Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Today, Mayor Miro Weinberger announced Meagan Tuttle as the City’s next Planning Director. Meagan has served as Burlington’s Principal Planner for more than six years and brings more than a decade of planning experience to the role. Since June, she has also served as the City’s COVID-19 Response Leader, coordinating the City’s internal and external efforts to respond to the pandemic.

Vermont Business Magazine President Biden, Speaker Pelosi, and Senate Majority Leader Schumer announced yesterday that the White House and Congressional Democrats had reached a compromise agreement on prescription drug pricing reforms to be included in the Build Back Better Act. The agreement includes a provision to allow Medicare to negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies for lower drug prices, which is currently prohibited by law.

Vermont Business Magazine Burlington High School (BHS) and Burlington Technical Center (BTC) are one step closer to having a permanent home. On Tuesday, November 2nd, the Burlington Board of School Commissioners voted unanimously to approve Superintendent Tom Flanagan’s recommendation “to select 52 Institute Road - North as the location of a newly designed Burlington High School and Burlington Technical Center and to direct the Superintendent to focus all design efforts on this location.”

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health is reporting today that COVID-19 cases were 198 today, up 30 from Tuesday. There also were five additional COVID-related deaths, for 374 statewide. Meanwhile, the CDC gave final approval late Tuesday for Pfizer vaccines for children 5-11 and parents could begin signing up their kids starting today for shots starting Friday.

Vermont Business Magazine Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC) has scheduled two COVID-19 vaccination clinics for ages 5 – 11 on Friday, November 5 and Saturday, November 6 at their COVID Resource Center at 982 Mansion Drive in Bennington. The clinics are only for children. Children must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. Scheduled appointments are preferred, and a limited supply will be available for walk-ins. The supply of vaccine available during this first allocation is limited through the state of Vermont and federal government. A small number of doses are reserved for walk-ins. An additional allocation is expected to be available to patients starting Wednesday, November 17.

Vermont Business Magazine The Robert Larner, MD College of Medicine at The University of Vermont has been awarded continued accreditation for a full eight-year term by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), the accrediting body for all MD degree programs in the US and Canada. The reaccreditation process is rigorous, involving 18 months of self-study organized by 12 standard areas of medical education containing 93 specific elements that are examined for compliance. At Larner, this work was accomplished by a task force and committee structure involving over 300 members of the College community. The self-study also includes a detailed survey of the medical student body, called the Independent Student Analysis, which is written and administered by the students themselves. After the self-study is submitted for review, the LCME conducts a site visit, typically over two or more days.

Vermont Business Magazine To commemorate its 30th Anniversary, Ledyard National Bank celebrated community partnerships by honoring ten local, non-profit organizations who serve the Concord, Lake Sunapee and Upper Valley regions. Participating organizations included The Concord Coalition to End Homelessness, Hartford Dismas House, The Friendly Kitchen, Good Neighbor Health Clinic, Lake Sunapee Region VNA & Hospice, LISTEN, New Hampshire Children’s Trust, Twin Pines Housing, The Upper Valley Haven and West Central Behavioral Health.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General TJ Donovan and Franklin County State’s Attorney Jim Hughes will host a free expungement tele-clinic on Friday, November 19, with appointments available from 10 am to 2 pm. Expungements wipe from your record specific convictions and dismissed charges after a certain period of time has passed. Under Vermont law, many misdemeanors, 14 different felony offenses, and all dismissed charges can be expunged. The free clinic will focus on expunging criminal charges and convictions from Franklin County and will be open to the public by telephone appointment.

Stowe Community Fund A group of local business and community leaders announced today the launch of the Stowe Community Fund, a permanent philanthropic asset designed to build upon and evolve the work of the Stowe C19 General Relief Fund that was established to meet essential needs of our community throughout the COVID19 pandemic. Specifically, the Stowe Community Fund will honor donor intent for gifts previously designated to continue the essential needs work that ensured the people of this community remained food secure and healthy throughout the pandemic, while evolving that work over time into a broader effort to meet further needs of the workers and families of this community, as well as the broader aspirations of the community at large.

Vermont Business Magazine With the decision late today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to approve COVID-19 vaccination for children ages 5 to 11, Governor Phil Scott, the Agency of Human Services and the Department of Health announced that, starting at 8 am Wednesday, November 3, parents and caregivers can register their eligible children to receive the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health is reporting today that COVID-19 cases remained under 200, as case counts have fluctuated for several weeks. COVID cases were 168 today, up five from Monday. The CDC late Tuesday approved vaccines for children 5-11. The state will allow parents to sign up their kids at 8 am Wednesday morning, with doses being available as early as Thursday.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont.), chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, Tuesday issued the following statement on the changes to the state and local tax deduction proposed to be included in the reconciliation bill: “According to media reports, Democratic negotiators are working on a repeal of the SALT deduction cap for up to five years, which would cost $475 billion and give the richest 5% $400 billion in tax cuts. As a result, the top 1% would pay lower taxes after passage of the Build Back Better plan than they did after the Trump tax cut in 2017. This is beyond unacceptable."