Current News

The Vermont Ski Areas Association announced at its annual meeting that Vermont s ski resorts recorded 4,125,082 skier visits for the 2009-10 season. This marked a 1.4 percent increase over the prior season s tally and tracked with the 5-year average.
With below-average snowfall, below-average days of operation and an economy still struggling to pull out of a major recession, the season s numbers are a true testament to the ski industry s resiliency and its importance to Vermont s economy, remarked Parker Riehle, President of the Vermont Ski Areas Association.
The 2009-10 season was most notably marked by a late start and an early finish, with few major snowstorms in between. Still, Vermont ski areas saw strong weekend business and solid holiday bookings that brought skier visits ahead of last year, while other Northeastern states saw an overall 2.8% decline as reported by the National Ski Areas Association.

For the week of June 5, 2010, there were 662 new regular benefit claims for Unemployment Insurance, a decrease of 177 from the week before. Altogether 10,365 new and continuing claims were filed, a decrease of 533 from a week ago and 4,574 fewer than a year earlier. The Department also processed 3,471 First Tier claims for benefits under Emergency Unemployment Compensation, 2008 (EUC08), 115 fewer than a week ago. In addition, there were 2,206 Second Tier claims for benefits processed under the EUC08 program, which is a decrease of 60 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

The federal government cancelled its controversial plan to take a portion of the Rainville family dairy farm to renovate a seventy year old US-Cananda border station.
Senator Leahy announced last Thursday that Homeland Security Chief Janet Napolitano had decided to close the station rather than go through with the renovation. The Morses Line port entry in Franklin gets approximately 2.5 vehicles an hour. The US Customs and Border Protection sought to seize 2.2 acres from the Rainville family dairy farm, which is adjacent to the station.
Initially the Customs Officials requested 10 acres of the farm land, then reduced it to 4.9 acres. Officials warned the family via a letter that if they did not agree to sell the land for $39,000, it would be seized through eminent domain. They then reduced the requirement to 2.2 acres.
The loss of the land could have put Rainville's dairy company out of business, as that land is used as a feed source for the dairy cows.

The University of Vermont Alumni Association honored outstanding graduates at its annual reunion weekend celebration on Saturday, June 5, 2010. UVM President Daniel Mark Fogel presented the Alumni Achievement Award to Jan Blittersdorf, class of 1984.
Jan Blittersdorf serves as president and CEO of NRG Systems in Hinesburg, Vermont, a global leader in wind measurement technology. She joined the company in 1987, when it employed just a handful of people, and established its financial systems, a progressive compensation program, and a unique benefits package. Today the company is a model employer and workplace, having received recognition from the Wall Street Journal, Best Places to Work (five years running), the U.S. Green Building Council and several other organizations.

The Patrick and Marcelle Leahy Center for Rural Students at Lyndon State College will hold a Vermont Education Summit at Lyndon Tuesday, June 18, from 8:30 am to 2:30 pm. Registration is free and is limited to 100. The Center was dedicated to Senator and Mrs Leahy at Lyndon s commencement on May 16, in recognition of the Senator s central role in securing the funding to establish the Center. Its mission is to study rural students to gain a better understanding of how and why they make life choices, especially those regarding higher education and work.
Participants will include principals, superintendents, tech center directors, college presidents, the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation, the State Board of Education, deans of education at Vermont colleges and universities, members of the house and senate education committees, and funders. Economic and community development leaders are also encouraged to attend, as well as those from the private sector.

At its annual meeting in Maine on June 8, Secretary Roger Allbee of Vermont was unanimously elected President of the Northeast Association of the State Departments of Agriculture. This Association of Commissioners and Secretaries of Agriculture from the ten Northeastern States (Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and the six New England States) work on issues both regionally and nationally of common interest to the States.
During the meeting the group discussed a number of issues of interest to the states including food safety, environmental stewardship, regional food security, trade policies, buy local initiatives, invasive species and other issues.

US Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) announced Tuesday that a $24 billion fund to assist states with their Medicaid populations will be included in a jobs bill package now pending action by the full Senate.
The provision backed by Sanders and Leahy would extend for six additional months an enhanced federal funding match to states that was enacted as part of last year s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Vermont estimates that extending this Medicaid relief would bring $62 million in additional Medicaid funds to the state, helping with the health care coverage needs of thousands of lower income Vermonters. The enhanced federal Medicaid match is set to expire at the end of this year unless the extension is approved.

Average retail gasoline prices in Vermont have fallen 4.7 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.81/g yesterday. This compares with the national average that has fallen 0.2 cents per gallon in the last week to $2.73/g, according to gasoline price website VermontGasPrices.com.
Including the change in gas prices in Vermont during the past week, prices yesterday were 25.7 cents per gallon higher than the same day one year ago and are 11.9 cents per gallon lower than a month ago. The national average has decreased 18.6 cents per gallon during the last month and stands 14.3 cents per gallon higher than this day a year ago.
Source: VermontGasPrices.com 6.7.2010

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has announced that $120,000 has been awarded to establish community gardens at 40 schools throughout Vermont.
This project addresses two major issues confronting not just Vermont but the entire nation, Sanders said. It will help students learn the importance of good nutrition and a healthy diet. It also will broaden the school curriculum and help make learning fun.
The grant to the Vermont Community Foundation was secured by Sanders from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Working through the Friends of Burlington Gardens, the hands-on educational program will provide material and supplies such as topsoil, compost, raised beds, fencing, hoses, rakes, hoes and trowels.
Each school will be linked to the Vermont Master Gardener program at the University of Vermont with experienced and trained gardeners to provide expert advice and assistance.

With ever more science majors and a new Environmental Studies program, Saint Michael's College needed to expand its science laboratory space. The college learned last week that it was the recipient of a grant for $182,700 from the George I. Alden Trust of Worcester, Mass., which will enable the college to move forward quickly with renovations to the SMC Cheray Science Hall. Completion of the work is expected over the summer of 2010.
It s difficult to find foundations that are willing to fund infrastructure, said Dr. Karen Talentino, SMC vice president for academic affairs. For an institution our size, this grant can have a major impact for our students; we are really thrilled with to receive this, she added. Alden has been very supportive of Saint Michael s in the past, and we are grateful for their understanding of the needs of liberal arts colleges, said Dr. Talentino.
Upgrade bio labs, turn physical science spaces into labs, create two offices

Governor James H Douglas and Secretary of State Deb Markowitz will host the opening of the renovated and expanded Vermont State Archives and Records Administration (VSARA) building in Middlesex on Thursday, June 10th at 1:30 p.m. The event will include a ribbon cutting ceremony and remarks by Governor Douglas, Secretary Markowitz, and others who worked together to create not only the new facility but also a modern archival and records management program for the state.

A new exhibit at Shelburne Museum features the legendary American wilderness photography of Ansel Adams contrasted with Edward Burtynsky’s contemporary images of global industrialization. Ansel Adams and Edward Burtynsky: Constructed Landscapes includes over 60 extraordinary photographs and is the museum’s first exhibit of photography. The exhibit opens on Saturday, June 19.
“Constructed Landscapes offers visitors two powerful artistic perspectives of the landscape. Ansel Adams’ iconic 20th-century work presents seemingly undisturbed nature in black and white. Edward Burtynsky’s photographs capture the industrialized world in striking color. Both are beautiful and provocative -- in dramatically different ways. Both offer a timely reminder of the consequence of human impact on the planet,” Jost said.