Current News

by Elizabeth Wohl In April of 2017, I woke up one morning with the feeling that my left ear was clogged. There was a strange whooshing sound, and I could no longer make out my children’s high-pitched speech from the other room. After ruling out earwax build up and nasal congestion, I eventually received a diagnosis of “sudden hearing loss of unknown etiology.” The loss of most of my hearing in one ear presents significant difficulties in some circumstances: put me in a noisy restaurant, and I cannot follow the conversation at all. In other contexts, like one-on-one conversations, or well-run meetings, or singing in an opera, it presents no difficulty at all, especially now that I have a hearing aid.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health reported last week that the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations fell slightly after there were at a near record-low number of cases statewide in the late spring. Overall COVID trends are elevated in the US and at the South Burlington wastewater testing site. The Vermont COVID-19 pandemic death total stands at 1,302 as of August 23, 2025, with 1 reported death from the previous week (the most recent data available from the CDC). This is the first COVID-related death in Vermont since mid-July. WHO also reported that global COVID-19 deaths are at a relatively low level and holding. 

Vermont Business Magazine Average gasoline prices in Vermont today are $3.10/g, up 1.8 cents per gallon from last week's $3.08/g. The lowest price in the state yesterday was $2.85/g while the highest was $3.28/g, a difference of 43.0 cents per gallon. The national average price of gasoline has fallen 3.4 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.15/g today. 

Vermont Business Magazine Breeze Airways, the premium leisure carrier connecting underserved cities across the U.S., today announced an end of summer promotion of 35 percent* off all round-trip base fares by using code ‘GOLDEN’ at checkout. The promotion is valid for new bookings purchased by September 5, 2025, for travel between September 10, 2025, and January 31, 2026. Breeze provides service out of Leahy Burlington International Airport to Tampa (TPA), Raleigh-Durham (RDU), Orlando (MCO), Jacksonville (JAX), an Charleston (CHS).

by Melinda Moulton Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is making a mess of our healthcare system.  Personal to me is his attack on Americans with autism.  Just the other day he demanded a Danish paper that found no link between vaccines and autism retract their study.  This study which was “published in the Annals of Internal Medicine in July of 2025 is the most comprehensive of its kind and included 1.2 million children living during the past two decades in Denmark.”  

The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets has launched a new grant that provides comprehensive farm to school training, technical assistance, professional development, and resources to schools and early childhood programs across the state. The Farm to School Service Provider Grant is designed for non-profit organizations that will help several schools or early childhood programs start or expand their farm to school initiatives through regional or statewide projects. This grant is the first in a series of new and updated funding opportunities through the Farm to Institution Program in Fiscal Year 2026.

The Vermont State Police is continuing its investigation into last week’s fatal police shooting of a man in Springfield. On Friday, Aug. 29, 2025, detectives interviewed Springfield Police Officer Vincent T. Franchi and Windsor County Sheriff’s Deputy Bryan Jalava. Both officers are fully cooperating with the investigation. No additional details are available. VSP will continue to provide updates as the case proceeds.

Vermont Business Magazine The Attorney General’s Office announced that Caleb Cox, 34, of Bennington, Vermont, was sentenced Friday in Vermont Superior Court, Bennington Criminal Division, after pleading guilty to two felony counts of Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Materials. The Court, Judge Jennifer Barrett presiding, sentenced Mr. Cox by agreement of the parties to two to 10 years to serve, all suspended except for six months, and a 10-year term of probation with conditions that require him to participate in sex offender treatment and that restrict his contact with minors and access to the internet. If Mr. Cox violates the terms of probation, he could face up to 10 years in jail. Mr. Cox is also required to register as a sex offender for 10 years after the completion of his probation.

by Mike Donoghue Burlington Police have arrested two suspects on adult murder charges in the vicious beating death of a man next to City Hall Park August 11. Isaiah Argro, 26, of Queens, N.Y. and Karson Taylor, 16, of South Burlington are facing second-degree murder charges in connection with a fatal assault on Aug. 11, city police said in a news release. They are charged in the fatal daytime beating of Scott Kastner, 42, of Burlington next to City Hall. Kastner died five days after the attack from complications due to blunt force trauma to the head, according to a ruling by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner on Wednesday, police said.

Vermont State Police Raymond Arnold was discovered deceased on a riverbank near 272 Vermont Route 14 in Sharon, Vermont. The body was subsequently transported to the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington for an autopsy to determine cause and manner of death. This incident is not considered suspicious.

Vermont Department of Labor “Labor Day is a time to honor workers’ contributions across Vermont. In Vermont, our economy and our communities are powered by hardworking people —from the farmers who keep our tables stocked, to the builders shaping our towns, as well as the educators, health care workers, public servants, and small business employees who serve our neighbors daily. We also recognize the vital contributions of unpaid labor, especially the caregivers, parents, and family members who are balancing their jobs with childcare, eldercare, volunteerism, and an ever-growing list of demands outside the workplace. That is also real work, and foundational to Vermont’s social and economic well-being.” 

VermontBiz Curtis Larrabee’s entrepreneurial journey exemplifies how one opportunity can often lead to another. He grew up in West Danville, where his parents owned a general store; his mother was also a justice of the peace and his father a notary.

“My mother helped with local government matters and could marry people, and Dad was the go-to for anything that needed notarizing.“