Current News

Mount Snow has announced that it has accepted a bid to replace the Summit Local triple chair lift with a new Leitner Poma high-speed detachable six-passenger bubble chairlift. The ‘six pack’ chairlift will be the first of its kind on the East coast and demonstrates Mount Snow’s commitment to providing the best experience possible for their guests.
‘Our goal at Mount Snow is to provide the best possible product for our guests. We are continuously making upgrades to our infrastructure to ensure a quality experience for our guests. We feel that installing this state-of-the-art chairlift in order to increase our high speed capacity out of the main base area is in line with this commitment,’ said Jesse Boyd, VP of Operations for Peak Resorts.

by Anne Galloway,March 3, 2011 vtdigger.org
Governor Peter Shumlin asked President Barack Obama to give the Nuclear Regulatory Commission the authority to require Entergy Corp. to fully decommission Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant instead of allowing the company to store all of the radioactive waste from the facility on the site. Shumlin told reporters on Wednesday that he made his case to the president during the National Governors Association meeting last weekend. Obama supports a new generation of nuclear power plants.

Champlain College is one of the nation’s best institutions for undergraduate education, according to The Princeton Review, the widely-known education services company. The Princeton Review has chosen the college for inclusion in the forthcoming edition of its popular annual ‘best colleges’ guidebook, "The Best 376 Colleges: 2012 Edition" (Random House / Princeton Review Books) which will be available in bookstores in early August.
Also, the New York Times in a BLOG is reporting that the Princeton Review and GamePro Media, the publisher of GamePro magazine, which it called a video-gamers’ bible, "have joined forces to handicap what they consider the ‘Top 10’ undergraduate and graduate programs in video game design."

Green Mountain Power and Efficiency Vermont are partnering on an unprecedented effort to help every town in GMP service territory change over to more energy efficient Light Emitting Diode (LED) street lights.
"Last year Green Mountain Power became one of only a handful of utilities in the country to offer an LED-specific rate to customers for outdoor lighting. This year we are taking it a step further by proposing to lower the rate and offer financial assistance to towns to change to LED lights," said Mary Powell, president and chief executive officer of Green Mountain Power.
With the support of Efficiency Vermont, Green Mountain Power expects to replace thousands of mercury vapor and high pressure sodium street lights with new energy-efficient LED street lights in towns throughout its service territory.

On March 9, 2011 Rock Art Brewery will be releasing a limited edition beer to raise money for Pete’s Greens in Craftsbury, Vermont. In January a fire erupted and destroyed years of hard work, innovation, and purpose. This handcrafted beer created by brew master Matt Nadeau will be sold throughout the state to restaurants and retailers, raising proceeds and awareness.
‘Matt and I strongly believe in eating local foods, we admire what Pete is doing, and also every person involved in the VT Fresh Network,’ said Renee Nadeau of Rock Art Brewery. The devastating fire reduced the main barn, washhouse, and root cellar to ashes. As fundraising efforts continue, the Barn Raising Brown Ale was created to remind Vermonters that this farm still needs our help. When was the last time you bought a beer and helped rebuild a barn?

The US Commission on Civil Rights has appointed 15 people to its Vermont State Advisory Committee.
Kim Tolhurst, designated the authority of the staff director of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, announced the appointment of â ¢Francine T. Bazluke of Essex Junction, John H. Bloomer of Wallingford, Luther M. Brown of Rutland, Ellen Mercer Fallon of Middlebury, Leslie Ann Holman of Burlington, Terrance D. Martin of Brattleboro, Marion C. Milne of West Topsham, Cheryl W. Mitchell of New Haven, Tara O’Brien of Brattleboro, Eric D. Sakai of Randolph, Stephanie L. Sidortsova of Westford, Diane B. Snelling of Hinesburg, Tracey H. Tsugawa of Williston, and Stewart R. Wood of Quechee. The Commission appointed Diane Snelling as Chair. The appointments are for two years.

NBCUniversal Television Consumer Products Group and ‘Late Night with Jimmy Fallon’ are teaming with iconic ice cream company Ben & Jerry’s to introduce the new flavor entitled ‘Late Night Snack.’ The unique new flavor features a rich vanilla bean ice cream with a salty caramel swirl and crunchy fudge covered potato chip clusters ‘ the perfect mix of salt and sweet for a late night snack. The concoction was inspired by a ‘Late Night with Jimmy Fallon’ skit in which Fallon and house band The Roots performed an original song, ‘Ladysmith Snack Mambazo,’ about Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. Late Night Snack begins arriving in supermarkets and Ben & Jerry’s locations around the country this week.

It takes practice to perfect clinical skills ‘ from drawing blood to inserting intravenous lines to working as part of a trauma team. This practice has been difficult or impossible to obtain other than in the field. Now, thanks to a collaborative, interdisciplinary project of the University of Vermont (UVM) Colleges of Medicine and Nursing and Health Sciences, and Fletcher Allen Health Care, experience can be obtained in a non-patient care setting. UVM President Daniel Mark Fogel, Ph.D., and Fletcher Allen President and CEO Melinda L. Estes, M.D., helped usher in a new era in health care professional clinical education March 2 as they, along with UVM College of Medicine and College of Nursing and Health Sciences leaders, students, faculty and staff, officially opened the Clinical Simulation Laboratory in UVM’s Rowell Building.

The e-Vermont Community Broadband Project, led by VCRD, is now active in 24 Vermont rural communities. The towns are tapping into the expertise and resources of e-Vermont’s statewide partners as the local groups develop ways to take full advantage of the Internet for creating jobs and innovative schools, providing social services, and increasing community connection. These towns, selected from a larger pool of applicants, are among the first to explore how the Internet can be harnessed as a tool for addressing local challenges.
‘We’re working with rural communities to support the best use of high speed Internet tools in business, government, and education, and help eliminate the digital divide,’ says Project Director Helen Labun Jordan, ‘Rural regions can’t be left behind in digital skills. We may be receiving high speed Internet later than more urban areas, but e-Vermont is helping our towns make up for lost time.’

US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has published a proposed rule that could save US businesses more than $23 million over the next 10 years by establishing an advance registration process for US employers seeking to file H-1B petitions for foreign workers in specialty occupations. The proposed electronic system would minimize administrative burdens and expenses related to the H-1B petition process’including reducing the need for employers to submit petitions for which visas would not be available under the statutory visa cap. Vermont has made much use of the H-1B program, especially in the travel and tourism sector.

The US Senate is debating legislation authored by Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy to update the nation’s patent system. It has been nearly 60 years since the last comprehensive reforms were made the patent system. The America Invents Act was introduced by Leahy on January 25, and is the culmination of nearly six years of debate.
Vermont receives more patents per capita than any other state in the nation. The first US patent issued was awarded to Vermonter Samuel Hopkins of Pittsford.
Yesterday on the Senate floor, Leahy delivered the following remarks, highlighting Vermonters’ role in innovation and invention since the early days of the country.
Statement Of Senator Patrick Leahy,
On Vermont And The America Invents Act Of 2011
March 3, 2011

State Auditor Tom Salmon released the following statement yesterday announcing that he is forming an exploratory committee to consider a campaign for US Senate against Senator Bernard Sanders. Re-elected last November to a post he originally won as a Democrat, the now Republican has already announced he will not seek another term as state auditor.