Current News

Led by a surge in both insurance premium and corporate income tax receipts, which offset a slump in personal income taxes, Vermont’s August revenue figures saw the state's General Fund stay slightly above the forecasted total, while the Transportation and Education funds continued their trend of being slightly below targets for the month. For the General Fund, Secretary of Administration Neale F. Lunderville released revenue results showing General Fund revenues totaled $73.82 million, up $0.38 million or 0.51 percent above the $73.45 million consensus revenue forecast for the month. Year to date, General Fund revenues of $157.36 million were $1 million and 0.64 percent above the year-to-date FY 2010 target.

Katy Lesser and Healthy Living, were honored by the Vermont Grocers' Association with the VGA Retailer of the Year award during the association s annual convention at the Sheraton Burlington. The award was presented in recognition of their involvement with the community, food industry, store operations and customer service.
Healthy Living is the state s largest natural foods market and has been family owned and operated for over 22 years. Its mission is to provide the community with a market that is dedicated to offering high quality food items at affordable prices, a child-friendly environment, and a place to gather, eat and learn. Lesser is joined in the operation of the store by her son, Eli Lesser-Goldsmith, and daughter, Nina Lesser-Goldsmith. The family has expanded the market several times culminating with the move to a brand new 35,000 square foot store on Dorset Street in South Burlington in 2008.

The Vermont Department of Labor announced today that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for August 2009 was 6.8 percent, unchanged from the revised July rate and up 2.1 points from a year ago. The rate remained unchanged from July as a result of very little change in the number of unemployed and a decline in the total labor force. The same forces that kept Vermont's unemployment rate at the lowest in the region last month appear to remain in August. A strong summer youth employment program, continued growth in the Health Care & Social Assistance sector and a steady Leisure and Hospitality sector. Vermont’s observed August seasonally adjusted employment, unemployment levels and unemployment rate estimates were not statistically different from July values. For comparison purposes, the US seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for July was 9.7 percent, up three-tenths of a point from the revised August rate of 9.4 percent.

Vermont Lieutenant Governor Brian Dubie was in Alaska this week to visit remote Alaskan villages where Vermont-made Northwind 100 wind turbines have begun to replace diesel-powered electric generators with clean, renewable and more affordable wind energy. Dubie toured the sites with Alaska Lt. Governor Craig Campbell, and executives from Northern Power Systems of Barre, Vermont, where the Northwind 100 machines are engineered and built.
Dubie said, I m here to draw attention to a superior machine. The Northwind 100 is community-size and low maintenance which is a serious consideration when it s 40-below outside and you re hundreds of miles from the nearest city. The direct-drive, gearless design produces more power at lower wind velocities. Because it has fewer parts than conventional turbines, it breaks down less often.

The Vermont Grocers' Association has elected Darcy Nutter of Price Chopper Supermarkets as its new Chair. Darcy is a zone manager for the family owned chain with responsibility for their southern Vermont stores as well as their New Hampshire markets and some of their New York locations. Also elected were Todd Keyworth of Harborside Market as Vice Chair and Dwight LaFountain of Jiffy Mart as Secretary-Treasurer.
She has been a member of the VGA board of directors since 2003 and has served on various committees including the association s government affairs committee, convention committee and executive committee. Darcy co-chaired the 2007 convention. The most rewarding part of the zone manager position to her is the human connection with people, and making a difference in their professional lives. Darcy was the first woman selected for this position at Price Chopper, and strives to set a strong and proud example of what women have to offer in the business world.

Butler s Restaurant at The Essex Resort & Spa has earned distinction from two of the world s most prestigious organizations. Wine Spectator presented Butler s with a 2009 Best of Award of Excellence, and Fodor s Travel, the foremost name in travel publishing, recognized Butler s as a 2009 Fodor s Choice selection.
2009 Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence
Long an Award of Excellence recipient from Wine Spectator, Butler s in 2009 was honored to receive the added distinction of the Best of Award of Excellence for its outstanding wine selection. Butler s is one of only 650 restaurants in the United States and the only one in northern Vermont to receive the award.
The award honors recipients for, according to Wine Spectator, having wine lists that exhibit either vintage depth or superior breadth across select regions.

Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas officially kicked off his yearlong National Governors Association (NGA) Chair s initiative, Rx for Health Reform: Affordable, Accessible, Accountable, at the National Press Club today. In his remarks, he also offered some initial reactions to the recently released Senate Finance Committee proposal. Douglas s initiative focuses on the critical need for health reform to reduce health care costs, ensure Americans get the highest quality of care and increase coverage for those who lack health insurance.
States have proven that we can achieve real health reform that includes more cost-effective and efficient health care strategies to improve the delivery of care, said Gov. Douglas. States continue to show leadership and innovation in improving the way health care is delivered.

Pursuant to the Vermont Energy Act of 2009 Act 45), the Public Service Board is required to open and complete, by September 15, 2009, a "noncontested case docket" to determine whether the statutorily-defined default prices for qualifying Sustainably Priced Energy Enterprise Development ("SPEED") resources, "constitute a reasonable approximation of the price that would be paid applying the criteria" established by the Act. Pursuant to the Act, if the Board determines that the default prices are not a reasonable approximation, the Board must set interim prices by September 15, 2009. Act 45 further requires that the Board update these interim prices by January 15, 2010, following an opportunity for more in-depth examination.
In this Order we determine that, with the exception of farm methane resources, for which
we establish a higher interim price, the default prices established by statute are a reasonable

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) today introduced legislation to provide Social Security recipients an extra one-time payment next year of $250. Without the legislation, millions of seniors will see their Social Security checks shrink because for the first time since 1975 there will be no cost-of-living adjustment.
Unless Congress passes the Emergency Senior Citizens Relief Act, Social Security monthly benefits would drop because the cost of Medicare prescription drug premiums, which are deducted from Social Security payments, are scheduled to increase.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) yesterday published proposed regulations to implement a new voluntary cooperative program under which state inspected meat processing establishments will be eligible to ship meat and poultry products in interstate commerce.
The new program, created in the 2008 Farm Bill to supplement the existing state-federal cooperative inspection program, will allow state inspected meat plants with 25 or fewer employees to ship products across state lines. This announcement is part of the USDA’s new “Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food” initiative. This new initiative seeks to better connect consumers with local producers to help develop local and regional food systems to spur economic opportunity.

The fourth annual Kelly Brush Century Ride was the Kelly Brush Foundation s most successful to date both in the number of participants and the amount of donations. A total of 495 riders took part in the event held in Middlebury, Vt. on Saturday, Sept. 12, raising $199,000 for ski racing safety and adaptive sports. The number of riders was up 35 percent, while fundraising was up 47 percent over last year.
This level of support from riders and our sponsors is tremendous, said Charlie Brush, Kelly Brush Foundation president. The Kelly Brush Century Ride continues to grow each year, allowing the foundation to expand efforts to improve ski racing safety and better the lives of those living with spinal cord injury.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) has flipped the switch on its new solar array, sending solar energy collected from the roof of its Waterbury, Vermont, distribution center to power its facility. Construction of the 100 kW photovoltaic array was completed in the summer. The 572 solar panels in the coffee company s array contribute to Green Mountain Power s goal of helping Vermonters install 10,000 panels in 1,000 days. The installation of GMCR s solar project puts Green Mountain Power at 25% toward this goal.
The solar array dovetails with GMCR s Changing Climate Change program, an enterprise-wide effort focused on reducing and mitigating GMCR s carbon footprint through operational incentives, grantmaking programs, carbon offsets and employee benefits. GMCR was the first company to offer group discounts on solar power systems for employees through groSolar s Employee Green Benefits Program.