Current News

Vermont s top academic achievers will be honored by the State Board of Education at an event to be held Tuesday, April 14, 2009 at 4 p.m. at Mt. Abraham Union High School in Bristol.
The students will be recognized for their achievements in the statewide spelling bee, debate, forensics, Geo Bee, top AP and SAT scores and much more. The event is open to the public.
A complete list of honorees is attached below.

2009 State Board of Education Student Recognition Event April 14, 2009 Mt. Abraham Union High School, Bristol

Recognition

Name

School/Town

Notes

09 ACT Top score (M/F)

Ian F. Rockwell

Mt. Mansfield UHS, Jericho

36 Perfect Score on ACT

Suzanne G. K. Calhoun

Home School

36 perfect Score on ACT

09 SAT Top Score (M/F)

Sarah L. Guillot

Peoples Academy, Morrisville

2340 out of 2400 top F Score in state to date

Matthew E. Garret

More Vermonters are able to take part in Vermont Housing Finance Agency's low-interest mortgage programs now VHFA has approved new income and purchase price limits.
The Agency s Board of Commissioners approved the changes on April 6. They took effect today.
We re always working to give more Vermonters the opportunity to realize the dream of owning a home, said Executive Director Sarah Carpenter. With these new limits, many more Vermonters and Vermont properties have become eligible for VHFA financing.
With today s changes, VHFA now has only one statewide purchase price limit, which applies to all VHFA eligible property types. To be considered for a VHFA loan, the home purchase price cannot exceed: $287,000.
Income limits vary by county and help determine which homebuyers are eligible for VHFA financing. Income limits are ceilings on what households can earn and still qualify for VHFA mortgages.

Vermont Pure Holdings, Ltd. (NYSE: VPS) announced that it has acquired the assets of Blue Hills Spring Water Company, Inc. of Quincy, Massachusetts. Blue Hills is better known by its popular brand Monadnock Mountain Spring Water.
The assets purchased include trucks, dispensing equipment, bottles, and customer lists. Blue Hills' customers will be merged into Vermont Pure's local existing operation creating more density in the Boston market for the Company.
"Blue Hills, through Monadnock, has been a recognized leader in the Boston bottled water market for many years and the acquisition of their customer base puts us in position to be a major player in the largest metro area in New England," said Peter Baker, CEO of Vermont Pure Holdings, Ltd. "We are excited to supply Vermont Pure Natural spring water, as well as our other home and office refreshment products, to Blue Hills' customers," he concluded.

Marsh, the world s leading insurance broker and risk advisor, has appointed Julie S. Boucher as leader of the firm s U.S. Captive Solutions Practice, which currently manages nearly 350 captive insurance companies in seven major U.S. domiciles and has 114 employees.
Ms. Boucher, a managing director of Marsh based in the Burlington, Vermont office, will be responsible for the growth and development of the U.S. captive domicile operations, including Vermont, Connecticut, New York, South Carolina, Nevada, Arizona and Hawaii.
Ms. Boucher, who has been with Marsh for 21 years, has held a number of management positions with the firm. Most recently, she was head of the firm s Captive Solutions Practice in Vermont, where she was responsible for overseeing all aspects of the firm s captive management and servicing operations in the state. She also has been involved in establishing Marsh s operations in a number of existing U.S. captive domiciles.

Koosharem Corporation, parent of The Select Family of Staffing Companies, a top 10 national staffing leader, completed its acquisition of Walnut Creek, California-based Westaff, Inc. Westaff maintained a large network of successful franchise offices, of which the Mount Family Group of Burlington was a part.
The Mount Family Group Ltd. operates Westaff branches in 9 cities and towns in the Vermont, New Hampshire and New York, including offices in Burlington and St. Albans.
The local Westaff offices gain significant advantages by joining The Select Family of Staffing Companies, which offers award-winning Risk Management programs, first-class time and attendance systems, and excellent staffing and business solutions options for the clerical, accounting, mortgage, industrial, and technical fields, among others.

Long time Medical Director of the Laboratory at CVMC, Dr. Brian Travis, has passed the torch to his colleague, Dr. Cathy Palmer, who has been named the lab s new Medical Director. Dr. Palmer received her MD/PhD degree from Indiana University and went on to complete an Internship and Residency in Pathology at the University of California San Diego Medical Center. She came to Vermont to pursue a Clinical Fellowship in Cytopathology at Fletcher Allen Health Care and subsequently was a Research Fellow in Environmental Pathology at UVM. Dr. Palmer is certified by the American Board of Pathology in Anatomic Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, with subspecialty certification in Cytopathology.

