Current News

The Vermont State Police is identifying the trooper who fired his service weapon Wednesday in the town of Orange as Adam Roaldi. Trooper Roaldi has been a member of the Vermont State Police since 2019. He has served as a uniformed trooper in the Field Force Division at the Royalton, Middlesex and Berlin barracks. He has worked from the Berlin office since September 2023. His department photograph is attached to this release. The man who was shot and killed is identified as Jason Lowery, 41, who lived most recently in various locations in central Vermont. An autopsy completed late Thursday afternoon at the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington determined the cause of Lowery’s death was gunshot wounds to the neck and torso, and the manner of death is a homicide.

Vermont Business Magazine After years of dreaming and hard work, Retreat Farm is unveiling the North Barn and Retreat Farm Market this weekend in Brattleboro at Farm Fest — a celebration of two new community-focused spaces that support connection and encourage broader and deeper community impact. "When we're in connection with ourselves, our communities, and our environment, something magical happens," said Executive Director Kristin Sullivan. "We're excited about all the ways we can harness our mission to lift the actions of others and leverage the power of our collective impact, to improve shared well-being." With over 90,000 visitors from at least 27 states and five countries in 2023, Retreat Farm is uniquely positioned to showcase and support the agricultural, creative, and land-based businesses and experiences that make Vermont unique. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Corrections today released a six-year strategic plan setting the direction for Vermont’s correctional system across four key priorities: Staff & Staffing, Health & Wellness, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for a Just System, and Modernization. The plan comes just over a year since the Department launched new Vision, Mission, and Values statements for the first time in more than three decades. Commissioner Deml said the strategic plan is the first of its kind in the Department’s modern history and will prove crucial to the sustainability of Vermont’s correctional system, which reached a 30% vacancy rate across correctional facilities in 2022. Though the Department has since cut that rate by more than half, Commissioner Deml said the plan will aim to further boost staffing and improve workplace conditions.  

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) today released the following statement after the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry published a report on its investigation into the war in Israel and Palestine: "The United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry just published a report following their in-depth investigation of the war in Israel and Palestine. The Commission concluded that both Hamas and Israeli authorities have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity."

Vermont Business Magazine Today, Treasurer Pieciak and other leaders from state agencies, financial institutions, non-profits, and environment and energy sectors met to coordinate their efforts to fund climate infrastructure and resilience projects. They discussed a variety of programs worth potentially hundreds of millions of dollars to Vermonters, including an uncapped Federal program that could benefit towns and non-profits. Pieciak highlighted his office’s new program providing low-cost capital in this space. Treasurer Pieciak also highlighted efforts by his Office to finance Vermont’s climate resiliency. Governor Scott recently signed into law S.310, which allows the Treasurer to lend up to 2.5% of the state’s average cash on hand to support climate infrastructure and resilience projects.  

Vermont Business Magazine Fidium Fiber is expanding service of its all-fiber internet network to more than 1,100 homes and businesses in Brandon, Goshen, Leicester and Salisbury, Vt. areas. Construction is scheduled to begin as soon as June 15. Through fiber expansion in these and other local communities, residents and business owners will have access to Fidium’s multi-gig speed fiber internet service. Fidium expansion in these communities comes in part through its partnership with the Otter Creek Communications Union District.

Vermont Business Magazine Average gasoline prices in Vermont are $3.47 per gallon, down 5 cents per gallon from last week, down 15 cents/g from last month and down 11 cents/g from last year. The lowest price in the state yesterday was $3.19/g in Colchester and Rutland, while the highest was $3.84/g in Jay. The national average price of gasoline has fallen 1 cent per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.45/g today.

Vermont Business Magazine The Agency of Natural Resources Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced today that Brent Bapp was fined $24,859.80 for operating a salvage yard without a permit on his property in Barton. Salvage yards provide important waste management services to Vermonters by reusing and recycling a range of materials from automobiles and scrap metal to hazardous waste like vehicle fluids and lead-acid batteries. Hazardous materials can have severe impacts if released into the environment, including contaminating soils, groundwater and drinking water, and degrading public health. Because of this risk, salvage yards are responsible for operating in compliance with laws that protect public health and the environment and must obtain a Salvage Yard Permit from the Agency of Natural Resources. 

by Robert F. Smith, The Commons It has taken two years since researchers first began accumulating evidence, but on June 7, scientists announced that shortnose sturgeon are living in the Connecticut River as far north as the hydroelectric dam in Bellows Falls. Sturgeon exist in the fossil record going back 250 million years and, for thousands of years, have been native species in the Connecticut River. But this is the first time that sturgeon, which can grow up to 4.5 feet in length and live for up to 30 years, have been verified to exist in this portion of the Connecticut River since 1907. Since 2018, sturgeon had been verified only as far north as the Vernon dam.

Vermont Business Magazine Wednesday night, Senate Republicans blocked Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats’ attempt to pass by unanimous consent the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency (SCERT) Act, legislation that the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced last July. The request, made by Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), along with members of the Judiciary Committee, including Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont), comes amid ethical lapses by Justices and an unenforceable code of conduct.

Vermont Business Magazine Microsoft awards Technology for Tomorrow (T4T) a second TechSpark grant to expand the Vermont nonprofit’s digital literacy programming. T4T, based in Williston, was selected in 2023 by Microsoft for its TechSpark Fellowship, a program that aims to foster inclusive economic opportunity, job creation, and innovation in the state. T4T received a second year of funding after a successful first year of programming that exceeded goals. In year two of the TechSpark Fellowship, T4T plans to increase its digital literacy offerings to help close the state’s digital divide.

Richard Warden Sears April 22, 1943 - June 1, 2024. It is with great sadness that we announce the death of our father, grandfather and Vermont State Senator Richard W. Sears, Jr. Richard died peacefully at Albany Medical Center on June 1, 2024, at the age of 81, surrounded by his loving family and close friends. Born on April 22, 1943, in Connecticut, Richard was soon after adopted by his loving parents, Richard and Charlotte Sears of Framingham, Massachusetts. Reflecting on his childhood, he expressed tremendous gratitude for his parents; always acknowledging the strong impact they had on his life. “I was lucky,” Richard once remarked in an interview, “extremely lucky that my parents adopted me. Who knows what would have happened to me if the Sears didn’t take me in?" This experience led him to his lifelong passion of working with at-risk youth.