Current News

Vermont Public Television (VPT) has received a My Source Community Impact Award for Education from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). VPT president John King accepted the award at a ceremony March 7th in Washington, DC. The ceremony was part of the CPB/PBS-hosted Council of Chief State School Officers Legislative Conference. Also attending was Vermont s commissioner of education, Armando Vilaseca.
The My Source Community Impact Awards for Education were created by CPB to recognize public television stations for their commitment to providing educational services to learners of all ages and abilities, as well as for the services the stations provide to teachers, parents and caregivers.

According to Ali Rafieymehr, dean of Champlain s Information Technology and Sciences Division (IT&S), the new equipment will help students take the skills they learn in the classroom directly to the workplace when they graduate.
CISCO DONATES EQUIPMENT TO CHAMPLAIN COLLEGE: (From left) Ali Rafieymehr, dean of the Division of Information Technology and Sciences at Champlain College; Champlain College junior Ben Actis and Jim Hoag, assistant professor and program director of Computer Networking and Information Security show off some of the state-of-the-art computer equipment donated to the college by Cisco Systems for classroom use.
Champlain College has received $88,000 in computer equipment that offers students studying computer security, information technology and web development and design a chance to learn their skills on state-of-the-art Cisco Systems equipment.

The Vermont Legislature is considering closing the capital gains loophole to help offset the state's General Fund budget deficit. Here are two opinions on that issue currently being considered by the Vermont Legislature. Legislators already have closed a loophole in the business carry forward tax loss area, where a company cannot move into Vermont anymore and recognize a state-level tax loss from previous years that was incurred elsewhere.

Building on President Barack Obama s efforts to ensure access to health care for millions of uninsured Americans, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services today announced that Vermont can access an additional $551,000 authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to help pay hospitals to treat their most vulnerable patients.
Millions of people rely on the care provided by their community hospitals, said Acting HHS Secretary Charles Johnson. Through the help provided by the Recovery Act, we can make sure they continue to get the care they need in those hospitals.

The State Board of Education elected officers at its March 17 meeting, the Department of Education announced today. Tom James of Essex was re-elected Board chair, and Ruth Stokes of Williston was re-elected vice-chair.
James was appointed to the Board by Governor Douglas in February 2005 after filling an unexpired term. A retired IBM executive, James has served as a member of the Essex Planning Commission, the Essex Town School Board, the Essex Town Selectboard and the Essex Rotary. His State Board term will end in 2011.

In conjunction with a report from the Public Oversight Panel conducting the comprehensive vertical audit and reliability assessment of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Facility, Brad Ferland, President of the Vermont Energy Partnership issued the following statement.
This is another thorough and exhaustive study that shows Vermont Yankee should be part of the state s energy future. The bottom line is the report states the plant is reliable and that this reliability can be maintained.
The more than 6,000 hours of work involved in this study follows approximately 20,000 hours of inspections the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has undertaken with respect to the plant s license renewal application, as well as exhaustive, regular, annual safety inspections.

A $50,000 grant from AT&T is helping the Lyndon State College Television Studies (TVS) students develop a new media, convergence e-journalism extension of the Department of Television Studies award-winning News7 operation. The result is two web-based news projects - NewsLINC and the Vermont Broadband Report, both of which can be seen at www.news7newslinc.net.
The AT&T grant has allowed Lyndon to increase the breadth of experiences the TVS Department can offer students. Expanding onto the Web is an important step. With many newspapers facing financial difficulties and many of those closing, students are eager to learn the ropes for the burgeoni

Mark Bonfigli, CEO and Founder of Dealer.com, Burlington, has been named the U.S. Small Business Administration s (SBA) 2009 Vermont Small Business Person of the Year. Bonfigli was selected for outstanding leadership related to his company s staying power, employee growth, increase in sales, innovation and contributions to the community.
Bonfigli s company, Dealer.com, is a leading provider of online marketing solutions to the automotive industry. Dealer.com offers award-winning website design incorporating dynamic video, user-friendly management tools, search engine advertising and metrics and web analytics. Dealer.com s suite of online marketing solutions creates a 360 degree view of auto dealers online and traditional marketing investments and results. Dealers can easily track spending and determine which activities lead to the highest return on investment, allowing them to streamline advertising and marketing efforts to increase sales.

Over 250 people attended the "Feast Against Famine" at the Doubletree Hotel in South Burlington. The St. Patrick's Day themed event raised $28,000 for the Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf. Major sponsors of the event included Northfield Savings Bank, O'Brien Brothers, F&M Development, Chittenden Bank and MicroBrightField. Northfield Savings Bank employees Kathy LaCross, Tracy Davis, Mary Gleason, Joel Dube´, Roger Pinan and Joe Feltz along with new committee members Kathy Fortin and Kathy Davis created the event three years ago and have worked tirelessly to ensure the event's success.
The Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf is the largest food shelf in Vermont and serves over 10,000 people a year. Started in 1974, the Food Shelf operates four programs: Hot Meals, Grocery Distribution, Homebound Grocery Delivery and Project Angel Food. These programs are administered with the help of a 400+ strong volunteer pool.
Source: Northfield Savings Bank March 19, 2009

Champlain Cable Corporation, continuing its supply and development efforts of Irradiation Crosslinked Low Smoke Zero Halogen (LSZH) voice and data twisted pair shipboard communication cables, has received its second qualification from the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) for lightweight shipboard cable specification MIL-DTL-24643.
This qualification listing is for M24643/64 Government Designation LSTPSJ, all sizes. These cables were developed specifically for secure voice and low speed data communication networks aboard US Navy vessels, but can be used for a variety of communication / control / instrumentation / electronic applications. The cables range in size from 14 AWG to 24 AWG stranded conductor and 1 to 4 pair counts. All types are shielded.

On March 17th, GAW High-Speed Internet (GAW) of Brattleboro acquired the fixed wireless network of APC Services (All Pro Communications, Inc) of Rutland, Vermont. With coverage over much of Rutland County, the acquisition compliments GAW’s existing network, and offers enhancements for APC Service’s existing customers.
APC Services has been a trusted source for Rutland County companies for many years, specializing in a complete line of telecommunications products and services. Through their partnership with Go2Web Internet Services, APC Services became a local leader in complete advanced Internet solutions for home and business and implemented an extensive wireless network in Rutland County.

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Wednesday announced that the Vermont Drug Task Force -- which arrested 16 people Tuesday in a drug sweep in St. Albans -- will receive $1 million in new federal grant funding through the Edward Byrne Discretionary Grant program. Leahy secured the funding in the appropriations bill passed by the Congress signed into law last week by President Obama.