, was officially recognized by the Vermont state legislature for winning a silver medal at SFWSC in 2025. 

Vermont Business Magazine Fidium, recently named the Best Internet Provider by VermontBiz and honored with 62 top‑performance rankings statewide from Ookla, has expanded its all‑fiber internet service in Shelburne, making its 100% fiber internet network to more than 2,100 residents and businesses. Fidium completed a fiber build partnership with Chittenden County Communications District in 2025, which expanded service to several hundred previously unserved and underserved locations in town. While previous expansion in Shelburne was partially grant funded, Fidium’s fiber internet buildout in 2026 was completed through its own investment.

Vermont Business Magazine The Attorney General’s Office Tuesday announced that Ronald Wright, 67, of Bellows Falls, Vermont, was arraigned on nine counts of felony Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Materials. The charges brought against Wright were the result of a criminal investigation, including the execution of search warrants conducted by members of the Vermont Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (VT-ICAC). Wright pleaded not guilty at the arraignment Tuesday in Vermont Superior Court, Windham Criminal Division. The Court, Judge Elizabeth Mann presiding, set bail in the amount of $50,000 and ordered conditions of release which restrict Wright’s access to minors, electronic devices, and the Internet.