Current News

Saint Michael's College Some 409 undergraduates and 73 graduate students are expected to participate as “walkers” in the Commencement ceremony. The Commencement Speaker for the Class of 2022 will be Dan Misleh, founder of the Catholic Climate Covenant -- a partnership of 20 national Catholic organizations engaged in a serious and sustained conversation about climate change, focused on promotion of the common good, protection of the poor, and the exercise of prudence. The Commencement for the Class of 2022 will be held on Sunday, May 15, 2022 at 10 a.m. in an outdoor ceremony (rain or shine) on the Saint Michael’s College campus.

Vermont State Police On May 12, 2022 at approximately 2023 hours The Vermont State Police were notified of an untimely death by the Rochester Fire Department. The fire department discovered a deceased male in the woods while they were extinguishing a wildland fire on Jones Mountain Road in Rochester. Scene examination revealed that the deceased was located in the woods approximately 200 yards east of a homestead. It appears the deceased had been attempting to suppress the fire by himself. There is no indication that the fire was the result of direct human involvement and does not appear to be a criminal event.

Vermont Business Magazine Employees of Centerpoint School-Northeastern Family Institute Vermont today voted 14-0 to unionize, the latest organizing victory in a wave of unionization efforts in Vermont and throughout the country. The new union – the Centerpoint Education Association – will become part of the 13,000-member Vermont-NEA. Staff at the Community Health Centers of Burlington recently won a union, and bus drivers for the South Burlington School District voted to unionize several months ago.

Vermont Business Magazine Planned Parenthood of Northern New England (PPNNE) announced its strategic decision to close five health centers and expand days of operation at seven health centers to ensure the organization is sustainable and able to meet the needs of the region, patients, and staff long term. PPNNE will expand the days of operation to a minimum of four or five days per week at all other health centers and will continue to operate its Telehealth program which has grown tremendously throughout the pandemic.

Department seeks bids for comprehensive health services at the state’s six correctional facilities

Vermont Business Magazine On Friday, the Vermont Department of Corrections issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) from parties seeking to provide health services to the state’s incarcerated population. This is the latest development in the Department’s continued effort to best align internal health services with the community standard of care and adapt to the changing healthcare landscape.

​Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott delivered his annual adjournment address to lawmakers Thursday evening, marking the end of the 2022 legislative session and the 2021-2022 biennium. At the beginning of the session, Governor Scott outlined the once-in-a-generation opportunity before lawmakers with record surpluses and the infusion of federal recovery funds. As a result, the State will invest hundreds of millions of dollars in climate change mitigation, housing, economic development and community recovery, critical infrastructure like broadband, water, sewer and stormwater systems, and more.

Senate President Pro Tem Becca Balint The Senate voted (Thursday) to amend S.226, our omnibus affordable housing bill, to include permitting and land use regulation reforms that will make it easier to develop new housing where we most want to see it, in vibrant, walkable downtowns and villages. Making it easier for people to live affordably in our towns and cities is also key to our environmental goals: reducing pollution from transportation and preserving our rural countryside.

Vermont Business Magazine Burlington-based Teucrium Trading, LLC, the Sponsor of agricultural futures-based ETFs, today announced that its registration for the Teucrium Agricultural Strategy No K-1 ETF was made effective. The Fund is set to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker TILL on May 17, 2022. The Fund is designed to provide investors diversified exposure to agricultural markets and is Teucrium’s first investment vehicle registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940. TILL is an actively managed, long only, diversified agricultural ETF that provides futures price exposure to corn, wheat, soybean, and sugar markets.

​Vermont Business Magazine The annual “98.9 WOKO’s Big Change Roundup for Kids” to support The University of Vermont Children’s Hospital raised a total of $347,029.03, thanks to more than 1,000 donations from patients and families, community members and businesses. This year’s success would not have been possible without our bandits (individual fundraisers), posses (fundraising teams), schools, community groups and volunteers from throughout the region. Also essential were longtime supporters Maplefields (more than $45,000), New England Federal Credit Union (NEFCU) (more than $31,000) and Med Associates (more than $30,000). In addition, NEFCU in Vermont and SeaComm in New York served as collection points for bandits and posses to turn in their loot.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health today is reporting 587 cases of COVID-19 for Wednesday (261 Tuesday; 248 Monday; 174 Sunday; 273 Saturday; 382 Friday). Cases have edged up in recent weeks, especially in Bennington, Washington and Rutland counties. Even as cases surged today, hospitalizations have fallen the last couple of days from 75 earlier in the week to 52 now. VDH also reported today that there were no additional fatalities from the virus. The death toll stands at 648 lives lost.

by Jack Hoffman, Public Assets Institute Twenty years ago, Vermont lost a valuable tool that let the state easily adjust state revenues to respond to fluctuating demands for public services. It’s time to find a replacement. In 2002, the state ended the simple, straightforward system for assessing personal income taxes that had been in place for more than 30 years. Vermont stopped using the “piggyback,” whereby the amount of income tax a person owed to Montpelier was calculated from the amount owed to Uncle Sam. Typically, the rate was about 25 percent of a person’s federal tax liability. But it varied, which was the beauty of that system. The strength of the piggyback system—being tied to federal tax policy—was also its weakness.

Vermont Business Magazine Summer-like warmth, with temperatures in the 80s, is expected to continue across the North Country through the weekend. This early season heat tends to lead to two potential dangers – heat related illness and recreating in dangerous cold water. Many of us eagerly await the first signs of summertime warmth after a long winter. As the temperature climbs, so do the number of people going outside to enjoy the weather. Because heat is more likely to cause illness when we’re not used to it, it’s important to play it safe during these first warm days.