Current News

by Laura Sibilia & Katherine Sims For the last twenty years, our public education system has overtaxed and underfunded schools in Vermont’s rural and poor towns. According to the Pupil Weighting Factors Report commissioned by the legislature to study equity in Vermont's Education Funding Formula, we incentivize spending less on students who cost more to educate and more on students who cost less to educate. Over the past 20 years, this has resulted in fewer opportunities and increased costs for poor and rural schools and higher taxes for Vermonters.

Public Assets Institute, Montpelier The number of unemployed workers in Vermont dropped by more than 50 percent from April to July. That decline, from nearly 58,000 to just over 28,000, made Vermont one of 10 states where the number of unemployed in July was down by more than half from their peaks. But not all of those Vermonters found jobs. During the same period the number of people employed rose by only 17,600, meaning that the total labor force shrank by over 12,000.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott announced Friday a proposal for an additional $133 million in economic relief and recovery initiatives, using funds from the $1.25 billion the state received from the Federal CARES Act. Funding would support expanded economic recovery grants, targeted relief to tourism and hospitality industries, $150 worth of 'Buy Local' incentives for every Vermont household, and economic development and tourism marketing funding.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) is leading a bicameral amicus brief in OA v Trump at the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, seeking to preserve the DC District Court’s decision to strike down President Trump’s plainly illegal ban on all asylum claims outside of ports of entry. Leahy’s previous amicus brief helped the plaintiff asylum seekers convince the lower court to strike down President Trump’s illegal ban.

Vermont Business Magazine Caledonia Spirits, the Vermont-based distiller that uses raw northern honey to make its flagship spirits Barr Hill Gin, Tom Cat Gin, and Barr Hill Vodka, announced Thursday that its popular “Bee’s Knees Week” initiative will have a new look in 2020. Held every September, Bee’s Knees Week has traditionally raised money for organizations that work to protect bees, but this year the format will be built around planting bee habitat to ensure that pollinators are able to continue playing their crucial role in our environment.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Art Council announces the 15 recipients of its most sought-after award, the Creation Grant, which supports Vermont artists in creating new work. Among this year’s winning proposals are works that span visual arts, literary arts, dance, music, circus arts, and multidisciplinary fields, including a poetry collection about growing up as a Korean American adoptee in rural Vermont; a solo dance show integrating aerial work and nonbinary, disabled identity; and several works that explore climate change.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today announced his proposal for an additional $133 million in economic relief and recovery, using funds from the $1.25 billion the state received from the Federal CARES Act. As with previous proposals the governor and his administration will work with the legislature to bring further relief to Vermonters and Vermont businesses.

Vermont Business Magazine A resident of Helen Porter Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in Middlebury has tested positive for COVID-19. The facility has notified residents, family members of residents and staff of the case, which was discovered as a result of a facility-wide Phase 1 testing initiative as prescribed by the Vermont Department of Health. The resident is asymptomatic at this time and is in quarantine, as are employees who came in contact with the resident.

The Vermont Agency of Human Services also reported today a case of CVOID-19 at the Wake Robin retirement community in Shelburne.

Both facilities are going through systemwide testing, said AHS Secretary Mike Smith.

Vermont Business Magazine Health Commissioner Mark Levine, MD, reminded Vermonters at a press conference Friday that now — in the two weeks leading up to school reopening — is the time to do all the right things so that schools will be safe. Continue to follow health guidance and think twice about fitting in a family trip or gathering before school start, and carefully considering the risks of all your activities. Also, the VDH reported today that there were four new cases of COVID-19, three hospitalized and related deaths are holding at 58. Vermont has the fewest number of cases, the lowest per capita rate and the lowest positivity rate of any state.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General TJ Donovan today announced the completion of the investigation of alleged fraudulent conduct by Chief George Merkel of the Vergennes Police Department regarding overtime payments from the Governor’s Highway Safety Program (GHSP). The Attorney General’s Office is declining to prosecute Chief Merkel for false reporting as there is no evidence to suggest that Chief Merkel acted with intent to defraud the GHSP. In reaching this decision, the Office reviewed all of the materials provided by the Vermont State Police (VSP), who conducted the investigation.

Vermont Business Magazine The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced today $42.4 million in direct assistance grants to 221 fire departments nationwide through the agency’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program. Included among them are Middletown Springs in Rutland County that will get $115,000 and South Strafford in Orange County that will get $80,000. Additional phases will soon be announced by FEMA.

The Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program includes grants to the following fire departments in Vermont:

Vermont Business Magazine Quidel Corporation, a provider of rapid diagnostic testing solutions, announced today that it has completed its investigation regarding a report of discordant results (False Positives) at a testing location in Manchester, Vermont, and found no testing site- or product-related issues with the Sofia 2 instrument or the Sofia SARS Antigen FIA. The Vermont Department of Health later found that only four of the 65 positive antigen results for COVID-19 tested positive using the state's subsequent PCR test. Quidel disputed the VDH's PCR results.