Current News

Administration Secretary Neale Lunderville announced today that Chief Technology Officer Tom Evslin will coordinate the executive branch activities necessary to successfully meet the Challenges for Change agreed to by the Governor and Legislative leaders last week. The joint reform initiative is expected to net $38 million in savings in FY2011 and twice that in FY2012 and beyond, while actually improving the outcomes of state government actions. The challenges were defined in a joint executive-legislative effort assisted by consultants from Public Strategies Group, who have helped with similar, although less ambitious, efforts in other states and who will continue to be involved in this effort.

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) went to the Salmon Run Apartments in Burlington today to announce a project to install solar water heaters here and at three other Vermont affordable housing developments. In addition to the project launched in cooperation with the Champlain Housing Trust, the $500,000 that Sanders secured also will help pay for energy-efficient and money-saving solar water systems at the Highgate Apartments in Barre, Westgate Apartments in Brattleboro, and Applegate Apartments in Bennington.
“At a time when we are spending $350 billion a year importing oil from Saudi Arabia and other countries, it is important that the United States move away from foreign oil to energy independence,” Sanders said. “Programs like this are a major step forward.”

What do the Hotel Plaza Athenee (New York and Paris), The Grand Hyatt Shanghai, The Dorchester (London) and six inns in Southern Vermont have in common? They have all earned the official Star Diamond Award from the American Academy of Hospitality Sciences, the most prestigious award in the tourism and hospitality industry.

For the first time since last summer, weekly unemployment claims fell for two consecutive weeks. This follows an end-of-the-year spike in new claims. Weekly results had been trending upward through the fall. Initial claims are still higher than last summer, but are now tracking lower than a year ago. For the week of January 9, 2010, there were 1,429 new regular benefit claims for Unemployment Insurance last week, a decrease of 25 from the week before. Altogether 15,785 new and continuing claims were filed, an increase of 1,111 from a week ago and 1,215 fewer than a year earlier. The Department also processed 4,942 First Tier claims for benefits under Emergency Unemployment Compensation, 2008 (EUC08), 66 more than a week ago. In addition, there were 3,031 Second Tier claims for benefits processed under the EUC08 program, which is an increase of 246 from the week before. The Unemployment Weekly Report can be found at: http://www.vtlmi.info/.

The Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday released $3.7 million in home heating assistance to Vermont, announced Senator Patrick Leahy, Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Peter Welch. The grant is part of a nationwide release of $1.2 billion in Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) funding to help eligible families pay for the cost of heating their homes. The funds are the second installment of regular LIHEAP block grants to be released this fiscal year. The program was funded with $5.1 billion this year – its highest ever – because of legislation sponsored by Sanders and cosponsored by Leahy and Welch.

Stratton Mountain Resort and Resorts Tapped LLC are pleased to announce the release of Stratton Tapped. Stratton Tapped is a GPS iPhone application developed exclusively for Stratton Mountain Resort. It uses the iPhone's built-in GPS to locate the user and their friends on the official Stratton trail map and log the user's runs and vertical feet traveled. This specialized app allows users to pinpoint their location on the actual Stratton trail map, not a hard-to-read topographical or satellite map.

Governor Douglas today signed into law S93, An Act Relating to Commercial Vehicle Operation on the Interstate System. The bill received broad bipartisan support and was passed unanimously through all stages of passage yesterday. The bill allows for the enactment of a federal pilot program that will encourage large, commercial trucks to travel on Vermont's interstates and not on secondary and rural roads.
Before the passage of a federal pilot program, federal law restricted trucks weighing more than 80,000 pounds from regularly using the nation s interstate highway system, while state law allows trucks exceeding 80,000 pounds to operate on Vermont's secondary roads. The pilot project harmonizes federal and state weight limits, allowing commercial trucks access to our interstates rather than forcing them onto our smaller, aging roadways.

Governor James H Douglas and the Vermont Arts Council are pleased to announce Eric Bass and Ines Zeller Bass as the 2010 recipients of the Governor s Award for Excellence in the Arts. The founders of Sandglass Theater in Putney, VT will be honored in a public ceremony at the State House on Thursday, February 11, 2010 beginning at 7:00 PM. The free event will include a performance by Sandglass Theater and friends.
The Governor s Award is Vermont s highest honor in the arts. Since 1968, it is has been presented annually to artists who have achieved national or international stature for making a significant contribution to the advancement of their chosen art form.

US Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and the US Coast Guard announced Tuesday that the Coast Guard will soon deploy an air boat to Station Burlington to assist in ice rescues on Lake Champlain. The new air boat will enable Coast Guard personnel to respond more quickly to incidents on the ice. The importance of the new rescue equipment was highlighted last weekend when a tragic snowmobile accident on Lake Dunmore claimed three lives.
In addition to unusually thin ice this year, ferry operations, due to the demolition of the Crown Point Bridge between Crown Point, N.Y., and Chimney Point, Vt., may create a hazard by loosening ice in areas that have traditionally been frozen solid.

Rep. Peter Welch on Tuesday introduced legislation to crack down on excessive Wall Street bonuses and help small businesses obtain the credit they need to survive and to create jobs. Welch unveiled the Wall Street Bonus Tax Act at a press conference Tuesday morning at Burlington International Airport as he prepared to return to Washington for the 2010 legislative year.
Welch’s bill would tax bonuses at firms that have received assistance through the Troubled Asset Relief Program at a rate of 50 percent for all compensation in excess of $50,000. Revenues generated through the tax would fund a new direct lending program administered by the Small Business Administration (SBA).

Just two weeks into the New Year, Burlington, Vermont has already surpassed the record for the snowiest January ever. The above-average snowfall, along with New England’s most powerful snowmaking system, has Vermont resorts in prime shape for skiing and snowboarding for the Martin Luther King holiday weekend.
“The nationally-reported record snowfall in Vermont has had our phones ringing off the hook,” said Ski Vermont President Parker Riehle. “Vermont’s easy highway access for all skiers and riders who live within a day’s drive of our mountains means more people can play more, travel less and get here quickly with all their luggage intact. And, with snow in the forecast nearly every day this week, all of Vermont’s ski trails will be in top form for the long holiday weekend.”

A recent federal report ranks Vermont the top state in per capita use of Federal Historic Tax Credits to rehabilitate historic buildings and 10th in the nation overall – rising from 12th overall last year. A total of 34 rehabilitation projects with a total construction value of more than $23 million received $4.6 million in federal tax credits last fiscal year.
State officials credit the decision several years ago to require those seeking state historic Downtown Tax Credits to first get Federal Historic Tax Credits with putting Vermont to consistently within or just outside the top ten states nationally for use of the credits, despite its small size.
“This linkage allows building owners to layer the state and federal credits on a single project,” said Commerce and Community Development Secretary Kevin Dorn, “There is always risk in the rehabilitation of an older building because you never know what you will find when peeling back the layers.”