Current News

The Stern Center for Language and Learning is celebrating 30 years of helping students with learning style differences reach their full potential. Over the past three decades the Stern Center has supported more than 20,000 children and adults in overcoming their struggles with dyslexia, learning disabilities, autism, language disorders and other learning style differences, including giftedness.

“I know so many parents who have read to their children since they were in the womb and yet see sad faces on these same children who later hate reading- because they don’t know how,” said Stern Center president and founder, Dr. Blanche Podhajski. “If your child has trouble with sounds, reading words, spelling or understanding vocabulary and text, she or he may need more explicit teaching.”

by Laura Krantz vtdigger.org Lynne Klamm, who has been tapped to straighten out the Rutland office of the Department for Children and Families is married to the county’s top juvenile prosecutor, but that connection is not a conflict of interest, the state’s attorney said Monday. In addition to being the lead juvenile prosecutor in Rutland County, Kevin Klamm last year prosecuted Sandra Eastman, the mother of a Poultney 2-year-old who died in February, on a charge of child cruelty, according to court records. It is impossible to know whether Kevin Klamm was involved in Dezirae Sheldon’s reunification case because the name of the attorney is redacted in a damning report about that case issued a week ago.

by John McClaughry The mounting VA hospital scandals have now moved Sen. Bernie Sanders’s cherished “socialized medicine” to center stage. For Vermonters, it’s worth understanding clearly how the Veterans Health Administration works, and how it compares with “single payer” Canadian Medicare and Vermont’s coming Green Mountain Care.

The VHA has 288,000 employees (two thirds of them unionized) serving 8.3 million veterans in 150 VHA hospitals and 1,400 affiliated centers. VHA is funded almost entirely by Congressional appropriations. The scandals have arisen because at least 42 VHA hospitals (so far) regularly miss waiting time benchmarks for patient appointments, and their staffs are fudging the data base to make it look like the benchmarks were met.

Dartmouth researchers have found that early exposure to the ultraviolet radiation lamps used for indoor tanning is related to an increased risk of developing basal cell carcinomas (BCC) at a young age. Their findings are reported in “Early-Onset Basal Cell Carcinoma and Indoor Tanning: A Population-Based Study,” a study that will be published in the July 2014 issue of Pediatrics. Since indoor tanning has become increasingly popular among adolescents and young adults, this research calls attention to the importance of counseling young people about the risk of indoor tanning.

Judith Van Houten, George H Perkins Professor of Biology, has been named the inaugural recipient of the President’s Distinguished University Citizenship and Service Award for her consistent and outstanding record of service over time to the university community. Since her arrival in 1980, Van Houten has provided countless hours of service to the university, State of Vermont and the nation in her role as a University Distinguished Professor, state director of the Vermont Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), and director of the Vermont Genetics Network INBRE program. Her efforts have had a significant impact on UVM’s research mission through the building of cyber infrastructure, establishment of core facilities, hiring of faculty across five colleges, mentoring of students and colleagues, and the support of entrepreneurial ventures by UVM faculty.

During a news conference in Chester Monday, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) officials announced eight organizations across the state will share $430,326 in USDA Rural Development Community Facility grants, loans and loan guarantees to purchase, improve or construct essential community assets. The federal funds provide rural communities with an incentive to invest in facilities and equipment that improve the quality of life across Vermont’s rural communities. The Brighton Fire Department, the Burke Town School District, Chester’s Whiting Library, Hancock’s Town Clerk’s Office, Heartbeet Lifesharing Corporation of Hardwick, the Paramount Theatre of Rutland, the Sheffield-Wheelock Volunteer Fire Department, and Turning Point of Windham County in Brattleboro each received a portion of the funding.

Governor Peter Shumlin today kicked off his ‘Solar Summer Tour,’ the first in a series of stops around the state in the coming months to highlight the strength of Vermont’s solar and renewable energy sector and its growing impact on job creation, the state’s economy and the environment. Joined by Public Service Department Commissioner Christopher Recchia, the Governor released the "2014 Vermont Clean Energy Industry Report", the first effort in the state to survey and describe the status and characteristics of Vermont’s clean energy industry. Among the findings, Vermont’s clean energy industry employs 15,286 workers at 2,684 locations, and has seen a growth of 3.4 percent in the last 12 months.

Vermont businesses are "green" and getting "greener," according to a recent survey, and most are looking beyond the bottom line. The Certified Public Accounting firm of Davis & Hodgdon Associates CPAs located in Williston, Vermont, conducted a survey in May regarding the environmental priorities of Vermont-based businesses. The survey was completed by more than 170 businesses; nearly half (49 percent) of those being small businesses with 1-10 employees, 26 percent with 11-50 employees and 25 percent with 50+ employees. A wide range of industries were represented ranging from professional/technical (16 percent) to manufacturing (13 percent), hospitality (12 percent), health care/social assistance (12 percent), and travel and tourism among others.

The Vermont Attorney General’s Office is warning about a promotional flyer being mailed to many consumers in northeast Vermont offering free airline tickets and hotel accommodations. This type of advertisement – saying you will be receiving something for “free” when the advertisement is really intended to lure the consumer into a sales promotion – violates the Vermont Consumer Protection Rule on Bait Advertising. The same type of “free travel” advertising campaign happened in late 2013- early 2014 in northern Vermont. Consumers who contacted the number on the promotional flyer were required to attend a seminar in order to obtain the voucher for free airfare. The seminars are led by transient, out-of-state, high pressure sales teams in area hotel conference rooms. The sales agents persuade consumers that they can save money on discount airfare and accommodations by purchasing a membership in a discount travel club, or similar type of enterprise.

Under the direction of Governor Peter Shumlin, Agency of Human Services Secretary Doug Racine and Department for Children and Families Commissioner Dave Yacovone announced Friday significant changes being taken in the wake of the tragic deaths of Dezirae Sheldon and Peighton Geraw to ensure DCF is better able to protect children and support families. One critical change is a shift in leadership at the DCF Rutland office, with Lynne Klamm, an experienced field services director, returning to the office on an interim basis with full authority over its operation.

“We are immediately implementing several actions to help keep children safer,” said AHS Secretary Doug Racine in a statement. “Paramount is ensuring the district office in Rutland has strong supervision and staff, and has comprehensive procedures in place to protect Vermont’s children.”

by Laura Krantz vtdigger.org The former chief lawyer prosecuting the murder case against Dezirae Sheldon’s stepfather is challenging incumbent Marc Brierre in a run for Rutland County State’s Attorney. State’s attorney races are typically low profile in Vermont. Prosecutors decide which crimes to charge, how to prosecute them, how to help victims and which defendants to funnel into alternative justice programs such as opiate addiction treatment. Rose Kennedy, 44, says she is qualified to take the county forward. Brierre says his track record in handling an exceptionally busy office shows he is qualified to keep his job. Rutland County prosecutors have the highest caseloads in the state, more than 800 cases per attorney. Brierre fired Kennedy, one of his four deputies, the day she filed her petition to run against him.

On Thursday, the Southeastern Vermont Economic Development Strategies Board passed a resolution asking the State of Vermont to recognize the process created by the Windham County Regional CEDS document for implementation of Vermont Yankee Economic Development funds, and asking for representation in determining the use of these funds before a Notice of Funding Availability is released.

The SeVEDS board also authorized the next stage of implementing the regions S.M.A.R.T. Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS). The board approved extending its contract with ViTAL Economy, Inc. to develop the integrated multi-year roll out and budget plan for the S.M.A.R.T. CEDS and the VY Recovery action plans described in the plan. Implementation strategies will be developed in consultation with private sector, regional, state and federal partners.