Current News

Vermont Business Magazine A Saint Michael’s College student is shining light on the lived experiences of people with disabilities – including her own – through her original play, “A Taste of Freedom,” and an accompanying panel discussion. Sadie Chamberlain ’25, a double major in Theatre and Psychology from Lyndonville, Vermont, wrote and will star in her play, the College’s fall Mainstage production. The play doubles as her senior capstone project. The play will run from Nov. 6 until Nov. 9 and will begin at 7 p.m. each night in the McCarthy Arts Center Theatre. The performances are free and open to the public. Chamberlain’s play marks only the second instance since the Fine Arts Department began in the 1960s that a student-written play has been chosen as one of the faculty-directed and designed Mainstage theatre productions.  

by Tom Frank & Shawn Tester For North County Hospital (NCH) in Newport (Orleans County) and Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital (NVRH) in St. Johnsbury (Caledonia County), collaboration and team work to protect local access to services, keep costs down and provide great care to our neighbors in the Northeast Kingdom is essential to serve the vast region we cover. The region also includes Essex County in the furthest northeast corner of our state, as well as portions of Franklin, Lamoille and Orange Counties. We are indeed the most rural region in our already very rural state. Together, our two small critical access hospitals, our partner home health agency and Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) Northern Counties Health Care are responsible for covering some 2,000 square miles or 20% of the entire state’s land. We serve 55 municipalities and gores of the state’s total 256 municipalities and gores. 

Vermont Business Magazine Eilish Quirion, RN, has been honored with the first DAISY Award at North Country Hospital.  She has worked here for eight years, and is a Charge Nurse in the Emergency Department. Nurses throughout the organization were nominated for this first round and12 DAISY nominations were received CNO, Denise Carter, RN, added this national nurse recognition program earlier this year.

Vermont Business Magazine At the site of a former Saint Michael's College dormitory converted into affordable apartments, housing leaders and local officials released the annual Building Homes Together campaign scorecard documenting the number of homes and apartments created throughout Chittenden County in 2023. The data showed continued housing production shortages – especially those which are affordable – as vacancy rates hover around 1%. In 2023, 720 new homes and apartments were constructed, with 125 of them permanently affordable. Both fall far short of the respective 1,000 and 250 unit targets. With more than one-third of the jobs in the state in the county, the lack of housing in Chittenden County threatens Vermont’s economic health. Employers are finding it increasingly challenging to attract and retain employees due to the lack of housing availability, and an estimated 33,500 workers commute to Chittenden County jobs from other regions.

Vermont State Police The Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, completed autopsies on the two individuals whose bodies were found Friday at a home in Newfane. They are identified as Blake Prescott, 91, and Helen Prescott, 88, a married couple who lived in the home on South Wardsboro Road where this incident occurred. The medical examiner determined that Helen Prescott’s cause of death was gunshot wounds to the torso, and the manner of death is a homicide. The cause of Blake Prescott’s death was a gunshot wound to the chest, and the manner of death is a suicide. The Prescott family asked the Vermont State Police to tell the public that Blake and Helen shared a lifetime of love and commitment to each other. “As a devoted couple of more than 70 years, who had recently experienced precipitously declining health, they chose to die together as they’d lived together,” the family said in a statement provided to the state police."

Vermont Business Magazine The United States Attorney’s Office announced that Jennifer LaBonte, 45, of Essex Junction, Vermont pleaded guilty today in United States District Court in Rutland to a charge of wire fraud. U.S. District Judge Mary K. Lanthier released LaBonte on conditions pending sentencing, which is scheduled for March 4, 2025. On October 2, 2024, the United States Attorney filed an information charging LaBonte with a single count of wire fraud. That is the charge to which she pleaded guilty. According to the information, between 2001 and January 2024, LaBonte was employed by automobile dealerships located in Burlington. From about 2012 until her termination, LaBonte served as office manager for the dealerships, a position that gave her oversight over all accounting matters. LaBonte had check-signing authority. The total loss resulting from her embezzlement is about $191,000. In court, the parties announced that LaBonte has provided the dealerships with a check that repaid them in full for the stolen funds. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Attorney General’s Office announced that Christopher Camp, 33, of Moretown, Vermont, was arraigned Friday on one felony count of Luring a Child and four misdemeanor counts of violation of conditions of release. The charges brought against Mr. Camp are the result of a criminal investigation initially conducted by the Vermont State Police and later referred to the Vermont Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (VT-ICAC) with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations, Bennington Police Department, and Manchester Police Department. Mr. Camp engaged in sexually explicit conversations with children on the Discord platform. Mr. Camp was previously convicted of Attempted Luring a Child in 2019 in Washington County and is currently under probation supervision with a Violation of Probation charge pending.

