Current News

Vermont Agency of Transportation This weekly report is a list of planned construction activities for the week of November 15, 2021, that will have traffic impacts on state highways throughout Vermont. Please remember to drive safely in all work zones. Lives depend on it.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health is reporting today 463 COVID-19 cases There were 505 COVID-19 cases Friday, which was the second highest case count on record after they spiked to 591 Thursday. The 15 worst days have all come since mid-September, following from the Delta variant surge that began in July.

Vermont Business Magazine Saturday morning, the Vermont Democratic Party concluded its biennial state committee reorganization efforts and elected Party officers for the 2022-23 term. 2022-23 Party Officers: Chair: Anne Lezak (Burlington); Vice Chair: David Glidden (Saint Albans); Secretary: Thifeen Deen (Burlington); Treasurer: Deb Berryere (Vernon); Assistant Treasurer: Noah Detzer (Saint Albans).

Vermont Fish & Wildlife Hunters who get a deer during the November 13-28 regular deer season are asked to provide an incisor tooth from their deer. Tooth envelopes are available at all deer reporting stations. Also, The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department is asking hunters to participate in its annual deer hunter effort and sighting survey.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Corrections Friday evening reported eight new cases of COVID-19 were detected in outbreak testing at Northern State Correctional Facility (NSCF) in Newport conducted on November 10. Five of the cases are in the incarcerated population and three are among staff. There are now a total of five incarcerated cases and nine staff cases at NSCF.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Electric Co-op (VEC) today filed a request with the Vermont Public Utility Commission for a rate increase of 1.96 percent to take effect at the beginning of 2022. When implemented, a residential customer with a bill of $100/month would see their bill increase $1.96 per month, or $23.52 per year. The increase would be VEC’s first in two years and over the last ten years VEC has had an average rate increase of less than one percent a year, well under the rate of inflation.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health is reporting today 505 COVID-19 cases, the second highest case count on record after they spiked to 591 Thursday. The 14 worst days have all come since mid-September. There were two additional fatalities for 393 statewide. There are 22 COVID-related deaths in Vermont so far in November. There were 44 in October, which was the third-worst month on record (December 2020, 71; September 2021, 50).

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) Friday, along with seven of his Senate colleagues, sent a letter to Kaiser Permanente Chair and CEO Greg Adams in support of the more than 30,000 nurses and health care workers planning to strike unless negotiations for a fair contract improve. The strike is set to take place November 15 with workers at health care facilities in California, Colorado, Washington DC, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, Oregon, Virginia, and Washington.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont State Auditor Doug Hoffer today released a plan that could reduce health care costs in the state health insurance plan by upwards of $16 million a year. Health care spending for the 25,000 people on the state plan matters because it's a significant and growing expense for Vermont. From 2010 to 2019, annual medical payments for state employees, retirees, and their families increased by 51%, from $94 million to $142 million. That’s a combined $245 million in increased payments.

Public Assets Institute Vermont’s education funding system is built on fairness to taxpayers, to communities, and to students. It is a state-funded system that allows local communities to make their own spending decisions while giving every community equal access to the state pool of education resources. Rather than leaving each community to fend for itself, in Vermont we are all responsible for supporting all of the state’s students, and we strive to ensure that all can succeed regardless of their needs.

Speaker Jill Krowinski “The first thing that came to mind when I saw today’s case count of 591 was, ‘Why? Why is more action not being taken to protect Vermonters and keep our communities safe? Why don’t we implement the strategies we know work, like a mask mandate, to mitigate the spread of COVID-19?’ The Governor has stated that he has the tools available to support our communities, but has yet to utilize those tools and has not articulated when the appropriate time is to roll out the mitigation strategies we know work. That time is now. That time was yesterday. That time was a month ago."

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health is reporting today that COVID-19 cases spiked to 591, which is by far the most on record. After a surge in cases last week, cases had been relatively quiet, with 201 Wednesday, 189 Tuesday and 235 Monday. Last week's elevated case counts went through Sunday (376 cases), the third highest on record. Cases last Friday were 377 and there were 487 cases last Thursday, which was the previous all-time record. The 13 worst days have all come since mid-September, following from the Delta variant surge that began in July. Vermont officials were concerned that there would be a post-Halloween spike in cases, as there was last year. Legislative leaders renewed their calls today for Governor Scott to renew a mask mandate.