Current News

by Michele Ollie, co-founder and President ofThe Center for Cartoon Studies.I founded the Center for Cartoon Studies (CCS) in 2005 on a very simple belief: the medium of comics was as potent and deserving of serious exploration as painting, sculpture, and poetry. Most of our students see comics as a calling as much as a career, a vehicle for personal expression. Although there is a deep reverence for the printed page, it would be wrong to assume we don’t embrace new technologies. In the school’s production lab, the old school screen-printing shares the same space as wireless state-of-the-art color laser printers and digital tablets. Students still dip steel nibs into inkwells while laying out their comics in Adobe InDesign.

TheVermontHouse of Representatives passed a major energy bill today to expandVermont’s use of renewable energy, decrease its greenhouse gas emissions, and increase its energy independence. Opponents of the bill maintain that it will increase electric costs to Vermont customers, while moving the renewable energy credits to other New England states.
The bill,H 468,sets out a target of renewable energy to be 75 percent of the state’s total power portfolio by 2032.The Department of Public Service estimates the bill will bring in more than half a billion dollars in capital investment in energy generation projects to the state.
‘Vermont’s energy portfolio is already made up of 59 percent renewables. This bill will continue the development of the state’s renewable power market by encouraging energy entrepreneurship,’ said Speaker Shap Smith. ‘It’s good for our environment, createsVermontjobs, and ultimately it’s good for our economy.’

The University of Vermont is calling for nominations for the first annual Family Business Awards. The awards, which are being organized by the Family Business Initiative at the School of Business Administration, will recognize UVM alumni and Vermont based businesses that have demonstrated a commitment to creating sustainable business through leadership and innovation.

Secretary of State Jim Condos announced today that the Vermont Historical Records Advisory Board (VHRAB) has been awarded a grant of $15,000 from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) to plan projects to support the identification, preservation, and use of Vermont’s historical records.

The funding will allow VHRAB to design a future re-grant program to assist local historical societies, municipal clerks, and other repositories around the state. Previous VHRAB re-grant programs from 1996 to 2000 secured $123,574 in federal matching funds to support initiatives related to disaster planning; improving access to archival records; and archival education. The planning grant also will be used to design annual Archives Month programs in October.

EatMoreKale.com and documentary producer, James Lantz, have just five more days to raise funds for the documentary ‘A Defiant Dude.’ $50,000 dollars has already been raised with $25,000 more needed by Sunday, March 25.

Funds are being collected on their webpage on Kickstarter.com. Kickstarter is the world's largest funding platform for creative projects. It is an all or nothing funding option.On Kickstarter, a project must reach its funding goal before time runs out or no money changes hands.

Funding is coming in from individuals and companies who are finding out about this program through social media. Kathleen and Jimmy LeSage, owners of New Life Hiking Spa in Killington, Vermont recently made a donation after seeing a YouTube post on a friend’s Facebook wall.

To accompany today’s release by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack of a report highlighting the ways in which USDA’s Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) contributes to US energy independence, the Montpelier, Vermont based USDA Rural Development team assembled a group of stakeholders to showcase successes and encourage new projects.

Present at the meeting were prior program recipients Ernie Pomerleau, developer of the Ferrisburg Solar Farm and William MacClay, principal of MacClay Planners and Architects. Pomerleau and MacClay provided an overview of their development models and highlighted how USDA Rural Development services were vital to their respective projects.

Onion River Sports in Montpelier, an outdoor store specializing in human-powered sports including cycling, running and Nordic skiing, announces the launch of a new global lifestyle brand and socially integrated web site based on their motto, Muscles Not Motors. The new brand, Muscles Not Motors, and website, Muscles Not Motors.com, are targeted to individuals and families committed to building healthy, active lives, and sustainable communities. The blog-style site attracts a like-minded following through several areas of interest. Blog posts are filled with personal experiences of contributing bloggers from Vermont and around the US, with tips and information to inspire and empower readers to make positive changes in their lives, their families, and their communities.

The State of Vermont has lagged behind most of the rest of the nation in the growth in women-owned businesses. A recent report ranks Vermont 45th in the US in the growth in the number of firms over the last 15 years and 42nd in revenues. Total employment actually fell during that time.
Vermont overall has an estimated 21,800 women-owned firms, employing 13,300 and attributing to roughly $1.9 billion according to the State of Women-Owned Businesses Report, commissioned by American Express OPEN, a comprehensive study released today analyzing data from the USCensus Bureau.
Similar to the first report released this time last year, the unique analysis, reported by industry, revenue and employment size at the national, state and top 25 metropolitan levels, shares a new and nuanced investigation into the growth trends among the 8.3 million women-owned enterprises over the past 15 years.

The Samara Fund for LGBT Issues, a component fund of the Vermont Community Foundation, announces the 2012 call for applications to support Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community organizations and projects. TheSamara Fund's mission is to help create a vibrant Vermont LGBT community and ensure that these Vermonters are connected, healthy, appreciated, safe, and empowered.

The Samara Fund recently joined in partnership with the Community Foundation, a move that it hopes will build on Samara’s 20-year history of making grants in support of Vermont’s LGBT community.

‘Our new partnership with the Community Foundation increases our capacity to make more and larger grants,’ said Samara Fund Grants Committee Chair Carol Maloney. ‘We are excited to announce that the Samara Fund will award significantly more dollars in 2012 than we have been able to do over the last several years.’

EPA recently announced that Vermont has been one of five selected recipients of the Smart Growth Implementation Assistance (SGIA) program nationwide. This program will offer assistance to help understand new or cutting-edge development issues in five areas of the country, and then replicate that assistance to other places facing similar challenges.

In the fall of 2011, the state of Vermont experienced major damage to roads, houses, and businesses due to flood impacts from Tropical Storm Irene. With this SGIA assistance EPA will help communities in the Mad River Valley recover from flood damage, become more resilient to future natural disasters and plan for future growth.

The air across Vermont soon may be a bit more pungent. As a result of unusually warm and dry weather, lack of snow and projected weather forecast over the next few weeks the Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets in agreement with the Agency of Natural Resources and Vermont Association of Conservation Districts, is lifting the winter spreading ban that normally is in place until April 1.
According to Secretary Chuck Ross, ‘I am lifting the ban because I believe it will help farmers best manage their manure resources and is in the best interests of Vermont’s waterways.’
David Mears, Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation agreed stating ‘Current conditions are favorable for manure application. Taking advantage of good weather now may prevent application of manure later when conditions may not be as good.’

Starbucks Coffee Company(NASDAQ: SBUX) andGreen Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc.(GMCR) (NASDAQ: GMCR), a leader in specialty coffee and coffee makers, today announced the expansion of their strategic relationship for the manufacturing, marketing, distribution and sale ofStarbucks-branded Vuepacks for use in GMCR's recently introducedKeurigVueBrewer.
On the news GMCRreversed a recent slide in stock price and was up $5.09 (10.04%) to$55.79for the day. The stock price has been on a volatile run, falling from over $100 last fall down to nearly $40, climbing back up near $70 before falling again near $50 on the news of Starbucks new espresso machine. GMCRalso will have an espresso machine coming out. Both companies indicated those high-pressure brewers would be available later this year. Starbucks saw only a marginal gain today in stock price.