Current News
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Vermont Business Magazine February is Black History Month, a time to recognize and uplift the achievements, sacrifices, and contributions made by Black Americans to every aspect of our country’s diverse cultural heritage. This is also a time to truly honor the foundational and profound role of Black people in the agricultural sector in the United States and Vermont. Below are a few upcoming events and resources to learn and engage in this month and beyond.
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Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont Understanding how variants function allows public health leaders to develop more effective prevention strategies against SARS-CoV-2. In a new study in the journal PNAS, a team of University of Vermont and University of Washington scientists discovered that – based on clinical samples from infected individuals – the Delta variant had a higher infectivity than the Alpha variant of COVID-19. The group was surprised by their findings. “What we saw was that people infected with Delta had almost six times more virus in their nasal swab samples than people infected with Alpha for the same amount of RNA."
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Vermont Business Magazine Last winter, over 1,000 people attended the inaugural Artful Ice Shanties exhibit, presented by the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) and Retreat Farm. Visitors saw ice shanties shaped like a giant iridescent fish, a black die with moon-shaped dots, a seascape with a three-dimensional octopus, and more.
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Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Community Foundation’s Insight Hub, its research-driven arm focused on providing insight to inform charitable giving, has published a brief on how charitable individuals can use their philanthropy to support Vermonters experiencing social isolation. The Insight Hub offers webinars, events, briefs, and peer-to-peer experiences that help philanthropists understand where their giving can make a difference.
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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.