Current News
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Vermont Business Magazine To offset the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, Vermont arts and humanities organizations can again apply for emergency relief funding through the Vermont Arts Council and Vermont Humanities. A total of $1.2 million in grants seeded by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and funded through the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) were made available starting June 21 through the new Covid-19 Cultural Recovery Grant Program co-administered by the Vermont Arts Council and Vermont Humanities.
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Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott has appointed Delaney Courcelle of Rutland to serve on the Vermont Commission on Women, the state’s non-partisan commission working to advance rights and opportunities for women and girls. Courcelle is a senior majoring in Business Administration at the University of Vermont’s Grossman School of Business. Excelling at coursework concentrations in entrepreneurship and finance, she is the recipient of this year's Major Junius Adair Award for Excellence in Finance.
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Vermont Business Magazine UVM Health Network - Home Health & Hospice completed its 2021 Virtual Fun Run recently, raising $60,000 to benefit the McClure Miller Respite House. The weeklong event, held May 7-14, included support from members of the community, Home Health & Hospice staff and volunteers, and a broad range of community partners.
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by Mike Smith, Secretary of the Agency of Human Services Vermont's response to serving the homeless during the pandemic has been recognized as a national model. The Agency of Human Services is now working hard to ensure the needs of Vermont's homeless households continue to be met as we emerge from the pandemic. Unfortunately, recent reporting regarding changes to the state's emergency housing program did not fully capture this work and barely touched on the historic investments to support the homeless as we move into the recovery phase from the public health emergency caused by COVID-19.
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Vermont Business Magazine Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital (NVRH) and Umbrella have announced the recipients of the NEK Prevention Center of Excellence Grant (NEK-PCE) program’s sub-awards. The awards were granted to local partners whose missions support substance misuse prevention.
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Vermont Business Magazine On Thursday, June 2nd, IndieReader, one of the original review services for self, hybrid and independently published authors, announced the winners of the tenth annual IndieReader Discovery Awards for 2021. The Violin Family published by Rootstock Publishing of Montpelier, Vermont, and written by Melissa Perley of Berlin, Vermont, won in the children’s category.
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Vermont Business Magazine The American Lung Association in Vermont announced that it will host its first-ever Virtual Fight For Air Climb Vermont, beginning on July 1, 2021, and lasting through September 1, 2021. The Climb will operate as a virtual-only event to support research, advocacy, and education for lung diseases, lung cancer, and COVID-19 with a fundraising goal of raising over $10,000.
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Vermont Business Magazine Southwestern Vermont Health Care’s (SVHC) Medical Matters Weekly with Dr Trey Dobson, a weekly interactive, multiplatform medical-themed talk show, will feature Meghan Gunn, MD, chair of the Department of Pediatrics at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC), on its June 23 program. The show will air at noon, and Gunn will offer her insights about COVID-19 vaccines for children.
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Vermont Business Magazine The White River Junction US Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) Police Department’s K9 Ripp will receive a bullet and stab protective vest thanks to a charitable donation from non-profit organization Vested Interest in K9s, Inc. K9 Ripp’s vest will be embroidered with the sentiment “Born to Love-Trained to Serve-Loyal Always.” Delivery is expected within eight to 10 weeks.
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by Rob Roper In a study released in the fall of 2020, State Auditor Doug Hoffer reported that Vermont’s healthcare costs had increased by 167% between 2000 and 2018. Keep in mind that those years saw a number of “reforms” that promised to reduce costs while increasing access and quality, including Catamount Health, Green Mountain Care (the failed attempt at single payer), and the latest debacle that is OneCare Vermont. All of these programs shared some common characteristics: they were all top-down, government centered, and bureaucratic.
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Vermont Business Magazine Vermont State Auditor Doug Hoffer released an analysis of State spending to operate the All-Payer ACO Model, and the financial performance of the model from its inception in 2017 through 2019. When including the operating costs, OneCare’s estimated net Medicaid financial performance for those years collectively is a minus $25.6 million.
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Vermont Business Magazine Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Monday called on Senate Republicans to join bipartisan negotiations on the Security Supplemental to address the fallout from the January 6 insurrection. It has been 166 days since the January 6 attack, and 32 days since the House passed an emergency supplemental. Without Senate action, the Capitol Police will run out of funding sometime in August. And without Senate action, the National Guard, which provided protection to the Capitol after the attack of January 6, will have to begin cutting training in August.