Current News

Vermont Business Magazine At Community Bank NA, the safety and comfort of our customers, employees and communities will always remain our top priority. Community Bank has been closely monitoring updates and recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and local, state and national authorities about the evolving situation of COVID-19 (coronavirus). The bank has made the proactive decision to close all branch lobbies and operate solely through available drive-thrus, starting November 25. All branch lobbies will be available by appointment only, including locations with and without drive-thrus.

Vermont Business Magazine KW Vermont has announced it will donate more than $10,000 to local Vermont food shelves to feed those in need this holiday season. With the collective donations of KW Vermont’s 170+ agents & admin staff, the company was able to raise enough money to help approximately 1,000 Vermont families in just 72 hours.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health today reported 49 new cases of COVID-19 and confirmed that another person has died from it for a statewide total of 64. “I know what we are telling Vermonters to do right now — to give up spending time with friends and family members — is difficult,” Dr. Levine said. “And I also know how ‘done’ we all are with this pandemic. But the fact is, Thanksgiving could make things a lot worse for us here in Vermont. The virus doesn’t operate any differently just because we want to keep up traditions. As soon as we travel, get together with others, and let down our guard, we risk opening the floodgates even wider — at a time when we really need to keep them closed.”

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General TJ Donovan today announced that Georgia-based retailer The Home Depot, Inc. will pay the State of Vermont $354,000 as part of a $17.5M settlement with a coalition of attorneys general of 45 other states and the District of Columbia. The settlement announced today resolves a multistate investigation of a 2014 data breach that exposed the payment card information of approximately 40 million Home Depot consumers nationwide. In addition to the $17.5M payment to the states, Home Depot has agreed to implement and maintain a series of data security practices designed to strengthen its information security program and safeguard the personal information of consumers.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General TJ Donovan today announced that his office concluded its review of the officer-involved shooting that occurred on July 8, 2020, in Rutland, Vermont. The Attorney General’s Office is declining to prosecute Rutland City Police Department Officer Tyler Billings, who was responsible for the non-fatal shooting of Michael Goodnough, 45, Rutland, Vermont. Based on the facts and circumstances, and consistent with Vermont law, the Attorney General’s Office has concluded that the actions of Officer Billings were justified.

Vermont Business Magazine Opioid company Purdue Pharma LP pleaded guilty today in federal court in Newark, New Jersey, to conspiracies to defraud the United States and to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute. Purdue pleaded guilty to an Information charging it with three felony offenses: one count of dual-object conspiracy to defraud the United States and to violate the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and two counts of conspiracy to violate the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute. The Vermont investigation revealed that, from April 2016 through December 2016, Purdue made nearly $1 million in payments to Practice Fusion, Inc., an electronic health records company, in exchange for Practice Fusion installing a prompt in its software intending to cause doctors to refer, recommend, and arrange for the ordering of Purdue’s extended release opioid products – OxyContin, Butrans, and Hysingla.

​Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Labor has received multiple reports of fraudulent communications relating to unemployment insurance benefits being sent to Vermonters. The Department reminds Vermonters filing for UI to be diligent in preventing fraud and to report any potential fraud to the Department of Labor and Attorney General’s Office. On Monday and early Tuesday morning, the Department received information detailing two different communications in which the senders fraudulently state that ‘eligible workers’ could ‘receive COVID-19 Benefits’ from ‘the Department of Labor’.

Vermont Business Magazine The Washington County Substance Abuse Regional Partnership (WCSARP) today announced that they have tapped Eva Zaret to run the partnership’s new $1 million, three-year “Building Safe Harbor in Central Vermont” project intended to increase access to affordable treatment for substance abuse in Central Vermont while learning about new challenges presented by COVID-19.

Vermont Business Magazine Land along three miles of the Missisquoi River and its tributaries, as well as 50 acres of wetlands, have been protected the Vermont Land Trust and The Nature Conservancy announced today. This is the latest in an ongoing effort by the two organizations to improve water quality in Vermont’s rivers that are a priority for clean water, biodiversity, and resilience to climate change. The Missisquoi and its tributaries are a state-recognized priority for clean water efforts because they are impaired, lack forested buffers along the water’s edge, and have high phosphorus levels.

by Jill Mazza Olson, Executive Director, VNAs of Vermont November is Home Care and Hospice Month, a time to celebrate the work of home health and hospice agencies. Usually it’s an opportunity to remind the public about the critical role home health and hospice agencies play in “normal” times—providing high quality health care at home, preserving the independence of individuals who would otherwise be in nursing homes and supporting individuals and their loved ones at the end of life. This November, I’d like to highlight the role of home health and hospice agencies in the pandemic response. It’s been an honor to watch home health and hospice agencies serve Vermonters throughout the pandemic—including people who are known to be COVID-19 positive.

Public Assets Institute The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed deep-rooted structural inequalities in the US Immense, historic, and racialized inequity in health and health care and the near-invisible “essential workers” who make everyone’s daily lives possible. Who is “essential?” Who is invisible? What rights do people have to safety and dignity in the workplace? Who is considered expendable? These issues are not new for people with disabilities, who have fought for access to employment and other civil and human rights for more than half a century.

Vermont Business Magazine Today the Vermont State Colleges System announced that the $2.3 million dollar Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) Workforce Initiative established by the state made free courses and trainings possible for 971 Vermonters. Many participants enrolled in multiple courses and a total of 1,398 classes and trainings are being taken this fall across all four institutions – Castleton University, the Community College of Vermont, Northern Vermont University, and Vermont Technical College – thanks to the investment in this initiative by the State.