Current News

In his first major reorganization in more than 11 years, Entergy Corporation (NYSE: ETR) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer J. Wayne Leonard has named Entergy leaders to new roles effective as early as June 14.

Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE:MAR; http://www.marriott.com) opened the 67-room Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott in White River Junction, VT on Friday, June 4, 2010. Located at 102 Ballardvale Drive, the Fairfield Inn & Suites White River will operate as a Marriott franchise, owned and managed by Butson Hotel Investments of Williston, VT.
Located with easy access to I-89, I-91, Route 4 and Route 5, the hotel offers guests convenient access to Dartmouth College, Upper Valley Aquatic Center, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and the VA Medical Center. Rates begin at $139 per night.

Governor Jim Douglas today signed the last three bills into law, marking the culmination of the 2009-2010 legislative biennium. As this is Governor Douglas’ last session as governor, today’s final bill signing of H. 781, An Act Relating to Renewable Energy, represents the last bill that will become law under his signature.
“It is a tremendous responsibility knowing that, as Governor, my signature has the power to turn an idea into the law of the State of Vermont,” said Governor Douglas. “In the past eight years, I’ve signed over 750 Acts and Charter Changes – and vetoed a few others. That the renewable energy bill is the final bill is fitting. It not only reaffirms Vermont’s deeply held environmental ethic, it builds on the close friendship we share with our neighbors in Quebec – a friendship that Quebec Premier Jean Charest and I have worked hard to cultivate over the past eight years.”

The Vermont Department of Forests, Parks & Recreation has announced that 19 trail projects across the state will be receiving $531,119 from Vermont’s Recreation Trails Program (RTP).
Vermont’s RTP is a matching grant program of the Federal Highway Administration for the acquisition, development, rehabilitation and maintenance of trails, trailhead facilities, trailside amenities, and trail-related educational projects for non-motorized, motorized, and multiple compatible recreational use.
“RTP funds provide enjoyable opportunities with trails close to home, close to schools, in our parks, in our forests, and on our mountains,” says Sherry Winnie, Vermont’s RTP Administrator, “Vermont’s trails and trail systems connect people to places, promote healthy active living, and conserve the natural landscape of Vermont we love.”

Governor Jim Douglas announced Thursday that he would allow H. 66, An Act Relating to voluntary school district merger, virtual merger, supervisory union duties, and including secondary students with disabilities in senior year activities and ceremonies, to become law without his signature.
“While I support finding efficiencies through consolidation of school governance structures, I do not believe H. 66 is a meaningful step to achieve that end,” said Governor Douglas. “Not only does H. 66 fail to recognize the immediacy of our need to control property taxes in Vermont, it will, frankly, do little to encourage consolidation of districts. I cannot endorse this timid approach with my signature and hope future Legislatures will finally act on meaningful education reforms to rein in property taxes.”
A bill sent to the governor becomes law if it is not signed or vetoed within five days of reaching his desk.
A copy of the Governor’s message is below.

Vermont Attorney General William H Sorrell announced today that Christopher Gaudette, age 37, and Frank Perretta, age 51, both of Grand Isle, Vermont, have been charged with animal cruelty in connection with an investigation into the operation of Bushway Packing, Inc. Gaudette has been charged with two counts of cruelty to animals, a misdemeanor, and one count of aggravated cruelty to animals, a felony. Perretta has been charged with one count of cruelty to animals. Neither Gaudette nor Perretta could be located by law enforcement officers, and therefore arrest warrants have been issued for both individuals.

Mach 7 Technologies (M7T), a global provider of flexible, PACS-neutral healthcare image management solutions, has relocated its global headquarters from suburban Chicago to greater Burlington, Vermont. The new office location serves as the company's base for Americas' sales and professional service operations, and finance and administration. The new office also houses global product management and strategic R&D functions.

On Thursday, June 3, the Vermont State Colleges Board of Trustees approved a resolution that authorizes the Community College of Vermont (CCV) to enter a lease agreement with DEW Construction Corporation of Williston, Vermont to design and build a new academic facility for CCV in Rutland. The facility will be located on the corner of Wales and West Streets, and will be a 30,000 square foot building. CCV will lease the facility from DEW, with occupancy scheduled for August 1, 2011. The new building will replace CCV’s current location at 24 Evelyn Street, where CCV has leased 12,000 square feet of classroom and office space since 1999.
CCV President Joyce Judy stated that “Rutland is CCV’s second largest location, and it is the fastest growing location in the college.” CCV had 900 students enrolled in the Rutland area in the spring 2010 semester, which is a 58% increase in student enrollment in the past five years.

The Mortgage Monitor report released by Lender Processing Services, Inc. (NYSE: LPS), a leading provider of mortgage performance data and analytics, indicates that signs of stabilization in the nation's home loan delinquency and foreclosure rates remain largely neutralized by the more than 7 million loans in distress.
According to the Mortgage Monitor report, the number of loans 90 or more days delinquent (including pre-sale foreclosure) declined 112,184 from 4,186,627 to 4,074,443 between March and April, with the total number of non-current U.S. loans plus REO (Real Estate Owned by banks, etc) just over 7.3 million (extrapolated to represent total mortgage market).

The Vermont Agency of Transportation on Monday, June 7 will close a segment of Route 104 in Fairfax so that it can rehabilitate a bridge over the Miller Brook. The bridge will be out of service through July 5, 2010, and traffic will be detoured. The official detour is rather long – Route 15 to Route 289 to Route 7 to Route 104A and then back to Route 104 – but that is the “official” detour as VTrans has to use state routes for any detour that we sign. However, there are quicker detours using local streets. Either way, motorists should schedule additional time to reach their destination.
The Fairfax bridge rehabilitation is a long-planned project that will provide the bridge with a new deck along with rehabilitated abutments. The rehab will also widen the bridge a little. The road closure will last only until July 5, but work on the project will continue until the end of September.

US Senator Patrick Leahy announced Thursday that Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has agreed with his request to close the border crossing at Morses Line, Vermont. The closure process will involve a public comment period, extensive consultations with stakeholders, and further assessments on safety and traffic patterns -- steps that Secretary Napolitano estimates will likely take a year to complete.
In a letter to Napolitano after a DHS public meeting on May 23 requested by Leahy, the Vermont senator noted that public comments at the meeting were against building a new port of entry facility at the U.S.-Canada crossing in Franklin County, which would have meant the forced purchase of farm property from a Vermont farm family that opposes the project.

Hoping to improve customer understanding of electrical safety and prevent serious accidents, Central Vermont Public Service today announced a new safety campaign of advertisements and outreach efforts to protect Vermonters from inherent dangers.
The campaign includes a year-long series of newspaper advertisements throughout CVPS’s service territory, a new “Safety Corner” in each monthly customer newsletter, updated safety information at www.cvps.com/safety, and an increase in public presentations on electrical safety. Each of the elements complements the others, with similar information.