Current News
by tim
People's United Financial, Inc. (Nasdaq: PBCT) has announced the merger consideration to be received by Smithtown shareholders in People's United Financial's acquisition of Smithtown Bancorp, Inc of Hauppauge, NY, which was completed on November 30, 2010.
Based on final election results and applying the proration provisions set forth in the merger agreement, Smithtown shareholders will receive the following merger consideration:
Smithtown shareholders will receive 0.304 of a share of People's United Financial common stock for each Smithtown share for which they made a valid stock election;
Smithtown shareholders will receive $3.77 per share for each Smithtown share for which they made a valid cash election; and
by tim
After five days of round the clock work, crews restored power to the last VEC member at approximately 10:30 pm Sunday night. Strong winds that pounded Vermont on Wednesday resulted in extensive damage to VEC’s system, which executives there called the worst in the company's history, which will cost it about $2 million.
At the height of the storm VEC had approximately 12,500 members without power, this equates to one-third of its member’owners.
‘By far this is the worst storm that we’ve ever seen,’ said Dave Hallquist, Chief Executive Officer. ‘At the height of storm there were verified reports of wind gusts of up to 94 mph in some parts of VEC’s service territory which resulted in power outages to more than one-third of our member-owners.’
by tim
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) told the Vermont Energy and Climate Action Conference December 4 that Vermont leads the nation in electric energy efficiency and in making great strides toward sustainable energy. He also announced that he secured $90,000 to support Vermont town energy committees.
‘Investing in these local efforts will help our state make real and significant progress toward meeting our energy vision,’ he told the conference’s annual meeting in Fairlee, Vt. Sanders spoke to the some 200 participants by telephone from Washington, where the U.S. Senate was in session on Saturday.
Energy committees have until Jan. 31 to apply for grants of $1,000 to $3,000 for projects including community energy challenges, cooperatives to promote bulk purchase of energy services, do-it-yourself weatherization workshops, residential energy reduction campaigns, school programs and other initiatives.
by tim
Parking in downtown Burlington during the holidays just got a lot easier on weeknights and weekends during the 2010-11 holidays as the city has partnered with the Church Street Marketplace and others to offer free parking on some on-street meters and off-street parking lots.
Thanks to participating downtown employers, hundreds of additional parking spaces at downtown parking lots are available free to downtown holiday shoppers starting Saturday, November 27, 2010 through Sunday January 2, 2011. Hours of availability are Monday through Friday, 6 PM to 10 PM; Saturday and Sunday, 9 AM to 10 PM, unless otherwise designated at each location.
by tim
The Vermont congressional delegation today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture will further postpone a pending reduction in food stamp benefits for 16,000 Vermonters. Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Representative Peter Welch (D-VT) also welcomed the USDA’s assurance that, once the extended waiver expires on April 1, no family will see a benefit reduction of more than $20 per month.
Sanders and Leahy authored a letter signed by 13 other senators asking White House budget director Jacob Lew to reconsider the administration’s plan to cut to nutrition assistance benefits under Vermont’s ‘3SquaresVT’ program. Welch authored a similar letter from members of the U.S. House of Representatives.
by tim
ccess Real Time Permits with New Online IFTA/IRP Service at Vermont.gov
MONTPELIER, Vt.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles today announces the availability of real-time permits with the release of a new online permitting service for International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) and International Registration Plans (IRP). Available at https://secure.vermont.gov/DMV/irp/ the new online service is an upgrade to the previous paper- and fax-based service.
‘This new process will save time and resources for fleet trucking companies, the DMV, and the taxpayers of Vermont.’
by tim
A comprehensive economic analysis is underway in the Northeast Kingdom to
identify potential areas of employment growth and what skills people will
need to fill those jobs.
The study, being conducted by the Northeastern Vermont Development
Association (NVDA) is funded by a federal grant in conjunction with the
Vermont Department of Labor.
‘This study will provide us with solid economic research that will help
us establish priorities for our work in the region,’ said Steve
Patterson, executive director of NVDA.
Dave Snedeker, Planning Manager for NVDA, is heading up the project and
said the study will look at four different areas and:
determine ways that bio-medical companies in the Northeast Kingdom can cooperate for mutual economic benefit and determine whether a formal organization should be established.
by tim
Central Vermont Public Service Corporation (NYSE: CV) announced today that it has completed the sale of shares of its common stock under the at-the-market offering program announced on Jan. 15, 2010. The company sold an aggregate of 1,498,745 shares in open market trading and direct placements under this program for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $30.6 million. KeyBanc Capital Markets served as sole placement agent under the at-the-market offering program.
The company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes.
This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the company's common stock nor shall there be any sale of such common stock in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.
About Central Vermont
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Vermont Yankee communications manager Larry Smith issued a statement today indicating that monitoring wells at the nuclear power plant in Vernon show that no new radioactive leaks are occurring at the plant. The statement also indicates that no drinking water wells in the area have been contaminated or are in danger of such from the tritium leaks.
by tim
Following announcements by two newly-elected governors that their states no longer intend to use federal high-speed rail funding, thus leaving more than a billion dollars on the table, Vermont’s congressional delegation today called on Transportation Secretary Raymond LaHood to reallocate a portion of the funding to Vermont’s proposed Western Corridor project.
While Vermont was successful in securing more than $50 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding to improve the southeast-northwest Vermonter line, the proposed Ethan Allen Express Improvements and Extension project was unsuccessful in receiving funding. The project, which would improve passenger rail from Rutland to Burlington, was lauded by the Federal Railroad Administration and scored competitively in the High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail (HSIPR) application process, but did not receive federal investment due to limited funds.
by tim
After 48 hours of tireless around-the-clock work, Central Vermont Public Service utility crews are converging on Addison County and the Jericho/Underhill area to restore power to the last 1,540 CVPS customers. More than 32,000 CVPS customer outages occurred from the massive East Coast storm that brought severe high winds to Vermont Wednesday. Green Mountain Power has restored power to virtually all its customers. But Vermont Electric Cooperative is still digging out and it may be until Saturday before all its customers in its hard-hit region have their power restored.
by tim
US Representative Peter Welch voted to extend tax cuts for middle- and lower-income Americans on Thursday, while blasting Republican maneuvers to hold legislative business hostage as the party fights for tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires.
Passed by a vote of 234 to 188, the Middle Class Tax Relief Act (H.R. 4853) would permanently extend tax cuts enacted in 2001 and 2003 for all income below $200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for married couples. Without an extension, tax rates would revert to pre-2001 levels on January 1, 2011.
‘Extending tax relief for middle-class Americans will help the economy and help Vermonters struggling to get by. But digging ourselves deeper into debt by borrowing $700 billion to give millionaires and billionaires tax breaks is simply unconscionable,’ Welch said.