Current News

Among the variety of new construction and improvements at Vermont’s resorts, one theme unifies. These snow-centric businesses listen to their guests and year after year, strive to create the best possible experience for their extended family of skiers and riders.
Here is the latest update from the Vermont Ski Areas Association, Ski Vermont:
BOLTON VALLEY RESORT

General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products was awarded an $8.6 million contract option by the U.S. Army for the load, assemble and pack of the M231 and M232A1 Modular Artillery Charge System (MACS). General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products is a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD).
The option modifies an existing contract awarded in December 2008. The MACS provides propelling charges with combustible cartridge cases for 155mm artillery. The charges are compatible with new and existing howitzer systems and offer enhanced precision with a reduction in weight and volume.
Production work will be performed at General Dynamics' facility in Camden, Ark., which has approximately 300 employees. Program support will occur at the company's Williston, Vt., facility, which has a workforce of approximately 400 employees. Work will be completed by September 2013.

For his work to understand how to build better robots, Joshua Bongard, a researcher at the University of Vermont, has received the highest award given by the US government to young scientists.
UVM roboticist Josh Bongard will go to Washington D.C. to meet President Obama and receive the government's highest award for young scientists. (Photo: Sally McCay)
On September 26, President Barack Obama announced Bongard as one of 94 winners of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers; he will be honored at a White House ceremony in October.
Bongard is only the second researcher in UVM history to receive the PECASE award, which provides $500,000 in research funds over several years.
Inspired by evolution

Penley Corporation, based in West Paris, Maine, has agreed to settle claims by Vermont Attorney General William H. Sorrell that the company violated the state’s Consumer Fraud Act by misrepresenting the availability of local composting options for its Full Circle line of ‘compostable’ cutlery. The settlement requires Penley to pay $10,000 to the State of Vermont in penalties and costs, and another $10,000 to the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont (NOFA Vermont) to support its Harvest Health Coupon Program.
Commenting on the settlement, Attorney General Sorrell said that Vermonters care about responsible disposal, including the compostability, of consumer products, and need to be able to rely on sellers’ claims about how those products may be disposed of. ‘If most Vermonters can’t compost an item in the state, then advertising the item as ‘compostable’ is deceptive,’ he said.

The US Small Business Administration is providing $30 million in grants to states, territories, and the District of Columbia, to help increase exporting by small businesses during the next 12 months. The grants were authorized by the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, under the State Trade and Export Promotion Program (STEP). Vermont has been allocated $363,768.
The STEP program, launched in March, aligns with President Obama’s National Export Initiative. The President’s initiative calls for doubling U.S. exports in five years ‘ and in so doing, supporting two million jobs. The program provides federal government funding for 65 to75 percent of program costs, with states supplying the remainder.

Tong Chen, a middle and high school Chinese teacher at Leland & Gray Union High School in Townsend, was named by Commissioner Armando Vilaseca as the 2012 Vermont Teacher of the Year at a ceremony held today at the school.
Also honored were:

Alternate Jeff Johnson, a physical education teacher at Mt Anthony Union Middle and High School in Bennington.
Finalists Mark Weikert, a physical education teacher at Flood Brook Union School in Londonderry; and Glenda Allen, a literacy and math teacher at Barre Town Elementary School in Barre Town.

Increasingly, scientific research depends upon huge pools of data ‘ like gene sequences or weather models ‘ shared between scientists at numerous institutions. And this sharing depends upon fast fiber-optic networks and other so-called cyber-infrastructure ‘ far faster than a conventional internet hook-up.
In Vermont, that information pipeline has been not been as big as necessary or entirely missing in places.
But that’s changing.
The Vermont Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (VT EPSCoR) at the University of Vermont has received a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation for the next two years to connect the Vermont State Colleges (VSC) and the University of Vermont with high-speed fiber optic cables and other information-sharing technologies.

Foliage is nearing peak color on the mountainsides of the Northeast Kingdom and at higher elevations down the spine of the Green Mountains.
Vibrant foliage continues to develop around Vermont, and most areas of the state will be displaying ever more colorful foliage throughout the week. ‘The mountains in Richford and Montgomery are at mid-stage to near peak, and the lower elevations are in the early to mid stages of color,’ reports Nancy Patch, a forester in Franklin County, near the Canadian border.
Likewise, foliage is nearing peak color in the Northeast Kingdom and on some of the higher elevations of the Green Mountains well into central Vermont. Look for bright color between Jay Peak and St. Johnsbury, Stowe and Montpelier, then south to Killington.
The lower hillsides in central Vermont are generally at mid-stage with a 30 to 50 percent change. Bright, scarlet maples highlight the emerging, quilt-like mix of yellow, orange and burgundy.

Yesterday, Vermont Senators Patrick Leahy and Bernie Sanders issued a statement following the Senate’s decision to not cut funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other agencies that provide federal disaster assistance. The two Senators were very vocal about securing emergency funds for states in need, such as Vermont, while not allowing setbacks in other government programs to do so.
The statement read, ‘We fought to ensure that the agreement maintains disaster funding without forcing cuts in other needed programs. We will continue to work with Congressman Welch and Governor Shumlin to make certain that Vermonters get all the help they need and deserve.’
The Senate approved the bill 79-12 before being sent to the House to get signed off. The measure was seen as a victory for Vermont and all states receiving federal disaster assistance.

James Roth, cofounder of The Treehouse Guys of Warren, Vermont, (formerly Forever Young Treehouses), is the 2011 recipient of Paralyzed Veterans of America's Barrier-Free America Award. Roth, through his company, has built 34 universally accessible treehouses in private camps and public parks across the country. John Connell, the architect behind the first prototype designs received honorable mention for his work.

"It's an honor to be recognized by Paralyzed Veterans of America for our work," Roth said. "It's been a dream for us to build these accessible treehouses so that everyone, no matter their physical ability, can experience the joy of what it's like to 'climb' and be at the top of a treehouse."

Governor Peter Shumlin announced today that the US Department of Agriculture has approved the administration’s request for natural disaster declaration assistance for farmers in all 14 counties in Vermont (Lamoille, Washington and Windham were named as contiguous disaster areas) to help with damage costs from storms and heavy rainfall that began in April.
‘I appreciate Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack approving this request, and hope farmers who lost crops and equipment in the spring and summer storms will move quickly to seek emergency loan assistance from the Farm Service Agency,’ the Governor said.
The Governor also thanked Vermont’s congressional delegation ‘ Sens. Patrick Leahy and Bernie Sanders, and Rep. Peter Welch ‘ who helped secure storm-related federal assistance for farmers and communities from the spring storms and Tropical Storm Irene.

The Vermont Community Foundation is making grants available to assist Vermont nonprofit organizations affected by Tropical Storm Irene. Online applications are available on their website: http://www.vermontcf.org/sun-irene.
Organizations may apply for up to $5,000 to support repair and recovery for damage sustained from the storm or to cover increased demand for services being provided to those affected by the storm. Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis and grant decisions are made within two weeks of the submission date.
The Foundation has also listed other Irene-related grant opportunities for Vermont non profits as follows:
FEMA for public assistance grants
CVCAC for small business grants through the VT Irene Flood Relief Fund
Marlboro College for scholarships for nonprofits with flood damage