Current News

Mayor-elect Miro Weinbergertoday announced his first mayoral appointment, naming Paul R Sisson, CPA, a local financial consultant and former partner with 26 years at KPMG, as Interim Chief Administrative Officer for the City of Burlington. The appointment, which Weinberger has asked the City Council to approve at tomorrow evening’s Council meeting would be for a term of approximately three months, until June 30, 2012.

by Timothy McQuiston Vermont Business MagazineSenator Bill Doyle, R-Washington, released today his 42nd annual, and popular, Town Meeting Day Poll results. The 14 questions were answered by 12,300 meeting-goers in March and showed that Vermonters are just about split on whether the state should keep fighting Vermont Yankee and are still against cell phone use while driving. Also, Vermonters are optimistic about the state's future.
‘I call it the people’s poll,’ Doyle said, that while not scientific it goes out to 148 towns across the state and enjoys a large sample size of voters.
‘I get a lot of comments like, ‘You’re the only one asking me these questions’,’ Doyle said.
One thing that struck him was that the Vermont Yankee opposition has changed over time.

USDA Thursday announced the first payments to farmers since April 2010 under the basic dairy safety net program, the Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) Program. The new payments are triggered mostly by rising feed prices. The MILC Program kicks in when milk prices fall substantially below the costs of production. US Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency Administrator Bruce Nelson announced the February payment rate for the MILC program is $0.3895043 per hundredweight.

FairPoint Communications, Inc (Nasdaq CM: FRP) says it is continuing to improve its operations. Along with expansion of broadband services, it has reduced employment by 78 through buyouts and layoffs. The location of the employment reductions were not announced.
"We're making good operational gains and we are proud of the 8.4 percent gain in broadband subscribers in 2011 ‘ the highest percentage gain among our industry peers," said FairPoint CEOPaul Sunu.

by Alan Panebaker vtdigger.org A bill that originally would have banned the controversial process of hydraulic fracturing passed by the Vermont House as a three-year moratorium.
Now the chair of the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Energy says she wants to put the teeth back in the bill and switch it back once again to an all-out ban.
Sen. Ginny Lyons, D-Chittenden, said with all the unknowns about the process for extracting natural gas and the environmental problems that can occur, a ban made more sense than a moratorium.
‘If you put a moratorium in place, people are just waiting for the gates to open, and we don’t want that to happen,’ she said.
The practice of hydraulic fracturing or ‘fracking’ involves injecting a pressurized mix of chemicals, sand and water into a well. The slurry essentially props up shale rock, which contains the resource, and it is released.

Chester Vermont’s 38th annual Fall Festival on the Green is looking for artisans and crafters to show and demonstrate at this year’s weekend Festival, September 22-23. High quality artists and craftspeople creating handmade work are encouraged to apply.

Applications are available on the website: www.chesterfallfestival.org. Participating Artisans, crafters, vendors and non-profit organizations will be listed on the website. A limited number of free spots are available at no cost to local non-profit organizations.

If your Chester business or organization is planning a special event for that weekend, please let the Fall Festival Committee know and we will include it in the publicity package at no cost. The committee strives to make this an all-inclusive community event.

Chester, Vermont. 3.30.2012.

An innovative virtual learning partnership between Vermont Technical College’s Respiratory Therapy Programand Vermont Interactive Technologies(formerly known as Vermont Interactive Television, and commonly referred to as VIT) will be featured at theUnited States Distance Learning Association’s(USDLA) 25th annual national conference in St. Louis in May.
‘This program has resulted in a unique and highly successful distance learning recipe that blends synchronous and asynchronous learning with just the right measurement of in-person classes, virtual classes via video, and online content,’ said Tara Lidstone, executive director of VIT, Vermont’s largest public videoconferencing network. Last year, VIT received the USDLA Best Practices award and was also recognized internationally as a Computerworld Laureate.

The International Joint Commission (IJC) has been asked to develop a plan of study concerning the record flooding of Lake Champlain and its tributaries, and of the Richelieu River which occurred in Spring 2011.

In letters from the Governments of the United States and Canada, IJC is being asked to develop a study proposal which would examine the causes and impacts of flooding, as well as the full range of measures to prepare for, prevent and mitigate such impacts.

The International Joint Commission prevents and resolves disputes between the United States of America and Canada under the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty and pursues the common good of both countries as an independent and objective advisor to the two governments.

International Joint Commission. 3.30.2012.

by Sam HemingwayPresident Barack Obama paid a four-hour campaign visit to Vermont on Friday, telling 4,500 people crammed inside a University of Vermont athletic complex that he is "not a perfect man" but the efforts of his administration to address the nation's economic troubles, pass health care reform and bring troops home from Iraq are the "beginning of what change looks like."
Obama flew into Burlington International Airport at 11:21 am, accompanied by Senator Patrick Leahy,

The Planning & Zoning Department has announced the launch of the planBTV Public Input Web Tool. For the past several months, the planBTV team has been gathering public input on the project through different avenues: Neighborhood Improvement Night meetings in November, Design Charrette in January, Facebook page, etc. We have now brought all those comments and ideas within one comprehensive database and web tool.

The Vermont House of Representatives gave initial approval for the Working Lands Enterprise Investment bill (H.496) on Thursday afternoon with a 131-5 vote. The bill includes a little more than a $2 million appropriation for a new fund to be directed toward economic development investment in agricultural and forest products enterprises. The bill will be considered for final passage in the House on Friday, and then will move on to the Senate for consideration.

The bill had overwhelming non-partisan support, with an 11-0 vote in the Agriculture Committee, and several members speaking for the bill on the floor. Rep. Duncan Kilmartin (R-Newport) said he thought the bill was ‘one of the best bills I’ve seen’ during his years as a House Representative.

Union Bank and Amasa LLC today jointly announced they have reached agreement for Union to purchase the building in which its branch is currently located at 76 Main Street in Littleton. Union assumed the Main Street location lease for the branch when it acquired three Northway Bank branches last May. The other two locations are in North Woodstock and Groveton.
Ken Gibbons, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Of Union Bank, stated ‘As a tenant, it was a logical decision for us to purchase this property and, after discussions with the Amasa members, we were able to come to agreement on a price which is fair to all. Thirteen of our eighteen locations are in owned, rather than leased, premises. Our Dells Road branch will continue to offer full service banking as well, providing two convenient locations in Littleton.’