Current News

The Village Revitalization Initiative’a cooperative effort among Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), the Preservation Trust of Vermont, and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) ‘ drew national recognition Thursday in garnering the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation’s (ACHP) Chairman’s Award for Achievement in Historic Preservation.
‘This creative and important initiative demonstrates how effective partnerships can use relatively modest funding to accomplish important local projects that create jobs, preserve our heritage, and improve the vitality of communities,’ said Milford Wayne Donaldson, FAIA, ACHP chairman. ‘It is a great model for other elected officials and preservation organizations to emulate across the country.’

When Vermont Public Television held its fall fundraising campaign, people who gave to VPT also helped those suffering the effects of Tropical Storm Irene.
Any contribution to VPT supported Vermont’s statewide public television network and sparked a donation from People’s United Bank to the Vermont Disaster Relief Fund. The fund was set up in September to provide long-term relief to Vermonters after natural disasters.
As a result of the televised campaign, People’s United Bank donated $15,000 to the Vermont Disaster Relief Fund.
George Hauenstein, chief development officer of Vermont Public Television, Michael Seaver, president of People's United Bank, and David Coates, chairman of the Vermont Long Term Disaster Recovery Group.
People’s United Bank-VPT. 11.9.2011

Governor Peter Shumlin has announced that the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) received a $352,900 grant from the Federal Transit Administration to develop software and Internet services that will help US veterans and their families access public transportation services that are specific to their needs.
The money will be used for several purposes, including development of a website that provides veterans specific information about their eligibility for a host of transit services. Those include on-demand rides, the purchase and instillation of software that will allow the Disabled American Veterans’ and the Veterans Administration’s independent transportation system be incorporated into the same dispatch system used by all public transit providers in Vermont, and installing GPS location devices in various public transit vehicles ‘ such as vans operated by Disabled American Veterans ‘ so that more efficient dispatch decisions can be made.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc., (GMCR) (NASDAQ: GMCR), a leader in specialty coffee and coffeemakers, today announced its full year and fiscal 2011 fourth quarter results for the thirteen and fifty-two weeks ended September 24, 2011. Earnings more than doubled for the year and revenues increased 95 percent.
Those numbers, however, were below analysts' expectations, especially on the revenue side, and GMCR's stock fell in after-hours trading nearly 30 percent to $48.11 as of 4:32 pm. http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=GMCR
Performance Highlights
Fiscal 2011

A Senate panel today approved and sent to the full Senate a two-year transportation funding bill to repair crumbling roads, bridges and railroads and fund other transportation projects.
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), a member of the Environment and Public Works committee, voted for the measure that included provisions he added to help Vermont.
Sanders said the bill would boost Vermont’s overall share of highway funds and increase the state’s return on the federal gasoline taxes that Vermonters pay. ‘I am very pleased that under this bill Vermont will get back more than before for each dollar Vermonters spend in federal gas taxes.’

Six Vermont organizations received a total of nearly $400,000 as US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack selected recipients in 50 states and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico for grants to make critical repairs and improve housing conditions for low- and very-low-income rural residents.
The support Vilsack announced is provided through USDA Rural Development's Housing Preservation Grants (HPG) program. Funds are provided to intermediaries such as town or county governments, public agencies, federally recognized Indian Tribes, and non-profit and faith-based and community organizations. These organizations then distribute the grants to homeowners and owners of multi-family rental properties or cooperative dwellings who rent to low- and very-low-income residents.

The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources Department of Environmental Conservation (the Agency) has agreed to pay $85,000 in civil penalties and $30,000 to fund a Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP) under a Consent Order entered into with the Vermont Attorney General’s Office to settle claims that the Agency’s Department of Environmental Conservation RA LaRosa Environmental Laboratory violated Vermont’s environmental laws and regulations concerning the handling, storage and disposal of hazardous waste.
‘No different than any other laboratory in the state, the Agency is accountable for its failure to follow and comply with Vermont’s environmental laws,’ said Attorney General William H. Sorrell. ‘However, to its credit, as soon as the Agency suspected that violations had occurred, it contacted my Office and cooperated fully with our investigation.’

The Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) today opened a storm-damaged stretch of Route 73 between Rochester and Brandon. Opening the road restores the entire length of Route 73, including a 14-mile segment known as Brandon Gap Road, to full east-west travel.
Route 73 was severely damaged on August 28 by Tropical Storm Irene. Damage included multiple roadway washouts along Brandon Gap Road, and the destruction of a 75-foot bridge at the roadway’s intersection with Route 100 in Rochester. Crews last month erected a two-lane temporary bridge at the Route 100 intersection, but Route 73 remained closed to through traffic so that work crews could complete roadway repairs along Brandon Gap Road and reestablish two lanes of travel.

A computer mapping program that lets you calculate your carbon footprint and that was developed by a company in Shelburne, Vermont, was recently recognized in a national challenge by the US Environmental Protection Agency.
Hootroot, developed by Brighter Planet, was given the overall runner-up award in EPA’s Apps for the Environment challenge, which encourages the development of innovative environmental applications..
The mapping program provides directions and carbon footprints for driving, transit, flight, and human-powered transportation options on any route.
According to Brighter Planet’s website, Hootroot ‘helps you navigate efficiently from point A to point B’ and is powered by web services from Brighter Planet, Google Maps, and HopStop. Data for the footprint calculations comes from the EPA's US Greenhouse Gas Inventory and eGRID database, as well as from other sources. As a web app, it requires no installation.

The Going to Bat for Vermont Farmers Roundtable is just days away, on November 12, and nearly 200 more General Admission tickets to the event have been released.
Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman, Cubs President of baseball operations Theo Epstein, and Pirates General Manager Neal Huntington ‘ whose family operates a dairy farm in Vermont ‘ will be at the event, to discuss their teams, the upcoming business of the offseason, and the current issues within Major League Baseball. Galen Carr, a Red Sox Scout who lives in Vermont, will represent the team on the panel. There will be a special presentation to the community on behalf of the Red Sox at the beginning of the Roundtable.

The Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) today closed its Dummerston Region Incident Command Center, the last of three temporary headquarters established following Tropical Storm Irene to coordinate emergency road and bridge repairs.
The Dummerston command center, which covered 56 towns in the state’s southeast region, was critical to restoring mobility along Vermont’s storm-damaged state highway network. Leadership for all remaining Irene-related roadwork has been transitioned to VTrans’ main office in Montpelier.
‘It is impossible to put into words how much the Dummerston team has done for Vermont,’ said VTrans Secretary Brian Searles. ‘The vast majority of the state highway system has been repaired and is now ready for winter in large part due to the dedication and sacrifice of the many public and private employees who were stationed in Dummerston.’

The Green Mountain Club has accepted management responsibility for an additional 22 miles of the Appalachian Trail in Windsor County, Vermont.
The club, which founded and maintains Vermont’s Long Trail, currently manages the Appalachian Trail (AT) where it coincides with the Long Trail as well as from Killington to Route 12 in Woodstock. With this transfer, the club will also lead management efforts from Route 12 to the Connecticut River (see attached map). This stretch of trail, running through Woodstock, Pomfret, Hartford and Norwich, is highlighted by rolling hills and open areas affording hikers spectacular views.