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Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) this week introduced legislation in the US Senate and House of Representatives allowing the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park to acquire Woodstock’s King Farm.
At the request of the Vermont Land Trust (VLT) and the Woodstock community, the Vermont delegation is seeking to expand the boundaries of the existing park to include the 154-acre King Farm. Doing so will allow VLT to transfer the property and ensure that its mission of promoting agriculture, forestry, conservation and education is met.

A 31-state consortium, including Vermont, submitted its application recently for a federal grant that would develop a student assessment system aligned to a common core of academic standards. The SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium, or SBAC, formed in December 2009, hopes to receive a Race to the Top assessment grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The grant, which lasts four years, is worth as much as $160 million. No more than two grants will be awarded.
‘As a governing state, Vermont has an exciting opportunity to develop and implement assessment models that better reflect the progress and strength of our students, educators and their schools,’ said Vermont’s Deputy Commissioner for Transformation and Innovation Rae Ann Knopf. ‘SBAC represents a significant and necessary departure from the dependence on statewide assessments as a primary indicator of education effectiveness.’

The nomination of Solicitor General Elena Kagan to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court won approval by a bipartisan majority of the Senate Judiciary Committee during a business meeting Tuesday. The Committee, chaired by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), held a confirmation hearing for Kagan’s nomination the week of June 28. The Committee vote was 13-6.
Kagan testified before the Judiciary Committee for more than 17 hours over three days, responding to more than 540 questions. She also responded to more than 200 questions submitted for the record. The American Bar Association gave her a rating of unanimously well qualified, the organization’s highest rating.
The full Senate is expected to consider the nomination before the scheduled August recess. For more information about the Kagan nomination, and to watch video from the confirmation proceedings, visit the Senate Judiciary Committee website.

In January 2010, legislative leadership reconvened the Vermont Yankee Oversight Panel to re-evaluate its reliability assessment of Vermont Yankee because Entergy repeatedly provided incorrect information to the Panel, which called into question the Panel's original report. In the meantime, those who support relicensing the nuclear power plant in Vernon say the report shows once again that it can be operated reliably for an extended period of time.
Legislative leadership directed the Panel to reexamine the conclusions of its March 2009 Report in light of misinformation provided by Entergy Louisiana. As a result of its review, the Panel has concluded that there are "serious deficiencies" that must be addressed before an assurance of reliability can be met. The Panel found several significant areas of concern with the plant and its management.

The Vermont Department of Labor announced today the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for June 2010 was 6.0 percent, down two tenths from the revised May rate and down 1.2 percent from a year ago.
‘The unemployment rate and the jobs count both showed improvement in June,’ said Valerie Rickert, Acting Commissioner of the Vermont Department of Labor. ‘A decline in the number of unemployed caused the unemployment rate to drop and the over the month change in the payroll survey may suggest some positive signs for the Vermont economy. The trends of the past several months continue to show slow but steady improvement in the Vermont labor market.’

Vermont Labor Force Statistics

Seasonally Adjusted

Change to
June 2010 from

The United States Tennis Association recently announced that ten finalists have been selected for its "Best Tennis Town" competition from an initial group of 82 cities that submitted entries. Manchester, Vermont has been selected as one of the finalists. Fans across the country can vote online at www.besttennistown.com for the community that they feel best exemplifies tennis’ positive impact at the local level in terms of passion, excitement, and spirit.
The top three finalists will travel to New York City where the winner will be announced during a ceremony at the 2010 US Open. Online voting is taking place now through July 26 at www.besttennistown.com.

Source: Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing MONTPELIER 7.19.2010

Northwestern Medical Center has received a generous estate gift, courtesy of the late Dr Martin Wennar. Dr. Wennar gifted $100,000 to the fund that bears his name, the Martin H Wennar, MD Health Education Scholarship Fund. Dr Wennar, a retired general surgeon, passed away in August of 2009 following a battle with pancreatic cancer.
“Marty always felt that it was a privilege to care for patients,” says his widow, Carol Streeter Wennar. “He hoped the Scholarship Fund would help others to make an impact on people’s lives.”

From California to New Hampshire, Lyndon State College’s alumni and friends came together at nine different locations across the country on Saturday afternoon, July 17, to celebrate the public launch of the college’s first multi-million fundraising campaign, A New View: the Second Century Campaign.
‘This $10 million campaign is a critical step in the evolution of Lyndon as we end our first 100 years and prepare for our second century,’ said Lyndon President Carol A. Moore. Lyndon plans to complete The Second Century Campaign in coordination with the conclusion of its Centennial Year in December 2011.

Two companies that offer to negotiate debt settlements, a service also known as ‘debt adjustment,’ will pay Vermonters and the state over $206,000 as a result of recent settlements with the Office of Vermont Attorney General William H Sorrell. The Mossler Law Firm, PC and SCF State Capital Financial, Inc agreed to make refunds to Vermont consumers and pay civil penalties to the state to resolve claims that the companies violated Vermont law by engaging in the business of debt adjusting without a license and failing to comply with the Vermont Consumer Fraud Act’s three-day right to cancel provision. The Attorney General also claimed that SCF State Capital Financial, Inc further violated the Vermont Consumer Fraud Act by failing to substantiate claimed results it advertised on its Web site.

A coalition of building trade unions from Vermont and upstate New York ratified a private Project Labor Agreement (PLA) with Flatiron Construction, the Colorado-based general contractor that will rebuild the Lake Champlain Bridge. Demolished in December 2009, the Lake Champlain Bridge connected Chimney Point, Vermont, and Crown Point, NY. Flatiron expects to complete construction by September 2011.
The first-ever PLA in the North Country will create many construction jobs and comes after months of contentious political debate, particularly in Vermont. Ultimately, Vermont Governor Douglas killed a proposed public PLA that previously been approved by the State of New York and the federal government. Labor unions from both states subsequently approached Flatiron about an independent agreement, which was finalized June 18.

Green Mountain Power and Shelburne Farms are working together to build solar generation at Shelburne Farms. Under the terms of a 25-year cooperative agreement, Green Mountain Power will install a 770 solar panel array at Shelburne Farms. The panels will occupy three quarters of an acre in a field that Shelburne Farms has recently designated as a "Solar Orchard."
Mary Powell, Green Mountain Power President and CEO, said, "This project is an important part of our overall energy and climate strategy to increase the amount of renewable energy generation in our state. It brings us very close to our goal to have 10,000 solar panels installed in our service territory within 1,000 days -- a commitment we made in November 2008."
The project location was carefully chosen by Shelburne Farms and Green Mountain Power to maintain the historic and scenic integrity of Shelburne Farms, which has been named a National Historic Landmark.

Thursday was the the most recent reporting deadline for candidates running for governor to file financial statements with the Vermont Secretary of State's office. Below are the numbers provided by the six major candidates for governor. Also included are statements provided by the candidates regarding their filings.
One thing to note is that much of the money spent so far by the candidates has gone into infrastructure and staffing. Going forward, the candidates will spend most of their money on advertising. Brian Dubie, a Republican, does not face primary opposition. The five Democrats will meet in an August 24 election to see who will be their party's representative in the general election November 2. State Senator Susan Bartlett did not issue a statement.
Brian Dubie, Raised, $943,960; spent, $455,116
Deb Markowitz, Raised, $523,946; spent, $337,189
Peter Shumlin, Raised, $418,490; spent, $200,492
Matt Dunne, Raised, $267,860; spent, $129,100