Current News

Each year American Craft Week, the premier public celebration of handmade craft in America in all 50 states, awards Star Winners in various categories. This year’s “Top Event of 2014’ winner was awarded to “Vermont Celebrates American Craft Week.” This was a group award and it included special designation to the State of Vermont Department of Tourism & Marketing; Vermont Crafts Council, Brandon Chamber of Commerce, Brandon, VT and the Chaffee Art Center, Rutland, Vermont.

This year’s 5th Annual American Craft Week celebration was held Oct 3-12 in cities and towns across the nation. Every state participated with hundreds of diverse events at galleries artist studios, museums, schools, as well as fairs and festivals.

October is National Farm to School month, and Vermont has much to celebrate. Vermont is a national leader in the Farm to School movement. More than 89 percent of Vermont schools report that they participate in Farm to School programming, according to the USDA’s Farm to School census. Programs vary depending on the district, but each incorporates the 3 C’s of Farm to School engagement: classroom, community, and cafeteria.

In 2006, the Vermont state legislature created a grant program that would provide schools with seed funding to plan and implement Farm to School Programs. Since then, the state has appropriated nearly $775,000 to support Farm to School programming. In the past eight years, 70 schools or supervisory unions throughout the state have received Farm to School grants.

AccuWeather reports a shocking blast of cold air and the potential for snow will highlight the weather for millions in the Northeastern states this Halloween into the first weekend of November. Parts of the Northeast and Midwest will experience four seasons of weather in about four days leading up to the Halloween weekend. Late-summerlike warmth will be followed by springlike showers and thunderstorms, then cool autumn air and finally wintry winds and even snow in some locations.

Meanwhile, another storm will hit the Northwest with drenching rain as generally dry weather prevails elsewhere on Halloween.

Snowflakes that appear around Detroit on Friday will be a sign of what lies ahead for parts of the Appalachians on Friday night and areas closer to the Atlantic coast beginning on Saturday.

The Vermont Council on World Affairs (VCWA) is pleased to announce that it will be leading an all-inclusive trip to China from March 22-30, 2015 in partnership with the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce. "Experience China" made its first journey in 2010, when around one hundred travelers left a cold and dreary Vermont March for the allures of China. The trip, an "affordable, stress-free way of seeing China and all it has to offer," was such a success that VCWA has decided to organize the trip again.

The innovative, award-winning yogurt producer Ehrmann Commonwealth Dairy of Brattleboro is launching a new product line: authentic organic strained Greek yogurt. The new product is GMO-free and probiotic, with 5 live and active cultures and an exceptionally smooth & creamy texture. Commonwealth will initially distribute quarts of its organic plain yogurt with Costco in the San Francisco region, and then expand to include organic vanilla quarts and wider distribution. In early 2015 Commonwealth will roll out a line of single-serve organic fruit on the side flavors that are much lower in sugar than traditional FOB/Blended Greek yogurt.

Ledyard Financial Group, Inc (LFGP), the holding company for Ledyard National Bank, today reported its financial results for the third quarter of 2014. Net income for the quarter ended September 30, 2014, was $1,069,538 or $1.05 per share compared to $770,834 or $0.76 per share for the same period in 2013, an increase of $298,704 or 38.8 percent. Net income for the nine months ended September 30, 2014 was $2,995,493, or $2.95 per share compared to $2,324,331 or $2.30 per share for the same period in 2013, an increase of $671,162 or 28.9 percent. The increase in net income for the quarter and first nine months when compared to the prior year is due to an increase in lending activity and an increase in revenue from Ledyard Financial Advisors.

The Vermont Department of Health has announced the award of a $400,000 Vermont Health Care Innovation Project grant to the Community Committee on Healthy Lifestyles and its new RISE VT program. The RISE VT grant award, which will be spread over two years, supports the development of a community-wide, multi-stakeholder campaign to improve the health of Franklin and Grand Isle counties. The program would engage people of all ages in better health by offering membership for individuals, groups, and businesses, through a point system that recognizes and encourages participation in healthy habits. As participants increase their commitment to healthy lifestyles, they are rewarded with higher levels of membership.

In addition to the membership program, RISE VT will also be the catalyst for several new community-based healthy lifestyle building blocks, including:

The Vermont Gas Board of Directors announced today that Donald Gilbert will be retiring at the end of the year and Donald J Rendall will become the new President and CEO of Vermont Gas, effective January 1, 2015. Rendall, who comes from Green Mountain Power Corp, succeeds Don Gilbert of Hinesburg, who has led Vermont Gas for over 13 years.

“I am proud of my tenure leading Vermont Gas,” said Gilbert. “Vermont Gas is in a strong position to continue to offer Vermonters clean, low cost fuel and help transition the state to a renewable energy future. I am looking forward to working with Don Rendall over the coming weeks to achieve a successful leadership transition.”

“The Board appreciates Don Gilbert’s many years of service to Vermont Gas, his community and Vermont. He has led Vermont Gas, the state’s gas distribution utility, to strong, steady customer growth and excellent customer service over his tenure,” said Pierre Despars, Chair of the Board.

Because Vermont school districts on average provide health insurance at what would be considered a "Platinum Plus" plan now, if they transitioned to a Vermont Health Connect "Gold" level plan, it would result in premium savings for school districts of almost $39 million if the current 14 percent employee premium contribution were continued. The Vermont School Boards Association has just released a report detailing the financial impact of health care reform on Vermont’s school districts. This issue is the perfect nexus between two of our state’s most pressing policy issues—the implementation of health care reform and rising property tax rates.

by Morgan True vtdigger.org The federal government will not make direct payments from Medicare to Vermont, according to state officials, countering campaign season claims that the Shumlin administration wants to take over Medicare as part of single-payer. Act 48, the 2011 law that sets Vermont on a course toward single-payer, created a framework for Green Mountain Care — as the program is known — to absorb Medicare, but only with federal approval. Robin Lunge, director of Health Care Reform, said unequivocally Monday that it won’t happen.

“Federal law does not permit us to get the cash,” she said.

Vermont Business Magazine Opponents of the natural gas pipeline under construction in Chittenden and Addison counties occupied the lobby area outside Governor Peter Shumlin's office in Montpelier late Monday afternoon. Police arrested 64 of the protesters and cited them for trespassing. Police reported that the protest was without incident. Vermont State Police reported that, in conjunction with several other law enforcement agencies, it monitored the events of the scheduled protest throughout the day. Late in the afternoon law enforcement was notified that protestors had made their way into the Pavilion Building on 109 State Street in Montpelier. The protesters proceeded upstairs without authorization and occupied the lobby of the governor’s office on the fifth floor. Other protestors remained on the first floor of the building, near the elevators.

Toby Sadkin, MD, a family medicine physician practicing in St Albans, is the recipient of the 2014 Physician Executive of the Year Award from the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), a national association for medical practice executives and leaders. In addition to seeing patients full-time at St. Albans Primary Care, Dr. Sadkin is the Executive Committee chair at Primary Care Health Partners (PCHP), a group of eight primary care offices located in Vermont and upstate New York. She is the managing partner of PCHP’s Vermont offices, located in Brattleboro, Burlington, Bennington, South Burlington, and St. Albans. PCHP is the largest physician-owned primary care organization in Vermont.