Current News

Vermont ranks 9th in the nation in funding programs to prevent kids from smoking and help smokers quit, according to a national report released today by a coalition of public health organizations.
Vermont currently spends $4.5 million a year on tobacco prevention and cessation programs, which is 43.4 percent of the $10.4 million recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Other key findings for Vermont include:
In the past two years, Vermont has cut funding for tobacco prevention by 13 percent, from $5.2 million to $4.5 million. Vermont this year will collect $103 million from the 1998 tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes, but will spend just 4.4 percent of it on tobacco prevention programs. The tobacco companies spend $27.4 million a year to market their products in Vermont. This is 6 times what the state spends on tobacco prevention.

Weekly unemployment claims fell last week after rising briskly five of the previous six weeks. For the week of November 13, 2010, there were 893 new regular benefit claims for Unemployment Insurance, an decrease of 484 from the week before. Altogether 8,768 new and continuing claims were filed, an increase of 273 from a week ago and 2,160 fewer than a year earlier. The Department also processed 2,265 First Tier claims for benefits under Emergency Unemployment Compensation, 2008 (EUC08), 4 more than a week ago. In addition, there were 712 Second Tier claims for benefits processed under the EUC08 program, which is a decrease of 49 from the week before. The Unemployment Weekly Report can be found at: http://www.vtlmi.info/. Previously released Unemployment Weekly Reports and other UI reports can be found at:http://www.vtlmi.info/lmipub.htm#uc

Westinghouse Electric Company today announced the 2010-11 winners of its N-Visioning a Brighter Future grant program, which awards funding to middle and high schools for creative, hands-on projects.
Administered by the company's speakers bureau, N-Vision, the grant program is designed to encourage both teachers and students to develop projects based on energy, math, science or technology.
The competition is open to all middle and high schools where Westinghouse has a presence. Five schools are awarded $2,000 each to carry out their proposed projects. Winners of the 2010-11 grants are:
-
Pinecrest Center School, Aiken, South Carolina
The school's "Newton's Toy Box" project will allow students to rediscover Newton's three laws of motion.
-
St. Johnsbury Academy, St. Johnsbury, Vermont

The Champlain Housing Trust announced today that TD Bank, through the TD Charitable Foundation, the bank’s charitable giving arm, has awarded the organization with a $50,000 capital grant to implement an innovative energy pilot program to reduce the energy bills of owners of its shared equity homes. The award was made in conjunction with TD Charitable Foundation’s signature ‘Housing for Everyone’ grant competition.
The ‘Housing for Everyone’ grant competition drew hundreds of proposals from housing non-profits for projects to help improve the housing environment in communities where TD Bank does business. Grant awards were awarded to non-profits looking to preserve and improve home residencies through upgrades to property conditions, increasing energy efficiency, and cost savings through newer heating, cooling, insulation, window replacement, roof replacement and other renovations.

Northern Power Systems, Inc., a leading manufacturer of next-generation direct-drive wind turbines, today announced a partnership with Harvest the Wind Network. The Harvest the Wind Network was born out of a 4th generation family business - BTI Inc. BTI Wind Energy formed the Harvest the Wind Network of dealers to sell, service, and support wind energy products across North America.
‘We are very excited to be partnering with Harvest the Wind Network’ said Parthiv Amin, President of the Community Wind business at Northern Power Systems. ‘This partnership will enable us to expand our world class Northern Powerâ ¢ 100 permanent magnet direct drive wind turbine global distribution channel through their well-established large equipment dealership network across the United States and Canada.’

Leaders of six citizens groups from around the state joined today with VCE and others to call on Governor-elect Shumlin and the new legislature to re-examine their support for utility-scale wind on Vermont’s ridgelines.
‘We are gathered today to sound the alarm bells ‘ nothing less than the future of Vermont is at stake. The proposed ridgeline wind projects will irreparably harm our natural resources and habitats, make hundreds of Vermonters sick, and leave scars that will never heal ‘ all for little if any benefit to Vermont or the environment. There is a better way, and now is the time to change course,’ said Annette Smith, VCE Executive Director.

