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The Vermont Department of Banking, Insurance, Securities & Health Care Administration (BISHCA) is now the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation.The change was included in legislation signed yesterday by Governor Shumlin; the new name will reflect the departmentâ s evolving mission.
â Last year Act 48 moved much of BISHCAâ s oversight of health insurance and hospital budgets to the Green Mountain Care Board,’said Commissioner Steve Kimbell. â Our department is more streamlined and more focused on financial oversight, so the new name makes sense.â
The Department of Financial Regulation website will replace the BISHCA site but will continue to be accessible by searching for â BISHCA.â The phone numbers and email addresses of agency employees are unchanged.
â Weâ re going to miss our old name,’Kimbell added. â All of it.â
Source: DFR 4.4.2012

About.com today announced that Okemo Mountain Resort in Ludlow has been selected as the 2012 About.com Readers' Choice Award winner for Best New England Ski Resort. Now in its fifth year, the About.com Readers' Choice Awards honor the best products, features and services across more than a dozen categories, ranging from technology to hobbies to parenting and more, as selected by its readers.

"This year's Readers' Choice Awards program had a record number of nominations submitted across dozens of categories and featured hundreds of finalists," said Margot Weiss, managing editor, About.com. "We are thankful to all our readers for their participation and congratulate Okemo on their success."

The International Joint Commission (IJC) is inviting the public to comment on theInternational Missisquoi Bay Study Boardâ s final reporton phosphorus loadings to Missisquoi Bay on Lake Champlain.
In 2008, the Canadian and U.S. federal governments asked the International Joint Commission (IJC) to help them coordinate initiatives in both countries to reduce phosphorus loadings to Missisquoi Bay. The IJC appointed the International Missisquoi Bay Study Board to help it carry out this request. The study identified specific areas in the Vermont portion of the basin where efforts to control phosphorus runoff would be most cost effective.

Peopleâ s United Bank recently made a donation of $2,000 to New England Youth Theatre to support their â Rock Your Boat’School Tour about bullying.

Stephen Stearns, founder of the New England Youth Theatre, stressed his passionate belief that young people can run their own theatre with the guidance of theatre professionals.

â We strive to create an atmosphere of harmony and respect where students and adults can work together as equal creative spirits, fostering initiative, positive mental attitude, kindness and teamwork.We explore our creativity through a wide variety of dramatic media, exposing students to every aspect of theatre production. From acting to advertising, choreography to lighting, directing to designing, we cut capers on stage as we cut the platform legs that support it!And always, we have fun.

by Glen A Wright CPA The Vermont Tax Department has recently been in the press for retroactively assessing tax on software companies located in Vermont.

Dartmouth College announced today the naming of its medical school, founded in 1797, in honor of Audrey and Theodor Geisel. Their generosity to Dartmouth during their lifetimes and through their estate plan renders the Geisel family the most significant philanthropist to Dartmouth in its history. Theodor â Ted’Geisel, known worldwide as the author and illustrator, â Dr Seuss,’was a Dartmouth graduate of the Class of 1925.

At a press conference today at the Vermont State House, business and labor groups called upon the Vermont Senate to reject a new tax increase recently passed by the Vermont House on Vermont Yankee.

â This is not the time and this is not the economy in which to increase taxes on businesses, especially solely targeting one Vermont employer,’said William Driscoll, Vice President of Associated Industries of Vermont. â Vermontâ s economy and business reputation are struggling in many ways. This tax sets a bad precedent, one that other businesses will have a very watchful eye on,’said Mr. Driscoll.

by Anne Galloway vtdigger.orgState Senator Randy Brock (Franklin-Grand Isle), the Republican candidate for governor, wants the Shumlin administration to renegotiate a deal it made with Gaz Metro last week on the $21 million for windfall.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc will issue its first quarter earnings release after the market closes onTuesday, April 24, 2012.
Berkshirewill conduct a conference call/webcast at10:00 am eastern timeonWednesday, April 25, 2012to discuss the results for the quarter and guidance about expected future results. Participants should dial-in to the call a few minutes before it begins. Information about the conference call follows:

Dial-in:

866-843-0890

Elite Entry Number:

3494596

Webcast:

www.berkshirebank.com (investor relations link)

People's United Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ: PBCT) announced today it will host a conference call onThursday, April 19, 2012, at8:00 am Eastern Timeto discuss its first quarter 2012 earnings announcement. People's United Financial will release its first quarter financial results onThursday, April 19, 2012at approximately7:00 am Eastern Time.

The call will be broadcast live through the company's Internet site,peoples.com. It is accessible by selecting "Investor Relations" in the "About People's United" section on the home page, and then selecting "Conference Calls" in the "News and Events" section.

The call will be archived on the site and available for retrieval for approximately 90 days.

Teachers of the Rutland Southwest Supervisory Union will strike today (Wednesday, April 4) after the union and the local school boards failed to reach agreement on a new contract.
The NEA, which is the largest teachers union, said the boards walked away after teachers agreed to the boards’demands on salary; agreed to the boards’demands on three of a possible four years on health insurance premium co-pays; agreed with the boards to halt step-increases in the event a contract expires without a successor in place; and agreed with the boards to allow distance learning in the system.
For its part, the RSWSU said on its Web site that after over six hours of mediation, the school boards presented the union with a four-year proposal to settle all issues. This settlement proposal, it said, would increase teacher salaries by an average of 10.5 percent (on an average of 2.6 percent per year). The Fact Finder recommended an average of 2.6 percent per year for only two years.

CoreLogic (NYSE: CLGX), a leading provider of information, analytics and business services, today released its February Home Price Index (HPI)report, the most current and comprehensive source of home prices available today. Vermont is in the top five states with the greatest depreciation, excluding distressed sales, with -4 percent.

Overall, excluding distressed sales, month-over-month prices increased 0.7 percent in February from January. The CoreLogic HPIalso showed that year-over-year prices declined by 0.8 percent inFebruary 2012compared toFebruary 2011. Distressed sales include short sales and real estate owned (REO) transactions.

The report also shows national home prices, including distressed sales, declined on a year-over-year basis by 2.0 percent inFebruary 2012and by 0.8 percent compared toJanuary 2012, the seventh consecutive monthly decline.