Current News

By Kevin Kelly
No laws or university policies were violated as a result of the romantic relationship between the wife of UVM’s president and a vice president at the school, according to a Board of Trustees report released today.
University officials clearly hope that the review will put an end to an embarrassing episode that forced Dan Fogel to move up the date of his resignation after nine years as UVM’s president. Board of Trustees chairman Robert Cioffi expressed confidence in an interview following release of the report that Fogel’s accomplishments, rather than the awkward circumstances of his departure, will come to define his legacy.

Mace Security International, known primarily for its pepper spray and other personal defense products, has announced that it has completed a multimillion dollar financing led by The Ancora Group in Cleveland, Ohio. After the financing, Ancora and its investment partnership, Merlin Partners LLC will have achieved an approximate 35 percent ownership in Mace. Mace Personal Defense Products division is based in Bennington, Vermont.
At the same time Cleveland businessman, Richard Barone, Chairman of The Ancora Group, has been elected Chairman of Mace. Other Clevelanders elected to the board include Denis Amato, Chief Investment Officer at Ancora and Larry Pollock, Managing Partner of Lucky Star Partners and former President of Cole National.

By TOM PELHAM. Vermonters need to see beyond Washington’s double talk and understand the budget fight is not about compromise, but about holding partisan ground gained over the last decade. The Republicans don’t favor taxes and with President Bush taking the lead, income taxes dropped from 9.7% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2000 to 6.2% in 2010. Total federal revenues dropped from 20.6% of GDP to 14.9%. In the other direction, Democrats favor expanded government and as a percent of GDP, federal spending grew from 18.5% of GDP in 2000 to 23.8% in 2010. Spending has increased across the board with discretionary spending up from 6.3% of GDP in 2000 to 9.3% in 2010 and ‘mandatory’ spending up from 10.5% to 14.4%.

By JACK HOFFMAN. Do wealthy residents move if they are asked to pay more in taxes? Another reliable report’the fourth this year’says they do not. This latest was from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington, D.C. It was both a review of recent studies that show no or weak connections between taxes and people’s moving from state to state and an analysis of cases where data about taxes and migration have been misused.
‘This claim [about tax flight] is false,’ said Robert Tannenwald, former vice-president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and one of the co-authors of the report. ‘The effects of taxes on migration are, at most, small’so small that states that raise income taxes on the wealthiest households will see a substantial net gain in revenue.’
There is good recent evidence to support Tannenwald:

There are ever more rankings of colleges, and of hospitals, graduate schools, law schools, cities and towns. Now Forbes magazine joins Newsweek in the college ranking scene. And Saint Michael's College has landed at number 88 nationwide out of 650 institutions. Forbes says their methodology provides families the best guidance for making one of the most important decisions they will make’choosing the right college for their student.
Forbes describes their approach this way:
‘Our annual ranking of the 650 best undergraduate institutions focuses on the things that matter the most to students: quality of teaching, great career prospects, graduation rates and low levels of debt. Unlike other lists, we pointedly ignore ephemeral measures such as school ‘reputation’ and ill-conceived metrics that reward wasteful spending.’

According to the Kaiser Family foundation, the average per-person health insurance premium in 2010 ranged in cost from approximately $136 per month in Alabama to more than $400 per month in Vermont and Massachusetts. The average across for all states was $215 per member per month. (see chart below)

Lieutenant Governor Phil Scott was elected to the Executive Committee of the National Lieutenant Governors Association (NLGA). NLGA is the professional association for the officeholders first in line of succession to the governor in all 50 states and the U.S. territories.
"Lt. Governor Scott was elected to this position by his peers, and received broad bi-partisan support," said NLGA Executive Director Julia Hurst. The selection of new officers happened at the association's annual meeting, held July 27-29 in Puerto Rico. Scott, who was not able to attend the conference, accepted the nomination last week.
"As a NLGA leader, Lt. Governor Scott will work with other lieutenant governors across the nation to find and foster multi-state and regional solutions to problems," said Nebraska Lt. Governor Rick Sheehy, who serves as NLGA Chair. "Through NLGA, the nation's lieutenant governors discuss shared concerns and seek to influence national dialogue."

The Rutland Southern Regional Airport in Vermont and the Lebanon Municipal Airport in New Hampshire have been spared from a House bill that, if passed, would cut a federal subsidy to numerous rural airports across the country.
According to Andrew Bonney, the vice president for planning for Cape Air, a regional airline that serves the two small airports in Rutland and Lebanon, the bill in Washington is attempting to eliminate ‘wasteful’ spending on airports that are within 90 miles of a major airport hub; both the Rutland and the Lebanon airport were further than this distance. 13 airpots across the country are still at risk if the bill is passed.
The federal government provides the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) with funding for their Essential Air Service Program that subsidizes rural airports across the country. The Rutland airport receives $797,000 a year from this program and the Lebanon airport receives $2.3 million.

FairPoint Communications, Inc (NasdaqCM: FRP), the major provider of communications services in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, today announced its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2011. Net loss was $27.1 million in the second quarter of 2011 as compared to a net loss of $54.2 million a year earlier.

Consolidated EBITDAR increases to $70.5 million in the quarter on revenue of $262.6 million
High-speed Internet subscriber growth accelerates to 5.4% year-over-year versus a 1.9% loss a year earlier
Voice access line loss slows to 9.3% year-over-year versus 11.6% a year earlier
Net loss improves to $27.1 million versus $54.2 million a year earlier

Champlain College is one of the country's best institutions for undergraduate education, receiving high marks for its classroom experience for students, college town quality of life and campus sustainability efforts, according to The Princeton Review. The education services company features the school in the just released 2012 edition of its annual college guide, "The Best 376 Colleges."
Only about 15 percent of America’s 2,500 four-year colleges and three colleges outside the U.S.A. are profiled in the book, which is The Princeton Review's flagship college guide. This is the first year Champlain College has been included on the list of best colleges.
Champlain College President David F. Finney said, "This recognition is a reflection of everyone at Champlain College for a continued commitment to providing the most student-centric, professionally-focused, education in the country."

The Vermont Telecommunications Authority and VTel Wireless have reached an agreement regarding Target Communities selected to receive broadband services. By November 2012, VTel Wireless will provide broadband accessibility to Backroads Broadband Target Communities within the towns of Newfane, Westminster, Stratton and Wardsboro. Equipment installed to service these Target Communities will also provide expanded broadband coverage to areas within the towns of Putney, Townshend, and Dummerston. More than 1600 addresses will have access to the new service, which will provide broadband service that supports the delivery of services with an upload speed of at least one megabit per second and combined download and upload speeds equal to or greater than five megabits per second.

More than $1 million in US Small Business Administration Disaster Assistance Loans have been approved for Vermont residents who were affected by the severe storms and flooding that occurred from April 23 - May 9, 2011Homeowners and renters who cannot afford a loan may be referred to FEMA for possible grant funds. There is a tendency for survivors to discard SBA disaster loan applications because they may not want a loan. However, they risk missing out on grants by not returning completed applications to SBA.