St Johnsbury Academy played an important role in helping Vermont record the nation’s largest five-year increase in the percentage of its high school student population scoring 3 or higher on at least one Advanced Placement (AP) exam.
AP courses are designed to provide high school students college credit, advanced standing, or both, upon successful completion of a national examination administered by the College Board.
According to the College Board, an exam grade of 3 or higher is a strong predictor of a student’s ability to succeed in college and earn a bachelor’s degree.
Last year, 38 percent of the Academy’s graduating senior class passed at least one AP exam. According to the College Board’s fifth annual AP Report to the Nation issued February 4, statewide, 19.8 percent of last year’s public high school seniors earned 3 or higher on one or more AP exams. Nationwide, 15.2 percent of the public high schools’ Class of 2008 earned 3 or higher.

Peter Hofstetter, the Chief Executive Officer of Northwestern Medical since 1994, announced on Monday that he has accepted the CEO position at Holy Cross Hospital in Taos, New Mexico.
“We are sorry to lose Peter,” said John Casavant, the President of the NMC Board of Directors. “He has served our hospital and our community incredibly well over the past 15 years. His vision, leadership, and positive energy have helped us thrive. Peter’s collaborative approach has positioned us well for the future.”
“I would like to thank Peter for his many years of service to NMC and the Franklin County community,” said Steve Payne, MD, the President of the NMC Medical Staff. “He has led us through extremely challenging times, helping keep NMC a forward-thinking, vital health care provider for our area. We wish him and his family the very best as they move on to New Mexico where they should find a much warmer climate.”

Ledyard National Bank is pleased to announce that they have made a Leadership Partner Pledge in the amount of $1,500 to the Upper Valley Housing Coalition. Ledyard National Bank proudly supports the Upper Valley Housing Coalition s mission to promote balanced communities that provide an adequate supply of housing for the region s workforce.
Ledyard Financial Group, Inc., headquartered in Hanover, New Hampshire, is the holding company for Ledyard National Bank. Ledyard National Bank, founded in 1991, is a full service community bank offering a broad range of banking, investment, tax and wealth management services in the Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee Region. Ledyard National Bank has eight offices with locations in Hanover, Lebanon, Lyme, New London, and West Lebanon, New Hampshire and in Norwich, Vermont.

The Vermont Department of Labor’s Project WorkSAFE Program is pleased to announce that DEW Construction of Williston has met and successfully completed the requirements of the Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP) for the Jay Peak Ski Area Hotel Expansion Project.
DEW Construction and Project WorkSAFE, Vermont’s Occupational Safety and Health Consultation Program, began working on the certification process more than four months ago.
“We applaud the employees and management of DEW in this accomplishment.” said Scott Meyer, Manager of Project WorkSAFE. “To be conducting this type of work while maintaining a safe workplace speaks very well to the caliber and commitment of staff at DEW and all its sub contractors’ on this site. They have a lot to be proud of and we hope that other Vermont employers will follow in their lead.”

Governor Jim Douglas today returned without signature Senate bill S.115, An Act Relating to Civil Marriage. The text of Governor Douglas veto message follows.
April 6, 2009
The Honorable David A. Gibson
Secretary of the Senate
State House
115 State Street, Drawer 33
Montpelier, VT 05633
Dear Mr Secretary:
Pursuant to Chapter II, Section 11 of the Vermont Constitution, I am returning S.115, An Act Relating to Civil Marriage, without my signature because of my objections described herein. I do so recognizing that this is an issue that is intensely personal, with strongly held beliefs and convictions on both sides. But I am charged by our Constitution to act on this legislation and by its return, I have fulfilled that responsibility.

The nine-member Judicial Nominating Commission named to recommend a slate of candidates to replace retiring U.S. District Judge J. Garvan Murtha will accept applications for the upcoming vacancy in the U.S. District Court for the District of Vermont through May 4. Applicants should visit the Vermont Bar Association s web site at www.vtbar.org to obtain a questionnaire and further instructions.
Any member in good standing of the Vermont Bar is eligible to apply for the U.S. District Court vacancy. Applicants are asked to complete a questionnaire which is available on the web site, or to request a copy in writing from the Judicial Nominating Commission c/o The Vermont Bar Association, 35-37 Court Street, P.O. Box 100, Montpelier, VT 05601, Attn: Bob Paolini, executive director.