Current News

A US Postal Service proposal to close more than 3,600 post offices and branches, including 14 in Vermont, drew opposition today from the Vermont congressional delegation.
‘Post offices in a rural state like Vermont are not just post offices ‘ they are often the heart and soul of the town ‘ and they must not be closed down,’ Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Representative Peter Welch (D-Vt.) said in a letter to Postal Service commissioners.
‘Many of these post offices have been in continuous operation for over 100 years and are an essential part of the fabric of Vermont’s rural landscape,’ the delegation letter added.
The post offices targeted are: Beecher Falls; Cambridgeport (town of Rockingham); East Ryegate; Florence; Gilman; Granville; Highgate Springs; White River Junction, Lyman location; McIndoe Falls (town of Barnet); North Thetford; Rupert; Stockbridge; Websterville (Barre Town) and West Newbury.

A public informational meeting and hearing will be held on Tuesday, August 16, 2011 at 7 pm in the Bennington Free Library in Bennington, Vermont. The meeting is an opportunity for residents to learn about proposed changes to the cleanup plan for the Burgess Brothers Landfill Superfund Site.
In 1998, EPA signed a Record of Decision (ROD) which called for placement of a landfill cap and construction of a soil vapor extraction system to address groundwater contamination. Contaminants were detected in the groundwater in upper thirty feet of soil at the site. Primary groundwater contaminants include trichloroethene (TCE) and tetrachlorothene (PCE). The groundwater in the bedrock remains unaffected.

Vermont Electric Cooperative (VEC) has lost a great friend and leader. Bertrand Lague, who died on July 27, joined VEC’s board of directors in 1983, most recently serving as treasurer and chairperson of the finance committee. Elected by VEC members, Lague played an integral role in setting policy and building a financially sound organization.
‘We are deeply saddened by the sudden death of Bert Lague,’ said Dave Hallquist, CEO of VEC. ‘Bert’s long-time leadership at VEC has left a mark that will not be forgotten. On behalf of all of our employees and the board of directors, I extend our deepest sympathy to his entire family.’

TD Bank, today announced it raised more than $1 million for Special Olympics through TD Bank’s third annual ‘Be a fan’ campaign.
TD Bank surpassed its original $1 million goal through a combination of in-store donations, wristband sales at TD Bank store locations, and internal employee fundraising for six weeks during the summer. TD Bank customers and employees purchased more than 168,000 ‘Be a fan’ wristbands with all proceeds contributing to the total money raised.
So far this year, more than 3,000 TD Bank employees have pledged their time to volunteer at Special Olympics events, including Summer Games events throughout the TD Bank footprint, where they helped lead athletes to their events, assisted with health screenings and cheered on the athletes during opening ceremonies.

While ahead of its time when it was originally deployed, the legacy PShift network in the Morrisville area was no longer delivering an end user experience that was up to the GAW service standard. GAW upgraded its broadband access speeds that also accommodate Internet, Voice and DirecTV. With the new upgrade, GAW management made the decision to wave the customary two-year contract at the time of the upgrades, to support the current customer base.
Although not as quickly deployed as we anticipated, we took the time to create a superior solution for our customers.’ said Josh Garza, CEO, GAW. ‘The subscriber response to the increased speeds and improved service has been overwhelming. Both current and new users are expressing their delight in having the best alternative in the market. Nearly 100 customers chose to upgrade to the highest Internet speeds in their area, which reach upwards of 6 mbps. ‘

Getting a ‘higher education’ in Vermont takes a deeper meaning today as the Consortium of Vermont Colleges (CVC) -- and Ski Vermont announce a partnership expected to boost both tourism and enrollment at Vermont’s many public and private institutions of higher education.
CVC and Ski Vermont share a passion for providing high quality, transformative experiences, whether on campus or in Vermont’s mountains, said Nate Ball from Vermont Technical College and chairman of the council’s promotions committee.

Construction of the first of three new residence halls at Champlain College began this summer adjacent to Skiff Hall on South Willard Street. The project, dubbed "Res-Tri," is part of the College's Master Plan to provide campus housing for up to 90 percent of its 2,000 undergraduate students, according to Michel George, Associate Vice President of Campus Planning and Auxiliary Services.
It is anticipated that the building will be completed and ready for occupancy for the Fall 2012 semester. The second and third residence halls have received their permits, but no construction date has been set.
"We're very excited [about the project]," said George. "It will help us better serve the needs of our students and add to the aesthetics of the neighborhood. It's a win-win for everybody involved."

Revision officially marks its expansion into the Soldier Systems helmet business with a significant 3-year contract to develop the U.S. Army’s next-generation head protection system. The $1,990,340 award is for Revision to continue the design, development and demonstration of a modular and scalable headgear system for mounted and dismounted soldiers, and to mature it to a Technology Readiness Level 6. The new system is intended to provide impact protection improvements over current generation helmets and the integration of electronics and power. It will also allow soldiers to tailor their protection level and operating equipment to the specific mission at hand.

Head Protection System with Ergonomic Retention System and Multi-Purpose Front Mount.

Green Mountain Power (GMP) and Saint Michael's College today announced the unveiling of a public electric vehicle (EV) charging station on the Saint Michael's campus. The new station is a partnership between GMP and St. Michael's and will allow drivers to charge a vehicle at no cost for the first year.
"We are very excited to launch this new EV charging station in partnership with Saint Michael's College," said Mary Powell, President and CEO of Green Mountain Power. "At GMP we are committed to a triple bottom-line of cost, carbon and reliability. Building charging station infrastructure is critical for the adoption of electric vehicles. This project and others like it will also help GMP learn more about how people use electric vehicles so we can move away from fossil fuels based transportation without jeopardizing reliability and cost."

The Vermont Housing Data Website (www.housingdata.org) has added hundreds of Census data including Census 2010 demographic information and detailed estimates on home heating sources and housing cost burdens from the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS).
‘Even though we created the site eight years ago, the recent housing market upheaval nationally has made it clear that an accurate and comprehensive understanding of the local housing market like Vermont helps prevent some of the mistakes we’ve seen in other states,’ said Executive Director Sarah Carpenter.
‘By including the newest data as it becomes available, Vermont is in a better position to understand what’s happening locally as housing needs change. This starts the conversation about the most appropriate policy and programmatic responses for the future,’ she continued.

Governor Peter Shumlin said a recent federal Department of Energy review of the Department of Public Service, which serves as Vermont’s State Energy Office, found that Vermont’s use of stimulus funds has helped schools, municipalities, businesses and others statewide switch to renewable energy sources, implement efficiency measures, and hold down power costs.
‘These funds have gone directly to communities to save taxpayers money, reduce energy consumption and create jobs,’ Gov. Shumlin said. ‘We have used our federal stimulus award to create long-term energy savings for Vermonters and to speed our transition to a clean energy future. I am very proud of our state employees in the Department of Public Service for their hard work in getting these funds out the door and into the hands of our schools, towns, and state buildings to create energy savings statewide.’

The City of Burlington is one of a handful of prominent cities around the country and the world participating in the 2011 Carbon Disclosure Project’s ‘Global Report on C40 Cities.’ The report, issued in June, summarizes carbon emissions from ‘C40’ cities ‘ large cities around the world which have joined together with a commitment to tackling climate change ‘as well as 6 additional cities, including Burlington, which voluntarily disclosed information on their carbon footprint. Burlington joins cities such as New York, Chicago, Berlin, Dhaka, Hong King, London, Lagos, Taipei, and San Francisco in participating in the report, among others.