Current News

Vermont Business Magazine With this year’s construction season underway, the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) wants to remind Vermonters about requirements to help protect the state’s waterways. “We understand that managing construction sites to protect water quality is a year-round challenge,” said DEC Commissioner Jason Batchelder. “Using measures that reduce erosion and keep soil on construction sites helps protect Vermont’s waterways and their many benefits.”

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont House of Representatives on May 15 voted 132 - 3 to pass H.493, the state’s fiscal year 2026 budget. The $9 billion budget reflects months of collaboration across aisles and chambers, with a strong focus on affordability, community resilience, and long-term investments in Vermont’s future. The Senate had passed it May 1 on a 20-10 vote and the conference committee, following the House vote, quickly sent it on to Governor Scott on May 15. Scott is expected to sign it. "This budget reflects Vermont values," said Vermont Speaker of the House, Representative Jill Krowinski. "It supports working families, responds to the ongoing needs from flooding events, and makes smart, targeted investments to strengthen our education, health care, and housing systems for the long haul. Most importantly, it was built with input from every corner of our state, and I’m proud of the thoughtful, collaborative work that brought it forward.”

Vermont State Police As part of the ongoing investigation into the suspicious disappearance of 43-year-old Corey Crooker earlier this year, the Vermont State Police on Thursday, May 15, 2025, arrested a Bradford woman on related charges. Lisa Akey, 41, is expected to be arraigned at 1 p.m today in the Criminal Division of Vermont Superior Court in Chelsea on counts of being an accessory after the fact, obstruction of justice, and false information to a police officer. Akey is a resident of the home on Old Post Road in Bradford where VSP in February carried out a court-ordered search connected to Crooker’s disappearance. VSP’s investigation remains active, and additional charges are expected.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine At Governor Phil Scott's regular press conference on Wednesday, he again pushed for the tax proposals he first presented in January. He was hopeful they would get through the Senate and conference committee without significant changes. In particular, he proposed to exempt military retirement and survivor benefit income from Vermont income tax. Also on Wednesday he lamented that the TIF bill (S.127), which could assist in local housing development, would not be sufficient as is.

Vermont Business Magazine An immigration judge in Chelmsford, MA, has ordered the release of one of the detained Vermont farmworkers, Diblaim Maximo Sargento-Morales. The judge set bond for Sargento-Morales at $1,500, the lowest possible amount. Sargento-Morales was among eight immigrant farm workers arrested in Vermont by Border Patrol in April. In the related cases of Arbey Lopez-Lopez and Jose Edilberto Molina-Aguilar, a separate immigration judge declined to hear motions for their release on bond. The bond motion for Lopez-Lopez will be heard on Monday May 19 in Chelmsford Immigration Court.  

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Average gasoline prices in Vermont are $3.07 per gallon, unchanged from last week, and are down 2 cents/g from last month and down 55 cents/g from last year. The lowest price in the state this week was $2.73/g while the highest was $3.29/g, a difference of 56.0 cents per gallon. Prices in the southern part of the state continue to be lowest, with Windham ($2.97/g) and Rutland ($2.97/g) counties lowest and Essex ($3.24/g), Grand Isle ($3.19/g), Lamoille ($3.15/g) and Franklin ($3.15/g) highest, according to AAA. The national average price of gasoline has risen cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.19/g today. The national average is up 2 cents per gallon from a month ago and stands 41 cents per gallon lower than a year ago.

Vermont Business Magazine This year marks a major milestone for Vermont’s oldest forestry nonprofit. The Vermont Woodlands Association (VWA) is celebrating its 110th anniversary and invites the public to join a day-long Forest Festival on Saturday, June 28, 2025, at Clover Hill Tree Farm in South Strafford. The event runs from 8:30 AM to 3:30 PM and features a variety of guided woods walks led by natural resource and forestry experts. Themes include working forest management, old growth forest characteristics, wildlife habitat, climate change, and more. A family-friendly woods walk is also planned.

Vermont Business Magazine Community Bank is pleased to welcome Matthew Plasse as regional president of the bank’s New England market. Plasse will lead business development and community engagement activities while  fostering strong alignment across the bank’s various lines of business in the region. He will report to President of Commercial Banking Matt Durkee, who he succeeds in this leadership position. Plasse has more than 20 years of experience in the banking industry, serving customers in New England. Prior to Community Bank, he held various leadership and middle-market banking roles at M&T Bank and its acquired institutions, including People’s United Bank N.A. Most recently, he served as senior vice president, group manager for M&T Bank’s commercial banking division in Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine The Senate Committee on Health and Welfare voted today to advance legislation already passed by the House (H.238) that would outlaw the use of toxic perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in firefighting gear, dental floss, cleaning products, and fluorine-treated containers—a critical step in reducing Vermonters’ exposure to these harmful substances. The Health and Welfare committee expanded the bill as passed by the House by adding a provision that prohibits PFAS in most firefighting gear beginning in 2029.

Vermont Business Magazine On Wednesday, Governor Scott issued an executive order that effectively delays regulations that were reducing the availability of snowplows, dump trucks, and other heavy-duty vehicles that towns rely on. The regulations, the Advanced Clean Cars II, Advanced Clean Trucks, and Heavy-Duty Engine and Vehicle Omnibus rules, required manufacturers to sell an increasing number of zero emission vehicles starting in model year 2026. “Our state’s road foremen and selectboard members are eager to transition to clean fuels and cleaner fleets, but that eagerness and the state’s mandates didn’t translate to the trucks being available on the market or the charging infrastructure being installed in town garages.” 

Vermont Business Magazine With spring cleaning underway in some parts of the state, the Departments of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and Forests, Parks and Recreation (FPR) want to remind Vermonters to follow a few guidelines for backyard open burning to protect environmental and public health, and public safety. “Burning debris is the leading cause of wildland fires in Vermont, underscoring the critical importance of proactive measures,” said FPR Commissioner Danielle Fitzko. “In 2024, Vermont had 96 wildland fires, all were caused by human activity.” 

by Sam Hartnett, Community News Service A Senate bill designed to curb chloride contamination from road salt has stalled, but an identical bill in the House is making advances. H.86, the House version of the proposed program, passed the chamber’s Committee on Ways and Means 7–4 last Friday with votes split along party lines. The bill’s Senate counterpart, S.29, remains in a committee. Both bills aim to reduce stress on aquatic ecosystems from salt exposure as well as to save contractors and municipalities money on salt expenses. The program it creates, housed in the state Agency of Natural Resources, would provide education, training and certification for road salt crews across the state — with a focus on reducing salt use. Neither version of the bill passed before the key crossover date, meaning Vermonters won’t see a road salt reduction program this winter. Regardless, Democratic and Progressive lawmakers are looking to get the bill through the lower chamber this spring.