Current News

Vermont Business Magazine When it comes to profitability, energy efficiency counts. Inefficient lighting, ventilation, and equipment not only hike up energy bills; they also sap employee production and hurt customer experience.

Vermont Business Magazine The largest Button Up Vermont weatherization campaign ever is winding down this week, but Vermonters will benefit from the impacts of the campaign for years to come. The collaboration brought together towns, energy organizations, and energy service providers to provide resources to help Vermonters save money and energy on home heating through weatherization.

Vermont Attorney General TJ Donovan I found the article published yesterday in Seven Days, “Guarded Secrets: Claims of Sexual Misconduct, Drug Use Plague a Vermont Prison for Women,” deeply disturbing. The behavior described is reprehensible, and Vermont’s inmates deserve better. I support the Governor’s directive to his Agency of Human Services Secretary Mike Smith for an investigation of the Department of Corrections. I will offer my assistance in my role as Attorney General to Secretary Smith. While the Department of Corrections is under the Governor’s authority, we should all be concerned for the safety and dignity of those who are in the custody of the Department of Corrections.

Vermont Business Magazine Late Wednesday afternoon, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved legislation to crack down on unwanted and predatory robocalls. The House vote was 417-3. The Senate is expected to approve the bill in the near future and send it to the desk of President Trump for his expected signature. “Vermonters are fed up with intrusive robocalls that are annoying at best and predatory at worst,” said Welch. “These calls often originate from scam artists intent on ripping off unsuspecting consumers, particularly seniors. This bill gives the FCC the tools it needs to be the cop on the beat to go after these bad actors.”

Vermont Business Magazine US Senators Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, and Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, Thursday asked for an ethics investigation of Attorney General William Barr’s decision to approve an illegal mass surveillance program by the Drug Enforcement Administration in a letter to the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility. Barr approved the DEA program in 1992, during his first stint as attorney general, without conducting any analysis of whether it was legal, according to an Inspector General report released earlier this year. The vast surveillance program swept up billions of phone records over more than 20 years, using subpoenas that were never reviewed by a judge.

Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy It has been 810 days since Hurricane Maria destroyed the homes, businesses and lives of countless American citizens of Puerto Rico, and for 810 days President Trump and his administration have been dragging their feet on delivering aid that the island desperately needs.  Implementing appropriations passed by Congress and signed into law is not optional. It is not left to the whims of a President who holds a petty political grudge against the American people of Puerto Rico. 

Vermont Business Magazine ISO New England, operator of New England’s power system, expects the region to have the necessary resources this winter to meet consumer demand under both normal and extreme temperatures. Consumer demand is expected to peak at 20,476 megawatts (MW) under normal weather conditions or 21,173 MW at extreme temperatures.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott has named Judge William “Bill” Cohen of Rutland to the Vermont Supreme Court after serving 20 years as a Superior Court judge with distinction. Cohen will be sworn into office by Governor Scott in a ceremony later this month. He replaces former Associate Justice Marilyn Skoglund, who retired in September. Cohen grew up in Rutland and was educated through the Rutland public school system. He graduated Rutland High School in 1975, followed by a year as a chair lift operator for Killington Mountain Resorts. He then went on to obtain a BA in Environmental Science from George Washington University, and a JD from Vermont Law School. 

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) worked with local financial institutions to fund affordable homes that will be sold to low- and moderate-income Vermonters. Passumpsic Bank, Mascoma Bank, Union Mutual Insurance, Community National Bank, and Union Bank invested in Vermont Affordable Housing Tax Credits available through VHFA. Sale of the credits has raised roughly $2.5 million for affordable housing.

The Vermont State Police are identifying the two troopers who fired their patrol rifles as Robert Helm and Matthew Hood. They are both assigned to the New Haven Barracks. Trooper Helm joined the Vermont State Police in 2014 as a trooper at the Derby Barracks. He transferred to the New Haven Barracks in September 2016, then worked on temporary assignment at the Rutland Barracks from November 2017 to February 2018 before returning to New Haven.

Vermont Business Magazine Not to be a grinch, but as we enter the holiday season, a time of giving and celebration, it’s sobering to remember that the amount of waste generated is staggering. That waste isn't limited to wrapping paper and packaging. It includes food waste as well.  According to Worldwatch Institute, Americans generate an extra five million tons of household waste each year between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, three times more food waste than at any other time of the year.