Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Howard Center released the following statement Wednesday regarding the investigation of the fatal car crash last weekend that killed five teenagers on I-89 in Williston. The statement says: "Numerous requests from the media and others for information related to the individual allegedly responsible for the horrific automobile crash that claimed five teenage lives last Saturday night prompt us to publicly respond.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Natural Resources Council (VNRC) and the Vermont State Council of Trout Unlimited (VTTU) announced that they have filed a cross appeal in the on-going appeal of the water quality certificate issued by the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) to Morrisville Water and Light (MWL) for the operation of its Morrisville Hydroelectric facilities. The facilities include four dams and three hydroelectric power plants on the Lamoille River, Elmore Brook and the Green River, the latter creating Green River Reservoir. MWL appealed the water quality certificate earlier this month, and in the media has cited concerns about the cost of complying with conditions of the certificate and the impact of the operating regime on energy generation, especially at the Green River facility.

Vermont Business Magazine The Public Service Department through its Division of Telecommunications and Connectivity today announced that 12 rural, underserved Vermont communities are getting financial help to boost broadband Internet speeds. Internet service providers Waitsfield/Champlain Valley Telecom, ECFiber, Southern Vermont Broadband Cooperative, Pear Networks, and FairPoint Communications were awarded a total of $558,633 in Connectivity Initiative grant funding to expand access to broadband to 466 underserved locations in the towns of Readsboro, Peru, Stockbridge, Royalton, Lowell, Randolph, Chelsea, Sharon, Craftsbury, Canaan, Charlotte and Norwich.

Vermont Business Magazine AFT Vermont delegates unanimously chose to endorse Sue Minter for governor at the union's statewide convention on Sunday, September 25. Union members discussed the endorsement at the meeting and decided that Sue Minter was the best choice for the state's top position. "We are encouraged by Sue Minter's focus on the importance of higher education, and we look forward to working with her and her administration to reclaim the promise of public higher education for Vermont students. Vermont is currently at the bottom in the nation with regard to funding public higher education, and we are hopeful that a Minter administration will prioritize making college more affordable for Vermont students," explained Linda Olson, AFT Vermont Vice President for Higher Education.

Vermont Business Magazine In a settlement announced today, software company Entrinsik agreed to provide better warnings after a Vermont college experienced a security breach that potentially exposed 14,000 social security numbers due to the ordinary use of its reporting tool. Because the Attorney General believes that the software practice involved is widespread and many companies may not even realize that this practice could violate state law, no monetary penalty was imposed. Entrinsik, however, agreed to highlight the issue for Vermont consumers through the use of warnings and dialogue boxes that adequately alert users and IT staff to the software vulnerability.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont has once again been ranked the nation's least tax friendly state for retirees. Kiplinger recently revealed its annual list of the most and least tax-friendly states for retirees. In Vermont, the report cites Vermont's property taxes, income taxes (even on Social Security) and estate taxes as leading to the "#1 least" ranking. Kiplinger’s 2016 Retiree Tax Map reveals senior tax breaks across all 50 states, and compares taxes on income (including Social Security benefits, pensions and other forms of retirement income), property, everyday purchases and, ultimately, your estate. The Northern states generally fall in the least friendly category while the Southern states are most friendly.

Vermont Business Magazine US Senate candidate Scott Milne made the following statement Wednesday morning: “After 42 years in Washington, Senator Leahy seems to think he should be immune from criticism, and that anyone who dares to call him out for his record of accepting millions of dollars in special interest money and tens of thousands of dollars in corporate-sponsored travel, or his hypocrisy on transparency in government as he continues to refuse to release his office records related to the EB-5 scandal, is running a negative campaign. To the contrary, reforming Washington and eliminating special interest influence peddling and ending political careerism is the most positive message a candidate can embrace, and it is required if we are to end the dysfunction in DC.

Vermont Business Magazine US Senator Patrick Leahy's campaign sent the following statement: After 137 days as the Republican candidate for the US Senate, Scott Milne finally shared his position on Donald Trump's candidacy for president. Even after Mr Trump's most recent offensive remarks, and scores of his fellow Republicans rejecting Mr Trump's candidacy, Mr Milne still said, "It's not enough for me to change what I told you, which is, 'I'll tell you who I'm voting for when we get closer." (SevenDays, 10/8/2016)

Only later would Mr Milne say that as a father he would not vote for Mr Trump.

Mr Milne should explain why, as a father, he didn't deem Mr Trump unworthy of his support until now given his previous attacks on women, Gold Star parents, veterans, a federal judge, a disabled reporter, Mexicans and Muslims. 

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Peter Shumlin today announced that Department of Human Resources (DHR) Commissioner Maribeth Spellman will leave state government at the end of October. Replacing Spellman as Commissioner will be current Deputy Commissioner Tom Cheney. Spellman has served as DHR Commissioner since September 2014. She will be joining Hickok & Boardman HR Intelligence, a leading human resources consulting and services firm in Burlington that serves Vermont employers in the areas of employee benefits, organizational wellness, compliance and technology. She will serve as the firm’s Director of Organizational Wellness and Cost Containment.

Before being appointed Deputy Commissioner at DHR in August 2015, Cheney served as Chief of Policy, Programs, and Legislative Affairs at the Department. He has also worked for House Speaker Shap Smith and Congressman Peter Welch.

by Bill Schubart The right to vote becomes a moral obligation when voting is understood as fundamental to the functioning of our democracy. In Australia, voting is mandatory - and failure to vote is punishable by a fine or community service. But here, as many as 40% of eligible voters will stay home on Election Day. Apart from voter apathy, the next biggest threat to the democratic experiment is our historical and current efforts to make it more difficult for certain racial and political blocs to vote - especially when voter fraud is a statistical myth. Only in the last century did we fully enfranchise women and African-Americans. But discredited practices designed to favor partisan votes - like gerrymandering and voter competency and ID tests – continue to undermine the right to vote.

To vote is easy. It’s choosing your candidate that isn’t. 

Vermont Business Magazine Social Sentinel, Inc, the Burlington-based leading service that alerts campus and community leaders to actionable threats shared publicly on social media has announced it has completed a $3 million Series A round of financing. Lerer Hippeau Ventures (LHV) of New York City joined Vermont-based FreshTracks Capital in the round. The investment will help the company aggressively expand sales and marketing efforts, as well as accelerate product development. FreshTracks Capital Managing Director Lee Bouyea will join Social Sentinel’s Board of Directors. 

Vermont Business Magazine Mayor Miro Weinberger, joined by former Progressive Mayor Peter Clavelle, Progressive City Council President Jane Knodell, Democratic Councilor Joan Shannon, and Independent Councilor Dave Hartnett today announced the launch of a unity campaign in support of City ballot items #1, #2, #3, and #4 to make the City more affordable, sustainable, and vibrant. The campaign treasurer is former Mayor Peter Clavelle, and the chair is Councilor Dave Hartnett (North District). The campaign will co-ordinate its activities through the Partnership for Burlington’s Future, a campaign committee first organized by Mayor Weinberger in 2012 to advocate for local ballot questions.