Current News

Secretary of Administration Jeb Spaulding announced today that Vermont’s General Fund revenues continued to be on target with projections, while the Transportation Fund and Education Fund fell short for the month of September. The General Fund saw a drop in the month's vital personal income tax, but was bouyed by a jump in the corporate tax.
General Fund
September is the third month of fiscal year (FY) 2012. General Fund revenues totaled $116.94 million for September 2011, and were +$0.09 million or +0.08% above the $116.85 million consensus revenue forecast for the month, essentially on target. Year to date, General Fund revenues were $293.27 million, and +$6.09 million or +2.12% above the first quarter’s target of $287.18 million for FY 2012.

The Blood in This Town,’ the documentary about Rutland, Vermont’s grassroots efforts to revitalize itself, will make its New York premiere on Friday, October 21, hosted by Pratt Institute's Programs for Sustainable Planning and Development, one of the nation’s leading city planning programs. The evening will feature a screening and revitalization forum bringing together Rutland grassroots leaders, Pratt faculty and New York urban planners for a ‘jam-session’ exchange of community-building ideas and revitalization solutions aimed at exploring new ways forward for America’s ailing towns and cities. This dynamic meeting of ‘small town’ and ‘big city’ know-how takes an innovative approach to building a stronger, more vibrant and sustainable future for all communities across the U.S.

At the Allen Brothers Farm today in Westminster, Congressman Peter Welch outlined a plan to help Vermont farmers devastated by Tropical Storm Irene get back on their feet.
‘Many Vermont farmers were knocked down by Tropical Storm Irene but they are characteristically fighting to get back on their feet,’ Welch said. ‘In recent years, our farming community has created new business opportunities through vibrant farmers markets and CSA programs that provide Vermonters with nutritious local food. These a farmers need a helping hand to restore their operations and get back to business.’

Shaw’s Supermarkets has partnered with the American Red Cross to help raise funds to support their ongoing efforts in response to Tropical Storm Irene here in Vermont as well as their local disaster relief fund. The company will also match donations up to $35,000.
‘Like many in Vermont, Shaw’s was impacted by flooding from Irene and we know firsthand that many are still dealing with the aftermath from the flooding,’ said Mike Stigers, president, Shaw’s. ‘The support that Vermonters have given to us, and to each other, has been extraordinary and we wanted to launch this program with the Red Cross to enable continued support to those still in need.’

Maria Ung, a Science teacher at Essex High School, was surprised at an all-school assembly Monday with a $25,000 Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award.

Joined by legislative leaders and the Vermont League of Cities and Towns, Gov. Peter Shumlin today announced a plan of action to enable towns to abate education taxes for property owners hard-hit by Tropical Storm Irene and spring flooding. The plan will authorize the Tax Department to set up procedures to reimburse towns for such extraordinary abatements.

The plan will require legislative approval when lawmakers return to Montpelier in January. Recognizing that taxpayers who have lost use of their property may petition their local boards of abatement for tax relief even before then, however, Gov. Shumlin and legislators have agreed on a plan that will guide localities as they consider these requests.

Central Vermont Medical Center (CVMC) and Fletcher Allen Health Care announced today at a press conference that their Boards have each given final approval to a corporate affiliation between the two organizations that took effect October 1. The affiliation was first approved by both Boards in December 2010 when an affiliation agreement was signed, and is being implemented through a new organization ‘Fletcher Allen Partners ‘ the new parent corporation of both CVMC and Fletcher Allen.
‘This is a significant step in developing a coordinated health care system in Vermont that will deliver higher quality care for Vermonters and do it more efficiently,’ said Judy Tarr Tartaglia, president and chief executive officer of CVMC. ‘This affiliation builds on existing clinical partnerships and also closely aligns with the state and federal health care reform agendas that promote enhanced integration.’

The Vermont Working Landscape Partnership will release its Investing in our Farm & Forest Future Action Plan and announce the launch of a campaign to implement the 5-point platform outlined in the Action Plan.
The "Action Plan" will be made public on Tuesday, October 18, at 10 am at the Jericho Settlers Farm. Confirmed speakers include Paul Costello, Executive Director of Vermont Council on Rural Development; Marie Audet, Blue Spruce Farm; Krista Alexander, Jericho Settlers Farm, Roger Allbee, former Secretary of Agriculture; and Peter Condaxis, Rygate Associates.
Called "Investing in our Farm and Forest Future," it is the final report of the Vermont Working Landscape Partnership. It offers five recommendations to help reinvigorate the state’s rural economy:
â ¢ Build a major campaign to celebrate the distinctiveness of the working landscape that is Vermont.

Vermont business Darn Tough Vermont and Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel, joined by clothing manufacturer Smartwool, will donate 800 pairs of socks and $2,900 to representatives from local homeless and temporary shelters at the Lenny’s store in Barre, VT at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, October 19, 2011. The donations are the result of a joint effort between the three businesses to help provide warm, Merino wool socks and much-needed support to Vermont’s homeless population in preparation for the state’s colder months.

PediaVision, inventor of a new breakthrough vision screening device called Spot, has chosen MackMedical/Mack Molding as its manufacturing partner. The first customer shipments were released earlier this month.
Geared toward children, the patent-pending technology can assess a child’s vision quickly, accurately and objectively, eliminating the subjective analysis that results from many of today’s vision screening tools.
Easy to use
The wireless, handheld, screen-anywhere device makes vision screening as easy as taking a photo, which is particularly important for toddlers and young children. Similar to a point-and-shoot camera, Spot captures results in less than one second, making it equally efficient for use in a physician’s office or a large-scale public screening. For example, a typical school can be screened in one day, dramatically lowering the cost to screen students.

Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) announced today the company is closing 20 underperforming stores in 15 states (three in New Hampshire, including the one in Claremont, and two in Maine). Vermont has only two Lowe's stores, both in Chittenden County, which are not effected. By comparison, there are 15 total stores in New Hampshire and 12 in Maine. See closure list below.
A Wall Street Journal article suggested that Lowe's has lost some ground to larger and resurgent Home Depot in the Northeast.

The Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) opened two key temporary bridges on Saturday in locations that were badly damaged by Tropical Storm Irene. Opening the two temporary bridges ‘ located along Route 100 in Jamaica and along Route 73 in Rochester ‘ is significant as they both eliminate lengthy detours.
Opening the Jamaica bridge means Route 100 is now open in its entirety for the first time since Irene struck on August 28, while opening the Rochester bridge allows residents who for seven weeks have been using a foot bridge to access Route 100 to use a motor vehicle instead.
‘Reopening these two bridge locations eliminates lengthy detours and will help residents in these hard hit areas return to normal,’ said VTrans Secretary Brian Searles. ‘We now have restored traffic over all but three damaged bridge locations, and those we will reopen before winter.’