Current News

The 2014 Governor’s Awards for Environmental Excellence were recognized May 14 at a ceremony in Burlington. Environmental excellence awards have been given since 1993 to recognize efforts and actions of Vermonters to conserve and protect natural resources, prevent pollution, and promote environmental sustainability. To date, more than 200 efforts have been recognized. Thsi year's awards were presented by Justin Johnson, Deputy Secretary of the Agency of Natural Resources.

“These projects contribute significantly to Vermont’s environmental quality and encourage others to take similar actions to protect our resources,” said ANR Secretary Deb Markowitz when she announced the recipients earlier this year. “They demonstrate the importance of innovation and partnerships in enhancing and sustaining Vermont’s environmental quality.

FairPoint Communications and the Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies (VCET) today announced the creation of a new collaborative called VCET @ BTV, a co-working space coupled with business mentoring and networking opportunities for promising startup companies in the FairPoint Technology Hub in downtown Burlington.

The RE/MAX of New England April Monthly Housing Report shows that Vermont homes sales and median price were both down in April. Meanwhile, pending home sales in New England are up on average 15.4 percent over April 2013. Inventory in every state except Vermont shows a decrease year-over-year. Overall home sales in New England show an increase of 14.4 percent month-over-month, an expected trend in the spring market.

In Connecticut, the number of total transactions is down -7.5 percent year-over-year and median price decreased -2.7 percent. Pending sales were up 27.5 percent year-over-year, the highest in the region.

Green Mountain Power is offering free public tours of the 21 turbine Kingdom Community Wind project in Lowell, Vermont during June, July and August. This is an opportunity to experience an operating wind farm, and learn how GMP is harnessing the power of wind to generate enough electricity to power 24,000 homes.

“Green Mountain Power is thrilled to once again offer these free tours to the public,” said GMP CEO and President Mary Powell. “Connecting Vermonters directly to the energy used to power their state is just one important way we continue to our work to deliver cost effective, clean and reliable power.”

Each tour lasts approximately 90 minutes, and includes a visit to two of the turbines. The tours are free, but advance registration is required.

Green Mountain College shook off the threat of rain and awarded diplomas to 52 graduate students and 131 undergraduates during its 177th commencement ceremony Saturday morning. Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy, the longest-serving member of the US Senate, was the graduation speaker. During the ceremony he received an honorary doctor of laws degree from GMC.

Among the graduates were members of the first cohort of the College’s master of science in sustainable food systems (MSFS). Vermont Secretary of Agriculture Chuck Ross was a guest of honor. On Friday he was the speaker for the graduate studies hooding ceremony held at the college.

Leahy remarked that he was the first in his family to get a college education—he received his undergraduate degree from Saint Michael’s College.

Vermont Electric Cooperative, based in Johnson, announced at its annual meeting that all three incumbents will rejoin the board following the results of director elections. A total of 1,556 VEC members cast ballots for the annual election. Results for three director elections were announced on Saturday morning at the 76th annual meeting of the VEC membership which was attended by about 200 VEC members at Smugglers’ Notch Resort in Jeffersonville.

Three positions on the VEC board of directors were up for election. In total, seven candidates vied for the director seats which each carry a four-year term.

In VEC’s District 3, incumbent Carol Maroni of Crafstbury was re-elected. Maroni received 373 votes, while Chuck Farrar received 122 votes and John Klar received 114 votes. Maroni represents members in the towns of Albany, Crafstbury, Glover, Greensboro, Irasburg, Jay, Lowell, Newport Town, Troy and Westfield.

President Karen Gross has announced that she will step down after eight years as President of Southern Vermont College effective October 1, 2014, to return to Washington, DC, where she spent 2012 working at the US Department of Education. The Board of Trustees of the Bennington college will announce a search firm and search committee within the next month, ensuring a smooth transition. A new president is expected to be named this fall.

Chair of the Board of Trustees Deborah Wiley said, “On behalf of the Board of Trustees and the entire SVC community, we extend our heartfelt thanks to Karen for her passionate leadership. She leaves the College in excellent fiscal shape, with innovative programs in place, remarkable faculty and staff and growing student success in terms of retention and graduation rates.”

Secretary of State Jim Condos announced today the launch of a new agency Web site. “The goal was to make it easier for the public to find the resources they need. I feel we have accomplished this by creating a website that is user friendly and intuitive,” Condos said in a statement.

Condos noted that: “We have so much information that relates to entirely different topics and divisions within the Secretary of State’s Office – from how to register your trade name, to how to register a complaint against your dentist, to how to register to vote, to how to get an Apostille or Authentication. It was really important that we took the time and created a website that was simple to use and at the same time provides significant improvements to the accessibility of agency managed content.”

Beginning May 19, T-Mobile customers in Vermont will be able to use their mobile phones to send a text message to 9-1-1 for emergency help. The addition of T-Mobile as a text to 911 provider in Vermont completes an initiative that began in 2012. In April 2012, the 911 Board and Verizon Wireless launched its first trial of this new service in Vermont. In December of that year, the four nationwide wireless carriers agreed to provide text to 911 services not later than the middle of May, 2014. AT&T launched their service in the fall of 2013, and Sprint added the service just last week. Vermont is the first state to implement this service with all four of the major wireless carriers.

Samantha Power has spent her life fighting for human rights and addressing global challenges to peace, security and prosperity, most recently as the United States ambassador to the United Nations. On May 18, at the University of Vermont's main commencement ceremony, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author told nearly 3,000 UVM students receiving diplomas that they, too, can make a difference in the world, despite having feelings of doubt about how much impact they can have on it.

The Senate public works committee has advanced a six-year, $265 billion transportation funding bill that includes almost $1.3 billion for Vermont to maintain its roads and bridges.

“It is no secret that our infrastructure needs a lot of work,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who helped draft the bill as a member of the transportation subcommittee. He cited studies showing that 32 percent of major roads in the United States are in poor or mediocre condition and 11 percent of all bridges are structurally deficient.

For Vermont, the bill adopted by the U.S. Senate panel last Thursday would provide at least $1.258 billion in federal highway aid from 2015 through 2020.

Burton Snowboards, based in Burlington, announced Wednesday that after five years in progressive leadership roles within Burton, most recently as COO, Mike Rees will officially step up to the role of CEO. With Rees now running day-to-day operations, Jake Burton Carpenter will once again become the company’s chairman, focusing on evolving the brand’s world-class product lines.