Vermont Business Magazine After a warm, dry week and weekend and several reports of large wildfires in Vermont, the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation (FPR) has issued an order for all of the state's forest fire wardens to cease issuing burning permits from 3 pm on October 28, 2024, through 3 pm on November 11, 2024. The order will be in effect for two weeks and can be revoked earlier if conditions warrant. Over the last week, the wildfire danger has fluctuated between high, very high, and extreme throughout the state. With the continued dry weather outlook and the abundance of dry leaves and dry fuels in Vermont’s forests, wildfires have the potential to spread rapidly. Recent relative humidity levels as low as 16% in the past week and winds gusting over 30 MPH have also influenced wildfire spread. Furthermore, there is no significant rainfall in the forecast and therefore fire danger is expected to remain at these elevated levels for the foreseeable future.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, the Vermont Municipal Bond Bank (Bond Bank) announced that it has received a $40 million investment from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development (RD) to facilitate and administer the Rural Energy Savings Program (RESP) throughout the state. The zero-interest loan funding—the first RESP obligation in Vermont—will be used to provide municipalities and school districts with low-interest loans that take on climate change through long-term financing of energy projects that drive down costs for rural residents.  Bond Bank Executive Director Michael Gaughan made the announcement from the Charlotte Town Garage, where the Bank helped implement an energy-financing pilot program that supplied valuable insights leading to the RESP evaluation and application process. 

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Interim Secretary of Administration Sarah Clark released Vermont’s tax revenue results today for September 2024. The General Fund and Transportation Fund exceeded their respective monthly consensus cash flow targets, as adopted by the Emergency Board at its July 2024 meeting, while the Education Fund missed its target. Notably, the personal income tax had another strong month, while the meals & rooms tax again missed its targets. The sales tax lagged and was -6.3% below projections. With the M&R also down, the Education Fund was -8.4% below its target. Overall, the State’s General Fund, Transportation Fund, and Education Fund receipts were a combined $344.8 million, exceeding the $314.7 million monthly consensus target by $30.2 million, or 9.6%.

Vermont Business Magazine The Attorney General’s Office announced that Mark Bissonnette, 54, of Groton, Vermont, was arraigned Thursday on six felony counts and three misdemeanor counts of Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Materials and one felony count of Attempted Use of a Child in a Sexual Performance. The charges brought against Mr. Bissonnette are the result of a criminal investigation conducted by the Vermont Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (VT-ICAC), including personnel from the Attorney General’s Office, Vermont State Police, and Homeland Security Investigations. Mr. Bissonnette pleaded not guilty to all counts at his arraignment in Vermont Superior Court, Caledonia Unit, Criminal Division. 

Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets The Fairs and Field Days Capital Grants and Operational Stipends Program will be open for applications starting November 1st. Vermont’s fairs and field days draw over 300,000 visitors each year, and many fairgrounds are utilized for other events, drawing many more visitors into Vermont communities throughout the year. Fairs and events offer opportunities for the agricultural community to highlight the practices, products, skills, and livelihoods that contribute to maintaining Vermont’s working landscape. $300,000 is available for 20-year capital improvement projects that fairs across the state can use for lighting, building, electrical, and structural upgrades. An additional $110,000 is available in the form of stipends, which support operating costs.