Current News

The Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) on Saturday, November 19, will close a section of Route 125 in Hancock so that a culvert damaged by Tropical Storm Irene can be replaced.
The closure, which will take place along Route 125 about two miles west of its intersection with Route 100, will render the road impassible for two days. Work crews will close Route 125 at sunup on Saturday, November 19, and plan to reopen the road sometime on Monday, November 21.
‘There is no doubt that this closure will inconvenience some travelers,’ said VTrans Secretary Brian Searles. ‘Fortunately, most of the work can be done quickly and over the weekend to minimize impacts on people’s commute to work.’

US Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) announced Monday that House and Senate negotiators have agreed to include in a final transportation budget bill for the coming year his provision to replenish the Federal Highway Administration’s Emergency Relief Fund and provide important cost waivers that Governor Shumlin and others consider to be crucial to repairing and rebuilding roads and bridges damaged by Tropical Storm Irene.
The bill also includes Leahy’s truck weight provisions for Vermont, to move heavy trucks from smaller state roads, including roads crossing through the downtowns of several Vermont communities, onto the state’s interstate highways.
Leahy is number two on the Senate Appropriations Committee and also a senior member of its Transportation Subcommittee, which handled the writing of the bill.

A new center of excellence at Champlain College, offering students a fully-equipped, state-of-the-art facility in which to learn and practice digital forensics investigation techniques, has been named in honor of U.S. Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, according to Champlain College President David F. Finney.

The rock band Phish through its WaterWheel Foundation announced the initial grants from their September 14 concert at the Champlain Valley Exposition via their WaterWheel Fund for Vermont Flood Recovery, housed at the Vermont Community Foundation. The bulk of the concert proceeds are now in the fund, as the final accounting and vendor payments for the concert were recently finalized. The fund now holds approximately $835,000; an additional $300,000 - $400,000 is expected to be added to the fund as supplementary revenue totals from webcast, digital audio download, and merchandise proceeds are confirmed in the near future.
The band’s WaterWheel Foundation has worked closely with philanthropic advisors at the Vermont Community Foundation to jointly develop a comprehensive giving strategy for the concert proceeds. The first round of grants from the fund will be distributed this week.

Lyndon State College has recently established the Center for Rural Entrepreneurship (CRE). The creation of the CRE is the latest step in fulfilling the college’s mission of educating first-in-family and low- and moderate-income students, and serving as an economic engine for Vermont's Northeast Kingdom.
The CRE represents a natural outgrowth of two existing programs at the College: Incubator Without Walls (IWoW) and the Northeast Kingdom Manufacturing Training Program. These and other new initiatives on the drawing boards will now be under the umbrella of the CRE and its director, Ann Nygard, who has been promoted from her previous position as director of IWoW. The CRE will continue to work alongside the College’s Leahy Center for Rural Students to raise student aspirations in the Northeast Kingdom and to spark workforce development.

A half-million-dollar gift to support the Alumni House project at the University of Vermont is giving a name to a room with one of the best lake views in town.
Davis Ballroom will be named in recognition of a gift from alumnus William Davis ‘71 and his father Robert Davis ‘41 toward renovating the historic Queen Anne home at 61 Summit Street in Burlington, Vt., that will become the university’s Alumni House.
The third-floor ballroom in the stately old home commands a sweeping view of Lake Champlain and the Adirondacks. It was once the setting for the social gatherings of Burlington’s most prominent citizens and will host a variety of alumni and other campus functions when renovations are complete.

Governor Peter Shumlin and Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick spearheaded a bipartisan call on Congress from 15 Governors to urge level-funding for LIHEAP, the low-income home heating program that faces up to a 50 percent reduction in Washington.
In a letter signed by Governors from primarily cold-weather states, the group said "time is of the essence. Winter has already begun in our states, and distributing meaningful benefit levels to households in need is critically important."　
"Vermonters are facing a devastating cut in heating assistance this winter unless the White House and Congress approve the funding to ensure every family can afford to stay warm," Gov. Shumlin said. "No one should be forced to choose between heat, food, medications and other vital necessities. Today I join other Governors and leaders in urging Washington to stand up for Americans with winter approaching and provide the funding necessary to guarantee a warm home for all."

Todd Moore, vice president of Revenue Cycle for the past four years, has been named senior vice president of Managed Care and Revenue Strategy at Fletcher Allen Health Care, a new position within the organization.
Moore has also been named president, Vermont Managed Care, a physician hospital organization (PHO), a wholly owned subsidiary of Fletcher Allen. These organizations are management service organizations in which the partners are physicians and hospitals. PHO organizations contract with insurance companies for physician and hospital services.
During his time as the vice president of Revenue Cycle, Moore helped to negotiate contracts with key insurance companies and helped to lead strategic planning that has enabled Fletcher Allen to navigate the emerging dynamic managed care environment.

US Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) has won House and Senate negotiators' approval of a 20-year extension of a pilot program in Vermont to move heavy trucks off state secondary roads and onto the state’s Interstate highways. It bill still needs full congressionial approval and the president's signature.

There were 1,094 new regular benefit claims for Unemployment Insurance last week. This is an increase of 212 from the week before, as new claims increased again to levels not seen since the immediate aftermath of Tropical Storm Irene. In looking at the table below, you will see that the summer's historically low claims came to an abrupt end with the storm. The numbers then dropped signifcantly in the following weeks, but in the last few weeks there has been a steady increase in the number of new claims. The latest numbers are more than double the initial claims observed in July and August. Altogether 6,370 new and continuing claims were filed, an increase of 424 from a week ago, but 2,125 fewer than a year ago. The Department also processed 1,530 First Tier claims for benefits under Emergency Unemployment Compensation, 2008 (EUC08), 34 more than a week ago.

By US Senator Bernie Sanders: As a result of the greed, recklessness and illegal behavior on Wall Street, Americans have experienced the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Millions have lost their jobs, homes, life savings and the ability to send their kids to college. Wages as a share of national income are now at the lowest level since the 1930s, and the number of Americans living in poverty is at an all-time high.
Even as small-business owners in Vermont and elsewhere were being turned down for loans at private banks and millions of Americans were being kicked out of their homes, the Federal Reserve gave the largest taxpayer-financed bailout in the history of the world to Wall Street and the too-big-to-fail institutions with virtually no strings attached.

The US Department of State is delaying its decision on a controversial pipeline from Alberta, Canada, to Texas. In a statement issued today, it said that it needed more time to review the environmental implications, especially those in Nebraska. Vermont's congressional delegation has been opposed to the pipeline, which would bring "tar sands" oil into the United States for refining.
Representative Peter Welch (D-VT) issued the below statement following the announcement by the State Department that it will delay a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline.
‘The State Department today raised the correct concerns, but reached the wrong conclusion. The catastrophic environmental risks of this proposed pipeline dictate the project be rejected, not delayed. I look forward to a swift and thorough investigation by the inspector general into the State Department’s review process.’