Current News

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.

General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products, a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), recently delivered 85 MK19 40mm grenade machine guns to the U.S. Army under the company's latest contract award for the weapon.
General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products was awarded an$8.7 millionorder for more than 650 MK19 weapons inSeptember 2011. The September award extended an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract for MK19 weapons that was initially awarded to General Dynamics in 2008. The latest order brings the total contract value to date to more than$90 million. General Dynamics has delivered more than 40,000 MK19 guns since 1987.

The US Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced that extremely low-income people in Vermont living with HIV/AIDS will continue to receive permanent housing as a result of a $392,906 grant HUD is awarding. Annually, this HUD funding will provide permanent supportive housing so they can manage their health and access needed supportive services such as case management and employment training.
The funding announced today is offered through HUD’sHousing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS Program (HOPWA)and will renew HUD’s support of the Burlington Housing Authority (see below project description).
‘These grants offer housing, vital healthcare and hope to Vermont households that combine to literally save lives,’ said HUD New England Regional Administrator Barbara Fields. ‘Having stable housing can make all the difference to the health of someone living with HIV/AIDS who might otherwise be struggling to live on our streets.’

by Alan Panebaker vtdigger.orgThe Vermont Senate isn’t quite sure how ‘smart’ wireless smart meters are.
So it wants the Department of Public Service to study the costs of removing the meters and the meter reading fees for those who choose not to have them.
On Friday, the Senate passed S.214, which would require the department to produce the study by March 1, 2013.
Smart meters, or ‘S-Meters,’ provide detailed information about electricity usage. Utilities tout the benefits of the up-to-date information. The meters allow for faster outage detection, help customers make more informed decisions on when to use electricity, and reduce peak demand for electricity when utilities are buying expensive power from plants that burn fossil fuels.
On the other hand, citizens’ groups say they have concerns about the health effects from radio frequencies the wireless smart meters emit and privacy issues involved with the detailed usage information.

by Anne Galloway vtdigger.orgFinally, after the economic doldrums of the last few year, Vermont is seeing a few positive indicators. The state had the fourth lowest unemployment rate in the country at 4.9 percent last month, and recently ranked No. 1 with regard to the green economy.
The Green Mountain State has the highest per capita ‘green goods and services’ jobs in the country, according to a new survey from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. About 4.4 percent of Vermonters, or 12,844 people, are employed in the green sector.
Download a synopsis of the survey.
About 3.1 million Americans worked in the green economy in 2010. Major industries counted in the survey included manufacturers that recycle materials, and make hybrid cars, efficient appliances or pollution mitigation equipment. Waste management and professional jobs are also part of the mix ‘ engineers, architects, computer systems design.

At a meeting of the Vermont Climate Cabinet today Natural Resources Secretary Deb Markowitz, Transportation Secretary Brian Searles, and Public Service Commissioner Elizabeth Miller signed an agreement to advance ‘Project Get Ready,’ a collaborative effort to prepare Vermont for electric vehicles that will be facilitated by the Vermont Energy Investment Corporation and the Rocky Mountain Institute.
This partnership will engage stakeholders from electric utilities, automobile dealerships, and regional planning organizations, along with state and local government representatives, in order to facilitate the adoption of electric vehicles across Vermont.

Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell, along with the Attorneys General of New York, California, and eight other states, joined a friend-of-the-court brief in the U.S. Supreme Court arguing that U.S. immigration policy may be set only by the federal government and that Arizona’s illegal immigration legislation is inconsistent with, and preempted by, federal law.
Arizona’s law requires its State law enforcement officials to engage in enforcement activities to detain and arrest individuals who appear to be undocumented immigrants, without regard to federal immigration priorities. The Arizona law also criminalizes any work, effort to work, or failure to comply with federal registration requirements by undocumented immigrants.

by Alan Panebaker vtdigger.orgThe state’s natural gas utility is looking for a place to put a pipeline expansion into Addison County, and an existing easement owned by the Vermont Electric Power Company looks like a good bet.
Vermont Gas Systems received state approval last fall to create a fund that would allow it to keep $4.4 million annually to pay for an expansion into the Middlebury and Vergennes areas.
Earlier this month, the gas utility approached VELCO’s operating committee with the proposal to locate the $60-million expansion route along the electric transmission corridor south of Route 89 between Taft Corners and New Haven.
Steve Wark, director of communications for Vermont Gas Systems, said the communications with VELCO are preliminary. The gas utility plans to file for a permit at the end of this year or early in 2012, Wark said.

Attorney General William Sorrell is warning consumers of a new telephone scam in which callers, claiming to be from Microsoft, state that the consumer’s computer has been infected with a virus and/or a series of operating system errors. The caller then asks the consumer to allow them remote access to the consumer’s computer to ‘fix’ the problem.
Consumers should be aware that this remote access can provide full access to all of the files stored on the computer, as well as to internet browsing history. It gives scammers an opportunity to install malware such as ‘keyloggers’ that can capture sensitive information such as bank account numbers and passwords to secure websites used by the consumer.