Current News
by tim
Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Natural Resources Council and Center for Biological Diversity sued Vermont’s Agency of Natural Resources today for refusing to require the Brandon-Leicester-Salisbury-Goshen-Pittsford Insect Control District to apply for permission to harm five threatened and endangered Vermont bat species. The Insect Control District sprays the toxic insecticides malathion and permethrin for mosquito control in the habitat of the Indiana bat, northern long-eared bat, little brown bat, eastern small-footed bat and tricolored bat, all of which are protected by Vermont’s Protection of Endangered Species Act.
by tim
Vermont Business Magazine The Small Business Administration Vermont District Office is reminding Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) borrowers to submit their "forgiveness" paperwork. If borrowers do not apply for forgiveness within 10 months after the last day of the covered period, then PPP loan payments are no longer deferred, and borrowers will begin making loan payments to their PPP lender.
by tim
Vermont Business Magazine As the production of single-use plastic increases, many businesses want to do their part by contributing to recycling efforts for hard to recycle items, including plastic #4 low-density polyethylene (LDPE), also known as plastic film. In 2017 alone, the United States produced 8 billion tons of LDPE. Currently, there is no curbside or pick-up recycling program for plastic film in Chittenden County, leaving the hundreds of businesses in Vermont’s densest commercial region without an option to recycle.
by tim
Vermont Business Magazine Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont has named David Yoo as the company’s new Chief Information Officer. He comes to Vermont from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana. “How do we encourage better patient engagement and better access to care? We can support our members through safer, more accessible, and more consistent data exchange between their health plan and their providers.”
by tim
by Bill Schubart During the Pandemic, Governor Scott has been an exemplary crisis leader. Now is the time for him to escalate his leadership and require vaccinations and public masking of all Vermonters until the delta variant spike has subsided. I can hear howls about freedom from the left and the right, but freedom is never absolute in a democracy as many would like to believe. Freedom has commensurate responsibilities to community.
by tim
Vermont Agency of Agriculture Food & Markets We don’t know about you but with the cancellation of fairs last year, we’re more excited than ever for this year’s Fairs and Field Days season. With the 84.7% of eligible Vermonters (and counting!) who have started the vaccine process, residents from every county are getting out and rewarding themselves with the excitement and traditions of Fairs and Field Days.
by tim
by Mike Donoghue, Correspondent, Vermont Business Magazine A defense lawyer said he plans to argue for no prison time for embattled former Jay Peak president William J Stenger after he pleaded guilty in federal court Friday to making false statements during a failed effort to build a biotechnology plant in Newport with use of EB-5 money. Stenger, 72, could face up to 5 years in prison when sentenced in US District Court, but defense lawyer Brooks McArthur said his client was victimized by two co-defendants, Ariel Quiros and William Kelly, both from Florida. McArthur called Quiros and Kelly, career con men and fraudsters and said both took advantage of Stenger, who is from Newport.
by tim
Vermont State Police On Sunday at approximately 1515 hours, an aircraft experiencing mechanical issues made an emergency landing in a field in Richmond, between I-89 and US RT 2. The aircraft made a safe, controlled landing with no injuries.
by katie
In June Central VT Habitat for Humanity, an affordable housing non-profit, hosted a children’s poster design contest where we invited kids in grades k-6 to submit artwork that showed what “home” looks like to them. From an adult perspective homeownership is often thought of as a financial asset, but as we learned from these children home means much more than that. Home is family, it is a place full of memories, and quite succinctly “home is the best place ever!”
Contestants drew, painted, and used a computer to make their art and to show us what home means to them. Each of the artists received 4 tickets for them and their families to attend the Vermont Mountaineers baseball game which were generously donated by the Mountaineers.
by katie
Vermont Business Magazine We’ve all spent a lot of time in our pajamas in the last 16 months since the pandemic began. Children are getting ready for in-school learning, which makes this back-to-school shopping season unique and historic. Gone are the days of lounging in front of virtual classrooms in well-worn t-shirts and sweats. Kids are ready to show off their personalities to the world, and they long outgrew the clothes from the 2019 school year. There’s no better place to find unique outfits and distinctive school supplies than at Goodwill.
by tim
by John McClaughry A current case before the Public Utility Commission (PUC) may illustrate how that regulatory board has become an unaccountable fourth branch of government, dedicated to accelerating the current preoccupation with defeating the Menace of Climate Change. The case in point is a developer’s application to install a 500kw solar farm on Richville Road in Manchester. As an energy generation project, it falls under the jurisdiction of the PUC.
by tim
Vermont Agency of Transportation This weekly report is a list of planned construction activities that will have traffic impacts on state highways throughout Vermont starting August 16. Please remember to drive safely in all work zones. Lives depend on it.