Current News

Vermont Research News In 2016, Vermont eliminated its personal belief exemption for the required vaccination of kindergartners. A recent study, which looks at the proportions of kindergartners with religious exemptions before and after 2016, finds that Vermont’s mean proportion of kindergartners with religious exemptions increased seven-fold after its elimination of personal belief exemptions. This data suggests that parents claim religious exemptions in the absence of a personal belief alternative.

Vermont Business Magazine Winter’s short days and long nights can be festive and busy and stressful and lonely all at the same time. With the first full day of winter officially on Sunday, December 22, it’s time to prepare for the changes that impact every one of us as well as our friends and family members. The shortest day and longest night of 2019 occurs on Saturday, December 21, the winter solstice, something we probably won’t even notice because there has been less and less sunlight each day since September.  

Community Health Behavioral Health Practice Leader Christopher Chadwick says there are many ways to manage the changes, and actually learn to enjoy the days of winter.

Vermont Business Magazine Over the past several years, Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC) has trained hundreds of people to become licensed nursing assistants (LNAs). Many have gone on to rewarding careers in the health system’s skilled nursing facilities, in the hospital’s inpatient units, or in the Emergency Department.

Vermont Business Magazine Unless otherwise noted, all Green Mountain Care Board meetings are held in the Pavilion Auditorium at 109 State Street, Montpelier: December 6; December 11; December 17; and December 18.

by John McClaughry In 2015, after literally more than a hundred years of intermittent trying, Vermont’s educational leadership succeeded in giving its bureaucracy the power and duty to force mergers of Vermont’s public schools into larger districts (Act 46).

After a cautious nudge in the direction of consolidation by Commissioner Richard Cate (2007), Commissioner (later the first Secretary) of Education Armando Vilaseca put his energy behind the drive that led to Act 46.

In his final appearance before the House Education Committee in 2013, Vilaseca said: “We don’t need 272 school districts.” A committee member inquired whether Vilaseca thought regionalization ought to be legislatively mandated. Vilaseca replied that school board members and superintendents told him “we’ll never do this ourselves. There has to be some sort of hammer.” 

Vermont Business Magazine Health Care and Rehabilitation Services (HCRS), southeastern Vermont’s community mental-health agency, recognized two community partners at its annual meeting on November 6. Each year, the non-profit agency honors community partners who exemplify the spirit of effective collaboration in order to support the mental health, substance abuse, and developmental disability needs of the community. This year, HCRS awarded Sara Kobylenski, Strategic Consultant for the Couch Family Foundation, and the Theatre Adventure Program of New England Youth Theatre, with their James Bartley Community Partnership Award.

Vermont Business Magazine Omni Resorts and Hotels has selected PC Construction to complete an approximately $20 million renovation to the historic Mount Washington Resort in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire. The project, which was designed by Bull Stockwell Allen, includes a 60,000-square-foot, four-story, 69-room hotel addition, complete with a guest lounge, public restrooms and a poolside grille, to the resort’s current 200-room footprint. PC Construction will also complete a conference center kitchen upgrade and extensive roof improvements featuring a new rooftop bar, patio, restrooms and landscaping.

Vermont Business Magazine The Henry P Kendall Foundation announced the University of Vermont and Norwich University, and food services provider Sodexo, as a 2019 New England Food Vision Prize award winner. The award competition is designed to encourage college and university campuses in the region to improve the health, sustainability and vitality of the region’s food system. 2019 marks the second annual round of $250,000 prizes. Food service leaders from the region’s 200 college and university campuses were invited to submit bold, collaborative, catalytic ideas to increase the amount of regionally produced food on campus menus.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today announced the appointment of 32 Vermonters to state boards and commissions. These appointments were each made during the month of November. Boards and commissions serve an important role in state government, giving Vermonters numerous opportunities to serve their state and communities. The Governor’s office is currently soliciting applications to fill vacancies and upcoming term expirations. All those interested in serving on a board or commission should visit the Governor’s website at http://governor.vermont.gov/boards-commissions to apply.

November appointments made by the Governor are listed below:

Governor's Emergency Preparedness Advisory Council

• Michael Leydon of Bristol

Vermont Developmental Disabilities Council

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont is ranked as one of the healthiest states, but Vermonters have one of the highest rates of marijuana use. Now that it’s legal in the state for adults 21 years or older to possess up to one ounce of cannabis, the Department of Health has launched Let’s Talk Cannabis, a web resource of science-based information aimed at increasing awareness about cannabis and how it affects our bodies, minds and health.

Vermont Business Magazine Blanche Podhajski, Ph.D., has announced that she will be leaving her position as President of the Stern Center on August 31, 2020, after 37 years of leadership. Dr. Podhajski formed the nonprofit organization in 1983 with a threefold mission to enhance learning through the provision of evaluations and direct instruction to individuals, professional learning for educators and physicians, and educational research.

Vermont Business Magazine On November 19, New Media Investment Group Inc, the owner of GateHouse media, and Gannett Company, Inc, the owner of the Burlington Free Press, announced the successful completion of the acquisition of Gannett by New Media for a combination of cash and stock. The deal was valued at about $1.38 billion when it was announced last August. While Gannett was the company acquired, the combined company will take the Gannett name and trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker: GCI. Gannett is based in McLean, VA.

GateHouse Media, based in Pittsford, NY, in recent years has been gobbling up weekly and small daily newspapers mostly in the Midwest and Northeast. It owns nearly every weekly in Eastern Massachusetts under the wickedlocal.com brand. The Free Press is the only Gannett paper in Vermont. The combined company eventually expects to save upwards of $300 million a year.