Current News

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

People's United Financial, Inc.(PBCT 14.00, -0.15, -1.06%) today announced net income of $16.0 million, or $0.04 per share, for the second quarter of 2010, compared to $13.6 million, or $0.04 per share, for the first quarter of 2010, and $25.3 million, or $0.08 per share, for the second quarter of 2009. Included in both this quarter's and first quarter's results are pre-tax merger-related, system conversion and one-time expenses totaling $23.2 million and $23.4 million, respectively. Excluding the effect of these items, net income would have been $31.8 million, or $0.09 per share, for the second quarter of 2010 and $29.2 million, or $0.08 per share, for the first quarter of 2010. People's United is the parent company of the former Chittenden Bank.

Merchants Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ: MBVT), the parent company of Merchants Bank, announced today that its Board of Directors declared a dividend of 28 cents per share, payable August 12, 2010, to shareholders of record as of July 29, 2010.

Vermont Secretary of Administration Neale F Lunderville released the June 2010 General Fund Revenues today. General Fund revenues totaled $103.42 million for June 2010, and were +$5.53 million or +5.65% above the $97.89 million consensus revenue forecast for the month. These year-to-date General Fund performance of $1,038.40 million was +$7.50 million, or +0.73% ahead of full year target of $1,030.90 million. June is the final month of fiscal year 2010.
The monthly targets reflect the revised Fiscal Year 2010 Consensus Revenue Forecast approved by the Emergency Board at their January 13, 2010 meeting. Statutorily, the State is required to revise the Consensus Revenue Forecast two times per year, in January and July; the Emergency Board may schedule interim revisions if deemed necessary. The next Emergency Board meeting is scheduled for today, July 15, 2010.