Current News

Today, Bruegger's announced the first ever "Skinny Bagel," with the same taste and texture as a classic bagel, but with 100 fewer calories.
Just in time for summer, Bruegger's Skinny Bagel will be offered in all of the bagel leader's 300 locations. Guests can order any of Bruegger's 15-plus varieties "skinny," due to Bruegger's unique process. Instead of changing the recipe of its time-tested, New York-style bagel, Bruegger's cuts the bagels using a patented knife, removing approximately one-third of the bagel's center but preserving its unique eggshell crust and delicious toppings. The result? Guests have a lower calorie option without sacrificing variety or taste.
"With 62 percent of national consumers planning on eating healthier in 2011," said CEO Jim Greco, "Bruegger's is excited to offer our guests a healthier option without sacrificing any of the flavor they have come to expect from our bagels."

Six of Vermont’s State-owned Historic Sites will open for the 2011 season on Saturday, May 28.
‘These beautifully preserved gems allow us to see history where it happened,’ says John Dumville, Historic Sites Operations Chief at the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation. ‘They tell us the exciting story of Vermont and our nation--from the first inhabitants to the Vermonter who became our 30th president.’ A full schedule of special exhibits and events are planned for the public’s enjoyment.

Concentra, a subsidiary of Humana, announced today it has expanded its customer base and reach in the Burlington, Vt. market with the acquisition of assets of the Champlain Valley Urgent Care, P.C. (CVUC) location in South Burlington.
Concentra consolidated its existing operations in Burlington, located at 110 Kimball Ave, into the CVUC location immediately upon the transaction closing. Many of the existing medical staff, providers, and non-medical personnel have been retained, building on their tenure with the organization and the long-standing relationships they have developed within the surrounding communities. This acquisition supports Concentra's extensive client base, its long history as the leading provider of occupational medicine to employees, and a growing demand for urgent care, comprehensive health, and wellness services.

On May 3rd, the Community-University Partnerships and Service-Learning Office (CUPS) announced the recipients of its Engaged Scholarship Awards at the 7th Annual CUPS Recognition Reception. Nominations were judged on the quality of engaged scholarship demonstrated in courses between Spring 2010 and 2011 semesters. The Outstanding Service-Learning Student Award was presented to Alex Finn, an active member of the Dewey House for Civic Engagement. As a student in the Civic Engagement and Self-Reflection course, Alex has demonstrated outstanding commitment to service beyond course expectations. The Outstanding Community Partner Award was awarded to Peter DeGraff of Otter Creek Engineering, who worked enthusiastically with students from CDAE 171 ‘Community and Economic Transformation’ to create successful community-based water systems projects in Honduras.

Ken Gibbons, Chief Executive Officer of Union Bank is pleased to announce that Jeffrey S. Ciochetto of East Aurora, New York has been appointed Senior Vice President and Senior Loan Officer of the Bank. Ciochetto brings 28 plus years in commercial and retail banking to the position with a focus in Commercial Lending, Credit and Treasury/Cash Management as well as senior managerial, mentoring and leadership experience.
Ciochetto fills the Senior Loan Officer position vacated by David S. Silverman who was named President of Union Bank on April 1, 2011. Ciochetto’s responsibilities include overseeing all lending areas within the Bank, directly supervising the retail loan manager and commercial loan officers throughout northern Vermont and northwestern New Hampshire, and maintaining risk management strategies for all aspects of the Bank’s $540 million in serviced loans.

The Department of Defense today committed more than $2.1 million for a one-year extension of a Vermont National Guard outreach program to help veterans returning from deployments in Afghanistan and elsewhere.
The Vermont Guard program was funded since 2006 by federal grants secured by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee. With continued funding for the program in jeopardy, a Sanders provision was added to a 2011 Pentagon appropriations bill that designated $16 million for Vermont and seven other states.
Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Sanders and Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) asked Army Secretary John M. McHugh and Gen. Craig McKinley, chief of the National Guard Bureau, to use the $16 million to continue the program under a national Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program.

Citing a sharp increase in the number of assaults on health care workers in recent years, Gov. Peter Shumlin today signed a bill that would make such assaults a crime with stiffer penalties.
The Governor signed the bill outside the Emergency Room at the Central Vermont Medical Center in Berlin, where health care workers requested the change following numerous assaultive incidents.
‘This bill will help us protect the medical personnel who, along with our law enforcement and firefighters, work to keep us safe and protected,’ the Governor said, shortly before signing the bill into law.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont has received national recognition for the content, clarity and design of a key communications document that provides members with information about their claims and benefits.
Dalbar, Inc., a leading third-party evaluator of communications quality for the financial services and health care industries, has awarded BCBSVT’s Explanations of Benefits document its ‘Excellent’ designation and ranked it fourth out of 37 providers whose EOB’s it reviewed.
‘While many insurers treat their Explanation of Benefits statements (EOB's) as a necessary evil, the reality is this communication offers great opportunities to increase customer loyalty and satisfaction," said Kathleen Whalen, managing director at DALBAR.
"Clearly BCBSVT recognizes the importance of this customer touch point, and has transformed it into an understandable and useful consumer tool."

Governor Peter Shumlin unveiled a new website today, BroadbandVT.org, a one-stop information resource and interactive tool for Vermonters to use in the quest to obtain statewide, universal availability of broadband service.
‘I think we are all well aware that some Vermonters are without broadband service today,’ the Governor said. ‘We have federal, state and privately funded projects in progress to build more broadband connections. As we achieve the broadband build out, we need to identify those remaining unserved areas down to the location level.’
He said one of the important features of BroadbandVT.org is it allows Vermonters to participate and tell us where ‘ down to their individual home addresses -- they know service is missing.

Local Internet company, Power Shift, is pleased to announce that it is now offering a new email service to its business customers. CloudMail is a next generation email solution that features secure hosting within a Cloud environment, as well as enhanced email applications.
‘We have had challenges in the past with email services and servers,’ notes Ryan Meravi, Power Shift’s sales manager. ‘With CloudMail, the challenges are in the past. Emails are hosted in the Cloud, an extremely stable and secure environment, and the additional features should appeal to small and large business customers alike.’
The new email service is available to all Power Shift’s domain hosted email customers now, and features increased storage, enhanced spam protection, easy syncing of calendars, contacts, and email with mobile devices, and more.

From the ingredients in its products to the packaging, Seventh Generation is always evaluating how to reduce its environmental impact, increase product performance and safety and create a more sustainable supply chain. That's why the company is proud to announce a partnership with Preserve's "Gimme 5" program, allowing customers to recycle #5 plastic right where they shop.
"We're always trying to increase the post-consumer content in our packaging," said Peter Swaine, director of global strategic sourcing at Seventh Generation. "Now we're fully closing the loop on our #5 plastic, making it easy for our customers to recycle their laundry caps so in turn we can create more sustainable packaging for the products they love."

by Anne Galloway, www.vtdigger.org May 11, 2011 Despite the Shumlin administration’s best efforts, the third time wasn’t the charm for the Amtrak western corridor project. The U.S. Department of Transportation passed over Vermont’s most recent bid for $83 million in funding for track improvements that would have enabled the state to offer passenger rail service from Burlington to Rutland. The western corridor is now used for freight.
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LINKS

American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials: Vermont Route improvements
Vermont Rail Action Network: High-Speed Rail In Vermont?
Federal Rail Administration: U.S. Transportation Secretary LaHood Announces $2 Billion for High-Speed Intercity Rail Projects to Grow Jobs, Boost U.S. Manufacturing and Transform Travel in America

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