Current News

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.

The nation's preterm birth rate declined slightly in 2007 a finding that the March of Dimes hopes will prove to be the start of a new trend in improved maternal and infant health. Vermont had the lowest rate in the nation at 9.2 percent; New Hampshire was second at 9.4 percent. They were the only two states under 10 percent.
The preterm birth rate declined for babies born at 34-36 weeks gestation (late preterm) and among babies born to African American and white women.
"We're encouraged by this drop in the preterm birth rate, and hope that the emphasis we've put on the problem of late preterm birth is beginning to make a difference," said Jennifer L. Howse, Ph.D., president of the March of Dimes. "Through our Prematurity Campaign, we can build on this success and begin to give more babies a healthy start in life."

TransUnion.com released today the results of its analysis of trends in the auto lending industry for the fourth quarter of 2008. The report is part of an ongoing series of quarterly consumer lending sector analyses focusing on credit card, auto loan and mortgage data that may be found on TransUnion's Web site. Information for this analysis is culled quarterly from approximately 27 million anonymous, individual credit files, providing a real-life perspective on how U.S. consumers are managing their credit health.
Statistics
The national 60-day auto delinquency rate (the ratio of auto loan borrowers 60 or more days past due) edged upward between the third and fourth quarter of 2008 from 0.80 percent to 0.86 percent. Year-over-year the delinquency rate increased 8.86 percent in the fourth quarter.

Thomas G. Walsh and Brian P. Monaghan announce their new law partnership and practice, Walsh & Monaghan, LLP. With offices in Burlington and St. Albans, Walsh & Monaghan serves residential, commercial and public sector clients with legal representation in areas that include environmental and land use matters, government and municipal law, real estate transactions, business law, and estate planning.