Current News

Vermont Business Magazine At its meeting Monday night, the Burlington City Council approved the Mayor’s Fiscal Year 2022 budget unanimously by an 11-0 vote. The $87.5 million budget goes into effect July 1. Mayor Miro Weinberger said it continues the administration’s track record of responsibly stewarding the city’s finances while making new investments in equity, climate, and the economy. It also includes a municipal tax rate of $0.67, which is about 4 percent higher than the current year, but a lower rate than initially proposed because of a recent increase in property values. The goal was to return spending to pre-pandemic levels.

UVM Police has received multiple reports of burglary on the UVM Campus that occurred over the weekend of 6/26- 6/27/2021. Offices in Coolidge Hall and the Patrick Gymnasium were burglarized during this period. Taken from the athletic complex were several digital movie cameras used for broadcasting UVM athletic events, and other miscellaneous camera equipment.

by John McClaughry Two weeks ago I wrote a column on “The Vermont Proposition”, a product of 22 “rural summits” organized by the largely Federally-funded Vermont Council on Rural Development. While paying my respects to its authors – “well written, earnest, sometimes cogent, and in places inspiring” - I expressed considerable skepticism about such “vision statements”.

Many of the desired outcomes developed in the 26-page document are certainly worthwhile. Uniting to put an end to what racism may still exist is unarguable. Expanding economic opportunity, developing human capital, fostering innovation, creating jobs and creating a tax structure that encourages people to invest in Vermont are worthy goals, so long as the Vision stops short of using government to underwrite crony capitalism for favored people and businesses.

Having said that, the Vermont Proposition is open to considerable criticism.

Vermont Business Magazine Southwestern Vermont Health Care’s (SVHC) Medical Matters Weekly with Dr. Trey Dobson, a weekly interactive, multi-platform medical-themed talk show, will feature Nicholas Weinberg, MD, an emergency physician at Dartmouth-Hitchcock and a member of the organization’s Wilderness and Austere Medicine Fellowship faculty, on its June 30 program. The show will air live at noon.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today announced that he has appointed Don Rendall as the interim chair of the Natural Resources Board (NRB). The appointment comes following the resignation of Diane Snelling as chair, which is effective July 2. Rendall will serve as interim chair until a permanent replacement is identified. Governor Scott has asked Rendall to ensure that there is a stable transition, assess current operations and systems, and to recommend improvements and other considerations for a permanent replacement.

Vermont Business Magazine Burlington Electric Department (BED) expects to issue a peak alert for tomorrow/Tuesday, June 29 as part of its Defeat the Peak program launched during summer 2017, encouraging members of the Burlington community to reduce their energy usage tomorrow from 4-7 pm BED tomorrow may issue a peak alert for Wednesday as well.

The Vermont State Police is investigating the accidental death of a painter working at home in Underhill on Monday, June 28, 2021. The incident was reported shortly after 9 am when emergency responders received a call that the victim had fallen about 30 feet from a ladder near the top of a three-story home.. First responders from the fire department notified the Vermont State Police of the incident at about 10 am. Subsequent investigation determined that the victim, Carlton Bernard Jones, 58, of Burlington, was part of a small work crew hired to paint the home and lost his footing on the ladder.

Vermont Business Magazine When Scott Fleishman joined Gifford Health Care in Randolph this month as a communications specialist, he brought with him several major accomplishments from 20 years in the broadcasting industry. However, last weekend Fleishman achieved a first-time honor that rivals his other achievements. He won a New England Emmy for Human Interest reporting. Fleishman spent 11 years as a sports and news reporter at WCAX-TV in Burlington before leaving in mid-June.

Vermont Business Magazine Today the Department of Financial Regulation (DFR) released a report examining the ongoing impact that climate change is having on Vermonters and the insurance companies that provide them coverage. The report was completed in conjunction with, and based on original research conducted by, Northview Weather, LLC, a Vermont weather modeling and forecasting firm with expertise in extreme weather events.

Vermont Business Magazine The American Red Cross continues to experience a severe blood shortage that is negatively affecting blood product availability across the country. Donors of all blood types – especially type O and those giving platelets – are urged to make an appointment to give now and help ensure hospital shelves are stocked with blood products over the Fourth of July holiday and beyond.

Vermont Business Magazine John Van Hoesen, the longtime news and content leader at Vermont Public Radio, widely known in the Vermont journalism world as JVH, has announced his retirement after 20 years at VPR. Van Hoesen, the senior vice president and chief content officer at VPR, came to the station in 2001, when he was asked to develop a full-time professional news department. That first step led to the creation of local newscasts throughout the day, the weekday news magazine Vermont Edition, podcasts like Brave Little State and But Why, the creation of a digital-first news team, documentaries and special programs, and new local programs like “Safe & Sound.”

Vermont Business Magazine The 2021 Legislative Session resulted in appropriations of $168.8 million in state and federal funds to the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board. Governor Scott signed the budget, allotting $14.8 million in base funding for VHCB and $154 million in supplemental funding including from the federal American Rescue Plan Act State Fiscal Recovery Fund (ARPA-SFR). VHCB will also receive $9.8 million in ARPA funding from HUD through the federal HOME Program targeted to housing those experiencing homelessness during the pandemic.