Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) today will hold another livestream conversation with Sens. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) to update the American people on the state of the government shutdown and discuss the devastating impact that the Republican health care cuts will have on everyday Americans. Last week’s livestream with these senators has been viewed nearly 1.2 million times across Sanders' social media platforms. 

Vermont Business Magazine The New England Rural Health Association (NERHA) has received a Notice of Award from the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (HRSA FORHP) for the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP), Northern Border Rural Workforce Grant. The award totals $1.6 million over four years and will support training, placement, and sustainability efforts to strengthen the behavioral health workforce across rural Vermont and New Hampshire. NERHA will lead the development of the Vermont/New Hampshire Rural Behavioral Health Workforce Training Network (VT/NH RBHWTN), a consortium designed to expand access to care for individuals with substance use disorders (SUD). 

Vermont State Police As search efforts continued Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025, for 62-year-old Rodney Davis of Wallingford, the Vermont State Police Search and Rescue Team located human remains in the woods at about 12:30 p.m. in the vicinity of Davis’ home on Nash Drive. Positive identification was unable to be made. The body was recovered and will be transported to the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington for an autopsy to confirm identity and determine the cause and manner of death.

Public Assets Institute Federal shutdown explainer: What’s at stake in a government shutdown and funding fight? Thousands of Vermonters risk layoffs and furlough and the impacts of the shutdown extend to the potential loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in appropriations for housing, agriculture, transportation, and more.  PLUS: Join us for an interactive briefing and Q&A on these two pressing issues on Wednesday, October 29th at noon or 7pm. Register for your preferred time to access the appropriate zoom link. We’ll record the conversation and send it out to those who register for either time slot.

Vermont Business Magazine From housing affordability to infrastructure resilience, the choices Vermont makes today will define its communities for decades. On Oct. 30, the state's development and business community will convene for the 11th Annual Vermont Development Conference (VDC), hosted by White + Burke Real Estate Advisors at Hotel Champlain. The conference will bring together more than 300 leaders in real estate, planning, finance, energy, construction, engineering, law, government and policy for a day of debate, dialogue and fresh ideas on Vermont’s most pressing challenges from the housing crisis to infrastructure investment.

Vermont State Police On Tuesday morning, the Vermont State Police were notified of a deceased man on the Missisquoi Valley Rail Trail near the intersection of White Road in the town of Enosburg. Troopers responded to the scene and located the deceased man along with an electric scooter down an embankment off the north side of the trail. The identity of the man is unknown at this time. 

Vermont State Police During continued search efforts Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 7, 2025, for missing 74-year-old boater David Maynard of Wilmington, a kayaker on Somerset Reservoir notified Vermont State Police auxiliary troopers of a body in the water. Crews responded to the area, recovered the body, and were able to make initial identification as Mr. Maynard. The body will be brought to the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington for an autopsy to confirm identity and determine the cause and manner of death. This incident does not appear to be suspicious. In addition to the first-response organizations listed below, participating agencies throughout the weeklong search included underwater recovery teams and aerial units from the Massachusetts and New York state police.

Vermont Business Magazine The Attorney General’s Office announced that Caleb Devarney, 32, of St. Albans, Vermont, was sentenced yesterday in Vermont Superior Court, Franklin Criminal Division, after pleading guilty to three felony and two misdemeanor counts of Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material. The Court, Judge Elizabeth Novotny presiding, sentenced the defendant to three to five years in prison, all suspended under a 10-year term of probation. Conditions of Devarney’s probation include mandatory completion of sex offender programming, no contact with children under 18, and restricted access to the internet. If Devarney violates the terms of his probation, he faces up to five years in prison. Devarney is also required to register as a sex offender until 10 years have passed since the completion of his sentence.

Vermont Business Magazine At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing today, U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, grilled Attorney General (AG) Pam Bondi for her evasive answers and lack of transparency in response to questions about bribery allegations concerning Trump Border Czar Tom Homan. 

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) today released the following statement on the two-year anniversary of the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack in Israel:
"Today, we remember that two years ago, Hamas, a terrorist organization, stormed into Israel, murdering some 1,200 innocent men, women and children, taking hundreds of hostages, and engaging in horrific atrocities. The International Criminal Court was right to indict Hamas’ leaders as war criminals. Forty-eight of those hostages are still being held in Gaza. They must be released immediately. "Like any country suffering a terrorist attack, Israel had the absolute right to defend itself and go after Hamas. Tragically, however, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and his extremist government did not simply go to war against Hamas terrorists. Instead, they unleashed an all-out war against the entire Palestinian people. The horrors of that war cannot be overstated.

Vermont Business Magazine The Department for Children and Families (DCF) has implemented federally required changes to 3SquaresVT, Vermont’s name for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). These changes are required by federal law (H.R.1) and took effect October 1. Households began receiving individualized notices in September. The changes affect two main areas: (1) work requirements for some participants and (2) eligibility rules for certain non-citizens.

Governor Phil Scott For kids, the start of the school year is an exciting time, full of new experiences and making new friends. And, while the experience is similar for most, the opportunities they have are vastly different from school to school, district to district and region to region. The basic courses may be the same, but beyond the minimum, they vary widely. This holds true for Career and Technical Education centers, the arts, sports, and after-school programs, which results in a very real opportunity gap that is holding back far too many across the state. This gap has been growing for decades, and I’ve been sounding the affordability and equity alarm since I first ran for governor. We see it in our test scores in key areas like reading and math.