Current News

On September 16, MyWebGrocer will host Vermont’s first ever 24-hour hackathon in the Champlain Mill in Winooski. The nonstop computer programming and code-writing marathon will give students and professionals throughout New England the chance to show MyWebGrocer and their peers what they’re made of, with a chance to win $10,000 in cash prizes.

Here are the event details:
What: Vermont’s first ever Hackathon
Who: Hosted by MyWebGrocer
Where: The Champlain Mill
20 Winooski Falls Way
Winooski, Vermont
When: Friday, September 16, 2011 ‘ Saturday, September 17, 2011
This event is not open to the public.
Friday
à 6 p.m. ‘ Participants check in
à 6:30 p.m. ‘ Opening remarks
à 7 p.m. ‘ Hacking kick-off
Saturday

Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin's schedule for Thursday, September 15, 2011.
9:00 ‘Feed the Hungry Donation with UFCW,’ VT Foodbank - Smithfield donation; 33 Parker Road, Wilson Industrial Park, Barre
10:30 Vermont State Dental Society; Sheraton Hotel and Conference Center, Burlington
11:45 Bike Path Opening, South Burlington Recreation & Parks Dept.; Tilley Drive & Community Drive
12:20 Comcast Internet Essentials; The O’Brien Center in Winooski, 32 Mallets Way Ave.
1:30 Press Conference on Jobs; On the Rise Bakery, 39 Esplanade, Richmond
3:00 Tour Waterbury Downtown damaged by Tropical Storm Irene, starting at Fire Station on Main Street
5:50 5 x 5 x 5. Vermont Business Awards; Doubletree, South Burlington

6:30 Governor's Lakeside Gathering, Community Sailing Center; 234 Penny Lane, Burlington

With so much activity taking place around overhead and underground electrical equipment in the wake of Hurricane Irene, Central Vermont Public Service is warning workers to be careful to avoid situations involving contact with these types of devices.
In some areas, utilities may have lost the ground-to-cable clearances they had prior to the flood. Vermont utilities urge all contractors and state and federal agencies to use caution along power lines, and encourage them to report any ‘defects’ to the utility systems, such as low-hanging lines, they may notice in the field.
Central Vermont Public Service offers the following tips to help contractors stay safe during the recovery:

Vermont Secretary of Administration Jeb Spaulding released the August 2011 General Fund (GF) Revenue results today. Led by an increase in personal income tax receipts, the most important component, General Fund revenues totaled $90.06 million for August 2011, and were +$10.89 million or +13.75 percent above the $79.17 million consensus revenue forecast for the month, more than covering the prior month’s shortfall. Year to date, General Fund revenues were $176.33 million, and +$6.00 million or +3.52 percent above the two month target of $170.33 million. August is the second month of fiscal year (FY) 2012.

by Senator Bill Doyle. Last week, I had the opportunity to have a conference call with Secretary of Administration, Jeb Spaulding, Commissioner of Buildings and Grounds, Mike Obuchowski, Waterbury Representatives Rebecca Ellis and Tom Stevens, and Sen. Anthony Pollina. The Waterbury complex may not be repaired for many months, and the question is where would the state employees work or temporarily be relocated.
Spaulding said it would cost the state $20 million just to stabilize the present situation. On an optimistic note Spaulding said the federal/state match might be as high at 90 percent federal and 10 percent state. He made it clear that both the legislative and executive branches would be included in the short and long-term planning.

Governor Peter Shumlin announced today that the state has requested an Individual Disaster Declaration for three additional counties in Vermont: Franklin, Lamoille and Orleans. If approved, residents and business owners in those counties will be eligible to apply for federal assistance for everything from repair work to temporary rent payments resulting from damage created by Tropical Storm Irene.
‘Our recent assessment of these counties found that damage to homes and businesses meets the threshold for federal assistance,’ Gov. Shumlin said. ‘We hope FEMA will move quickly to approve this declaration request so we can begin getting help to home and business owners in these counties.’

Vermont Public Radio raised more than $628,000 to benefit the Vermont Disaster Relief Fund during a special one-day fundraiser on Tuesday, September 13. Over 4,600 listeners donated to help affected communities rebuild and recover from the impact of Tropical Storm Irene and the subsequent flooding.
"We are simply amazed and very touched at the tremendous generosity of our listeners," said VPR President Robin Turnau. ‘We know that our listeners are community-minded, but this outpouring of support went beyond anything we imagined.’
More than 150 volunteers helped answer phones during the 16-hour effort, which rang steadily throughout the day. Donations also flowed in through VPR’s website as listeners and fans spread the word through social media.

Northeastern Vermont Area Health Education Center in St Johnsbury, Vermont, has received $708,930, as the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) today announced $9.7 million in awards to 14 new grantees to increase diversity in the health professions workforce through the Health Careers Opportunity Program (HCOP). The funds will help develop an educational pipeline to enhance the academic performance of economically and educationally disadvantaged students, and prepare them for careers in the health professions.
"These awards will play a key role in addressing health care disparities and increasing the diversity of the health professions," said HRSA Administrator Mary K. Wakefield, Ph.D., R.N. "They will give students from disadvantaged backgrounds the support they need to enter the health professions, and help ensure the make-up of the health workforce better reflects our diverse population."

The Weston Playhouse Theatre Company in Vermont has received national coverage recently, both of its devastating flood damage from Tropical Storm Irene, and of the inspiring community efforts to help with the clean up. Now a group of actors, musicians, designers, and stage managers are showing their love for Weston by holding a star-studded New York benefit on Monday, September 26, 2011.

There were 1,076 new regular benefit claims for Unemployment Insurance last week. While this is a decrease of 103 from the week before, this is still a very high level of claims as a result of the economic impact of tropical storm Irene. Two weeks previous saw a seasonal low of fewer than 500 claims. Altogether 6,800 new and continuing claims were filed, a decrease of 69 from a week ago and 578 fewer than a year earlier. The Department also processed 1,458 First Tier claims for benefits under Emergency Unemployment Compensation, 2008 (EUC08), 12 fewer than a week ago. In addition, there were 735 Second Tier claims for benefits processed under the EUC08 program, which is a decrease of 4 from the week before. The Unemployment Weekly Report can be found at: http://www.vtlmi.info/.

The state of Vermont will get $2,246,844 as the US Department of Labor today announced awards totaling $191.5 million to 40 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico for unemployment insurance program integrity and technology infrastructure systems. The grants are intended to accelerate actions to reduce UI improper payment rates; provide an opportunity for modernizing UI tax and benefits systems; and enable the design of technology-based tools to prevent, detect and recover improper UI payments.

"I was pleased to join Vice President Biden today in announcing efforts to reduce government waste, fraud and abuse," said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. "We owe it to the American people, especially those who rely on unemployment insurance as a safety net, to be responsible stewards. This funding will help ensure state UI programs have integrity and run efficiently."

The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today awarded Vermont more than $393 thousand in grants to help public and assisted housing residents find employment; connect with needed services; and help the elderly and people with disabilities maintain independent living. The funding also allows the grantees to retain or hire ‘service coordinators’ or case workers to work directly with these HUD-assisted families to connect them to the supportive services that meet their individual needs.
See chart below for Vermont entities receiving funding.

VERMONT PH-FSS, ROSS-SC and MHSC GRANTS

Recipient Name

Funding Amount: PH-FSS

Funding Amount: ROSS-SC

Funding Amount: MHSC

Brattleboro Housing Authority

$69,000

Burlington Housing Authority

$222,000

Rutland Housing Authority

$65,477

Mountaha, LLC (Saint Albans)

$37,009

SUBTOTAL