Current News

Vermont Business Magazine US Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) Vermont seniors — please join me for a virtual town hall this Thursday, December 17th at 5 pm. While we can’t be together in person this year for our annual senior holiday dinners, this town hall is a way for us to gather virtually. It will be an opportunity for me to share an update from Congress and hear from you about issues of importance to you. You can share your thoughts on the current pandemic, issues that impact your daily life like the high cost of prescription drugs and the importance of social security.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, several frontline staff at the University of Vermont Medical Center were the first Vermonters to receive the approved Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. With the sooner than anticipated arrival of the vaccine in Vermont, UVM Medical Center, its UVM Health Network affiliates, and hospitals across the state are working as quickly as possible to ramp up vaccination clinics ahead of schedule. Initial vaccination efforts will continue in a phased manner for health care workers employed at the hospital and in the community, as well as first responders considered to be at higher risk for exposure.

Vermont Business Magazine The UVM Medical Center will be livestreaming the first Vermonter receiving the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine today at 2 p.m. UVM Health Network President and CEO John Brumsted, MD, UVM Medical Center President and COO Stephen Leffler, MD, and, Vermont Agency of Human Services Secretary Mike Smith will deliver remarks.

Vermont Business Magazine This ski season, Stratton and Sugarbush Resorts are thinking green – for the sake of its visitors’ health and planet health. Considering the COVID-19 pandemic, skiers today are placing a heightened importance on hygiene and are actively looking for transparency and trust in the standard of sanitation in all aspects of their experience – from the lodge to the chairlifts. Stratton and Sugarbush Resorts are taking cleaning and disinfecting protocols seriously with Seventh Generation’s professional line of bio-based cleaning and disinfectant products.

Vermont Business Magazine The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated that Torrie Smith, 31, was sentenced to five years imprisonment by US District Court Judge William K Sessions III. Smith previously pled guilty to possession with intent to distribute, heroin, cocaine, and crack cocaine. Judge Sessions also sentenced Smith to a four-year term of federal supervised release, which will begin after Smith completes his five-year prison term. At the time of his arrest, in April 2019, Smith resided in both Manchester, Vermont and Hartford Connecticut.

According to court records, on three separate instances, law enforcement seized significant quantities of drugs from cars in which Smith was either driving or was a passenger:

by John McClaughry Now, with the legislature overriding Gov. Phil Scott’s veto of the Global Warming Solutions Act, the new Vermont Climate Council is in business. It has eight ex officio members from the current administration, plus fifteen citizens chosen by the legislative leadership that engineered the veto override. Interestingly, three of the four legislative leaders who made those appointments will no longer be in state government.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont received the first 1,950 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine Monday morning. This is the first portion of the 5,850 doses coming to Vermont this week. The State Vaccine Depot and the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington each received 975 doses at approximately 8 am today. The VDH also reported today that the novel coronavirus has resulted in 96 deaths and 5,857 infected, with 104 of those recorded today.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today announced the arrival in Vermont of the first 1,950 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. This is the first portion of the 5,850 doses coming to Vermont this week. The State Vaccine Depot and the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington each received 975 doses at approximately 8 am today. The doses were sent as part of the initial nationwide shipments that followed the Emergency Use Authorization for the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine issued by the FDA on December 12.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General TJ Donovan, Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger, Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George, Vermont State Police, and the Burlington Police Department today announced the conclusion of their criminal investigation into the former St Joseph’s Orphanage in Burlington. No charges will be brought involving the Orphanage, which closed in 1974. Due to the statutes of limitation, which limit the timeframe during which criminal charges can be brought by the state, only the crime of murder would have been prosecutable due to the passage of time since the events of the allegations. Sufficient evidence to support a murder charge was not found. This concludes an investigation that began in September of 2018. A nearly 300-page report describing the allegations, investigation, and the St. Joseph’s Orphanage Restorative Inquiry was released today.

Vermont State Police Investigators have developed additional information about this incident: Responding to a 911 call reporting the wrong-way driver on the interstate, Vermont State Police Trooper Ryan Miller stopped his fully marked state police Ford Explorer cruiser, with lights and siren activated, blocking part of the northbound travel lane of I-91 in the area of mile marker 16. The vehicle traveling south in the northbound lane subsequently struck the cruiser, which sustained only minor damage. Trooper Miller was uninjured. He then crossed to the southbound lanes and continued to follow the wrong-way driver on the other side of the highway.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today announced that the State of Vermont was named the International Domicile of the Year by the European Captive Review. The award is given to the top captive insurance domicile in the world outside of the European Union that has outperformed competitors and demonstrated excellence in servicing the European captive insurance marketplace. Vermont received the recognition at a virtual awards ceremony hosted in late November by the Captive Review Magazine, a trade journal headquartered in London.

Vermont Business Magazine Today Vermont Secretary of State Jim Condos announced the official results of the electoral college votes cast for United States President and Vice President by Vermont’s electors. The meeting of the electors was held at 10am in the House Chamber of the Vermont State House.