Current News

Vermont State Police On January 31st, 2025 at approximately 0552 hours Troopers with VSP Williston were notified of a single vehicle crash on the I-89 Southbound, Exit 13 offramp in the town of South Burlington. Upon arrival to the scene, Troopers learned from responding medical personnel with South Burlington Fire Department that the operator of the vehicle, identified as Edward T. Bolin (age 51) of Winooski, VT had been pronounced deceased.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General Charity Clark today announced an initial victory in her lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s Office of Management & Budget’s directive freezing federal grants and loans. Today a federal judge in Rhode Island issued a temporary restraining order in the lawsuit filed by Vermont and a coalition of 22 other states. The temporary restraining order prohibits the Trump administration from imposing a blanket freeze on federal funding. This temporary restraining order is valid until the Court rules on a motion for preliminary injunction.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak announced that the City will open a cold weather emergency shelter at the Miller Center at 130 Gosse Court in response to the dangerously cold weather forecasted this weekend.  After reviewing weather modeling in consultation with the City’s Emergency Management Director, officials have determined the forecasted temperature on Saturday evening, February 1, meets the City’s criteria for operation of an extreme cold weather shelter. Hours of operation will be 5:00 PM February 1– 8:00 AM February 2. The National Weather Service is currently forecasting evening temperatures diving well-below zero with windchill on Saturday evening, into the early morning hours on Sunday. 

Vermont SBA District Office Cybercrime is a very real threat for the vast majority of Americans, and small businesses are no exception. In fact, a recent survey from Hiscox found that 41% of small businesses were victims of a cyberattack in 2023, with the median cost coming to $8,300. The good news is there are measures small business owners can take to ensure the safety of themselves and their employees. January 28th was Data Privacy Day, that makes now a great time to bone up on cyber safety best practices.

Vermont Business Magazine In response to the growing need for skilled mental health professionals, Bennington College is excited to announce the launch of its new low-residency Master of Arts (MA) in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. This innovative program, designed for working professionals and those seeking to make a meaningful difference in the mental health field, offers a unique combination of flexible learning and hands-on training and prepares graduates for licensure and careers or continued professional or doctoral study in a rapidly expanding sector.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Law and Graduate School (VLGS) has announced its first-ever named professorship, the Pescosolido Professorship of Food and Agricultural Law and Policy. This five-year term professorship was made possible by a generous pledge and gift from VLGS alumna Pamela Pescosolido JD’90 and has been awarded to Laurie Beyranevand JD’03, VLGS alumna and director of the school’s Center for Agriculture and Food Systems. Pescosolido’s family has deep roots in farming across the U.S. Her mother’s side has owned Blueberry Hill Farm in the Massachusetts Berkshires since 1942, and her father helped to create, along with his partners, a vertically integrated citrus business in California, which included growing, packing and shipping.

Vermont Business Magazine The Attorney General’s Office announced that Katrina LaFoe, 44, of Barton, Vermont, was sentenced for misdemeanor false pretenses resulting from her role in the submission of false timesheets for payments from Vermont Medicaid. The criminal case brought against the defendant is the result of an investigation by the Medicaid Fraud and Residential Abuse Unit (MFRAU) of the Vermont Attorney General’s Office and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with several Quebec organizations and the University of Vermont to establish the Northeast Semiconductor Manufacturing Corridor as a hub for innovation and advanced manufacturing. “This partnership is vital to Vermont’s semiconductor industry and economic development,” says Commerce Secretary Lindsay Kurrle who signed the MOU on behalf of the state of Vermont. “This cross-border collaboration with Quebec and other northeastern states will make us stronger and more resilient and lead to the creation and retention of high-quality jobs throughout the Green Mountain State.”

Vermont Business Magazine U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today grilled Kash Patel, President Trump’s nominee to be the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), about his refusal to acknowledge that President Biden won the 2020 Presidential Election. Senator Welch highlighted that Trump’s ‘Big Lie’– that President Biden did not win the election – led to the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, 2021. Senator Welch also stressed the importance of combatting any attempt to weaponize the Justice Department and the FBI under the Trump Administration. 

Vermont Business Magazine Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pension (HELP), today delivered an opening statement at the committee’s hearing on the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to serve as Secretary of Health and Human Services. Sanders’ remarks, as prepared for delivery, are herein. "Thank you, Senator Cassidy. And Mr. Kennedy, thank you for being with us. I will discuss later the issue of vaccines, which Senator Cassidy raised, and is of concern I think for all of us. But before I go there, I wanted to congratulate you for the phrase “Make America Healthy Again.” I think that is a cry that all of us – a goal that all of us share – because, as you have indicated, we are a very unhealthy society."

Vermont Business Magazine This Sunday, February 2, the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) recognizes World Wetlands Day and invites Vermonters to celebrate the value of wetlands. Marking where land and water meet, wetlands may be saturated or flooded with water either year-round or for only a few weeks of the year. First celebrated in 1997, World Wetlands Day raises awareness about wetlands and the functions and values they provide for people and for the health of the land. It also marks the anniversary of the global Convention on Wetlands (or the Ramsar Convention). Adopted in 1971, the Convention on Wetlands is an international treaty that provides a framework for the conservation and wise use of wetlands.

Vermont Business Magazine Average gasoline prices in Vermont are $3.13 per gallon, down 1 cent/g from last week, up 4 cents from last month and down 7 cents from last year, according to AAA. The lowest price in the state yesterday this week $2.90/g while the highest was $3.35/g, a difference of 45.0 cents per gallon. The lowest prices are in Bennington County ($3.06/g), while they get higher the farther north one goes, with Franklin County reporting the highest average ($3.23/g).