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by John Herrick vtdigger.org A Vermont House and Senate conference committee is in tense negotiations over the shorelands protection bill.

House members want to scale back the scope of the legislation, which is designed to preserve aquatic and shoreline habitat along Vermont’s lakes.

Senators, meanwhile, are unwilling to budge on stronger environmental protections in their version of H.526.

Agency of Natural Resources officials who helped to shape the Senate bill say weakening the legislation will undermine the agency’s implementation efforts.

Green Mountain Power and landowners in Lowell have reached a settlement in a case of counter claims involving GMP's wind turbine development there, called Kingdom County Wind. The litigation pertained to conflicting claims of ownership of an area of land at the top of Lowell mountain in the location of the wind turbine project. The lawsuit involved damage claims asserted by Green Mountain Power against the Nelsons and trespass and other damage claims asserted by the Nelsons against GMP.

The Nelsons issued the following statement Monday morning:

by vtdigger.org George Shumlin, the father of Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin, died Thursday at his home in Westminster West. He was 88.

Governor Shumlin issued the following statement:

“Yesterday afternoon, my dad George Shumlin passed away surrounded by all of his kids and our mother, Kitty, his wife of 62 years. We will miss him terribly but are so glad he enjoyed almost 89 healthy years and that his decline was brief. We will be honoring his life and love for his family privately. My dad was a great friend as well as a great father, and every day I’ll work to live up to his example.”

Statement from President Pro Tempore Senator John Campbell:

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Several reports locally and nationally suggest that the 2014 construction season could be the best since before the recession, despite the grizzly winter and concerns over possible government action, in Vermont and in Washington that could raise costs. The concerns are mostly theoretical, because nothing has really happened, yet.

Bart Frisbie is president of Sterling Construction. Pent-up demand is the most significant reason for his optimism.

"We see a busy season coming," he said. Sterling Construction is primarily a new home builder out of South Burlington.

A proposal that would provide for the long-term financial security of the Vermont State Teachers' Retirement System and save taxpayers up to a half-billion dollars in the next 25 years was announced today. Governor Peter Shumlin, State Treasurer Beth Pearce, legislative leaders and the teachers' union unveiled a plan to pay for retired teachers' health benefits.
"I am pleased that after months of hard work, we've been able to find a way to pay for this valuable benefit that teachers have earned over their careers," said Shumlin. "The agreement calls for everyone at the table to bear some responsibility for ensuring that the pension teachers rely on in retirement is solvent, safe and secure for generations to come."

Related Company: Summit TechnologiesRoute 802, LLCAfter two years in the making, Summit Technologies and Route 802 are proud to announce the launch of ‘Mobilenomix’, a unique and fully digital marketing platform. By branding and promoting regional ecosystems, like Vermont’s “Route 802”, Mobilenomix delivers an integrated suite of digital marketing solutions based on free Gigabit Wi-Fi, digital place-based advertising and specialized mobile marketing tools for local retailers, restaurants, hospitality and public venues. “Mobilenomix represents a major step towards our collective mobile and digital future” said Al Levy, Founder of Route 802.

by Morgan True vtdigger.org The Senate gave preliminary approval to a bill that aims to protect Vermont doctors from censure by state regulators if they prescribe long-term antibiotics for lingering symptoms associated with Lyme disease.

Deer tick. Creative Commons photo by jkirkhart35 via flickr.

Interstate 89, north between exits 6 & 7 (Barre & Berlin area) is closed Friday morning due to a gas leak from a Tractor-Trailer. The Berlin Fire Department is on-scene and VTrans is assisting.
Traffic is being diverted at Exit 6 for the time being. No other updates are available at this time.
Source: Vermont Department of Public Safety | Vermont State Police 4.11.2014 10:08 am

by John Herrick vtdigger.org A proposal to regulate toxic chemicals found in products sold in the state would be one of the toughest in the nation, business groups say, and now lawmakers are considering scaling it back.

Rep. David Deen, D-Putney, chair of the Fish, Wildlife and Water Resources Committee, said Thursday the bill could soon be “harmonized” with Washington state’s reporting program for chemicals found only in children’s products.

“We want to do what’s helpful to protect the people of Vermont. And if harmonizing with other states gets us a level of protection we do not have now – and gets businesses on board, at least neutral about the bill – yeah, I think that’s where it’s headed,” he said.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced Wednesday that it has awarded a $251,000 Emergency Community Water Assistance Grant (ECWAG) to Greensboro Fire District #1 to improve drinking water quality for users in Greensboro Village. In addition, the Brattleboro Area Farmers Market received $6,300.
The Greensboro grant will help the Fire District develop an additional well. The system’s existing wells have suffered from drought conditions in the past two years, forcing residents to draw untreated drinking water directly for Caspian Lake. Untreated surface water does not meet the standards of the Safe Drinking Water Act, requiring the system to issue boil water notices to its users.

by John Herrick vtdigger.org An initiative to label foods containing genetically modified organisms sold in Vermont passed a legislative panel Thursday.
The Senate Appropriations committee unanimously approved H.112, a food-labeling bill designed to disclose GMOs found in certain foods. The full Senate will take up the bill as soon as next week.
Lawmakers anticipate defending the legislation in court and have set up a $1.5 million legal fund for the Vermont Attorney General’s Office. The money will come from legal settlements made with businesses that violate the law; private donations from the public; and any appropriations from the general fund.
The committee amended the bill to require lawmakers to redirect any excess money in the fund after July 1, 2018, unless there are pending legal proceedings.
The attorney general would issue civil penalties up to $1,000 a day for each product that violates the law.

by Anne Galloway vtdigger.org Vermonters feel passionately about their local schools, and that passion was evident on Wednesday night as people from around the state came to testify at a hearing in Montpelier.

The topic — school board consolidation — drew people into the Statehouse from the most rural and most populous corners of the state.

In all, 56 people told lawmakers what they think of H.883, a proposal that would reduce the total number of school boards from more than 270 to 45 over a six-year period. The plan eliminates existing school districts and supervisory unions and creates new expanded districts with 1,250 students. H.883 would give school district officials deadlines for planning and implementing mergers, and resources to pay for legal and accounting costs.