Current News

In a joint statement, Sovernet Communications of Bellows Falls, Vermont and Power Shift of Stowe, Vermont, announced today that Sovernet is acquiring the broadband services division of Power Shift. The move promises to deliver seamless Internet access to Power Shift customers. Current Power Shift DSL customers will not see service interruptions and Power Shift customer service will continue to provide support throughout the transition.
We are excited to welcome Power Shift s broadband customers and look forward to building long term relationships with our neighbors in the Stowe, Morrisville and Hardwick areas, notes Richard Kendall, president of Sovernet Communications. This acquisition furthers our commitment and investment into the expansion of both our voice and data services throughout Northern New England.

Central Vermont Public Service today appealed for donations to CVPS Shareheat, saying matching funds remain available for the low-income emergency fuel assistance program, but donations are lagging.
“The economy has taken a toll on donations, no doubt about it,” CVPS spokesman Steve Costello said. “Thanks to our Shareheat business partners and shareholders, we still have $68,000 available to match contributions from the public, but those donations are coming in at a trickle.”
CVPS Shareheat began the winter campaign with $100,000 from CVPS shareholders and received more than $50,000 from a roster of business partners for the matching pool.
“Since the program began in 1987, donations have leveraged every dollar of matching funds available,” Costello said. “We hope that will be true this year too, but we have a long way to go.”

Senate Majority Leader John Campbell issued the following statement today regarding the Vermont Yankee debate and the timing of the Senate vote on the question of continued operation of the plant. The Senate is scheduled to vote tomorrow on the question of whether to relicense the nuclear power plant for another 20 years beyond its license expiration in 2010. Yesterday, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission confirmed that a tritium leak from an underground piping system was found in 2005.

The Association of Public Television Stations (APTS) will recognize Vermont Public Television with a 2010 EDGE Award to for demonstrating the great potential of digital television. The EDGE Awards are presented annually to public television stations that use digital technology, groundbreaking partnerships, and educational technologies to deliver innovative services to their communities.
“This year our EDGE Award recipients have a common theme—they use their broadcast and other resources to draw upon the energy and engagement around some of the most pressing issues affecting our country—jobs, education and health care,” said Larry Sidman, President and CEO of APTS. “These projects show that stations are moving beyond traditional broadcast and are engaging their communities in new and innovative ways. Audiences are reached through over-the-air, online, and on-the-ground partnerships, impacting their communities in ways that really set them apart.”

Vtrim, an online behavioral weight management program developed at the University of Vermont, and Vermont based HRSentry have partnered to offer the Vtrim Online program to employers nationwide.
“The goal of Vtrim is sustainable, long-term weight loss.” noted Beth Casey Gold, M.S., R.D., Vtrim’s Director of Corporate Programming. “Vtrim teaches participants how to manage what they eat; versus food restriction...weight loss follows naturally.”
HRSentry’s CEO, Dean Haller said, “Health care costs are a major drain on business revenues…Vtrim’s clinically proven approach supports our mission to provide employers with HR programs that cut risk, enhance productivity and build the bottom line long-term.”
The Vtrim interactive, online model is based on 18 years of research by Jean Harvey-Berino, Ph.D., R.D., an obesity researcher at the University of Vermont. Participants typically lose an average of 1-2 pounds per week over the course of the program.

Vermont Public Television, in collaboration with Vermont Law School, the University of Vermont College of Medicine and the Vermont office of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, will receive a 2010 EDGE Award from the Association of Public Television Stations for the “Minds on the Edge: Facing Mental Illness” project.
The EDGE Awards are presented annually to public television stations that use digital technology, groundbreaking partnerships and educational technologies to deliver innovative services to their communities.
The “Minds on the Edge” project included television broadcasts, a legal symposium and Web-based and on-the-ground community meetings as part of a month-long campaign in October 2009 to raise public awareness about the challenges, solutions and impact of mental illness on Vermont communities.

A statement from Vermont Yankee Monday night reported that excavation near underground piping thought to be the source of a tritium leak was making progress; it also said that a drinking water well in the general area of the test wells that have showed elevated levels of the radioactive isotope will be taken out of service as a precaution, even though it is well beneath the test wells and has not shown in testing to contain tritium; and that a "parent guarantee" of $40 million from Entergy to the Vermont Yankee decommissioning fund has been approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

According to a statement from Entergy Vermont Yankee Sunday night, the source of the tritium leak has not yet been definitively identified nor has the status of the situation changed much at the Vernon site. Vermont Yankee engineers and technicians continue their investigation into the source of tritium in the plant s groundwater.
The last inspection of the Advanced Off Gas concrete pipe tunnel using a boroscope revealed little change in conditions over the past week. Any water in the tunnel continues to be collected in a sump and removed. Plans continue to test for leakage paths to the ground from the tunnel floor using pure water. This will help determine if and where the tunnel theoretically may be leaking water into the ground. This test will be performed after excavation exposes the tunnel floor so that technicians might be able to observe any leakage paths. Water used during the test will be collected and processed through plant systems.

Champlain College s Emergent Media Center is the recipient of three gifts, totaling $21,000, given in honor of former Dwight Asset Management CEO Laura Dagan s 22 years of service to the company and her recent retirement.
The financial gifts from Dwight Asset Management, its parent company, Old Mutual Asset Management and its client, Graybar Electric Company, were presented to Ann DeMarle, director of Champlain College s Emergent Media Center (EMC).
Dwight Asset wanted to thank and honor Laura for more than two decades of service to our company and the community with these gifts, said David J. Thompson, Dwight s CEO and President. Supporting the EMC and the project they are currently working on with the Population Media Center and the United Nations Population Fund to create an e-game designed to help reduce violence against women, fit perfectly with Laura s desire to make a significant difference in the community.

by Chris Graff.
Fueled by overwhelming disapproval of how Congress has handled health care, Vermonters are fed up with Congress in general and are even unhappy with the job of Vermont s delegation.
President Obama, however, still retains a high job approval rating from Vermonters.
According to a poll of 400 Vermonters released today:
62 percent of those surveyed disapprove of the way Congress has handled health care;
58 percent disapprove of Congress overall performance;
And 44 percent disapprove of the job Vermont s delegation is doing.
Those numbers are some of the lowest ratings recorded for Congress and the Vermont delegation.
Putting that in perspective, though, a New York Times-CBS News poll of 1,000 Americans last week found that just 15 percent of those polled nationally approve of the job Congress is doing.

Governor Jim Douglas, chairman of the National Governors Association (NGA), will lead the nation’s governors at their annual winter meeting in Washington this weekend. At the meeting, governors will address critical issues, including health care reform and the economy. They will also meet with President Obama, members of his Administration, business leaders and other experts for discussions on a host of issues and challenges facing states.
“It is a great honor and responsibility to chair the National Governors Association,” said Governor Douglas. “This is a critical time as our nation and the states are facing enormous fiscal and economic challenges. This weekend is an opportunity for governors to meet with one another, the President and his Administration and others from the public and private sector to discuss ways to get our economy back on track, create jobs and address pressing challenges, like health care.”

People's United Financial, Inc. (Nasdaq: PBCT) announced today that it completed its acquisition of Financial Federal Corporation, a $1.3 billion financial services company providing collateralized lending, financing and leasing services nationwide to small and medium sized businesses nationwide. The combined company has over $22 billion in assets. People's United owns Chittenden Bank. The deal is valued at $738 million in cash and securities.