Current News

Governor Douglas today announced the appointment of Chad Schmidt as Bennington County Sheriff. Schmidt replaces Gary Forrest who retired after 24 years as Sheriff.
“I want to extend my congratulations to Chad,” said Governor Jim Douglas. “I believe he has the experience and skill to keep our communities safe.”
Schmidt has 14 years experience in the Bennington Country Sheriff’s Department serving most recently as Deputy Sheriff. Schmidt is a graduate of Southern Vermont College where he received a degree in criminal justice as well as the Vermont Police Academy in Pittsford, VT. He also received a certificate of completion in courses focused on leadership and administrative development at the FBI National Academy in Virginia.

The Douglas Administration today announced that they would seek two furlough days and five unpaid holidays as a means to find $7.4 million in labor savings as directed by the Legislature s Joint Fiscal Committee. This proposal is an effort to reach a compromise on labor savings and avoid reductions in force at this time. To find middle ground, the offer today does not include a FY 2010 pay reduction as did prior Administration offers and relies on furlough days and unpaid holidays, which are temporary savings that complicate budget problems in coming fiscal years. Last week, the union offered a similar plan of four furlough days and four unpaid holidays plus eliminating a wellness program to achieve a similar level of savings. The state had set a deadline of September 18 to avoid about 200 more layoffs.

Dr. John O Meara, Saint Michael's College assistant professor of physics, learned last week that he and five colleagues from around the country have received a $474,617 grant from NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, to carry out a study of galaxies and their halos. Professor O Meara s portion of the grant is $46,983.
Our work tries ultimately to answer the question: Where do galaxies get the material they need to form stars? Dr. O Meara said.
The official name of the project is A Comprehensive Study of Highly Ionized Plasma in Galaxies and their Halos at 1.5

One day after its executives were grilled by regulators in an unusual three-state joint conference, FairPoint Communications was given a one-week extension to respond to questions about its ability to continue operating in the state of Vermont.
Originally, FairPoint had until September 10 to formally respond to a show cause petition filed by the Department of Public Service. On Wednesday, September 9, the company filed for and received an extension, pushing back the deadline to later this week. At stake is the company's Certificate of Public Good, its license to conduct business as a regulated utility in the state.

US Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) joined Burlington Mayor Bob Kiss and officials from Burlington International Airport (BTV) Friday afternoon at the airport to announce $12.75 million in Federal Aviation Administration airport improvement grants. Leahy, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, directly secured more than $1.5 million for the projects, with the rest provided through American Recovery and Reinvestment Act ( stimulus package ) grants and competitive FAA grants.
Leahy said the funds will be used to upgrade taxiways and runways leading to the airport s new South End Development; to acquire land around the airport to mitigate noise and help with development projects; and to install new energy efficient runway lights. The South End Development project will help existing aviation-related businesses already housed at the airport and attract new business opportunities, Leahy said.

Associated Industries of Vermont convenes its 89th Annual Meeting on Tuesday, October 6 at the Capitol
Plaza Hotel in Montpelier. Vermont is currently seeing a convergence of several very significant energy policies that pose imminent
challenges for the state and carry serious implications for Vermont's ratepayers. The Legislature, Public
Service Board, Public Service Department, and utilities will make critical decisions in the coming months,
and it is important for Vermont employers to be aware of what is at stake.
In addition to looming "end game" in deciding the fate of Vermont Yankee, decisions on future contracts
with Hydro Quebec are also coming due -- placing two-thirds of Vermont's energy supply in question in
the very near future. At the same time, the debate continues between letting the market or state
mandates drive renewable energy development. On top of this, regional, national, and international plans

The Douglas Administration marked the first anniversary of RGGI auctions by announcing that Vermont will receive $471,319 as its share of this week’s cap-and-trade carbon allowance sale.
“Vermont, along with our RGGI partners, continues to lead the country in combating climate change,” Governor Douglas said. “As we work for a cleaner environmental future, Vermonters will also see the economic benefits that come with new green jobs and lower energy bills.”
Vermont was the first state to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) as part of the Governor’s platform of climate change initiatives. In the first year since RGGI auctions began, the state has earned $3.2 million in five auctions. These proceeds will be invested in energy efficiency, renewable energy, technology development and other programs that return the value of the allowances to consumers.

From Monday, September 14 to Friday, September 18 the Champlain Housing Trust will host 25 housing policy researchers and practitioners from thirteen countries and six different continents for a week-long study visit to learn about CHT’s innovative and internationally recognized Community Land Trust model of housing delivery. The visit is coordinated by the Building and Social Housing Foundation with Housing Trust staff and is a follow-up from CHT being recognized with a World Habitat Award last year.
The week will kick off on Monday with current and former mayors of Burlington greeting the guests, including US Senator Bernie Sanders (invited), Mayor Bob Kiss and former Mayor Peter Clavelle. The Burlington City Council will officially welcome the delegation Monday evening at their Council meeting.

Fast-growing e-commerce platform provider CommerceV3 and leading online marketing agency Timberline Interactive of Middlebury today announced a merger. The combined company will unite a proven online store platform with a vast array of e-commerce marketing services.

The Ware Building at the Champlain Valley Fair was bustling from morning to night with special events, cooking demonstrations and kids activities. This year something there was something new - the Best of Vermont competition.
The Agency of Agriculture identified categories of foods made in Vermont, and each day of the fair was dedicated to a specific category. Fairgoers visiting the Ware Building sampled the items and voted on their favorites.
This was a great success. Not only did thousands of fairgoers get to sample tasty food, the producers were able to highlight their products to potential new customers, said Koi Boynton, Agricultural Marketing Coordinator with the agency. We will certainly try this again next year.
The Ware Building each year is programmed and staffed by agency of agriculture employees. The events and demonstrations focus on Vermont products and agriculture.
Results of the Best of Vermont Competition:

Bolton Valley Resort, a locally owned and operated family ski and snowboard area, has announced construction of a wind turbine that will be operational in late autumn. It is the first wind turbine to be constructed at a Vermont ski area.
The turbine will be located near the top of the resort’s Vista Quad lift in an existing clearing adjacent to the ski patrol hut. It is designed to produce in excess of 300,000 kilowatts of power annually, the equivalent of electricity consumed by 40-to-45 Vermont households.

Vermont continues to have the lowest foreclosure rate in the nation as foreclosure rates here and across US continue to be near their all time high in July. RealtyTrac(R) (www.realtytrac.com), the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, today released its August 2009 US Foreclosure Market Report, which shows foreclosure filings - default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions - were reported on 358,471 US properties during the month, a decrease of less than 1 percent from the previous month but still an increase of nearly 18 percent from August 2008. The report also shows one in every 357 US housing units received a foreclosure filing in August. Vermont's rate was one in every 9,437. However, in July it was only one in every 28,312, a 200 percent change from July and an 83.3 percent change from August 2008.