Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott took the following actions on bills between May 18, 2019 and May 28, 2019.

Vermont State Police On May 27^th 2019 at approximately 1056 hours, a collision occurred near the intersection of Rte. 7 and the Exit 16 southbound on ramp in the Town of Colchester.  A motorcycle, driven by a yet to be named operator, accelerated quickly north bound on Rte. 7 away from a Winooski Police vehicle and sped past a line of cars stopped at a red light. The motorcycle collided with the rear passenger side of a vehicle making a left turn onto the Interstate 89 southbound on ramp. The motorcyclist was thrown from the motorcycle and was later pronounce deceased at the University of Vermont Medical Center.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine The Jay Peak case is generating more litigation. This time around, the Jay Peak receiver Michael Goldberg has filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Receivership Entities (the many Jay Peak-related developments) alleging legal malpractice and breach of fiduciary duty against the law firm of Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp, LLP, a Los Angeles limited liability partnership, and Attorney David B Gordon.

by Timothy McQuiston & Brandon Arcari, Vermont Business Magazine Four individuals were charged with conspiring in a multi-year wire fraud scheme to defraud immigrant investors seeking green cards through the EB-5 program, among other charges. United States Attorney for the District of Vermont Christina E Nolan made the announcement May 22 while standing in the middle of the fraud's most visible failure, a demolished and abandoned weed-covered block in downtown Newport.

Vermont Business Magazine Lucky babies born May 29 at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital (BMH) will receive $100 deposits into Vermont 529 college savings accounts opened by the Vermont Student Assistance Corp. (VSAC). Plus, one lucky Vermonter – baby or not – will be chosen to receive $529 in a college savings account in an online month-long drawing. To enter, visit vsac.org or vheip.org between May 1 and May 31. 

Vermont Business Magazine The 18th annual Strolling of the Heifers Weekend, featuring a parade of future farmers leading flower-bedecked heifer calves through historic Main Street Brattleboro, Vermont takes place June 7, 8 and 9. Organizers promise many special surprises for the occasion. The centerpiece of the weekend is the world-famous Strolling of the Heifers Parade, which starts promptly at 10 am on Saturday, June 8. The signature heifer calves lead the parade and are followed by other farm animals, tractors, bands, floats and much more.

Vermont Business Magazine Attending the 34^th Annual Essex Memorial Day Parade on Saturday, Governor Phil Scott delivered a Memorial Day address. "...I often wonder if those soldiers, those young men, had any idea how much was at stake that day. I wonder if they felt the weight of what rested on their shoulders or if they had any concept of how that day would help end the war in less than a year – end genocide, liberate millions from oppression, and bring peace to Europe that continues to this day..."

Vermont Business Magazine The members of the Class of 2019, honored guests, family members, and friends enjoyed a quintessential spring morning in the rolling hills of Vermont as Middlebury College bid adieu to the 537 soon-to-be graduates at Commencement on Sunday, May 26. President Laurie L Patton welcomed more than 3,000 people gathered on the quadrangle between Old Chapel and Mead Chapel.

Vermont Business Magazine The White House announced that President Trump on Friday signed into law legislation authored by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont.) that permanently reauthorizes the lifesaving Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Program. Under an amendment offered in the Senate Judiciary Committee by the Senate bill’s lead cosponsor, Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC), the program now is named for Leahy, recognizing his role in authoring the program.

by Will Wootton When an independent Vermont undergraduate college closes, as Burlington College, Green Mountain College, St Joseph's College, and Southern Vermont College recently have, it is almost by definition – at least in Vermont – the death of a small rural institution of age whose roots were inseparable from those binding its entire community. Each was singular and each represented and always had an alternative to the ever increasing growth and homogenization of American undergraduate education. It’s a good thing they do, so why do they fail?

On the societal scale, simple demographics – the decline in the college age population – is to blame. You can point the finger at today’s students, who follow their friends – their networks - instead of their passions, to the closest university. Or, perhaps most popular, it’s the small college business model itself that has brought on this purging. What made sense before does not today. That’s understandable.

Vermont Business Magazine While a large majority of Vermonters suspect that most of the automated telephone messages – or “robocalls” -- that they receive are attempts at scams, few are taking actions to protect themselves, according to results of a new survey from the AARP Fraud Watch Network. An estimated 48 billion robocalls came into the United States last year. More than half of Vermont adults surveyed by AARP said they receive seven or more robocalls per week.

Leonine Public Affairs The Vermont General Assembly effectively adjourned the 2019 legislative session on the afternoon of Friday, May 24. The qualifier “effectively” refers to the fact that the House adjourned and left the statehouse for the year before the Senate agreed they were all going home.