Current News

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health today reported 1,917 cases of COVID-19 for Thursday, just short of Wednesday's record of 2,188. The previous record of 1,727 cases of COVID-19 was set on Monday. On December 30, it reported a then-record 1,471 cases. The record for cases was broken three times last week and another three times this week.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today announced the launch of the State’s “Tests for Tots” program, which will provide rapid antigen COVID-19 test kits to regulated childcare providers across Vermont. These childcare providers can enroll in the program effective immediately.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets (VAAFM) recently opened applications for the new Vermont Pay for Phosphorus (VPFP) program, one of the first of its kind in the United States. VAAFM received a $7 million grant award from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in September of 2020, enabling the Agency to launch a statewide Vermont Pay for Phosphorus (VPFP) Program to further expand and support agriculture’s role in delivering clean water results for Vermont. The program will provide $4.9 million in direct payments to farms over 4 years for successful phosphorus management. Vermont farmers wishing to apply for the program have until January 31, 2022 to do so.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), along with colleagues in both the Senate and House of Representatives, Wednesday sent a a bicameral letter to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Chairman Richard Glick urging the agency to use its authority to protect consumers from unfairly high energy costs.

The Vermont State Police is investigating a robbery that occurred early Friday afternoon, Jan. 7, 2022, at the Bar Harbor Bank on Methodist Lane in Williamstown. At about 12:20 p.m., an unknown male entered the bank and demanded cash from the teller. The suspect did not display a weapon or threaten the teller. He fled the bank with an undisclosed sum of money and was seen operating a silver or gold four-door sedan. No one was injured in the incident.

Vermont Business Magazine On January 6, 2022, the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation (DFR) and the federally appointed receiver for Jay Peak, Michael Goldberg, announced a settlement with the broker-dealer firm Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated (Merrill Lynch). The settlement totals $4.5 million and relates to Merrill Lynch’s handling of accounts used in connection with the Jay Peak EB-5 fraud.

Vermont Business Magazine Turnstone Ventures, a vertically-integrated real estate investment first led by seasoned Boston-based developer Jeff Glew, has acquired the historic 50-key The Shire Woodstock in Woodstock, Vermont. Turnstone has hired New York-based Life House Hotels, signaling the tech-enabled hotel operator’s first hotel in Vermont and 20th hotel in New England.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health today reported 2,188 cases of COVID-19 for Wednesday, which is another record and the first time over 2,000 daily cases. The record of 1,727 cases of COVID-19 was set on Monday. On December 30, it reported a then-record 1,471 cases. The record for cases was broken three times last week and twice this week. Hospitalizations increased to one short of their record daily high.

AccuWeather Global Weather Center AccuWeather expert meteorologists provide updates to media working on stories related to the winter weather heading toward the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast beginning Thursday night. Snow is expected to cover all of Vermont, with southern regions getting the brunt.

Vermont Business Magazine The Federal Emergency Management Agency will be sending more than $1 million to the State of Vermont to reimburse the state for administrative costs incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development will receive a total of $1,049,791 in federal funding through FEMA’s Public Assistance grant program to cover the costs of administering grants FEMA provided to the state to reimburse the costs of implementing food distribution programs providing meals to those in need and who were affected by the pandemic.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today announced that beginning next week the State of Vermont will use a program developed by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to deliver 500,000 recently acquired rapid COVID-19 tests to households across the state. The program will surge rapid tests into communities and serve as a pilot to help state officials assess a broader delivery model where residents order tests online and have them delivered to their home. This is similar to a system President Biden has said the federal government will use to make rapid tests more readily available later in the month of January, but this program is in addition to that federal effort.

Senator Patrick Leahy These are among the most somber and sorrowful remarks that I have had to make as President Pro Tempore and in my several decades of service in this body. What an unthinkable event it is that we are marking today. An attempted coup incited not against a president, but by a president, who promoted and still promotes a litany of lies, to overturn the results of an election in order for him to hold on to power that he no longer possesses. We are in the business of words, but there are none to adequately capture the damage that he and his henchmen have done and are doing to our country.