Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department reported zero hunting related shooting injuries (HRSIs) in 2021, continuing a multi-year trend of declining HRSIs in Vermont. The department attributes the success in part to a strong culture of safety among Vermont hunters, and the state’s required Hunter Education Program.

​Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), a member of the US Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, on Tuesday urged Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Dennis McDonough to simplify and strengthen the VA’s ability to deliver quality and comprehensive health care to all veterans, including those suffering from exposure to burn pits and other toxic substances. Sanders argued that the VAs budget should go to, “health care, not towards a huge bureaucracy to determine whether or not you were exposed.”

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont’s winter manure spreading ban ends today, April 1st. However with what has been a wet spring so far, the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets (VAAFM) reminds Vermont farmers and Custom Manure Applicators to remain conscientious about their spring land stewardship. The Required Agricultural Practices (RAPs) outline that manure cannot be applied to fields that are frozen or snow-covered, nor to fields that are saturated, likely to incur runoff, or are conducive to any other off-site movement.

Public Assets Institute Does Vermont want to help families with children living in poverty? So far we’ve gotten a mixed message from policymakers on this question. Families on Reach Up can’t meet their basic needs with current state assistance. The program uses an outdated and inadequate basic needs estimate, and then provides families with less than half of that amount. But there is still time for the Legislature to act decisively.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health today is reporting 158 cases of COVID-19 for Thursday (171 Wednesday, 200 Tuesday, 87 Monday, 56 Sunday, 104 on Saturday and 143 Friday.) Cases have fallen by 11 percent in the last week (131 cases). The VDH reported no additional deaths today for 617 statewide, for a total of 13 fatalities in March. This is the fewest COVID-related deaths since last July.

Vermont Business Magazine Northern Vermont University announces the Class of 2022 Commencement will be held May 14 at 11 am on the Johnson campus and May 15 at 11 am on the Lyndon campus. This year’s guest speakers are Senator Kesha Ram Hinsdale, who will address the NVU-Lyndon graduating class, and Rebecca Holcombe, who will address the NVU-Johnson graduating class.

Vermont Business Magazine Over the past six years, Retreat Farm has become a vital and beloved community resource. During the pandemic, the organization expanded its operations rapidly to meet emerging community needs – including investing in the trail network, building artistic and interpretive resources, establishing the Community Food Project, making the grounds free for all to access, and leveraging our resources to support the growth of the SUSU commUNITY Farm and Atowi Project. Retreat Farm will transition to a community-based organization that will rely heavily on volunteers and an active Board of Directors for fundraising, community relationships, and its long-term operating strategy.

Vermont Business Magazine The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated that Sean Fiore, 38, of Burlington, Vermont, was sentenced Wednesday in United States District Court in Burlington, Vermont to 27 years in prison following his guilty pleas to the following charges: murder for hire, conspiracy to kidnap and murder a person overseas, conspiracy to produce child pornography, and possession of child pornography.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Department of Corrections (DOC) Commissioner Nicholas Deml issued a statement following the Thursday arrest of Northeast Correctional Complex (NECC) Shift Supervisor Benjamin Mallery on charges of possession of child sex abuse material: “The criminal allegations facing Benjamin Mallery are beyond concerning; they are abhorrent. I have zero tolerance for those who endanger vulnerable populations here in Vermont or anywhere in the world."

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health today is reporting 171 cases of COVID-19 for Wednesday (200 Tuesday, 87 Monday, 56 Sunday, 104 on Saturday and 143 Friday.) Cases have fallen by 11 percent in the last week (131 cases). The VDH reported no additional deaths today for 617 statewide. There have been 13 fatalities in March. The state is well on pace for the fewest COVID-related deaths since last July.

Vermont Business Magazine Sister Janice Ryan, a leader for education equity in Vermont, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, March 30, 2022, at the age of 86. “She was a beautiful force for good and a social justice icon in Vermont,” said Mercy Connections’ Executive Director, Lisa Falcone.

by Joyce Marcel, Vermont Business Magazine, November 2007 During her long and distinguished career in public life, Sister Janice Elizabeth Ryan, RSM, has never had a game plan. "The road always seemed to be opening up in front of me," she says. "I never had time to plan it. It kept happening." Let's look at some of the things that have happened to "happen:" she spearheaded the drive which created the first special education mainstreaming law in the country - in 1972! Her work made Vermont a model for the national and states' laws that followed. For 17 years, Ryan was president of the now-shuttered Catholic women's school Trinity College in Burlington. Among other things, she successfully carried through the college's first capital campaign.