Current News
by tim
Tired utility crews are making steady progress today in the wake of a hard-hitting one-two-punch storm system that caused 88,000 Central Vermont Public Service customer outages. As of 5 p.m., 8,500 customer outages remained, but storm recovery is likely to extend through the weekend into Monday. Across the Northeast, nearly 750,000 customers lost service Thursday night and Friday morning as high winds tore through the region.
“This storm recovery will be remembered as one of the most complicated in our history,” spokeswoman Christine Rivers said. “We’ve had two back-to-back major storms in the span of a few days, and Albany National Weather Service forecasters have predicted additional snow in southern Vermont through Saturday night. Each wave would have been a challenge by itself. Together the first two waves caused more customer outages than any storm in our history.”
by tim
The state is making roughly $250,000 in grants available to communities across the state for municipal planning and other special projects. Officials at the Vermont Department of Economic, Housing and Community Development announced the Municipal Planning Grants of up to $15,000, which can be used for a variety of planning projects.
“While the budget crisis has curtailed the amount available, we are committed to funding the most urgent planning projects to maintain our commitment to smart growth,” said Tayt Brooks, Commissioner of the Department of Economic, Housing and Community Development.
Through a competitive process, towns can be awarded grants for such planning activities as updating town plans, maps and zoning bylaws; however, Brooks said priority will be given to the following types of projects this year:
Updating municipal bylaws for the purpose of bringing bylaws into conformance with the municipal plan by 2011 as required by law;
by tim
By Neale F Lunderville. On Town Meeting Day, many voters will be confounded by a riddle on their school budget ballot: how is it that we cut school spending, but our property tax bill went up anyway?
The answer is buried deep within the labyrinth of Act 60 and Act 68, the complex and impenetrable school funding laws that still confuse taxpayers many years after their enactment. This system – which Governor Douglas has called “fundamentally broken and beyond repair” – threatens another year with higher property taxes at a time when families and small businesses can least afford them. And it only gets worse as the problem compounds in years to come.
Since the passage of Act 60, school spending has grown dramatically with the true cost to taxpayers masked by a surging housing market and expanding subsidies. As home values climbed, lawmakers and school boards could lower the property tax rate and still collect more than enough for schools.
by tim
Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) Secretary David Dill and New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) Acting Commissioner Stanley Gee today announced that the second ferry slips at the Lake Champlain Ferry between Crown Point, NY, and Addison, VT, have been completed and are open for service. Additionally, the states have lifted the temporary weight and axle vehicle restrictions imposed when the new temporary ferry opened earlier this month.
“Allowing heavy vehicles such as trucks to use the temporary ferry allows the flow of commerce between Vermont and New York to return to its normal patterns,” VTrans Secretary Dill said. “Truckers can now use the ferry in the same capacity they used the bridge, which means shipping companies no longer have to bare additional expenses to transport their goods.”
by tim
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR) has given $10,000 to support the South Burlington School District’s Wellness and Resiliency Program.
The program, which includes approximately 100 teachers, addresses wellness and learning through stress management and mindfulness techniques. These techniques are brought into the classroom as part of the student’s regular curriculum.
by tim
As utility crews whittled tens of thousands of outages down to a several thousand late Thursday, the second hit from a two-punch storm knocked out service to thousands more customers. As of 8 a.m., about 23,600 CVPS customers were without power.
Widespread outages were scattered across the state, with Addison Bennington, Orange, Rutland, Windham and Windsor counties hardest hit.
“We took a long, hard hit from the first punch of this storm, and this wind certainly adds insult to injury, but we anticipated the damage and secured outside crews to assist us in hitting back,” CVPS spokeswoman Christine Rivers said. “Thus far, this storm has caused the highest number of customer outages in our history, outstripping the 2007 Nor’icane. Unlike 2007, this hit a much broader cross-section of our service territory.”
by tim
In another key step to further states’ role in developing a robust US health information technology (HIT) infrastructure, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced today that Vermont’s Medicaid program will receive federal matching funds for state planning activities necessary to implement the electronic health record (EHR) incentive program established by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). Vermont will receive approximately $294,000 in federal matching funds.
EHRs will improve the quality of health care for the citizens of Vermont and make their care more efficient. The records make it easier for the many providers who may be treating a Medicaid patient to coordinate care. Additionally, EHRs make it easier for patients to access the information they need to make decisions about their health care.
by tim
The next Vermont "sales tax holiday" will take place Saturday, March 6. The sales tax holiday was initiated in 2008 and has been wildly popular with retailers, consumers and politicians. All items of $2,000 or less that would normally qualify for the Vermont sales and use tax are exempt. This includes both the regular statewide sales of 6 percent and the 1 percent local option tax that most of the larger towns in Vermont also have instituted.
by tim
Green Energy Live, Inc (OTCBB: GELV) of Michigan announced yesterday that it has signed a letter of intent to acquire Peck Electric of South Burlington, Vermont, a leader in Solar Energy Installations and electrical contracting.
Vermont enacted the Vermont Clean Energy Development Fund (CEDF) in 2007 and it is scheduled to run clean renewable energy funding through 2012. The overall goal is to increase renewable energy and economic development of renewable energy companies in the state. With Peck Electric being brought under Green Energy Live's umbrella, the company is better positioned to receive benefit from the CEDF.
As costs of photovoltaic equipment continue to drop, solar energy demand has surged on average of 23% annually over the last 20 years, with an expected 30 percent increase over the next 3 years.
Source: NEW YORK, NY -- (Marketwire) -- 02/25/10 --
by tim
In the third quarter of 2009, Vermont's gross state product went up 5.3 percent over the previous quarter. This increase ties Vermont with Washington, DC, at second place nationwide in terms of growth. New Hampshire saw a 3.8 percent climb this quarter, and sits at ninth place. The US average was 2.2 percent.
Vermont's quarterly real gross state product in this quarter, seasonally adjusted, was $23.8 billion at constant 2005 prices. In the second quarter, the state's GSP was $23.5 billion. Vermont's GSP dropped by a 0.1 percent annual rate in the third quarter from the same quarter a year ago.
Growth Across the Nation
Quarterly Gross State Product (GSP) Briefing, February 2010
Gross State Product (GSP)
Rank
Vermont GSP, Third Quarter of 2009
1
5.8
2
5.3
3
5.3
4
4.8
5
4.6
6
4.4
7
4.2
8
3.9
9
3.8
10
3.8
by tim
Governor Jim Douglas announced that Vermont, in partnership with Maine, has been awarded a five year, $11 million federal grant to help establish a national quality system for children s health care through Medicaid and Children s Health Insurance Program. This grant will be used to help states implement and evaluate provider performance measures, health information technologies such as pediatric electronic health records, and other quality improvement initiatives.
This is another important step forward for Vermont s health care reform efforts, said Governor Douglas. Improving the health and well-being of our children will save Vermonters money in the long run and, more importantly, keep our state the healthiest in the nation.
by tim
At just after 3 pm today, the Vermont Senate voted against relicensing the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon by a vote of 26-4. The overwhelming vote against the plant included some Republicans who, while concerned about the economic and employment implications connected with the plant, as well as the process of moving the bill quickly through the Legislature, were also concerned by questions of safety of the plant and trust in its management.
Republican Senator Randy Brock of Franklin County was one of those who wanted more time to consider all the sides of the bill. But said with what he knows now, he was compelled to vote against the relicensing. Brock said that Entergy could not have done a worse job in trying to make its case.