Current News

Fueled by an increase in depression caused by economic stress, increased abuse of prescription drugs, plus the launch of a series of new services and programs, Vermont’s largest not-for-profit psychiatric hospital saw admissions jump by a record 23 percent in 2010. It’s an increase that stands out nationally and the growth trend appears on track to continue in 2011.
‘The economic downturn and the stress it created on individuals and their families certainly had an impact on the number of new patients’
The Brattleboro Retreat provided in-patient care for almost 3,000 adults and adolescents last year and sometimes saw as many as 24 new admissions per day, the most in the facility’s 177-year history. The average in-patient stay last year ranged from 6.5 to 14.8 days.
Nationally, psychiatric hospitals saw an admissions increase of about 3.5 per cent, according to the National Association of Psychiatric Health Systems.

The Vermont Department of Taxes today announced the launch of a dynamic new electronic service for filing property transfer tax returns (ePTTRs) online. Built at no cost to the state over a two-year period by the state’s e-government partner, Vermont Information Consortium, the service incorporated requirements from key stakeholder groups including attorneys and town clerks.
‘The new Property Transfer Tax Return service helps us continue our efforts to provide more electronic filing services to Vermonters to create efficiencies for users and the Department’
‘The new Property Transfer Tax Return service helps us continue our efforts to provide more electronic filing services to Vermonters to create efficiencies for users and the Department,’ said Mary Peterson, Commissioner of the Department of Taxes.

Shelburne Museum has named an interim director, Board Chairman James Pizzagalli announced. Robert Skiff, Sr., member of the museum’s board of trustees and former president of Champlain College, will assume interim director duties on March 15 and will serve until a permanent replacement for director Stephan Jost is hired. Jost is stepping down after five years as director at Shelburne to become director of Honolulu Academy of Arts in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Museum trustee Bruce Lisman of Shelburne is heading up the national search for a new director, which is under way.
Skiff, of South Burlington, joined the Shelburne Museum board in 2002. He serves as a director of the Merchants Bank and Merchants Bancshares.

Vermont’s real estate market fared the best of all New England states in a newly released RE/MAX report. There were 289 homes sold in January, an 18% increase from the 245 homes sold the same time last year. On a month-to-month basis, home sales were down -27.6% from 399 homes sold this past December. The median selling price remained flat year-over-year at $190,000. However, Vermont surpassed New Hampshire in median sale price and is now fourth in New England, also ahead of Maine.
Overall inventory decreased from 8,478 in January 2010 to 7,694 in January 2011. If inventory increases, as RE/MAX expects, Vermont should experience a positive Spring market.

Secretary of Administration Jeb Spaulding released the January 2011 General Fund Revenue
results today. January is the seventh month of fiscal year (FY) 2011. General Fund revenues
totaled $137.78 million for January 2011, and were -$1.61 million or -1.16% below the $139.39
million consensus revenue forecast for the month. Year to date, January revenues were $687.16
million or -0.23% below target. On a year-over-year basis, January 2011 GF results are 9.3%
ahead of the same period for the prior year (January 2010), but, are -2.26% below the FY 2008
results through January 2008.
‘While it is of note that revenues are ahead of where they were a year ago pretty much across the
board, the fact that January revenues in some key areas such as personal income, sales & use,
and rooms & meals were below forecast for the month is good reason for caution going

Vermont Secretary of Agriculture, Chuck Ross, announced today that Jolinda LaClair of Middlesex has been appointed as Deputy Secretary for Administration for the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets.
‘I am pleased to announce that Jolinda LaClair will join the Agency of Agriculture as Deputy Secretary. She brings years of experience working with Vermont on issues relating to rural development and agriculture and many other matters of public policy,’ stated Vermont Agriculture Secretary Chuck Ross. ‘Her experience building partnerships across public, private and non-profit sectors will be a real asset to the Agency of Agriculture's work to support agricultural viability in Vermont.’
‘Jolinda's wealth of knowledge about Vermont -- its people, its communities, and the challenges and opportunities for agriculture and commerce will be a great benefit,’ added Ross.

