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Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), today released the following statement regarding President Trump's executive order from this morning, which claims it will slash drug costs by tying the prices of some medicine in the U.S. to the significantly lower ones abroad: "I agree with President Trump: It is an outrage that the American people pay, by far, the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. It is beyond unacceptable that we pay, in some cases, ten times more for the same exact prescription drugs than people in other major countries. But let’s be clear: The problem is not that the price of prescription drugs is too low in Europe and Canada. The problem is that the extraordinarily greedy pharmaceutical industry made over $100 billion in profits last year by ripping off the American people."

Vermont Business Magazine Average gasoline prices in Vermont are $3.05/g, down 1.2 cents per gallon from last week's $3.06/g. The lowest price in the state yesterday was $2.73/g while the highest was $3.29/g, a difference of 56.0 cents per gallon. The national average price of gasoline has fallen 4.2 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.08/g today. The national average is down 8.6 cents per gallon from a month ago and stands 50.6 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. 

Vermont Business Magazine Leading with compassion and standing with those on the margins were central messages delivered to members of the Saint Michael’s Class of 2025 during the College’s 118th Commencement on Sunday. Approximately 370 students obtained bachelor's and master's degrees during the ceremony. The Class of 2025 graduates who received bachelor's degrees represent 24 U.S states territories and 11 countries, while those who received master's degrees represent 12 states and five countries. Sixteen students were also recognized for completing graduate certificate programs. The Class of 2025 is one of several that applied to and entered college amid the COVID-19 pandemic. However, throughout their time at Saint Michael’s, the students overcame that initial challenge to create a tight-knit community full of kindness, compassion, and resilience. Several speakers said that despite the current state of the world – divided politics, wars and other violence, and many people on the margins – the Class of 2025 is ready to face whatever comes its way.   

Vermont Business Magazine The University of Vermont will hold its 224th commencement ceremony this Sunday, May 18, celebrating just under 3,000 graduates on the historic University Green in Burlington. Friends, families and well-wishers will also have the opportunity to celebrate graduates at the Champlain Valley Exposition in Essex Junction, where eight UVM colleges will hold additional ceremonies for the first time this weekend. This new indoor venue will bolster the experience for graduates and families with improved access, parking, air conditioning, and food offerings.

Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets Are you interested in alternative land access or alternative business structures? Join NOFA-VT and guest presenters from around the country and Canada for monthly discussions exploring alternative land access models and business structures. Each monthly discussion will feature an agricultural project actively engaged in land access or land tenure outside of conventional mechanisms, with a specific focus on first-generation, BIPOC, and LGBTQ+ farmers and land stewards. Presentations will provide an overview of the land access story and business model, sharing details and mechanics of each project, with time devoted to participant questions.

Vermont State Police On April 15, 2025 the Vermont State Police began investigating Allen-Michael Ashline (31) of Saint Albans for the crime of Embezzlement after it was discovered by a select board member he had been using a town issued credit card for personal use. Ashline was the Road Foreman for the Town of Bolton and was issued a credit card by the town for work related projects. A thorough investigation revealed Ashline had used the town issued credit card to purchase gas for his personal vehicle along with numerous other personal items. The sum of the charges exceeded $6,730.

Vermont Business Magazine Each year, the Vermont Chamber of Commerce honors an outstanding Vermonter as the “Citizen of the Year.” This award is presented to the individual who has made major contributions to the betterment of Vermont; has been distinguished through outstanding service to their community and region; and typifies the true spirit of service and self-sacrifice in representing the finest ideals of Vermont citizenship. A lifelong Huntington resident, Major General Knight has over 40 years of uniformed service. From the U.S. Coast Guard to leading the Vermont National Guard, his distinguished career includes a Bronze Star, deployments abroad, and pivotal leadership as Adjutant General. He’s guided Vermont through historic floods, the COVID-19 pandemic, and championed a culture of inclusion and connection within the Guard.

by Maggie Lenz and Nick Charyk “Dear Andy” The FY26 budget, known as the Big Bill, is usually the final domino to fall before adjournment. Passing the budget signals the end of negotiations, funds the state, and sends weary lawmakers home. On Friday afternoon, budget conferees finalized and signed off on a nearly nine billion dollar spending package, which now heads to the House and Senate floors for final debate and votes early next week. After that, it goes to the Governor. This year, the Big Bill is doing more than usual. Earlier this session, a standoff between the Legislature and the Governor over the midyear Budget Adjustment Act, which normally serves to tweak the current year’s spending, resulted in two vetoes. Rather than continue the stalemate, lawmakers folded those adjustments into the FY26 budget itself. That means there's real urgency around these items that should have been approved many months ago.

Vermont State Police The Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington completed the autopsy on Joshua Many on Sunday, May 11, 2025. The cause of death was determined to be a gunshot wound to the torso, and the manner of death is a homicide.  The Vermont State Police is able to identify the victim in this case as Joshua Many, 37, who had recently been living in Swanton. Investigators arrested Mitchal Shedrick, 52, a resident of the Swanton home where this incident occurred, on a charge of second-degree murder. He was ordered jailed without bail at the Northwest State Correctional Facility in St. Albans Town and is due for arraignment at 1 p.m. Monday, May 12, 2025, in the Criminal Division of Vermont Superior Court in St. Albans.

by Amanda Youngsman, Community News Service When one of Vermont’s oldest lumber mills, run by the A. Johnson Company in Bristol, shut down its saws in 2023 after 117 years in business, it seemed like another sign of a waning timber industry. Now, a sweeping executive order from President Donald Trump has stirred fresh debate in the Green Mountain State over whether a surge in federal logging might revitalize local forest economies or imperil treasured woodlands. The March 1 directive mandates an aggressive push to harvest more timber from federal lands — a move with outsize implications for Vermont’s vast forests and small communities. 

Vermont Agency of Transportation 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 May 12, 2025. Please remember to drive safely in all work zones. Lives depend on it.     

by Rep. Martin LaLonde (D-South Burlington) and Sen. Nader Hashim (D-Brattleboro) When floodwaters tore through Vermont in July 2023 and then again exactly a year later, they left more than physical destruction in their wake. They also revealed to Vermonters the mounting price tag of climate change. While national media attention may have shifted to climate-change catastrophes in other parts of the country, Vermont families are still displaced, businesses are shuttered or drowning in debt, and communities are struggling to rebuild. The financial toll of climate change in Vermont is real and ongoing. Every washed-out road, damaged bridge, and flooded home and business represents a cost someone must pay – and right now, that burden falls squarely on Vermont taxpayers. We see it through higher property taxes, rising insurance premiums, and reduced municipal services.