Current News

Revision Eyewear, leading developer of ballistic protective eyewear for military and law enforcement forces worldwide, has won a Silver Telly Award, presented under the sales film/video category, for their trade show video. This sales and marketing video was produced and edited by Metro Productions, a full-service film, video and multimedia production company located in Richmond, VA. Since 1978, the Telly Awards have been recognizing creative and innovative television programming and commercials, as well as films and videos created for the web, worldwide.
"We are a fast-paced, dynamic company committed to developing the ultimate eye protection for battlefield use," commented Linda Watson, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Communications at Revision. "The video shows Revision's eyewear in extreme conditions demonstrating the ballistic and environmental capabilities of our products." The award winning video can be viewed on the Revision website and YouTube page.

The Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station in Vernon declared an unusual event at 2:25 p.m. today. The declaration was made after a seismic event was felt at the site. Per the US Geological Survey, the seismic epicenter was located 33 miles north of Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. It was also felt in the Burlington area as a slight shaking.
Surrounding states were notified of the Vermont Yankee declaration at 2:39 pm. There has been no radioactivity released, related to this event. The Plant continues to run normally at 100% power and there has been no damage based upon an ongoing walk down of station equipment.
An unusual event is the lowest of four emergency classifications of events that apply to nuclear power plants as defined by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
More information will be provided as soon as it becomes available.

Source: Vermont Yankee. 6.23.2010

The U.S. Department of Labor today released $596,525,000 in funds to continue support for 74 state, territory and national grantees of the Senior Community Service Employment Program for program year 2010. Vermont will receive $3.2 million. These funds will enable income and training support for 61,900 individuals ages 55 and older, who have low incomes or are unemployed. At least 75 percent of SCSEP funds will go to provide these individuals with part-time, paid community service-based job training program opportunities throughout the country.

A group of municipal, regional and statewide planning and conservation organizations sent a letter to Governor Douglas this week urging him to reconsider a decision to eliminate a position with the Department of Fish & Wildlife responsible for overseeing the Department’s Community Wildlife Program.
The letter (SEE BELOW), sent by 34 organizations of various sizes from across Vermont, says that that program has been “instrumental in building community-level public awareness, appreciation, and action for Vermont’s wildlife resources in recent years, and we fear this important progress will be lost if this position is eliminated.” The letter also notes that the position is funded by a combination of federal funds and hunting and fishing license sales, and therefore has no effect on the general fund budget.

Vermont Law School will use a $250,000 energy efficiency grant to help convert an historic building into a vibrant new center for legal advocacy. The grant was the largest of 14 grants totaling $1.7 million that the Vermont Clean Energy Development Fund gave out to colleges, hospitals and other non-profits on June 16.
VLS will use the grant to completely renovate 190 Chelsea Street, a two-story building overlooking the South Royalton town green. The building will be historically preserved and upgraded to high standards of energy efficiency using best green building practices.

For the week of June 19, 2010, there were 1,103 new regular benefit claims for Unemployment Insurance, an increase of 409 from the week before. Altogether 10,211 new and continuing claims were filed, an increase of 489 from a week ago and 4,084 fewer than a year earlier. The Department also processed 3,301 First Tier claims for benefits under Emergency Unemployment Compensation, 2008 (EUC08), 151 more than a week ago. In addition, there were 1,930 Second Tier claims for benefits processed under the EUC08 program, which is a decrease of 163 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

Pat Moulton Powden is leaving state government to join the Vermont Chamber of Commerce as vice president of public affairs. Moulton Powden is currently the Commissioner of the Department of Labor and was previously the Chair of the Environmental Board. Deputy Labor Commissioner Valerie Rickert has been appointed by Governor Douglas to take over. Moulton Powden will be starting with the Vermont Chamber on July 19.
"Her experience in unemployment insurance, workers compensation, environmental permitting and economic development will be an undisputable asset to our members," said Betsy Bishop, President Vermont Chamber of Commerce. "Her expertise has earned her the respect of many legislators, regardless of party and it is my goal for her to elevate the Vermont Chamber's presence and influence in the government and regulatory arenas."

The New Hampshire Department of Transportation announced today a planned closure of the US Route 4 temporary bridge over the Connecticut River connecting Lebanon, New Hampshire, and Hartford, Vermont, scheduled to occur from Friday, June 25 at 9 am until mid-day on Monday, June 28, 2010.
Weather permitting, this bridge closure to motor vehicle traffic will allow for the replacement of the deteriorated asphalt pavement road surface on the bridge. Message boards will alert motorists to the bridge closure and detour.
The signed detour on the New Hampshire side of the Connecticut River will re-direct traffic to Interstate 89 (Exit 20) via Route 4 and New Hampshire Route 12A, crossing the river into Vermont and onto Interstate 91, to Route 5 and back onto Route 4. The same detour in reverse will be in effect on the Vermont side of the river.
The US 4 bridge will remain open to pedestrian traffic throughout the weekend.

Vermont and New Hampshire have seen the value of construction contracts diminish as federal stimulus money has been mostly spent. This is most evident with road and bridge construction, which was at a very high level a year ago. In Vermont, commercial building has suffered significantly as well, down 81 percent for the month of May and 87 percent for the year-to-date. Meanwhile, somewhat surprisingly, Vermont residential construction has rebounded, up 27 percent for May and 37 percent for the year. The total value of Vermont construction contracts for the year, which is a reflection of future building, was $208,287,000, down 61 percent from last year's $535,994,000.
New Hampshire has seen most of its numbers in total also go down, but it is showing more strength than Vermont in both commercial (up 66 percent) and residential (up 48 percent) for the year. The New Hampshire total for the year was $658,526,000, down 36 percent

Embracing renewable energy and hoping to educate Vermonters about it, Central Vermont Public Service (NYSE: CV) today unveiled its new Rutland Town solar project and renewable energy education center.
CV President Bob Young was joined by Gov. Jim Douglas and representatives of the Stafford Technical Center and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers - Local 300, who helped build the most publicly accessible solar project in the state.
"This will be much more than just a solar project," Douglas said. "It is a true renewable education complex, with hydro generation across Route 7, and a wind measurement tower that may be replaced with a wind turbine or two in the future. Together with the educational displays, these generation facilities will educate thousands of Vermont students who will be welcomed in the next few years."

Today, Vermont legislators, retailers, and representatives from the Vermont Retail Association and Vermont Grocers Association met at the Elmore Store in Elmore, Vermont, to discuss the importance of Vermont s new credit card law. Passed unanimously by both legislative bodies in Vermont, the law, S.138, prohibits abusive practices by credit card companies. The law will take effect on January 1, 2011. It is the first and only such state law in the country.