Current News

Blake Hill Preserves, specialist producer of chutneys, preserves and marmalades in Grafton, Vermont, announced that its “Cranberry & Orange” chutney is a 2015 Good Food Awards Winner. Blake Hill is the 1st producer to have a chutney win in consecutive years, and its “Moroccan Plum & Fennel” chutney was also the 1st chutney to win the Good Food Awards last year. The nation’s Good Food Awards sets the standard for “”taste, authenticity and social responsibility.”

Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger gave the following speech at Democratic Nominating Caucus and Miro for Mayor re-election campaign kick-off from Sunday at the Sustainability Academy elementary school in Burlington.

Miro Weinberger Speech

Welcome. Thank you for joining us today.

Thank you Governor Kunin for those warm words, your decisive support three years ago, and your support again today. More importantly, thank you for your service to this City, State, and country, and all that you have continued to do since leaving office, writing important books and energizing a generation of women, including some here today, to run for office through your work on Emerge Vermont. You continue to be an inspiration to all of us.

by Bruce Lisman I believe that economic growth and shared prosperity is the best way forward for Vermonters. A dynamic and broad-based economy offers a cure for issues of poverty, hunger, and upward mobility. It can provide the resources to protect and enhance our environment and improve our infrastructure. Vermont can be an economic powerhouse of its own definition.

Vermont’s economy is stagnant. The demographics of our state are broadly known and are negative. Those demographics have already impacted our public education system, our state college system, our work force, and the half of our counties experiencing population declines. It isn’t pretty and can get worse unless we do things differently.

Phil Scott delivered the following remarks Thursday morning after taking the Oath of Office for his third term as Vermont’s lieutenant governor. He made the remarks in the Senate Chamber where he presides as Senate President.

Lieutenant Governor Phil Scott Speech

Good morning. I’m sure you’ve all had a pretty easy, relaxing day so far.

Vermont ski and snowboard resorts celebrate the month of January, designated by the National Ski Areas Association as National Safety Awareness Month. It is a time for educating skiers and snowboarders about slope safety awareness with special promotions, activities and information. Vermont’s Killington Resort and Pico Mountain support and promote Your Responsibility Code – the seven point code that outlines responsible slope behavior for skiers and riders, and Smart Style – a five-point safety message about the use and progression of freestyle terrain. Know the Code and Smart Style stickers and cards will be available for guests during the month of January. Mountain Ambassadors will trade their signature red jackets for bright yellow jackets that display important safety awareness messages based on Your Responsibility Code.

Doug Nedde of Nedde Real Estate has brokered a lease between Burlington-based GS Blodgett Corporation and Nedde/Essex, LLC. Blodgett has leased 100,000 square feet of manufacturing space at 19 Thompson Drive, Essex, the former North American headquarters of Huber+Suhner. Blodgett, best known for its pizza ovens, purchased Market Forge Industries, Inc, located in Everett, Massachusetts, in January 2014 and is in the process of moving the business to 19 Thompson Drive.

Pictured (Left to right): Dan Coolbeth, Vice President of Operations, Blodgett Ovens and Doug Nedde, Broker/Owner, Nedde Real Estate

Burlington College has updated the purchase and sale agreement with developer Eric Farrell, which continues to be on track for a late January 2015 closing. The college would sell the main building to Farrell who would turn it into a dorm for the college. The deal, Burlington College said in a statement, is moving forward smoothly with no forseen obstacles. The North Avenue college has faced ongoing financial crises that have threatened to close it down. However, it sits on prime real estate overlooking Lake Champlain. The college has sold most of the property to keep itself afloat.

by Anne Galloway and Morgan True vtdigger.org Governor Peter Shumlin could have proposed a financing plan for single payer health care that cost $1 billion less than the one he presented to the public December 17. Instead, demoralized after a stunning near defeat in the General Election, Shumlin scrapped his long awaited, universal, publicly financed health care plan because he said it would shock Vermont’s fragile economy.

Shumlin has said abandoning the plan is the greatest disappointment of his political career. In remarks a week later, the governor said it was not a political decision.

But critics say that once Shumlin resolved to pull the plug, he cast the program in the most negative light possible because it was not politically viable in the context of his loss of popular support and against the backdrop of a lagging state economy.

by Morgan True vtdigger.org Vermont State Police removed 29 demonstrators from the House chamber Thursday night. More than 100 protesters demanding action on universal health care and for government to prioritize the interests of the working poor packed the State House earlier for the governor’s inaugural address Thursday. After Governor Peter Shumlin’s inaugural address, a group of them sat on the floor of the House chamber, vowing not to leave until House Speaker Shap Smith committed to holding public hearings on the governor’s single payer health care plan.

Smith says a hearing is under consideration, but he previously said he has no appetite for a public financing debate this session. Smith has made it clear that his priority is property tax reform, not single payer.

House Speaker Shap Smith offered the following statement late Thursday night:

Vermont Business Magazine New weekly unemployment claims in Vermont fell back below 1,000 after a two week spike, where claims edged over 2,000. Claims earlier this year had been running consistently lower than those of last year, but in recent months are nearly the same. For the week of January 3, 2014, there were 978 new, regular benefit claims for Unemployment Insurance in Vermont. This is a decrease of 1,038 from the previous week's total, and the same as they were a year ago. For comparison, claims were running under 500 during the summer.

Recognizing excellent food made by companies with a strong social commitment, The Good Food Awards seal will soon adorn three of Vermont Creamery’s aged cheeses—Bonne Bouche, Coupole and Cremont. The Good Food Awards, announced in San Francisco, CA, represent food that is “tasty, authentic and responsibly produced” and producers that are “enhancing our agricultural landscape and building strong communities.” Vermont Creamery was among only 17 American cheesemakers to win an award.

“The Good Food Award wins are particularly meaningful to us,” said Allison Hooper, Vermont Creamery co-founder and co-owner. “They get to the very DNA of what we are all about—making great cheese in a sustainable and socially responsible manner.”

According to the Huffington Post on Thursday, JC Penney has confirmed that it is closing several stores across the country including two in Vermont. JC Penney plans to close approximately 40 stores in 2015, about 4 percent of the chain's total stores in April, the retailer told The Huffington Post. The Vermont stores are at the Diamond Run Mall in Rutland off Route 4, where it is one of the anchor department stores, and in St Albans at the St Albans Shopping Center on Route 7. According to the jcpenney.com website, there are six stores in Vermont, including Bennington, Berlin, South Burlington and St Johnsbury.

The St Albans Messenger reports that JC Penney has had a local store for 87 years, 40 at the current location. It said its 30 workers will be offered positions at the University Mall store in South Burlington. The Burlington Free Press reports that the Rutland location has 40 employees and opened in 1995.