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FairPoint Communications, Inc CEO Paul Sunu today sent the following letter to Governor Peter Shumlin in response to the governor's public letter dated December 12, 2014. Vermont's congressional delegation sent an open letter to Sunu yesterday. The governor and the delegation urged the two sides to get back to the bargaining table and pointedly stated that FairPoint must do more to find a solution to the strike that began October 22. The contracts with unions expired in August and FairPoint subsequently implemented a new benefit plan.

LETTER FROM PAUL SUNU

Vermont House Speaker Shap Smith today asked Vermonters, policy makers and stakeholders to submit education finance and education spending proposals for consideration in the coming legislative session as lawmakers work to create an education system that is sustainable and affordable for taxpayers.

“Vermonters value high quality public education,” said Speaker Smith, “but the current delivery and funding systems have resulted in annual property tax increases that many Vermonters cannot afford. We need to work together to solve this problem. That’s why I am inviting taxpayers, stakeholders and policy makers to add their voices to the conversation the House will undertake when we reconvene in January.”

Vermont’s congressional delegation on Tuesday sent a letter to FairPoint Communications urging the company to negotiate an end to its ongoing labor strike. It has been 136 days since FairPoint’s labor contract expired and 61 days since the beginning of the strike. More than 1,700 members of the Communications Workers of America and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers are on strike against FairPoint in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.

Starting today, Comcast X1 customers in Vermontwill be able to access their TV lineup on any connected screen in their home. Additionally, they will be able to download programs they have recorded on their digital video recorder (DVR) to watch on IP-enabled devices or stream them using an Internet connection, anytime and anywhere. The in-home streaming feature provides access to virtually the entire channel line-up and Xfinity On Demand programming on mobile devices and computers. The content is presented to customers via the familiar X1 user experience.

"These new features -- live in-home streaming and X1 DVR with cloud technology -- give our customers more flexibility for watching their favorite shows and movies in and out of their home," said Mary McLaughlin, Senior Vice President of Comcast's Western New England Region, which includes Vermont. "Now, any screen in the house can become a personal TV, and recorded programs can be accessed anytime, anywhere."

Vermont Business Magazine The Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council) has released its 19^th annual "Small Business Policy Index 2014: Ranking the States on Policy Measures and Costs Impacting Small Business and Entrepreneurship." Based largely on broad-based taxes, Vermont was 45th overall. South Dakota was first and California was last. The Index ranks the 50 states according to 42 different policy measures, including a wide array of tax, regulatory and government spending measurements.

The state of Vermont now has more resources to help businesses expand their markets overseas, thanks to a new grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration and the promotion of Vermont Global Trade Partnership’s Becky Fu. The $163,000 State Trade and Export Promotion Grant (STEP) will be used to assist businesses in developing new overseas markets, host training workshops and seminars such as the highly successful ExporTech, learn about export opportunities, conduct trade missions, and bring businesses to important international trade shows.

Lisa Gosselin and Becky Fu at VBM Rising Starts 2013. VBM photo.

VSECU, a credit union for everybody in Vermont, was recently recognized and received the prestigious 2014 Community Credit Union of the Year Award from the Credit Union National Association. VSECU, based in Montpelier, was one of four credit unions, among the 2,200 community credit unions serving members in the nation, honored during an awards presentation held in Las Vegas, Nevada. Rob Miller, CEO of VSECU, accepted the award on behalf of the credit union and stated, “It is with great pride to accept this award on behalf of the employees at VSECU who come to work every day with a mission driven purpose to help improve the quality of life for all Vermonters.”

At the request of Governor Peter Shumlin, officials with the Vermont Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security (DEMHS) have asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to conduct a preliminary damage assessment (PDA) in Vermont counties impacted by last week’s severe winter storm. The state is asking for the assessment in an effort to qualify for federal public assistance to help cover the cost of cleanup and recovery from the storm.

Governor Shumlin surveys storm damage from the air. Courtesy Vermont Electric Cooperative.

Thousands of Vermont youngsters in need will be able to enjoy warm, high-quality socks again this winter, the seventh year that Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont, Cabot Hosiery Mills/Darn Tough Vermont, and the state’s community action agencies and homeless shelters have joined forces to improve the health and comfort of Vermont children.

“Blue Socks for Kids” project volunteers will deliver 8,400 pairs of premium, Vermont-made merino wool socks to the state’s community action agencies and homeless shelters for distribution to children in need of warm clothing this holiday season.

Left to right: Ric Cabot, Governor Peter Shumlin, Don George, and Hal Cohen

by Mike Barwell, Photography by Mark Washburn, D-H Using knowledge gained from a national network of medical experts,Dartmouth-Hitchcock (D-H) has dramatically improved the outcomes of patients with sepsis by focusing on early detection and rapidly delivering recommended care – doubling the chance of survival.

Sepsis is the leading cause of deaths in U.S. hospitals. It affects nearly one million patients and costs an estimated $20 billion to treat annually. Beyond being deadly, sepsis is notoriously difficult to detect and treat. It often mimics other illnesses, such as the flu. Defined as a whole-body inflammation caused by infection, sepsis can progress very quickly, setting off a reaction that can lead to shock, organ failure and death.

The University of Vermont Medical Center is again being counted as a top performer among leading academic medical centers in the 2014 University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC) Quality and Accountability Study, nationally recognized as the most important analysis of its kind. UHC is an alliance of nearly all of the academic medical centers in the United States.

Excellent results in infection prevention, low rates of complications and readmissions, and overall efficiency of care contributed to the high ranking.

“The elite university hospitals are in this study, so this means our patients are getting some of the best care in the country close to home,” said John Brumsted, MD, president and CEO of The University of Vermont Medical Center and The University of Vermont Health Network. “This achievement is due to the relentless efforts our employees make to provide the best possible care for every patient every single time.”

by Morgan True vtdigger.org Governor Peter Shumlin and his team say they will release their single-payer financing plan by December 30, but as of last week, the Department of Health Reform was still running numbers. The Shumlin administration continues to explore different economic scenarios, examining the results, and if they’re unsatisfactory, the state will tweak the inputs and start again. State officials are using the Gruber Microsimulation Model. Robin Lunge, director of health reform, says the model offers Vermont “the best estimate that anyone is able to do” of how people and businesses will respond to a single-payer program.