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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.

Nelson Farms, Inc, a dairy farm operation with farms in Derby and Derby Line, Vermont, has admitted to violations of Vermont’s water pollution law and agricultural practice regulations and has agreed to pay forty-five thousand dollars ($45,000.00) in civil penalties for the violations. “My Office is committed to bringing enforcement actions when necessary to remedy violations of Vermont’s agricultural water quality laws,” said Attorney General William H. Sorrell. “We know that most Vermont farmers want to run sustainable farms that operate within the law and live up to the expectations of Vermonters, but when farms fail to do so, we are ready to step in,” Attorney General Sorrell added.

The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets has created a new matching grant program to help agriculture and forest product businesses attend domestic trade shows and expand their presence in other U.S. states. In total, $25,000 in matching funds are available. Trade shows enable companies to connect with buyers and brokers, potentially opening new markets for sales.

Applications for the grants can be found online by clicking HERE.

The deadline for applications is Friday, February 6th, 2015.

Mayor Miro Weinberger will seek the Democratic nomination for Mayor at the Burlington Democratic Mayoral, District & Ward Nominating Caucus and kick off the Miro for Mayor re-election campaign. The Miro for Mayor campaign released this video earlier in the week to encourage Burlingtonians to attend Sunday's caucus – all are invited to join the Mayor and City Council candidates for this great and important event. Free childcare will be provided at the school, and a community dinner will be served.

WHEN: Sunday, January 11 at 4:00 pm

Green Mountain College has entered into a unique net-metering agreement with a Benson landowner who has completed installation of a 150 kW solar electric project on his Stage Road property. The project, which began to generate power Wednesday, is brokered by Tunbridge Solar LLC. What makes this project different is that property owner, Aaron Kelly, has offered to give up the sale of renewable energy certificates (RECs) and donate them to the college. GMC will save 5% on the value of the solar energy produced. The project will offset approximately 8% of the college’s electricity consumption on campus.

“This allows the College to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions while saving approximately $1300 per year in electricity costs,” said Aaron Witham, GMC’s sustainability director.

Keurig Green Mountain, Inc. (Keurig) (NASDAQ: GMCR), a leader in specialty coffee and innovative brewing technology, and Dr Pepper Snapple Group (NYSE:DPS) announced Wednesday that the companies will develop a selection of Dr Pepper Snapple Group’s iconic brands for the forthcoming Keurig Cold at-home beverage system.

“With Keurig Cold, we’ve leveraged Keurig innovation to make it possible for consumers to create great-tasting cold beverages at home with the one-touch simplicity of Keurig. We’re very excited to offer a range of Dr Pepper Snapple’s iconic brands in the system at launch,” said Lori Tauber Marcus, Keurig’s Chief Product Officer, Keurig Cold Systems.

On January 2, a federal district court dismissed a three-year-old lawsuit against Burlington (Baa3 stable) concerning the city-owned broadband provider Burlington Telecom (BT). According to Moody's Weekly Credit Outlook issued today, the dismissal is credit positive for the city because it effectively ratified a settlement reached between the city and the complainant Citibank, NA (A2 stable, B-/Caa2 stable1) last February, which is favorable to the city.

Governor Peter Shumlin, who was sworn in for a third term as Governor of VermontThursday afternoon, used his inaugural address to a joint assembly of the Vermont Legislature to outline his agenda for progress, focusing on jobs, affordability, and quality of life for Vermonters. The governor’s multifaceted agenda, which will be detailed in two speeches – today’s Inaugural and next week’s Budget Speech - will focus on expanding our economy, containing health care costs, reducing education spending while ensuring quality education for Vermont’s kids, expanding Vermont’s clean energy sector, protecting our lakes and waterways, building on the progress made battling opiate addiction, protecting the state’s most vulnerable children, and developing a balanced budget that puts the state on a more sustainable long-term fiscal footing.

by Kaura Krantz vtdigger.org Governor Peter Shumlin was re-elected to a third term Thursday morning in a secret ballot by a joint assembly of the Vermont Legislature. Shumlin beat Republican Scott Milne in a 110-69 vote. In a rare but not an unprecedented procedure, the Legislature chose a governor because no candidate garnered more than 50 percent of the vote in the November 4 general election. Milne said shortly before the vote that "lightning could strike." But it did not.