Current News

Governor Jim Douglas announced today that the Department of Public Service has filed the State s application for $21,999,000 allocated for the State Energy Program under ARRA (the Federal stimulus bill). This money will added to $7 million dollars of State funds available to the Clean Energy Development Fund (CEDF) to provide grants and loans for renewable energy projects such as solar photovoltaic, wind turbines, methane digesters (cow power), and other biomass. Estimates are that this money will encourage $150,000,000 of total expenditure on renewable energy projects which will produce 3 million megawatt hours of electricity in the next twenty years at rates comparable to today s cost of power generated from natural gas. Using renewables instead of natural gas to generate this electricity will prevent the release of an estimated 860 million pounds of CO2.

US House passed a bill today that would invest $6.4 billion in school modernization, renovation and repairs in fiscal year 2010. The vote was 275-155. The bill authorizes $14 million in funding to Vermont schools.
HR 2187, the 21st Century Green High-Performing Public Schools Act, would require that the majority of funds be used for projects that meet green building standards.
US Rep Peter Welch and several other northeastern lawmakers successfully amended the bill during the last Congress to allow schools to use the funding for renewable energy and heating systems including biomass, wind, solar and geothermal.

CCTV Center for Media & Democracy celebrates 25 years of public access television with a gala event at the Burlington Boathouse on June 13 at 6 p.m. CCTV first aired in 1984 on Vermont's first public access cable channels. Since then, CCTV has supported the development of access across the state (23 centers operate 42 channels), launched and operates Channel 17/ Town Meeting TV in Chittenden County, and delivers communications strategies and services for Vermont nonprofits.
Looking back, founder Lauren-Glenn Davitian points to major changes of the past 25 years: "Ronald Reagan was President, Dick Snelling was Governor, and Burlington was barely a three-party city. We were squarely in the analog age and the World Wide Web wasn't invented!" Since then, CCTV has secured public access for much of the state and also produced 15,000 hours of programs that cover media makers, decisions makers, regular people, and visiting dignitaries.

The State Treasurer s Office, in partnership with the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, is holding the first-ever statewide high school competition to select a Vermont champion to compete this fall in the 4th Annual Reserve Cup competition in Boston. The purpose of the competition is to promote student interest in and knowledge of personal finance, economics and consumer affairs topics. Four-person student teams will compete against each other in a quiz-show style contest that tests individual and team knowledge. The winner of the competition will win the right to represent Vermont at the New England regional competition conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston each fall.

Hal Colston, founder of Good News and an adjunct professor at Champlain College, will be on The Oprah Show discussing the Good News Garage and his new non-profit organization Neighborkeepers.
Champlain College will host a free viewing party followed by a question and answer session on Tuesday, May 19. The Oprah Show airs from 4 to 5 p.m. on WPTZ, Channel 5 and will be projected on the big screen in Champlain s Alumni Auditorium, 163 South Willard St. Seating begins at 3:30 p.m. It is free and open to the public. Parking is available in Champlain College parking areas adjacent to the campus.
The Q & A with Colston will give audience members a chance to hear first-hand about his experience taping the show with Oprah to discuss his two community projects.

Neil Golub, Price Chopper's President and CEO will be joined by Jerry Golub, EVP & COO for the company, Tony Pomerleau, Pomerleau Real Estate, Al Voegele, Town Manager, Dick Paquette & Marc Landry, Selectmen, and other town officials to cut the ceremonial ribbon May 19 to officially open the new 24 hour Colchester store at Porters Point and Prim roads. The new location for Price Chopper represents an area in the Burlington market that will fill in a void in the company's marketing coverage.

Source: Price Chopper. SCHENECTADY, NY (05/14/2009; 0800)(readMedia)--

Today, Secretary of State Deb Markowitz, along with the Darcy Carter, director of the Vermont office of the Small Business Administration (SBA), and Linda Rossi, Assistant Director of the Vermont Small Business Development Center (VtSBDC) unveiled Community Business Connections, an important project designed to create new jobs by helping Vermonters start and expand businesses.
These are difficult times for Vermont families and we believe that each one of us must do everything we can to jump-start our economy. Markowitz said. Whether we are government officials, individual entrepreneurs, local chambers of commerce, or members of civic and service organizations we could be doing more to help Vermonters start and expand businesses. Carter said, There are a wealth of resources available to help new and existing businesses and Community Business Connections was developed to get this information to the people who need it most.

The Northfield Savings Bank Foundation has announced a $450,000 grant to continue its work with the Vermont Campaign to End Childhood Hunger (VTCECH) for an additional three years. This brings the Foundation s total six-year commitment to VTCECH to $900,000.
The partnership itself is a unique and cutting edge model. Based upon its success in Vermont, it is now being explored by other states wishing to address their own hunger issues. In addition, Northfield Savings Bank recently received a national award from the American Bankers Association for this partnership - one of only 15 banks across the country honored for making a difference in their communities.

Sixteen Vermont firms were given recognition today by Governor Jim Douglas for keeping employees safe in their workplaces. Three firms captured the top awards, while nine were presented with certificates of recognition. Four other firms were among the finalists for the prestigious Governor s Award for Outstanding Workplace Safety.
Cabot Creamery Cooperative of Cabot received the award in the General Industry Category. Northwestern Medical Center of St. Albans was the recipient in the Health Care Industry Category, and Sto Corporation of Rutland received the award in the Small Business Category.

Last Friday representatives from France and Vermont announced a joint cultural exchange that build on the many facets of the strong French-American connection. The primary purpose of the event was to introduce the Vermont chefs who will be traveling to France this summer as part of the first 4-14 Festival, a cultural exchange meant to bring together the food and the music of the two countries. The name of the event derives from the independence days of the two countries: the fourth of July for the United States, and Bastille Day (July 14) for France.

Next fall, the Lyndon State College Meteorology Department will welcome students with a new name, in new space, with completely networked computer labs and a new curriculum. The department will be known as the Atmospheric Sciences Department and will offer new courses that include a multi-faceted emphasis on weather, weather-related sciences and weather applications.
Figuring prominently in the changes is a sharper focus on climate. New courses being introduced are Space Weather, Weather Risk Assessment and Climate Change Dynamics. Space Weather will examine the interactions between the Earth and the Sun, Weather Risk Assessment will investigate weather and climate risks posed to society and industry and Climate Change Dynamics deals with the natural and anthropogenic impacts on the global energy budget, global carbon cycling and radiative forcings.

Week Ending May 9, 2009. There were 1,069 new regular benefit claims for Unemployment Insurance last week, a decrease of 35 from the week before. Altogether 16,521 new and continuing claims were filed, 1,484 less than a week ago and 7,848 more than a year earlier. The Department also processed 2,374 First Tier claims for benefits under Emergency Unemployment Compensation, 2008 (EUC08), 109 more than a week ago. In addition, there were 1,350 Second Tier claims for benefits processed under the EUC08 program which is an increase of 8 from the week before. The Unemployment Weekly Report can be found at: http://www.vtlmi.info/. Previously released Unemployment Weekly Reports and other UI reports can be found at: http://www.vtlmi.info/lmipub.htm#uc