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Senator Patrick Leahy has announced funding for two Vermont Forest Legacy projects that will conserve critical forestlands in the Groton Forest Legacy Initiative and Windham Region Working Forest.

The two projects when completed will total more than 11,600 acres of conserved forestland in Vermont that will permanently protect wildlife habitat linkages and wildlife corridors. These projects also preserve public access, including hiking, hunting, fishing, cross-country skiing and designated trails for snowmobiles.

It truly is Christmas in July at Stratton Mountain Resort as shiny new gondola cabins, the latest HKD snowguns, new snowcats, two new glades, buses and bullwheels, grips, racks and rental gear have arrived in what will be a $7 million capital investment for the upcoming season at Stratton Mountain.These projects follow on the heels of last year’s $10.5 million investment that touched virtually every aspect of the resort experience. Additional projects this summer include new Village shops and restaurants, expansion of the Carlos Otis Clinic and the Patricia Kaltsas Performing Arts Center at Stratton Mountain School, which brings that two-year total to more than $21 million.

The overwhelming majority of Vermont Gas customers who converted in 2013 to heating with natural gas rated the experience with Vermont's natural gas utility "excellent" or "very good," according to a survey conducted by Vermont Gas.

The top three factors that influenced their decisions to choose natural gas included, in order of priority: lower price, higher efficiency equipment, and the fact that it's better for the environment. The next most-cited factor was the convenience of natural gas.

More than half of these new customers found out about the benefits of natural gas from family members, friends and neighbors. Throughout the sales, construction and equipment conversion process, Vermont Gas customers consistently rated company technicians as very courteous - and wanted to share their positive experiences with others.

On Tuesday, July 8, at approximately 9:30 pm a storm over the Burlington Air National Guard Station, caused hangar doors at the 158th Fighter Wing to collapse inward and damaged six Vermont Air National Guard F-16s.
"Of the six aircraft, four should be returned to service within the next two to three weeks. All of the repairs will be performed by airmen of the 158th FW Maintenance Group," said Colonel Hank Harder, Director of Staff-Air.
An assessment team of members from the F-16 Aircraft Depot, from Hill Air Force Base, are assessing the total damage to the aircraft and the associated equipment.
Damage assessments to facilities are still in-process awaiting a structural engineer's report.

Source: Vermont National Guard 7.17.2014

Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) have introduced legislation to improve the North Country Scenic Trail. The bill would extend the trail into Vermont, connecting it to the Appalachian Trail, allowing hikers to journey the entire 4,600 miles from North Dakota to Vermont. The trail currently extends from New York to North Dakota. The trial was never built along certain sections in Minnesota because the current route includes wetland areas that are difficult to build through and raises conservation concerns. Klobuchar and Leahy’s legislation revises the authorized trail route to avoid these wetland areas by including existing hiking trails in the Minnesota Arrowhead region in the Boundary Waters and North Shore of Lake Superior.

NG Advantage LLC, based in Milton, Vermont, in partnership with Clean Energy Fuels Corp, (NASDAQ: CLNE) opened its newest natural gas fueling station in Pembroke, NH, which will serve manufacturing facilities and other large, energy-intensive customers who do not have access to the region’s natural gas pipeline. NG Advantage stated customers will be able to replace their facility fuel oil with cleaner, less-expensive North American natural gas. Cheshire Medical Center/Dartmouth-Hitchcock Keene will be one of the first customers of the new facility.

Vermont leaders have a new online tool to help their communities become more flood resilient: Flood Ready Vermont at www.floodready.vermont.gov. Flood Ready Vermont compiles maps, information, and learning from around the state. This website will help community leaders in their work to avoid damage from flooding and to become more flood resilient. Readers will find information on post-disaster funding and indicators to assess how well communities are prepared. Is your community planning to avoid flood damage? Visit the new Flood Ready Vermont website www.floodready.vermont.gov to find out.

Meredith Angwin, Ethan Allen Institute The Environmental Protection Agency recently issued a proposed plan for greenhouse gas mitigation: the electricity sector must cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2030. The rules are set on a state-by-state basis. I am in favor of cutting carbon emissions, but the EPA plan is arbitrary, ineffective and political. The abatement standards are plain backwards: states that already have a clean energy mix have to do a higher percent of abatement than states that burn large amounts of coal.

EPA’s criteria for reduction goals are frankly opaque, including complex “building blocks” for reduction. To decide on the level of reduction required, the EPA looked at various issues, such as coal plants that might be already slated for retirement, and whether a state has natural gas available.

Governor Peter Shumlin and key members of his administration attended on Wednesday the fourth and final meeting in Washington, DC, of the White House’s State, Local, and Tribal Leaders Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience, bringing lessons learned during 2011’s Tropical Storm Irene to the national panel charged with recommending federal actions to help states and communities recover and rebuild smarter from natural disasters.

The Department of Veterans Affairs needs $17.6 billion to hire 10,000 doctors, nurses and other health care providers and make other reforms in order to meet the needs of a growing number of veterans and reduce long waiting times for health care, Acting Secretary Sloan Gibson told the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs today. Gibson was responding to a question by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), the committee chairman, about what the VA needs to address a large influx of veterans needing treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury and other health care needs.

Without the resources to deal with veterans returning from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Gibson said, “the wait times just get longer.”

by Tom Brown vtdigger.org A study released Tuesday suggests the state of Vermont should change the way it manages reserve funds. Vermont is among the top five US states in revenue volatility for the period of 1994-2012, according to a report by The Pew Charitable Trusts titled “Building State Rainy Day Funds.” The study suggests that states that tie reserve funds to economic volatility fare better in the event of fiscal emergencies such as a recession or budget shortfall. Vermont’s Rainy Day Fund is fueled by surplus revenue and is not tied to fluctuations in tax receipts. The state frequently taps the fund to pay for unanticipated expenses that are part of the mid-year annual budget adjustment legislation each January.

by Hilary Niles vtdigger.org The rumored deal between IBM and chip-making rival Globalfoundries could be off, industry observers say. Alliance@IBM, the unofficial union for the tech giant, issued an unconfirmed report Tuesday afternoon that a company executive made the announcement to managers at IBM’s East Fishkill, New York, facility. Lee Conrad said the group received the update by email, and he had no further information. Mike Cadigan, the executive named, and other IBM representatives could not be reached for comment. It had been anticipated that an announcement could come along with IBM's second quarter financial report scheduled to be released at 4:30 pm Thursday.