Current News

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.’

Weekly unemployment claims in Vermont decreased for the third straight week, as March results moved closer to February's relatively low levels. Last week there were 874 new regular benefit claims for Unemployment Insurance in Vermont last week. This is a decrease of 10 claims from the week before and is 57 higher than last year's total.

Every year since 1979Ben & Jerry’sfans have asked the same question: ‘Why? Why do you give away free ice cream on your anniversary?’ The answer hasn’t changed since that fateful day to celebrate the ice cream maker’s first year of business. Cofounders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield created Free Cone Day as a ‘thank you’ to the community that supported their business. While a lot has changed in the last 34 years, the company has never failed to hold the annual giveaway to throw open the doors and continue the tradition.
While Ben & Jerry’s continues the time-tested annual Free Cone Day event, the company is bringing a taste of something new to the table with its most recent product line:Greek Frozen Yogurt.

On Monday evening, the Vermont State Colleges agreed to a long-term lease to locate the Office of the Chancellor at 575 Stone Cutters Way in Montpelier. The office will occupy the entire second floor and a portion of the first floor of the building.
The chancellor’s staff is composed of 30 employees who provide centralized services to the five colleges. These services include legal support, financial, accounting and payroll, human resources and information technology.
The chancellor’s office was previously located at Stanley Hall in the Waterbury State Office Complex. Since August 28, when Tropical Storm Irene hit Vermont, staff members have been spread across the state. Eleven members have occupied temporary incubator space in the Vermont Technology Enterprise Center in Randolph. The remaining staff members have been working from home or from offices provided by the colleges.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont (BCBSVT) announced today that 16 of its employer groups were awarded Worksite Wellness Awards at the 2012 Vermont Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports Worksite Wellness Conference held on March 28 in Burlington.
The Vermont Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports gives awards to employer programs that support staff access to physical fitness activities and promote good health at work and beyond. The awards are categorized on the number of employees at each worksite so that smaller companies do not compete against larger ones. Several levels of awards are given in each size category: Gold Standard for past Gold recipients, Gold, Silver and Bronze. This year, a new category was added for "rising stars" for groups who made great progress in the last year.
Governor Peter Shumlin and Health Commissioner Dr. Harry Chen presented awards on behalf of the council to 79 employers.

by Anne Galloway vtdigger.com March 29, 2012 Governor Peter Shumlin wants to head the Democratic Governors Association.Shumlin made the remarksin an interview with Politico.com, a Washington, D.C.-based news organization, on Wednesday.If the governor is selected for the post, he would replace Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley. A new chairman of the Democratic Governors Association will be likely selected in December.

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved legislation authored by the Committee’s Chairman, Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), and Ranking Member, Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), to reauthorize the critical Drug Free Communities (DFC) Program, which provides valuable grants to help community coalitions respond to serious drug and substance abuse problems in their communities.
‘The myth persists that drug abuse and drug-related crime are only big-city problems, but rural America, including Vermont, is also coping with these issues,’ said Leahy. ‘Vermont’s community-based approach to fighting drug use and abuse is supported by Drug Free Community grants. Congress should continue to support this vital program.’

Three companies that charged local consumers and businesses on their telephone bills for services to which many of the affected Vermonters say they did not consent have entered intosettlementswith the Vermont Attorney General’s Office, bringing to 17 the number of such settlements since mid-March of 2011. Together, the three firms billed over 1,100 Vermont consumers and businesses over $260,000, all of which must be refunded, if that has not already been done. In addition, each will pay the State of Vermont $10,000 in penalties and costs.

Central Vermont Medical Center President and CEO Judy Tartaglia recently announced the expansion of services offered at its Waterbury Medical Associates office on South Main Street to create a multi-specialty clinic to meet the needs of Waterbury and surrounding communities.