Current News

As the Senate considers new rules for the nation s financial institutions, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) said today that breaking up big banks is critical to meaningful reform.
One of the major components of any serious Wall Street reform has got to be breaking up the largest financial institutions in the country. The time has come to do exactly what Teddy Roosevelt did back in the trust-busting days and break up these huge financial institutions, Sanders said.
Sanders said the giant financial institutions must be dismantled not only to protect taxpayers from future bailouts, but because the concentration of ownership in the financial sector is leading to fewer choices, higher bank fees, and higher credit card interest rates.

The State of Vermont will not be applying for the second round of the federal Race to the Top grant, the Vermont Department of Education announced today.
The highly competitive grant program, financed under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), requires states to agree to very specific strategies, such as linking teacher pay to student performance, investing in charter schools and implementing turnaround models that could require the removal of principals in a data-driven school-ranking process.
Only two states, Delaware and Tennessee, received funds in the first round of grants (totaling over $600 million). Vermont did not apply in the first round.

Dinse, Knapp & McAndrew announced today that Brian Murphy has been elected as its President and Managing Partner to succeed Spencer Knapp, who stepped down after serving in that position since 1993. Knapp will remain as counsel to the firm, while serving as Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Fletcher Allen Health Care. He said, "The firm is fortunate to have many outstanding leaders and the unanimous selection of Brian as our new chief executive officer is a superb choice. His leadership skills are excellent, his background in business is a valuable asset, and his vision for the firm's future is very exciting."

Ledyard Financial Group, Inc (ticker symbol LFGP), the holding company for Ledyard National Bank, reported net income for the quarter ended March 31, 2010 of $666,593, or $0.65 per share compared to $433,578 or $0.42 per share for the same period in 2009, an increase of $233,015 or 53.74%. Our total revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2010 was $4.9 million, compared to $4.8 million for the same period in 2009. Net Interest Income for the three months ended March 31, 2010 was $3,095,172, compared to $3,201,076 for the same period in 2009. A decrease in loan balances was the primary factor contributing to the decrease in Net Interest Income.

Average retail gasoline prices in Vermont have fallen 2.1 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.89/g today. This compares with the national average that has stayed flat, moving just 1.2 cents per gallon in the last week to $2.85/g, according to gasoline price website VermontGasPrices.com.
Including the change in gas prices in Vermont during the past week, prices today are 87.0 cents per gallon higher than the same day one year ago and are 3.1 cents per gallon higher than a month ago. The national average has increased 5.1 cents per gallon during the last month and stands 82.2 cents per gallon higher than this day a year ago.
About VermontGasPrices.com
GasBuddy.com operates over 200 live gasoline price-tracking websites, including VermontGasPrices.com. GasBuddy.com was named one of Time magazine's 50 best websites and to PC World's 100 most useful websites of 2008.
Source: VermontGasPrices.com April 26, 2010

- 30 -

Vermonters who rent live in the fifteenth least affordable state in the nation, according to a new report jointly released by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), a Washington, DC-based housing advocacy group, and the Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition.
For Vermont’s renters, the news isn’t good. Rural Vermont ranks in the top 10 most expensive rural areas in the nation. Vermont’s "Housing Wage" has risen to $17.70 per hour, or $36,812 per year. This represents an increase of 54% since 2000. The national Housing Wage is $18.44 in 2010.
The report, Out of Reach 2010, provides the Housing Wage and other housing affordability data for every state, metropolitan area and county in the country, comparing 52 jurisdictions, including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. A Vermont fact sheet is attached. The full report is available online at www.nlihc.org/oor2010/.

People's United Financial Inc., (Nasdaq: PBCT), a diversified financial services company and parent company of Chittenden Bank, today announced that John P. (Jack) Barnes, the Company's Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer, has been named interim President and Chief Executive Officer. He succeeds Philip R. Sherringham, who has resigned by mutual agreement with the Board of Directors from the Company and the Board.
The Board is conducting a search for a permanent CEO and will evaluate both internal and external candidates. To assist in the search, the Board has retained Russell Reynolds, a leading executive search firm with extensive experience in the financial services sector. People's United reported two weeks ago that its first quarter earnings were 4 cents per share.

The Vermont Yankee nuclear plant began its 28th refueling outage as operators disconnected the plant from the New England electrical grid on Saturday night. In the now-completed operating cycle, the plant produced electricity around the clock for 532 days since returning to service from its last refueling outage in 2008, safely and reliably providing electricity to New England consumers.
The 532 total days of operation is the plant s second longest run in its history; the plant achieved 547 days of continuous operation in 2007. The total generation during this operating cycle included an annual productivity record of 5,360,608 megawatt hours, in 2009.

Governor Jim Douglas today announced that Vermont artist Kate Gridley has been commissioned to paint his official portrait, which will eventually hang in the State House. Working with Vermont State Curator David Schütz, the Governor asked a number of Vermont artists to submit proposals and samples of their work. Governor Douglas eventually selected Ms. Gridley.
I am so pleased to be working with Kate on this portrait and feel confident she will be able to capture not only my physical likeness, but also my commitment to public service and my deep and abiding love for our state and its people, said Governor Douglas.
I am very thrilled and honored to receive this commission from the Governor, Gridley said. I will work very hard to create a portrait that will be seen as part of his legacy.

United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki will deliver the address to graduates at the University of Vermont s 2010 commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 23. Secretary Shinseki will also receive an honorary doctor of laws degree at the ceremony.
Secretary Shinseki was nominated by President Barack Obama to serve as the seventh secretary of Veterans Affairs on January 21, 2009. A retired U.S. Army four-star general, Secretary Shinseki served as chief of staff of the United States Army from 1999 to 2003, when he retired from active duty. During his tenure, he initiated the Army Transformation Campaign to address both the emerging strategic challenges of the early 21st century and the need for cultural and technological change in the United States Army.

Governor Douglas criticized senators who today voted to follow the lead of the House and pass a harmful tax increase on manufacturers, farmers, contractors and others by not extending the pass through domestic production deduction as expected. The domestic production deduction is meant to protect and grow domestic manufacturing and other productive activities. An amendment to prevent the tax increase failed by a vote of 17 to 12 on the Senate floor this afternoon.
Governor Douglas issued the following statement opposing the tax increase:

The Renewable Energy Atlas of Vermont, built on ESRI's ArcGIS technology, was launched on Earth Day, April 22, 2010. Web site visitors can identify, visualize, and analyze data about existing and promising renewable energy projects for Vermont's towns and counties.
Visitors to the Renewable Energy Atlas of Vermont Web site can select from biomass, efficiency, geothermal, hydroelectric, solar, and wind renewable energy data layers and use geographic information system (GIS) tools to view existing and proposed projects by area. All renewable energy data layers were created and analyzed using ESRI's ArcGIS Desktop software and published with ArcGIS Server.