Current News

by Seven Days Staff On September 6, 1995, Seven Days newspaper overcame long odds and surprised skeptics when its inaugural 28-page issue hit the streets of Vermont. Cofounders Pamela Polston and Paula Routly, both arts writers and editors, had no prior publishing or business experience. Polston, a former punk rocker, and Routly, a former ballerina, borrowed $68,000 from friends and set out to create what they described as: “the newspaper we would want to read and write for.” In the three decades since, the arts-and-news weekly has bucked national industry trends and steadily grown in size and influence to become Vermont’s largest-circulation print newspaper and a go-to source of award-winning, rigorously reported local journalism. The paper often runs 100-plus pages a week. 

Vermont Business Magazine Saint Michael’s College will host a talk September 11 by author and computer scientist Dr. Arvind Narayanan, an expert on Artificial Intelligence (AI), including its value and pitfalls. Narayanan, a professor at Princeton University, is co-author of the 2024 book AI Snake Oil: What Artificial Intelligence Can Do, What It Can’t, and How to Tell the Difference, one of Nature's 10 best books of 2024 and one of Forbes's 10 must-read tech books of that same year. The book served as this year’s common read for all Saint Michael’s College first-year students during a time when AI is increasingly prevalent.      

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Vermont weekly unemployment claims for the week ending August 30, 2025, fell to their lowest level this year, after a spike in manufacturing layoffs in July. New claims were 189 last week, down 72 claims from the week before and down 32 from last year at this time. Claims, which tend to be lowest in the summer, were 181 at the end of September 2024. Meanwhile, the US August Labor Report indicates that employment is waning. This comes after a poor July report and another revised lowering of the June numbers.

Vermont Business Magazine The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Vermont stated today that on September 2, 2025, Jonathan Whalley, 52, of St. Albans, Vermont, was sentenced by United States District Judge Frank P. Geraci, Jr. to a total term of 74 months’ imprisonment to be followed by a 3-year term of supervised release. Whalley previously pleaded guilty to both Mail Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft in relation to his purchase of six vehicles using the stolen identity of a Vermonter. Judge Geraci imposed a 50-month term of imprisonment on the Mail Fraud conviction, and the 24-month mandatory consecutive term of imprisonment for Aggravated Identity Theft, resulting in the total 74-month sentence. 

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott addressed a wide range of issues at his press conference Thursday, including contentious topics on the future of the Green River Reservoir, public safety in Burlington and the recent audit of the Burlington Electric Department (which found deficiencies), Canadian tourism, the federal government finally releasing $15.8 million for electric vehicle charging stations and the possible windfall from the $1.7 billion Powerball drawing on Saturday. But he opened the presser by discussing the importance of river cleanup this month. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Union of Quebec Municipalities (UMQ) and the Vermont Mayors Coalition (VMC) have joined forces in calling for the removal of tariffs that directly affect communities on both sides of the border. Elected municipal officials testify to the negative impact tariff measures are having on their local economies, businesses, and residents. US tariffs on Canadian products and retaliatory tariffs imposed by Canada work against both economies. As local governments, municipalities are in the best position to gauge the economic and social impact trade policies like these are having and call on decision-makers today to limit the serious damage they’re causing now and going forward.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today announced the appointment of Claire Burns as Caledonia County State’s Attorney. She has served as interim state’s attorney since August 1, following former State’s Attorney Jessica Zaleski’s departure. Vermont governors appoint state’s attorney vacancies based on the recommendations of county political parties. Burns was recommended to the governor by the Caledonia County Republican Committee. 

Vermont Business Magazine Twenty-seven attorneys from Primmer Piper Eggleston & Cramer have been named to the list of Best Lawyers in America. Ranging in practice from banking and employment, to insurance, family law, corporate, environmental and much more, the 26 attorneys represent five offices in Vermont, New Hampshire and the District of Columbia. Primmer has a long legacy of being named among the “Best Lawyer” distinction. Its first lawyers to be named: Jon Eggleston and Jon Ross were named to the list over 40 years ago. 

Vermont Business Magazine Casella Waste Systems, Inc., a regional solid waste, recycling and resource management services company, has announced that it has priced the previously announced remarketing of $37.5 million aggregate principal amount of New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation Solid Waste Disposal Revenue Bonds Series 2020R-1 issued on September 2, 2020. The Bonds were originally issued in the aggregate principal amount of $40.0 million and have a final maturity of September 1, 2050. It is expected that $2.5 million of the aggregate principal amount of Bonds will be redeemed by Casella on September 2, 2025, with cash on hand, and the remaining $37.5 million of the aggregate principal amount of Bonds will be remarketed on such date. 

by Mike Donoghue Attorney General Pam Bondi, flanked by federal prosecutors, including Acting U.S. Attorney Michael P. Drescher of Vermont, outlined on Thursday several recent significant efforts to combat human trafficking and smuggling along the international borders, including an important felony indictment in Vermont. Norma Linda Lozano, 53, of Ypsilanti, Mich. is named in a 7-count indictment unsealed in Vermont on Wednesday that charges her with leading a major human smuggling operation, including transporting young children, along the northern U.S. border. The criminal cases that broke this week and were outlined Thursday are part of an ongoing effort between U.S. Attorneys across the nation and the Department of Homeland Security, Bondi said.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott’s office today released the following statement regarding recent decisions by the Green Mountain Care Board (GMCB) to significantly reduce the rates requested for certain insurance plans presented by BlueCross Vermont and MVP Health Plan, and their approach to the hospital budget decisions they will soon make: "The Green Mountain Care Board’s focus on reducing costs in Vermont’s healthcare system is important and appreciated. A stable and affordable healthcare system is vital to the well-being of Vermonters and to the economic vibrancy of our communities in every region of our state. The Board’s recent rejection of double-digit insurance rate increases is the first of what the Administration hopes will be a series of steps to constrain, and lower, costs across the system, which must include reductions in the cost of care to ensure the reduced insurance rates are sustainable."

Senator Bernie Sanders Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. writes that “We’re Restoring Public Trust in the CDC” (Wall Street Journal, op-ed, Sept. 3). That would be laughable if it weren’t dangerously wrong. In my view, Mr. Kennedy is waging a war against science and the well-being of the American people. Let’s not forget. At the height of the Covid pandemic, we were losing 3,000 people every day, hospitals were overwhelmed, doctors and nurses were dying for lack of personal protective equipment, and workers were afraid to go to their jobs. President Trump’s initial poor leadership—free-wheeling behind the podium, recommending untested cures and sowing confusion—exacerbated this crisis.