US Department of Housing & Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan will deliver the keynote address at tomorrow's 2010 Vermont Statewide Housing Conference. He’s scheduled to speak between 9 and 10:15 a.m. Doors open at 8 a.m. Governor-elect Peter Shumlin also will speak at tomorrow’s conference. He’s scheduled to speak for 30-minutes, beginning at 12:30 p.m., and will take questions from the audience following his address.
Sec. Donovan will be the highest ranking housing official ever to speak at the biennial event.
More than 450 people have pre-registered to attend the day-long conference, which is the state’s largest gathering of housing professionals. Pre-registrations have nearly filled the capacity of the venue, but organizers will accept walk-in registrations as space allows.
WHAT
2010 Vermont Statewide Housing Conference
WHEN
Thursday, Nov. 18, 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m.
Sec. Donovan scheduled to speak between 9 and 10:15 a.m.

A one cent per ounce tax on sugary beverages was the center piece of a new plan to reduce obesity in Vermont. Such a tax would add 12 cents to a can of soda and 67 cents to a two-liter bottle. Joined at a Statehouse press conference by legislators, public health advocates and other interested parties, Attorney General William Sorrell today called on all Vermonters to pull together and commit to greater efforts to address the skyrocketing rates of obesity and overweight - rapidly overcoming tobacco addiction as the greatest avoidable public health problem facing our state and our nation.
‘With current trends, our kids’ generation will be less healthy than our own. Shame on us, if we let this happen,’ said Attorney General Sorrell.

FairPoint Communications has met ‘ and surpassed ‘ another key broadband milestone in Vermont.
FairPoint pledged to make broadband available to 80 percent of its customers by the end of 2010 and as of Oct. 31, the company has bested that commitment, said Michael K. Smith, FairPoint state president for Vermont.
‘We’re at 80.5 percent and we still have two months to go in 2010,’ Smith said. ‘I don’t know of any other provider in Vermont who has done more to expand broadband for Vermonters than FairPoint. We’ve increased high-speed Internet from 66 percent in 2008 to now more than 80 percent.’
In 2010, FairPoint has turned up more homes and businesses in Highgate, Thetford, Peru, Williston, Stockbridge, Westford and Marlboro, with additional communities scheduled to come online before year’s end, Smith said.

Greenpeace today flew an airship with a banner reading ‘Shut Down Vermont Yankee’ over what it calls "the risky and dangerous nuclear reactor" to send a message to Entergy, the plant’s corporate owners and potential buyers. Following Entergy’s recent announcement to sell the 38-year old reactor, as well as an unplanned shutdown after another leak of radioactive water, Greenpeace said its action drew attention to the problems facing the reactor and warned potential buyers of the risks of purchasing the plant.
‘Entergy needs to stop trying to squeeze more profit out of Vermont Yankee or dump the mess they’ve created onto someone else, and instead begin preparations to permanently shut down this old reactor,’ said Jim Riccio, Nuclear Policy Analyst for Greenpeace.

Governor Jim Douglas today said the Obama Administration has selected Vermont as one of eight states to participate in a demonstration project that is modeled after, and will strengthen, the groundbreaking Vermont Blueprint for Health.
As part of the demonstration project, the federal government will provide Medicare funding to better coordinate care, lower costs and improve health outcomes for patients, the Governor said. This is a first for the federal Medicare program. The total funding is about $21.8 million over three years. It is expected to impact 117,000 Vermonters by 2013.
‘This demonstration project, the Multi-payer Advanced Primary Care Practice, strengthens reforms already in place here as part of our Vermont Blueprint for Health and provides another example of how states can contain health care costs and improve quality,’ Governor Douglas said.

Vermont Aerospace Manufacturing, Inc, has announced that it has been sold to its employees through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). Company owners Don and Sheryl Cota decided to create the ESOP as a way to reward employees for their years of service and to insure that the business would stay in the area. The announcement was made at a celebration at the company’s headquarters in Lyndonville on November 9th. Guests included Senator Bernard Sanders and Don Jamison of the Vermont Employee Ownership Center.
‘This year marks Vermont Aerospace’s 30th year in business, and this was accomplished because of the dedication and hard work of our employees,’ says Don Cota, president of Vermont Aerospace. ‘Sheryl and I were looking for a way to provide our employees with stability, opportunity, and a vehicle that would allow sharing of company profits.’