Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Clean Energy Development Fund (CEDF) at the Public Service Department announces a new program to help low-and moderate-income households in Windam County convert to wood pellet heating or to change out their old wood stove to a new, more efficient model. With these new incentives an income-qualified Windham County homeowner can receive: $800 for cord wood stoves and $1,200 for wood-pellet stoves; $15,000 for Low Income, and $12,000 for moderate income households to install a central pellet boiler or furnace.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today signed Executive Order 06-25, which aims to promote housing construction and rehabilitation and address Vermont’s severe housing shortage. The order addresses regulatory barriers and permitting requirements, energy code standards, and permitting costs associated with housing projects. The Executive Order includes detailed sections on housing policy, regulatory reform, permitting processes, environmental review, state land utilization, interagency coordination, brownfields redevelopment, and performance monitoring.

Vermont Business Magazine Wednesday afternoon around 3:15 PM, there was a report of a rental car on fire in the garage located on the second floor. Thanks to the rapid response of the South Burlington Fire Department, St. Michael’s Fire Department, and the Vermont National Guard Airport Fire and Rescue, the fire was quickly extinguished. There were no injuries, damage to other vehicles or to the structure of the parking garage. Airport operations were not impacted and the garage has re-opened.

Senator Bernie Sanders Hamas, a terrorist organization, began this war with its brutal attack on October 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 innocent people and took 250 hostages. Israel, as any other country, had a right to defend itself from Hamas. But, over the last two years, Israel has not simply defended itself against Hamas. Instead, it has waged an all-out war against the entire Palestinian people. Many legal experts have now concluded that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. The International Association of Genocide Scholars concluded that “Israel’s policies and actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide.” The Israeli human rights groups B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel have reached the same conclusion, as have international groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

Vermont Agency of Transportation Beginning at 7:00 AM on Thursday, September 18, 2025, VT Route 244 in Fairlee between Quinibeck Road and Fern Hill Lane will be closed to all traffic until 6:00 PM on Friday, September 19, 2025. The purpose of this closure is to replace a culvert in poor condition.  

Vermont Business Magazine John Boos & Co, a pioneer in the art of crafting wooden cutting boards and butcher blocks since 1887, has announced the addition of the JK Adams Company, a celebrated name in high-quality wooden kitchenware. Honoring each company’s longstanding history in the communities where they were founded, John Boos & Co. will retain the JK Adams' headquarters and staff in Dorset, Vermont, where the company has operated since 1944. The two companies will continue to operate independently, while expanding John Boos’ U.S. footprint, along with maintaining its headquarters in Effingham, IL, where it has been located since 1887.  

Vermont Business Magazine U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont) led a group of bicameral lawmakers in demanding answers from the U.S. Department of State about two violent attacks on American citizens. Senator Welch also met with families of five civilians killed and injured in the West Bank, including relatives of American-Turkish citizen Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, Palestinian-American Sayfollah Musallet, Palestinian-American teenagers Tawfic Abdel Jabbar and Mohammed Ibrahim, and American citizen Rachel Corrie. 

Vermont Business Magazine Special Olympics Vermont has announced that Albert D. Lawton Intermediate School (ADL), a school with Special Olympics Unified Champion School® programming, is receiving national banner recognition for its efforts to provide inclusive sports and activities for students with and without intellectual disabilities. ADL is receiving this distinguished status as a result of meeting 10 national standards of excellence in the areas of inclusion, advocacy, and respect. A national panel of leaders from Special Olympics and the education community developed these standards. Champlain Valley Union High School, first awarded national recognition in 2020, has been recognized again for their enduring commitment to inclusion. 

Vermont Business Magazine At a time when 60% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) have introduced the Tax Excessive CEO Pay Act to take on corporate greed and rein in the obscene salaries of America’s top executives. The legislation would raise taxes on corporations that pay their executives more than 50 times the wages of their workers. If Elon Musk receives the full $975 billion compensation package that Tesla’s board proposed, Tesla could owe up to $100 billion more in taxes over the next decade under this legislation.

Vermont Business Magazine The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Vermont stated that Kenneth Beane, 37, of Richmond, Vermont, has been charged by criminal complaint with Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Materials. On September 8, 2025, Beane appeared before United States Magistrate Judge Kevin J. Doyle. A detention hearing was held on September 9, 2025, during which the government requested Beane be held pending trial, due to his prior federal conviction for possession of child sexual abuse materials (CSAM) and his prior violations of release conditions that included unapproved contacts with minors. Magistrate Judge Doyle denied the government’s motion and ordered Beane released on conditions that included location monitoring, not having contact with children, and avoiding places where children are likely to congregate. 

Norwich University has announced that a B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, one of the most iconic aircraft in the world, will conduct a flyover just prior to the start of the Homecoming football game. The flyover will take place around 2 p.m. Saturday at Sabine Field. Norwich University extends its gratitude to the United States Air Force for granting this extraordinary flyover, a tribute that honors our alumni and celebrates our proud heritage as the birthplace of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC). 

Vermont Business Magazine Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), today delivered an opening statement at the committee's oversight hearing on the Trump administration’s decision to fire Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Dr. Susan Monarez and oust senior scientists. On July 31, Dr. Monarez was sworn in as our nation’s first Senate-confirmed Director of the CDC. At her swearing-in ceremony, Secretary Kennedy said: “Dr. Monarez is a public health expert with unimpeachable scientific credentials. I have full confidence in her ability to restore the CDC's role as the most trusted authority in public health and to strengthen our nation's readiness to confront infectious diseases and biosecurity threats.” That was what Secretary Kennedy said on July 31.