Current News

Tom Bailey, president of the Vermont Electric Cooperative (VEC) Board of Directors, announced today that George Lague will join the board as an eastern zone director. Lague was appointed by the board to fill a vacancy caused by the death in July of long-time director, Bert Lague. He will serve by appointment until the term expires in May 2012.
‘George brings a great deal of experience and expertise to the VEC Board of Directors,’ said Bailey. ‘He’s a great addition and will play a strong role in setting policy that reflects the interests of co-op members.’

Vermont’s congressional delegation ‘ Senators Patrick Leahy and Bernie Sanders and Representative Peter Welch ‘ Thursday welcomed nearly $54,000 in U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) grants to five Vermont maple syrup producers to make their operations more energy efficient. The news came as USDA Under Secretary for Rural Development Dallas Tonsager is visiting Vermont.
The funding is provided through the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) and will allow producers to install reverse osmosis systems to remove water from sap before it is boiled down to syrup. By removing the water before boiling the sap, producers reduce the amount of energy consumed in the production process. The nearly $54,000 in USDA funding will help to leverage $182,298 in private investment for energy efficiency improvements.

The Vermont Community Foundation announced that its Special and Urgent Needs - Irene Recovery Fund has awarded a total of $185,000 to 40 Vermont nonprofit organizations impacted by Tropical Storm Irene since its creation in early September. As of November 30, total contributions received or pledged to the fund exceeded $369,000.
Grants awarded to date have been available to nonprofits, schools, and municipal entities that sustained damage from Irene or face significant resource challenges in providing services for those affected by Irene. The fund will continue to make grants to these organizations and has announced that it will expand its grantmaking to include community relief funds and programs that provide financial assistance to individuals and families impacted by Irene.

Last week we got a call from Christine Brozyna at ABC’s World News asking how our Made in America Holiday Shopping Challenge is going,’ said Peggy Farabaugh, co-owner at Vernon-based Vermont Woods Studios furniture store. Christine explained that we have been selected to appear on Diane Sawyer’s Made in America series on November 30.
ABC sent a camera crew to our showroom in Vernon last Tuesday to do a nightly news story on how the community is ‘buying American’ and ‘buying local’ this holiday season.
‘We invited all Vernon residents to participate in the filming. ABC’s producers and camera crew filmed at all the familiar hang-outs in town: the School House General Store, the Town Hall, the Portside Tavern, the Firehouse, the elementary school and of course at the local furniture maker’s workshop, Woodruff Custom Furniture. A couple large crowd scenes were filmed along with several interviews of local residents.

Vermont Butter & Cheese Creamery (VBCC) announced today that they took home 5 awards, including 3 gold medals, at the World Cheese Awards annual cheese competition in Birmingham, UK. The World Cheese Awards is the world’s largest international cheese competition and considered one of the most prestigious in the cheese industry. There were over 200 international judges that tasted more than 2,500 cheeses from 30 countries. ‘This is a very exciting win for us. To think that our Bonne Bouche and Cremont both won gold medals in this international arena is humbling,’ said company co-founder Allison Hooper.

The People’s United Community Foundation, the philanthropic arm of People’s United Bank, announced today that it has awarded $76,500 to nonprofit organizations in Vermont during the 4th quarter of 2011. The organizations include: Vermont FoodBank, Committee on Temporary Shelter, Intervale Center Inc., Linking Learning to Life, Spectrum Inc., Habitat for Humanity International ‘ Bennington Habitat, Samaritan House Inc., John W. Graham Emergency Shelter Services Inc., Lake Champlain Maritime Museum at Basin Harbor Inc., Southeastern Vermont Community Action Inc., and Dream Program Inc.

The Vermont Telecommunications Authority (VTA) has announced its intention to negotiate contracts with two companies for the purposes of expanding cellular service in unserved Target Corridors and Drop Zones. The companies, Vanu CoverageCo, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and VTel Wireless, based in Springfield, Vermont, each responded to the VTA’s Request for Proposals (RFP) for Providing Cellular Service in Unserved Vermont Communities, issued in September 2011. The VTA Board of Directors authorized the Authority’s staff to seek contracts with each of the firms. Each of the companies is seeking to develop new networks that would allow cellular users to benefit from improved coverage through the companies’ roaming relationships with major cellular operators.

Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CWST), a regional vertically-integrated solid waste, recycling and resource management services company, has reported financial results for its second quarter fiscal year 2012, and provided updated guidance for its 2012 fiscal year.

Highlights for the quarter included:

Revenue growth of 5.7 percent over the same quarter last year.
Overall solid waste pricing growth of 1.6 percent was primarily driven by strong collection pricing growth of 3.4 percent as a percentage of collection revenues.
Adjusted EBITDA* was $30.5 million for the quarter, down $0.3 million from same quarter last year.
Free cash flow* was $6.0 million for the quarter and $3.4 million year-to-date.
Company reaffirms Revenue, Adjusted EBITDA and Free Cash Flow guidance ranges for fiscal year 2012.

Burlington's Progressive Mayor Bob Kiss announced this morning on a popular local radio program that he would not be seeking another term.
His announcement came while a guest on the Charlie + Ernie + Lisa show on WVMT AM 620. Kiss said his decision not to run was not influenced by other candidates, but rather by a need for him personally to move on and focus on other things.
Up until Wednesday morning, Kiss had remained reticent about his possible reelection bid and had many in Burlington and in his own party scratching their heads.
Many progressives had become skeptical of Kiss' viability as a mayoral candidate, casting doubt on his chances of securing another term. The embattled mayor recently won praise for his handling of the Occupy Burlington movement, especially his ability to quell unrest following one of the occupiers’ suicide, and the peaceful dismantling of its City Hall Park encampment.

Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin announced today that he has tapped Chief Deputy Dean Shatney to replace retiring Caledonia County Sheriff Michael Bergeron when Bergeron steps down at the end of the year.

‘Dean’s extensive experience with the Sheriff’s Department, as well as his lifelong commitment to his local community and civic involvement, make him a great choice to replace Sheriff Bergeron,’ said Gov. Shumlin.

Shatney was one of two candidates for the post forwarded to the Governor by the Caledonia County Republican Committee. The other was William O’Hare, Deputy Sheriff with the Special Investigations Unit in Essex County. Gov. Shumlin said both candidates had strong credentials for the Sheriff’s position.

The former president of Vermont Public Radio has been hired to lead the Maine Public Broadcasting Network. The Board of Directors of the MPBN announced Tuesday that it had chosen Mark Vogelzang as its new President and CEO. Vogelzang will be in charge of both public radio and television. In Vermont, public television is a separate entity.
Vogelzang, 56, is a veteran of public broadcasting, having served most recently as station manager at WBFO-FM, Buffalo's NPR member station, where he helped facilitate a merger to be completed in 2012 between WBFO and WNED in western New York.

Turns out Vermont does not have the highest percentage of senior citizens in the nation. Vermont ranks 7th. But even though the US population is getting older, and Vermont's is getting older with it, all that is not much solace as the state is getting more older than the rest of the nation. In the 2000 census, Vermont ranked only 28th in the percentage of its citizens 65 and older.

Looking at it another way, from a total Vermont population growth of 16,914 over those 10 years, nearly all of it (13,568 or 80.2 percent) was in people 65 or older.