Current News

US Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) last last week proposed legislation to impose a two-year moratorium on US Postal Service plans to eliminate up to 15,000 jobs, close more mail-sorting plants and end overnight delivery of first-class mail and periodicals. The Postal Service already has closed 141 mail-processing plants since 2012. Now it wants to shutter as many as 82 more facilities. Unless Congress acts, the new round of cuts could affect thousands of workers in 37 states. The sorting center in White River Junction previously has been on such a list, but has survived so far.

“At a time when Postal Service revenue is increasing, it makes no sense to eliminate thousands of jobs and slow down the mail service that millions of Americans rely on,” Sanders said. “We should be working to strengthen the Postal Service,” he added, “not send it into a death spiral.”

About 500 Vermont Electric Cooperative (VEC) members awoke this morning without power due to a storm that brought heavy, wet snow to the region. Line crews worked overnight and have restored about 2,000 outages so far. VEC crews assisted by contract crews will continue to work throughout the day, and VEC expects to have all members back on by nightfall. Statewide, the heavy snow produced far fewer power failurges than a larger storm in December. As of 10 am Monday morning, there were only 477 outages across the entire state.

Overall, this storm has not been as damaging as expected. In the aftermath of Winter Storm Damon, which left many members without power for several days last December, VEC was prepared to respond to extensive damage.

A warming trend could bring wet, heavy snow to Vermont late this weekend, and Green Mountain Power is tracking the storm closely to ensure it is prepared to respond quickly to any outages.

“The wet, heavy snow that forecasters are saying might fall on Vermont late Sunday could cause outages,” said Dorothy Schnure, GMP spokesperson. “Our crews are ready to respond and we have additional contractor crews lined up. We’ll continue to monitor the forecasts and bring in more resources as needed.”

Current predictions are for wet, heavy snow to begin falling in southern Vermont Sunday afternoon, spreading north through the night. It is possible that enough snow will build up to cause trees and branches to fall onto power lines, causing outages.

“We will continue to monitor conditions and will keep customers updated through Facebook, Twitter and media announcements,” said Schnure.

The Vermont Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (VABVI) was recently granted a $75,000 3-year matching grant from The Gibney Family Foundation to help establish its Helping Adolescents Prepare for Independence (HAPI) teen program. The HAPI program was specifically created to address the daily living skills students need to possess in order to live on their own, establish careers, attend college, and/or become involved in their community. According to the American Foundation of the Blind, an alarming 64% of blind and visually impaired individuals aged 16-64 are not employed (more than double the percentage of the general population not employed). VABVI is working to change this disheartening statistic.

Acclaimed Washington Post reporter Wil Haygood, whose award-winning book The Butler: A Witness to History was turned into a major motion picture starring Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey, will serve as the keynote speaker of the Martin Luther King, Jr, Celebration, Education & Learning Week at the University of Vermont. His lecture is scheduled for Tuesday, January 20 at Ira Allen Chapel at 4 p.m. with a book signing to follow at 5:30 p.m.

FairPoint Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: FRP), a leading communications provider, today announced it has reorganized its operational structure to allow for better focus on its operations. Steven G. Rush, a 35-year telecom industry veteran, was named Senior Vice President, Northern New England Operations and takes on operational leadership of FairPoint's northern New England properties. Rush was most recently Senior Vice President, Customer Care and Network Assurance. Prior to FairPoint, Rush spent 26 years with AT&T in roles of increasing responsibility and tackled many challenges including mobilizing and coordinating restoral of the telecommunications network serving the New York Stock Exchange following the events of 9/11/2001. "During his nearly eight years with FairPoint, Steve has distinguished himself as a leader, and I'm confident his vast experience in the telecommunications industry will be a tremendous asset in his new role," said Paul H.

The Master of Business Administration, Project Management concentration (MBA-PM) at Norwich University’s College of Graduate and Continuing Studies was accredited by the Project Management Institute Global Accreditation Center for Project Management Education Programs (GAC) in December 2014. Degree programs that achieve GAC accreditation must demonstrate and meet the GAC’s rigorous global standards of accreditation, which include an assessment of each program’s objectives and outcomes, faculty and student evaluations, onsite and online resources, annual self-evaluation and proof of continuous improvements in the area of project management education.

Burlington City Arts is pleased to announce a grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation. BCA will receive $100,000 over the next two years for the purpose of commissioning new art work through residency projects and exhibition at The BCA Center on Church Street. This is the second grant BCA has received from The Warhol Foundation. BCA received $75,000 in 2008 to support contemporary exhibition and documentation.

The Andy Warhol Foundation’s grant making activity is focused on serving the needs of artists by funding the institutions that support them. Grants are made for scholarly exhibitions at museums; curatorial research; visual arts programming at artist-centered organizations; artist residencies and commissions; arts writing; and efforts to promote the health, welfare and first amendment rights of artists.

No matter how you prefer your cup of coffee, there's no denying the single-serve brewing trend is piping-hot. According to a 2014 National Coffee Association coffee drinking trends survey, 29 percent of respondents who drank coffee said they used a single-cup brewer, up nearly 50 percent from the previous year.¹ Brewing at home is about to become even more appealing as GE (NYSE: GE) introduces an industry first: the GE Café™ Series refrigerator with Keurig^® K-Cup^® Brewing System.

by Tom Brown vtdigger.org Vermonters illegally consume between 33,000 and 55,000 pounds of marijuana annually, according to a study released Friday by the RAND Drug Policy Research Center. Legalizing, taxing and regulating that volume could generate $20 million to $75 million a year, the report said. Factor in marijuana tourism, and the revenue estimate soars into the hundreds of millions. The 218-page report prepared for lawmakers offered no recommendations but provided a detailed analysis of the available data on legalization. The report looked at public health effects, regulatory structure, revenue potential and other impacts of legalizing the use of recreational marijuana.

House Speaker Shap Smith today announced tri-partisan support for public hearings to investigate the cost of gasoline in Northwestern Vermont, which can be up to 30 or 40 cents higher than prices found in other parts of the state. The hearings will be held on Thursday, January 22 from 5–7 pm in Room 11 of the State House. According to vermontgasprices.com, the average price of gasoline in Vermont today is $2.48 per gallon. The lowest prices were $2.15 in Troy, Barton and Jay in the Northeast Kingdom; $2.17 in Brattleboro; and $2.19 in White River Junction. The highest recorded in Chittenden County is $2.69.

Cynthia K Hoehl, of Ferrisburgh, VT, has given a historic gift of two million dollars to the Cynthia K Hoehl Institute for Excellence Endowment at the Stern Center, based in Williston. This, the single largest gift ever given to the Stern Center, will ensure the perpetuity of the Cynthia K Hoehl Institute for Excellence. The Institute implements best practices from neuroscience through its instruction and professional learning programs. Specifically, it reduces instruction fees for students with family incomes below $125,000; and, it grants awards to schools and educators to help underwrite professional learning.

"“Cynthia Hoehl'’s extraordinary generosity will give future generations access to the Cynthia K Hoehl Institute for Excellence to extend their knowledge as teachers and learners,”" said Dr Blanche Podhajski, Founder and President of the Stern Center. "“It is a gift of hope, power and promise.”"