Karen Glass, PhD, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the Colchester Campus of Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (ACPHS-Vermont), has received a two-year grant from the American Heart Association in the amount of $132,000. She will be researching new approaches for reducing the risks of heart attack in individuals suffering from heart disease.
Background
The onset of heart disease places additional stress on the heart, leading to damage of the heart tissue. Unfortunately, the heart is incapable of producing new replacement cells, so it responds by growing existing cells, a phenomenon known as cardiac hypertrophy. Instead of strengthening the heart, hypertrophy significantly weakens the heart muscle, making the individual more susceptible to a heart attack.
Research Focus

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) chaired a Senate hearing today to explore how the United States is competing with other nations for green jobs. With products ranging from laptop computers to American flags already made in China, the world’s second largest economy, the Asian nation is now moving aggressively to corner world markets for solar, wind and other alternative and sustainable energy technologies.

Sanders, chairman of the Green Jobs and New Economy Subcommittee, said the United States should keep energy jobs in this country.

‘We can create good-paying jobs by investing in efficient and sustainable energy technologies,’ Sanders said. ‘Moving toward green jobs is terribly important for our economy, it's important for our environment, and it's important for from the perspective of not getting us into wars for oil.’
One of the witnesses was John Danner, CEO of Northern Power Systems, a wind turbine company based in Barre. Vt.

Recently, the TD Charitable Foundation, the charitable giving arm of TD Bank donated $35,000, equivalent to 87,500 pounds of food or 70,000 meals for families in need, to support the Vermont Food Bank. The Vermont Foodbank has a network of 280 partners around the state’food shelves, meal sites, shelters, senior centers and after-school programs’that reach as many as 86,000 Vermonters in need of food assistance.
On Thursday, February 17, 2011, local TD Bank employees will volunteer at the Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf, the Foodbank’s largest network partner, to assist with warehouse inventory, stock shelves, help clients complete paperwork and pick out their groceries.

The Agency of Transportation announced today that repairs to Bridge #2 on Vermont Route 74 over the Lemon Fair River will be completed this week, and the bridge is expected to be open to through traffic by Monday, February 21st (President’s Day).
The Agency of Transportation had closed the 182-foot-long bridge on Valentine’s Day after district maintenance forces discovered a hole in the bridge deck early that morning.
Until the repairs are complete, Vermont Route 74 will continue to be closed to through traffic from its intersection with Quiet Valley Road in Shoreham to its intersection with North and South Bingham Street in Cornwall. Local traffic only will be permitted. Traffic headed North on Vermont Route 22A and Vermont Route 30 will be directed to use Vermont Route 125. Traffic headed South on Vermont Route 22A and Vermont Route 30 will be directed to use Vermont Route 73.

Citing the need for the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to evaluate environmental risks associated with long-term onsite storage of spent nuclear fuel at locations such as the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station, Attorney General William Sorrell joined New York and Connecticut today in the filing of a lawsuit against the NRC in the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit.
The lawsuit challenges two decisions by the NRC ‘ the ‘Temporary Storage Rule’ and its accompanying ‘Waste Confidence Decision Update.’

On February 14, 2011 the Central Vermont Public Service Corporation (NYSE: CV) Board of Directors approved the following resolution: That out of reserved and unrestricted earnings of the Company a quarterly dividend at the rate of twenty-three cents ($.23) per share is hereby declared on the issued and outstanding shares of Common Stock, $6 Par Value, payable May 13, 2011 to stockholders of record at the close of business May 3, 2011.
Also, the board approved that out of the reserved and unrestricted retained earnings of the Company quarterly dividends on the Preferred Stock, $100 Par Value, of $1.04 per share on the 4.15% Dividend Series, $1.16 per share on the 4.65% Dividend Series, $1.18 per share on the 4.75% Dividend Series, and $1.34375 per share on the 5.375% Dividend Series, are hereby declared payable April 1, 2011 to stockholders of record at the close of business March 22, 2011.
RUTLAND, VT--(Marketwire - February 14, 2011) -