Current News
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Vermont Business Magazine The University of Vermont’s Board of Trustees this weekend toured new facilities that will quadruple the amount of dedicated group fitness and recreation space on campus and approved new academic initiatives in the College of Arts and Sciences.
The tour included the recently opened Recreation and Wellness Group Fitness Hub, which offers new and upgraded spaces for a wide range of activities, such as spinning, yoga, dance, and meditation. Trustees also saw the still-under-construction Multi Activity Court (MAC) facility, which will provide flexible indoor space for a variety of recreational sports and a state-of-the-art bouldering wall for climbing activities, and viewed progress on a “spine” structure, which will bring much-needed modern locker-room and sports medicine space for men’s and women’s hockey.
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Leonine Public Affairs The Senate Committee on Appropriations finalized their work on the FY2022 Budget Adjustment Act (BAA) this week. The FY2022 BAA appropriates more than $350 million in new funding, which is significantly more than prior mid-fiscal year adjustment acts. This largess is due in part to the nearly half billion dollars in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding that is available to continue to address the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.
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Vermont Business Magazine Scott budget address: ‘Stand together’ as ‘economic future is in our hands’; Economists say flood of revenue is unsustainable; December unemployment rate falls to 2.5%; UVM Health Network President Brumsted to retire in September; COVID cases begin to fall in Vermont, Northeast; GMP requests 2022 base rate increase of 2.34%; General and Education funds exceed tax revenue expectations; Broadband Board commits $116 million to construction grant program; Scott announces $50 million Homeowner Assistance Program; more...
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Vermont Business Magazine The Mount Mansfield Academy’s annual Stowe Derby is fast approaching on February 13. As it has since its beginning in 1945, the race will run from the top of Mansfield’s Toll Road and finish 20km later in the Stowe Village. The event, which is in its 77th year, benefits Mount Mansfield Academy’s commitment to educating and training its student-athletes. This year’s event is presented by MVP Healthcare.
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by Representative Heidi Scheuermann (R-Stowe) I am pleased to report that the Vermont House of Representatives returned in person, fully, this week. There is one adjustment we made to our Permanent House Rules in order to ensure the health and safety of all as COVID continues, and that is if a member has COVID or has a “direct COVID-19 related circumstance,” they may participate and vote remotely. Otherwise, our House Rules remain in place. That is that all members must be in-person in the House to participate and to vote, unless they have COVID themselves, or have a “direct COVID-19-related circumstance.”
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Vermont Business Magazine Nominations are now open for the Vermont Agricultural Hall of Fame through www.VTAgHallOfFame.org. Nominations will be accepted in three categories: Emerging Leaders, Ag Innovators, and The Lifetime Achievement Award. Nominations will be accepted through Friday, March 11, 2022 at 5 PM. This year the Vermont Agricultural Hall of Fame celebrates 20 years of honoring farmers, producers and people dedicated to supporting Vermont’s working landscape. Anyone is invited to submit a nomination.
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Vermont State Police Following an autopsy Friday, Feb. 4, 2022, the victim found deceased Thursday morning in Danby is identified as Isaiah Rodriguez, 17, of Springfield, Massachusetts. The Chief Medical Examiner’s Office determined the cause of death to be gunshot wounds of the torso, and the manner of death is a homicide. State police detectives have narrowed down the time this incident is believed to have occurred to 10:30-11:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 2, and would like to speak with anyone who was traveling on Danby Mountain Road or who saw or heard anything out of the ordinary during that time.
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Nine new COVID-positive cases found in general population units
Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Corrections detected nine additional incarcerated individual cases of COVID-19 through testing at Northwest State Correctional Facility (NWSCF) in St. Albans. The outbreak at NWSCF began on January 30, 2022, when Department testing uncovered the first positive COVID-19 case. Vermont DOC conducted near daily testing at NWSCF since January 30.
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Vermont Business Magazine The Department for Children and Families (DCF) announced today that approximately 18,370 fuel households will receive a one-time cash benefit to help offset the cost of heating their homes this winter. Eligible households will get a check for either $400 or $120.
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The VDH will no longer be updating the COVID dashboard on the weekend. Weekend data will be reported on Monday.
by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health today is reporting 508 cases of COVID-19 for Thursday. Cases in Vermont last week plummeted by more than 3,000—a decrease of 40%. In the last two weeks, cases have fallen 56%. However, the VDH today reported five additional deaths for 553. One death was in the 30-39 age group, of which there have been only eight since the beginning of the pandemic.
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Vermont Business Magazine This morning at approximately 0340 hours, the Burlington Fire Department was dispatched to a medical call on South Willard Street. As units departed Central Fire Station, they noticed a fire in the building located at 199 King Street about a block away. First arriving companies encountered significant fire on the third floor extending into the attic space. Burlington firefighters initiated an aggressive but coordinated fire attack and search of the building. Due to the volume of fire and the structural integrity of the building, units could not search the third floor, and the incident commander quickly transitioned to a defensive firefighting operation, allowing only exterior fire suppression efforts to occur. This building was the site of a fatal fire on January 9, 2021, and had not been repaired.
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Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Education (AOE) Child Nutrition Programs is seeking sponsors for the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP). This program, also known as Summer Meals, is federally funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and administered by AOE Child Nutrition Programs. Funds are available and sponsors are needed to provide meals to children at summer food program sites.