Current News

Vermont Business Magazine According to a statement issued by the town today, on Tuesday, July 19, 2016, at precisely 8:09 pm, Shelburne’s Wastewater Treatment Facility Number 1, located off Crown Road, experienced a level sensor malfunction resulting in approximately 110,000 gallons of unchlorinated wastewater released into Lake Champlain.

Vermont Business Magazine Granite United Way (GUW) recently awarded a grant of $15,000 to Mt. Ascutney Hospital and Health Center (MAHHC) in support of the Windsor Connection Resource Center (WCRC), a Hospital-sponsored community program that connects local residents with health and human services resources.

Vermont Business Magazine Hergenrother Realty Group of Keller Williams Realty Vermont has been named one of America’s top real estate professional teams by REAL Trends, as advertised in The Wall Street Journal for the fourth year in a row.  The team is now a member of the “The Thousand Top Real Estate Professionals,” a prestigious national awards ranking sponsored annually by REAL Trends and advertised in The Wall Street Journal.  Hergenrother Realty Group is now ranked in the top one half of 1 percent of the more than 1.1 million Realtors® nationwide.

The Thousand real estate professionals was announced on June 24, 2016, with four separate categories honoring the top 250 residential agents and agent teams for excellence in:

by Peter Galbraith Bernie Sanders campaigned for president with a proposal to provide free tuition at public colleges and universities to all high school graduates. We can do this in Vermont at no cost to working Vermonters. I have put forward a plan for four years free tuition for every Vermont high school graduate who wants to attend any of the five colleges in the Vermont State College system. This will benefit the nearly 8,000 Vermonters who enroll in our state colleges, the Community College of Vermont and the Vermont Technical College.

Vermont Business Magazine The Department of Environmental Conservation announced today that it has formally settled a series of environmental violations against Willie Noyes.

Vermont Business Magazine National Life Group’s Do Good Fest raised $30,000 for Central Vermont Medical Center’s Branches of Hope cancer patient fund over the weekend. The money represents nearly $24,000 in parking receipts, merchandise sales and donations on the day of the music festival, as well as a $6,000 contribution from the National Life Group Foundation.

Vermnt Business Magazine Lake Sunapee Bank Group (NASDAQ: LSBG), the holding company for Lake Sunapee Bank, fsb, with several branches in Vermont, today announced results for the quarter ended June 30, 2016. Consolidated net income for the second quarter of 2016 was $2.4 million, or $0.28 per diluted common share, compared to $2.4 million, or $0.29 per diluted common share, for the same period in 2015, and $4.8 million, or $0.58 per diluted common share, for the six months ended June 30, 2016, compared to $4.7 million, or $0.56 per diluted common share, for the same period in 2015.

Vermont Business Magazine Michael S Pieciak, commissioner of the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation, announced today the appointment of William R Carrigan as deputy commissioner of the Securities Division. Carrigan is a certified fraud examiner and joined the division in 2007 as a securities examiner. He had served as director of examinations and enforcement at DFR since 2014. He worked closely with the FBI and IRS to expose the $28 million Mac Parker Ponzi scheme, which involved hundreds of investors, and he was a member of the team that investigated the recent Jay Peak EB-5 matter that resulted in federal and civil lawsuits. Carrigan also spearheaded the inquiry that led to the recent $5.9 million settlement with Raymond James and Associates.

Pieciak said Carrigan’s experience and expertise in the field of securities is invaluable to the department.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Gas today informed the State Agency of Natural Resources, Department of Fish and Wildlife, Public Service Board, and Department of Public Service about an inadvertent “taking” of Harsh Sunflowers, listed as threatened in Vermont, on a Monkton parcel of land within its Addison Natural Gas Pipeline corridor. This occurred late yesterday, July 18, as contractors were preparing the site for a horizontal directional drill. A contractor cut vegetation outside of the project’s right-of-way including some areas of Harsh Sunflower, which has been the subject of recent news reports. Vermont Gas said in a statement that it is disappointed by this event and that it immediately notified its environmental experts and state regulatory agencies.

Complete investigation and analysis of impacts is still pending. While that work takes place, Vermont Gas has ordered its contractors to cease all work at the site, which is owned by the company.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont will receive over $30,000 from two online obituary websites for violations of Vermont’s laws on charitable solicitations by a paid third party and consumer protection. Legacy.com and Tributes engaged in a scheme which resulted in Vermonters incurring fees ranging from $10 and $535.50 on donations made to nonprofits in lieu of flowers to the loved ones of a deceased individual. They accomplished this by providing obituaries online which directed mourners wishing to give a donation to a select nonprofit to the website of a third party, called Givalike, rather than to the nonprofit’s website.

“We are pleased to end this practice, which has cost Vermonters unnecessary fees at a time of vulnerability. This is a good outcome for Vermont donors and nonprofits alike.” Attorney General Sorrell stated.
The Attorney General found the following problems with the scheme:

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Peter Shumlin today signed an Executive Order to give preference to companies that are fighting climate change when awarding hundreds of millions of dollars in State contracts each year. “Climate change is the most urgent environmental issue of our time,” Governor Shumlin said. “Vermont has been a leader in America when it comes to combating global warming, but we can and must do more. By using our significant purchasing power as a state to reward climate-conscious businesses, we will help promote those efforts and encourage other businesses to adopt similar practices. It is my hope that whoever is elected as the next governor will keep this Executive Order in place.”

Vermont Business Magazine Two longtime and widely respected statewide advocates will retire from Vermont Legal Aid (VLA) in the next two months. Trinka Kerr, Vermont’s Chief Health Care Advocate, will retire on August 31 and Jackie Majoros, the State Long Term Care Ombudsman for Vermont, will retire on September 15. Both have worked at VLA throughout their legal careers.