Current News

by Morgan True vtdigger.org A provision of the Affordable Care Act precluding health insurers or companies in the “same controlled group of corporations” as a health insurer from holding exchange contracts raises questions about Optum working on Vermont Health Connect. Concerns regarding Optum were raised at the federal level by Senators Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the ranking members of the Finance and Judiciary committees respectively.

The Vermont Department of Financial Regulation (DFR) and the Vermont Attorney General’s Office are aware of a mailing that has been distributed to homeowners in Vermont offering an insurance-type product that covers water service line protection for their property. The product is in the form of a service contract that pays for certain claims in the event outside water and sewer lines that service a home are damaged. All companies that sell or issue service contracts to Vermonters, or cover property located in Vermont, are required to register with DFR.

Governor Peter Shumlin announced Monday that he will appoint Judge Harold “Duke” Eaton, Jr, to serve on the Vermont Supreme Court. Eaton fills the seat left open by Justice Geoffrey Crawford’s appointment to the federal district court. He is the first Vermont Law School graduate to sit on the Vermont Supreme Court. Judge Eaton has served as a trial court judge since 2004, when he was appointed by former Governor Jim Douglas. Previously, he was in private practice for 21 years, where he handled a variety of civil matters, including commercial litigation, insurance defense, and workers compensation cases. He began his legal career as a deputy state’s attorney in Chittenden County. After leaving the state’s attorney’s office and practicing in Rutland, he and his law partner started the firm Eaton & Hayes in Eaton’s hometown of Woodstock.

The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) on Monday issued the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) thermal discharge permit for Vermont Yankee in Vernon, ensuring that water quality and fisheries in the Connecticut River are protected as the company enters its final phase of operation. ANR, acting on Vermont Yankee’s September 30, 2005 application, permitted Vermont Yankee’s thermal discharge through December 31, 2015. The two-year permit addresses the discharge from the facility while it is generating power, allows the company time to establish a post-closure operation regime, and allows ANR time to evaluate and permit the facility’s post-closure discharge. Vermont Yankee is scheduled to cease operatioins by the end of this year.

“In issuing this permit, the Agency’s responsibility to address Vermont Yankee’s thermal discharge has been met,” said Agency of Natural Resources Secretary Deb Markowitz.

Attorney General William Sorrell will hold three public meetings this month to introduce the draft rules to implement Act 120, the law requiring the labeling of food produced with genetic engineering (GMO). The meetings will be held the week of October 20, 2014 in Burlington, Montpelier, and Brattleboro.

The Attorney General is responsible for promulgating the rules that will implement Act 120. These rules will provide clarity on the scope and reach of the law with the goal of both providing information and minimizing burdens on the regulated community. While the Attorney General will later solicit official public comments on the proposed draft rule, these public meetings will serve as an important opportunity for obtaining feedback from producers, retailers, and consumers.

New Hampshire Thrift Bancshares, Inc (NASDAQ: NHTB), the holding company for Lake Sunapee Bank, fsb, with 16 offices in Vermont, has reported consolidated net income for the nine months ended September 30, 2014 of $7.2 million, or $0.85 diluted earnings per common share, compared to $6.4 million, or $0.87 diluted earnings per common share, for same period in 2013, an increase of $770 thousand, or 12%. For the quarter ended September 30, 2014, we reported consolidated net income of $2.7 million, or $0.32 diluted earnings per common share, compared to $2.6 million, or $0.35 diluted earnings per common share, for the quarter ended September 30, 2013, an increase of $132 thousand, or 5.13%.

The AutoSaver Group will help drive awareness for the American Cancer Society to benefit the organization’s Making Strides Campaign for National Breast Cancer Awareness Month by matching donations made in the month of October up to $25,000. At the end of the month, AutoSaver Group partners – Ronney Lyster and Abel Toll – will match the donations with a goal for total donations to equal or exceed $50,000.

AutoSaver Group employees, customers and community members will be encouraged to make donations at any of the company’s 12-dealership locations. A ‘Wall of Hope’ will be setup at every dealership in the service and parts areas as well as the in the showrooms. Individuals who donate will have an opportunity to sign a card with their name and add it to the ‘Wall of Hope’ to show their support for the American Cancer Society and the Making Strides Campaign.

A long-awaited gathering place for University of Vermont graduates is another step closer to reality after a groundbreaking ceremony for the Alumni House on Saturday morning. The university’s first Alumni House, located at 61 Summit Street, will open in the fall of 2015 after undergoing extensive renovations, including an added pavilion to be used for university and community events.

“This Alumni House project truly has been a University-wide source of excitement for us since we first acquired the Delta Psi fraternity House, originally the Edward Wells House, back in 2007,’’ UVM President Tom Sullivan told a crowd assembled for the groundbreaking Saturday morning. “Not only will it be the long hoped-for venue for alumni events and the day-to-day operations of the Alumni Association, but it is expected to be a popular spot for community gatherings such as wedding receptions and other private functions.”

by Morgan True vtdigger.org A letter sent this week from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to the Brattleboro Retreat psychiatric hospital sheds more light on the process that is expected to allow the facility to keep its federal certification. The letter from CMS Associate Regional Administrator William Roberson confirms that the latest survey of the Retreat, conducted Oct. 1 by state investigators acting on CMS’ behalf, identified “deficiencies” that “posed immediate jeopardy” to patient health and safety. However, the letter also states that the cause of that immediate jeopardy was removed the same day.

Retreat officials did not immediately respond to VTDigger’s questions about what conditions posed the immediate jeopardy.

by Hilary Niles vtdigger.org Developers of a proposed high-voltage transmission line bringing Canadian hydropower through Vermont presented their vision at a three-hour symposium in Burlington on Thursday morning. Transmission Developers Inc is seeking approval to build a 154-mile line from the Canadian border at Alburgh, southward under Lake Champlain, and then across central Vermont to a converter station in Ludlow using existing rights-of-way. The power would then be released to the New England grid. The line would carry 1,000 megawatts of DC power, enough to provide electricity to a million homes, according to the developers. The plan for a $1.2 billion, privately financed New England Clean Power Line was presented at the ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center.

On Monday, the Clerk/Treasurer’s Office notified the public about an error on the Vermont General Election Ballot, where the names of five Republican candidates for Justice of the Peace inadvertently were omitted from the November ballot. The City had suspended early voting until corrected ballots were printed. The corrected ballots now have been printed and will be mailed today, along with a copy of the attached letter, to the 422 early and absentee voters, who already had requested and been provided with ballots. Additionally, beginning the week of October 20th, the Clerk/Treasurer’s Office will be calling individuals who voted the incorrect ballot, but have not yet returned the new, corrected ballot to ensure they are aware of the error and opportunity to vote the new ballot. Early voting resumed today.

by Tom Brown vtdigger.org The Vermont Public Service Board on Friday decided to allow Phase One of Vermont Gas’ pipeline expansion to proceed without further review. The regulatory body said in its decision that a 40 percent increase in the estimated cost of the natural gas project through Addison County was not enough to require a re-examination of the company’s certificate of public good. “Having carefully considered the record developed at the hearing we convened on September 26, 2014, as well as the briefs subsequently filed by the parties, we have concluded that the new cost information is not of such a material and controlling nature so as to change our previous determination that approval of the Project pursuant to the criteria of 30 V.S.A. § 248 will promote the general good of Vermont,” the decision reads.