Current News

Clayton LaFond, age 61, and Kim LaFond, age 54, of Milton, Vermont, were convicted on September 16, 2014, in Vermont District Court for Windsor County, on two misdemeanor counts of False Pretenses. The convictions stemmed from the LaFonds’ submission of false timesheets in order to obtain payment for services that were not provided to a child while they were employed as home-based health care workers under the Children’s Personal Care program, a Vermont Medicaid program.

The LaFonds were sentenced to one to two years in jail, all suspended, and placed on two years of probation. The Court also ordered Clayton LaFond to pay $3,687, and Kim LaFond to pay $1,877, in restitution to the Vermont Medicaid program.

The case was investigated and prosecuted by the Medicaid Fraud and Residential Abuse Unit within the Vermont Attorney General’s Office with assistance from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General.

The University of Vermont Extension program has received two grants totaling over $650,000 for agricultural research. Senator Patrick Leahy (D), Senator Bernie Sanders (I) and Representative Peter Welch (D) made the announcement Wednesday. The grant announcement is the most recent step in implementing the 2014 Farm Bill. Leahy, the senior most member on the Senate Agriculture Committee, was a conferee on the bill. The grants will be used to study soil quality on Vermont farms, focusing on sustainable practices while preventing soil erosion and improving crop productivity. One study will focus on the impact of management practices, such as cover cropping and no-till farming, on reducing soil compaction. A second study will develop and study cover crop strategies for Vermont and northern climates to help maintain and improve soil productivity and reduce soil compaction.

The Public Service Department announced Wednesday that the inaugural meeting of the Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel (NDCAP), created by the legislature in Act 179 to succeed the Vermont State Nuclear Advisory Panel, will be held on September 25, 2014, from 6 pm to 9 pm, in the multi-purpose room at Brattleboro Union High School, 131 Fairground Road in Brattleboro. The agenda for the September 25 meeting includes a discussion of the mission of NDCAP; an overview of the Settlement Agreement reached between the State of Vermont and Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee (ENVY) in December 2013; and Vermont Yankee decommissioning and stakeholder assessment findings. In addition, ENVY will present a summary of current decommissioning activities at Vermont Yankee. Vermont Yankee is scheduled to cease operating by the end of this year.

Vermont’s congressional delegation -- Senator Patrick Leahy (D), Senator Bernie Sanders (I) and Representative Peter Welch (D) – and Governor Peter Shumlin (D) Thursday announced that the state will receive $891,679 in Northern Border Regional Commission (NBRC) funds for economic development projects in Northern Vermont. This is a $400,000 increase over funds awarded in Vermont last year. The NBRC funds will be disbursed in five grants to five organizations in Northern Vermont, as recommended by Governor Shumlin, for targeted economic development and job creation by improving infrastructure and strengthening communities.

by John Herrick vtdigger.org A Vermont solar company is looking at a New Haven farm as the location for one of the state’s largest solar projects. The White River Junction based solar developer and installer, groSolar, told the New Haven Selectboard on Tuesday it hopes to build two 5-megawatt solar arrays in the town. One, at the Sawyer Farm north of Vermont 17, would be about 40 acres in size. Rod Viens, executive vice president for operations for groSolar, said the project would provide property tax revenue without putting any demands on municipal services, and preserve agricultural land until the project is decommissioned. And he said the project will generate renewable electricity for under 12 cents per kilowatt hour.

Viens said the company has not filed with state regulators for a certificate of public good or even spoken with its attorneys about the project.

Soltage-Greenwood, a joint venture between premier North American solar power provider Soltage, LLC, and Greenwood Energy, the North and Latin American clean energy division of the Libra Group, announced Wednesday the official commissioning of a 2.7-megawatt (MW) solar power system located on Casella Waste Systems’ Coventry, Vermont, landfill site. The array is the largest solar project built on a landfill site in Vermont, and is expected to generate 3 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually from more than 9,000 solar panels. It was connected to the grid August 15. Energy will be sold through a 25-year power purchase agreement to Vermont Electric Power Producers Inc. (VEPP Inc), a purchasing agent appointed by the Vermont Public Service Board under Vermont’s Sustainably Priced Energy Enterprise Development (SPEED) Standard Offer Program.

Timbervest LLC, an Atlanta-based company that manages timber-related assets and investments, has announced it acquired 13,220 acres of timberland for its Timbervest Partners III, LP (TVP III) investment fund. The $400 million commingled fund consists of 250,000 acres of timberland located throughout the country, and is comprised of institutional and high-net-worth investors. The Vermont acquisition of 1,270 acres brings its holdings here to 14,220 acres.

“The acquisitions of these diverse properties provide significant value for our clients and serve as strong additions to our existing portfolio,” said Bill Boden, managing partner of Timbervest. “The purchases highlight the continued growth of the fund and our unmatched commitment to identify compelling timberland investments that benefit investors.”

Effingham, Georgia Property

Bobs Gun Shop announced Wednesday the closing of its iconic location on Ballard Road in Georgia, Vermont. Bob Letourneau founded the business in 1977 to support Sportsman and Firearms Enthusiasts throughout Vermont, New York, New Hampshire, and southeastern Canada. Letourneau, in deciding to close, said that, “It’s just not fun anymore.” He also citied the change in market from traditional long guns and handguns to the modern desire for paramilitary firearms, as well as the unavailability of reasonably priced ammunition and reloading supplies.

A new aquatic invasive species, the spiny water flea, was recently identified in Lake Champlain, but biologists with the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department do not believe the species will have a dramatic effect on fishing opportunities in the lake, or on most of the lake’s native plants and animals. Spiny water fleas have been in the Great Lakes since the 1980s, giving researchers several decades to study what happens when this species arrives in a new water body. According to Shawn Good, fisheries biologist and head of the department’s aquatic invasive species team, while spiny water flea (a crustacean) has had some impact on the Great Lakes, it has not proven as negative to fish populations as was once anticipated.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends modifications to the remedy at the BFI Rockingham Landfill Superfund Site (Site) in Rockingham, VT. The remedy modifications include an increased timeframe to cleanup Site groundwater, additional groundwater restrictions to prevent exposure to contaminated groundwater, and revised cleanup levels for two Site contaminants, arsenic and lead, to ensure the remedy remains protective of human health and the environment based on changes to the federal and state standards for these metals. EPA will be accepting public comment on these recommended modifications from September 11, 2014 to September 25, 2014.

The Working Lands Enterprise Board (WLEB), in collaboration with the St. Albans-based Yellow Wood Associates (YWA), is pleased to announce the commencement of an in-depth analysis of the forestry and wood products industry in Vermont. With direction from the WLEB, YWA will engage stakeholders across all sectors of Vermont's forest and wood products economy to better understand the current state of the industry and identify opportunities for future strategic investment. The goal of the project, slated for completion by July 2015, is a comprehensive report which will establish a strong foundation for increased support and strategic growth in this important sector of Vermont’s economy.

YWA will engage stakeholders through an on-line survey, regional focus groups, value-chain mapping workshops and a statewide summit to be held in the spring of 2015. The study, which will include an exploration and analysis of forestry and wood markets, products, and services, will also:

Vermont’s loon population had a record year for nesting success, producing 65 fledglings, or chicks that survived to leave the nest, on lakes and ponds throughout the state. Loons faced dramatic declines in the 20th century mostly due to shoreline development and human disturbance of loon habitat, but were removed from Vermont’s endangered species list in 2005 following decades of recovery efforts. Peregrine falcons, which also were removed from Vermont’s endangered species list in 2005, saw similarly strong nesting success this year.