Current News

Woodbury College Announces Partnership with
Beijing Environmental Organization and Prominent Chinese Law School
(MONTPELIER, Vt.) -- Woodbury College President Larry Mandell announced today that the college will develop a curriculum to train approximately 40 legal professionals at Beijings Center for Legal Assistance to Pollution Victims. Woodbury College has also signed a memorandum of understanding with Beijing's Chinese University of Politics and Law (CUPL) to create exchange programs and joint degrees in law and mediation.
The memorandum, signed by President Mandell and Wang Weigo, CUPL's Assistant President, also includes a commitment from both schools to support the creation of a Sino-American Research Center on Mediation Law and Practice.

Facility built to national environmental building standards, receives state grant for solar panels
COLCHESTER, VT...Customers of Green Mountain Power will benefit from faster response times and improved efficiency because of a new service center recently opened in Westminster. Residents of the area are invited to a free neighborhood barbeque on Thursday, May 29, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., to celebrate the grand opening of the environmentally friendly facility located at 1308 Westminster Heights Road, just off I-91 Exit 5.
The renovated building replaces GMP's existing Bellows Falls service center. It will house utility crews and equipment and provides much-needed space to help GMP crews operate more efficiently.

SVMC Wins Award for Quality Rating

BENNINGTON - HealthStream Research has recognized Southwestern Vermont Medical Center with its Excellence through Insight award for Highest Community Perception of Quality. The award recognizes SVMC as a hospital at the top of its class for perception of quality of care.

SVMC is one of four rural hospitals to earn the award for overall quality scores in their primary service areas. SVMC's overall quality score increased from 3.9 in 2002 to 4.0 in 2006 and 4.07 in 2007. The scores, on a five-point scale, are reported by HealthStream. They are based on telephone surveys that HealthStream conducts with more than 500 consumers in SVMC's service area.

Middlebury, VT -- Co-operative Insurance Companies has named Gina Larrow its Vice President of Human Resources and Fletcher Brush its Vice President of Education and Community Relations.
Appointments to the two new posts were made at the annual meeting of Co-op's boards of directors in April.
"We are excited about these changes in Fletcher and Gina's roles," said Jim Sullivan, the company's president and CEO. "Each of them is now in a better position to work on important strategic initiatives, which in turn puts Co-op in a better position to face the challenges of today's soft market and tomorrow's competitive landscape."

[NOTE: high-resolution photo from the Milk Toast is available at this link:]
http://leahy.senate.gov/images/2008Events/052208MILCToast/052208MILCToas...
(photo by Senate Photographer)
'Got MILC' Across The Finish Line
Vermont Delegation Performs Traditional 'Milk Toast'
As Renewal Of The MILC Program's Charter Finally Becomes Law
Senate Joins House In Overriding
President's Veto Of The Farm Bill
WASHINGTON (Thursday Afternoon, May 22) - Capping months of effort by the Vermont Congressional Delegation, the MILC Program - the basic safety net for dairy farmers when milk prices plummet - became law Thursday afternoon when the US Senate joined the US House of Representatives in overriding President Bushs veto of a new 5-year Farm Bill.

$10 Million Transportation Bonding Plan Approved

MONTPELIER - A special committee of the Vermont Legislature May 21 unanimously approved a $10 million transportation bonding plan that is the first phase of a five-year, $80 million transportation plan Governor Douglas presented in his economic stimulus package.

The bonding approval not only adds $10 million in state funds to the Vermont Agency of Transportation's fiscal year 2009 budget, but also allows the Agency to leverage an additional $4 million in federal dollars, raising the total amount of the transportation stimulus package to $14 million.

The Agency plans to put $12 million to work immediately on paving and bridge projects that will take place this spring, summer and fall. The remaining $2 million will be used to expedite engineering so additional bridge repairs can happen as quickly as 2009.

POULTNEY, VT On Saturday, May 17, Green Mountain College celebrated its first class of graduates from the masters degree program in sustainable business.

GMC President John F. Brennan awarded the MBA degrees to ten students during a 10 a.m. ceremony on the lawn outside the Griswold Library. Vermont Governor James Douglas was the commencement speaker for the event, at which the schools undergraduate students also received degrees.

Our MBA students represent the next generation of business leaders, said GMC President John F. Brennan. The College is honored to graduate this talented group, all of whom have shown great dedication and promise.

This years class represents much of the U.S.A., with students from locations such as California, Colorado, New York, Wisconsin and Washington.

Symquest wins Deane Davis Business of the Year Award
South Burlington (May 21, 2008) - Vermont Governor James Douglas announced this morning at the kick-off of the Vermont Business & Industry Expo that SymQuest Group, Inc, of South Burlington is the winner of the coveted Deane C Davis Outstanding Vermont Business Award.

Douglas, Welch decry White House interference in tailpipe emission waiver
MONTPELIER, Vt. - Governor Jim Douglas said May 20, 2008, that the Bush administration must stop standing in the way of state efforts to limit tailpipe emissions.
Douglas was reacting to reports that after meeting with White House officials Stephen Johnson, the head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), reversed his initial support for a waiver - which Vermont and 13 of other states including California has signed on to - allowing states to establish higher tailpipe emissions standards.
"It is unacceptable that the White House acted to reverse Administrator Johnson's decision to grant the emissions waiver," Douglas said. "Vermont's economy and way of life are rooted in our pristine environment and I will press on with our legal challenges to this inappropriate interference to safeguard our future."

WiFi Takes Off at Vermont's Visitor Centers
Visitors and Vermonters who travel the interstate system are connected better than ever before to work, friends and family as they travel through Vermont. A stop at many of Vermont's visitor centers now allows travelers to access the Internet via a fast and reliable broadband connection.
On November 14, 2007, Governor Douglas inaugurated free WiFi service at state visitor centers announcing that "Travelers using our major roadways can now use wireless Internet service free of charge. This advancement of my E-State Initiative will make this resource more valuable for business people, tourists and all those who use our highways."
Since May 2007 the State has seen a 1298% increase in WiFi usage by travelers.

groSolar Brings Solar Hot Water to Fenway Park
May 19, 2008 - White River Junction, VT --- Boston Red Sox's Fenway Park now has more green than just their field and their 37 foot, two inch left field wall, nicknamed the Green Monster. The major league baseball stadium has been undergoing an environmentally friendly makeover that includes the installation of a solar hot water system by groSolar, North America's premier distributor, installer and integrator of solar power solutions for homes and businesses.
The solar hot-water system is part of the Solar Boston program, a 2-year, $600,000 initiative to increase the city's solar energy output 50-fold by 2015. Solar Boston will help the city respond to climate change, rising fuel price and the need for energy independence by supporting the development of clean, alternative sources of energy citywide.