Current News

by Megan James, UVM A new cohort of Catamounts is descending upon the University of Vermont campus from all over the country — and the world — this week, as the University of Vermont Class of 2029 joins the rich tapestry of campus community at the state’s flagship land-grant university. More than 50 percent of Vermont’s top academic achievers — 34 students — will also attend UVM for free, thanks to the Green and Gold Scholarship award, which covers in-state tuition for all four years. That’s up from 29 students last year. Many students in the Class of ’29 are making a big leap for their families: 14 percent are first-generation college students, compared to 11 percent of last year’s incoming class. Forty percent of the incoming undergraduate class is male, compared to last year’s 38 percent. 

Vermont Business Magazine Average gasoline prices in Vermont are $3.09 per gallon, up 1.9 cents per gallon from last week's $3.07/g. The lowest price in the state yesterday was $2.77/g while the highest was $3.25/g, a difference of 48.0 cents per gallon. The national average price of gasoline has risen 3.4 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.12/g today.

Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets Community Accreditation for Produce Safety (CAPS) is a program that helps Vermont produce farmers plan for, adopt, and document best practices that promote produce safety. The program helps farms write a food safety plan. By documenting their plan's implementation, farms can choose to earn an annual accreditation from the Vermont Vegetable and Berry Grower Association (VVBGA). Farms may also choose to enroll in CAPS-Plus, which adds a third-party on-farm audit, required by some wholesale buyers.

The Vermont State Police’s investigation into the death of a woman in southern Vermont remains ongoing. VSP is able to identify the victim as Angelica Barbour, 36, of Brattleboro. An autopsy completed Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025, at the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office determined the cause of her death was blunt force trauma to the head and neck. The examination also determined that Barbour had not suffered a gunshot wound. The manner of her death is listed as pending. Detectives have determined that the incident in which Barbour was injured occurred on Vermont Route 11 near the intersection with Mansfield Lane in Londonderry. 

by Elise Coyle, Community News Service Between houses and greenery in the heart of Cabot, the Winooski River now runs unrestricted. Rubble along the banks serves as the sole reminder of what once was — a dam that powered industry in the town for decades. The Clark Sawmill Dam, the most common name for the dam about 5 miles downstream from the source of the river, collapsed suddenly during the catastrophic flooding that hit Vermont in 2023, punctuating years of back-and-forths about its future. Now the town hopes to clean up the area, removing the rubble and restoring the riverbank to create an undeveloped natural area. 

Vermont Business Magazine It might start as a joke, a belief, or a rumor. At first, it’s easy to dismiss. But then it gains a twist, builds momentum, and spreads like wildfire. What causes some ideas to die out while others take over the internet? A new study published in Physical Review Letters offers a fresh explanation. Led by researchers from the University of Vermont and the Santa Fe Institute, the work introduces a mathematical model for “self-reinforcing cascades,” processes where the thing being spread, whether a belief, joke, or virus, evolves in real time and gains strength as it spreads.

Vermont Business Magazine The Green Mountain Care Board (GMCB) has completed its review of 2026 Qualified Health Plan (QHP) rate filings from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont (BCBSVT) and MVP Health Plan, Inc. These decisions reflect our statutory duty to protect Vermonters from unaffordable premium increases while ensuring that insurers remain solvent to serve their members.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Marlene Tromp, an accomplished scholar in Victorian literature and culture with extensive experience in higher education administration, officially began her tenure July 1 as the 28th president of the University of Vermont. On that same day at Middlebury College, Ian Baucom, a widely regarded leader who has long championed the role of colleges and universities as civic institutions, took the reins of the presidency from Laurie Patton.

Vermont Business Magazine An autopsy on James Crary, 36, of Newport, New Hampshire, was completed Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025, at the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington. The autopsy determined Crary’s cause of death was gunshot wounds to the head, and the manner of death is a homicide. This investigation remains active, and no further information is available.

Vermont Business Magazine This weekly report is a list of planned construction activities that will affect traffic on state highways and interstates throughout Vermont for the week of August 25, 2025. Please remember to drive safely in all work zones. Lives depend on it. 

by Ben Kinsley, Campaign for Vermont A friend recently sent me a Yale thesis that used regression analysis to determine the quantitative impacts of the Act 46 mergers. As someone who participated in the policy discussions that lead to Act 46, and has closely followed the outcomes of district consolidation efforts, I read this report with great interest. It is, however, quite lengthy and about as dense as your Aunt Lisa's fruit cake, so I decided to write a blog post summarizing the analysis and making it a bit more approachable. Perhaps even more importantly, I was eager to compare the learnings of that report to the current legislative efforts in Act 73 to address rising education costs. For Act 46, it actually appears to have increased the cost-per-pupil in our education system. You can see a definite acceleration in spending as mergers got underway in 2016. 

Vermont Business Magazine Join VBSR for this free webinar exploring how federal decisions are shaping Vermont’s future. From changes in federal rulemaking to the OBBBA (One Big Beautiful Bill Act), Vermont advocates and business leaders will share insights on what’s happening in Washington, and what it means for our state. VBSR Public Policy Manager, Johanna de Graffenreid, will facilitate a conversation on how these decisions will impact Vermont businesses, VBSR’s 2025-2026 Advocacy Agenda, and key priorities like Vermont’s workforce development goals, early childhood education, the renewable energy industry, and more.