Current News

On today’s income tax filing deadline, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said federal taxes are down for most middle-class Vermonters and Americans but much more needs to be done to create a fair and equitable tax system.
“Despite much political rhetoric to the contrary, 99 percent of Vermont working families and individuals received a much-needed average federal tax cut of over $1,100 for 2009,” Sanders said.
As a result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, some 300,000 Vermont households were able to receive a tax cut of up to $400 ($800 for married couples). Further, 14,000 Vermont families were able to receive an expanded tax cut to send their kids to college last year. More than 20,000 Vermont children benefitted from an expansion in the child tax credit. Nearly 60,000 Vermont small businesses received tax cuts to purchase new equipment and other things.

US News & World Report again has ranked Vermont Law School’s environmental law program as the best in the nation. The 2011 edition of America’s Best Graduate Schools appears on USNews.com on Thursday, April 15, and on newsstands on Tuesday, April 27.
“I'm gratified at this recognition of the depth and breadth of our environmental curriculum, clinic and institutes,” said Associate Professor Marc Mihaly, director of the school’s Environmental Law Center (ELC). “Our success reflects the dedication of our environmental faculty and our wonderful community of students who over the years have populated key legal and policy positions in government, non-profits, law firms and corporations with a strong positive environmental direction."

Entergy Corporation (NYSE: ETR) today reported that it anticipates first quarter results to be down 7.5 percent from the same period last year, due primarily to costs associated with dropping its plan to spinoff Vermont Yankee and five other of its merchant nuclear power plants into a separate company called Enexus. Merchant plants are not utility owned. For Entergy, the nation's second largest nuclear power plant owner, the merchants plants represent some of its older facilities. The plan to spin them off was derailed when New York state rejected the plan in March because of a projected debt load of around $3 billion for the new entity.

Middlebury College, the leader in foreign language teaching among the nation’s higher education institutions, and K12 Inc. (NYSE: LRN), a technology-based education company and national leader in online learning, have announced an agreement to form a new venture that will create innovative, high-quality online language programs for pre-college students. Building on Middlebury’s long history of leadership in language teaching and K12’s expertise in online education, the new company will create and distribute online language learning courses. It will also expand the Middlebury-Monterey Language Academy, a language immersion summer program for middle and high school students. The new venture will be called Middlebury Interactive Languages.

Primary care education at the University of Vermont College of Medicine has been ranked fourth in the nation among 146 accredited U.S. medical and osteopathic schools, according to US News & World Report's 2011 edition of "America's Best Graduate Schools," on newsstands April 20. UVM ranked sixth last year and has ranked in the top five percent of all medical schools for Primary Care for four years in a row. UVM also ranked eighth this year in Rural Medicine specialty programs, chosen by medical school deans and senior faculty who identify those schools offering the top 10 programs in selected specialties.

Senators from two leading dairy states – Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI) – are heading a new effort to urge USDA actions to ease the dairy price crisis that continues to squeeze the nation’s dairy farmers.
Leahy, with Kohl, is leading the bipartisan effort in which 22 senators from across the country and from every region signed a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, urging him to use all existing programs and resources to help struggling dairy producers and to bolster support prices for cheese and nonfat dried milk products through the Dairy Product Price Support Program. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) joined in signing the letter.
In their letter to Vilsack, the senators said, “Spring planting season is upon us and quick action is needed to provide dairy farmers with critical assistance. We ask that the USDA use all existing authorities to assist our struggling dairy producers.”

(By Ed Barna, Vermont Business Magazine. 4.14.2010.) With the construction industry hit harder than most by the Great Recession and its “jobless recovery,” issues surrounding the anticipated $75 million reconstruction of the Champlain Bridge linking Vermont with New York, have had interested parties scrapping like drought-stricken animals at a waterhole. Just this week, Douglas rejected New York State's plan for a PLA, citing factors that could hurt Vermont's mostly non-unionized construction companies. In response, other politicians and labor unions said that it could save the project millions.

The Travel Channel is scheduled to cover the May 16, Williston, Vermont, kick-off of the international adventure Spartan Race Series (www.spartanrace.com) that will feed qualifiers into the now-infamous Death Race (www.peakraces.com) held annually in Pittsfield, VT.
After Burlington, the Spartan Race Series fans out to Montreal, Toronto, New York, Chicago and two locations in the UK. The US races benefit St. Jude Children’s Hospital in their battle against cancer; additional partner charities for Canada and the UK will be announced.

In honor of the original Boston Cream Pie, created in 1855 at the former Parker House Hotel in Boston, Ben & Jerry s announces its newest creation to Bostonians and pie lovers nationwide. Boston Cream Pie is a decadent mix of Boston Cream Pie ice cream with yellow cake pieces, fudge flakes and swirls of pastry cream. It s a flavor worthy of a horse ride to Lexington! (Two scoops could get you to Concord if need be...)
We decided to turn the official dessert of The Commonwealth into our newest flavor
To mark its arrival, Ben & Jerry s will be offering free scoops of the new Boston Cream Pie flavor at its Boston Scoop Shop locations on Patriots Day, April 19th to celebrate the iconic Massachusetts state holiday. Stop by 174 Newbury Street, 800 Boylston Street (Prudential Center) or 20 Park Plaza for a complimentary scoop from 10:00 am 12:00 pm while supplies last.

(Vermont Business Magazine) The State of Washington has filed suit against the federal government for dropping its plan to store highly radioactive nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The Nevada site was intended to house spent fuel from all the nuclear power plants in the United States, including Vermont Yankee. Currently, all spent fuel from every plant, including those that have been decommissioned, is still stored on-site.

Federal regulators have again denied certification to the Vermont State Hospital in Waterbury. Lawmakers, who had assumed the hospital would get its certification back this year, learned of the decision last week as they were in the final stages of approving the state budget. The development could cause a $9.7 million deficiency in the budget.
Officials cited in-patient care, patient handling, and problems with the 70-year-old hospital building as reasons for denying certification. The certification from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services would allow Vermont to collect federal health care money for patients at the hospital. Without the certification, legislators will have to find other ways to come up with those funds. The state has been trying to get the hospital re-certified for over two years.
(Source: Barre-Montpelier Times Argus)

Vermont s primary election will be moved from its traditional date in the middle of September to the fourth Tuesday in August, a change which will take effect this year. This year s primary will occur on August 24. Governor Jim Douglas allowed the bill to pass into law last week without his signature.
Lawmakers initiated the change in response to a new federal regulation that requires ballots for military and overseas voters to be shipped 45 days before election day in November. Because Vermont s primary date was traditionally in September, election officials would be left without enough time to confirm primary results, print the ballots and distribute them overseas by the deadline.