Current News

by Holly Sullivan, Community News Service The Senate Committee on Education is revising a bill that aims to improve Vermont’s literacy rate — a number that’s been steadily declining for years. The changes address problems prompted by education officials who said the bill’s language is too limiting and would present problems for schools required to implement them. If screenings revealed a potential reading deficiency in a student, S.204 would require all public and approved independent schools to provide literacy screenings and interventions approved by the Agency of Education. The bill is an attempt to support struggling readers early in their education.

by Mike Donoghue, Vermont News First, Vermont Business Magazine A young New York man, who became a paraplegic after crashing into a snowmaking gun while skiing at Okemo Mountain Resort in Ludlow four years ago, should not be given two bites at the apple to try to have the sports resort pay for his injuries, according to resort lawyers. Novice skier Richard Grajeda III, 24, of Westbury, N.Y. had asked federal court jurors in Burlington last month to award him up to almost $97 million, but when they rejected the claim with a defendant's verdict, his lawyers demanded a judge force the resort to pay its last best settlement offer. "Having gambled and lost his recovery on the prospect of the jury returning a $97 million verdict, plaintiff now makes a frivolous attempt to enforce a 'settlement' that he admitted to this Court never existed," the defense said in response to the request filed by Grajeda's lawyers.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Independent Media/The Commons invites the public to join us for a conversation on housing with Rep. Becca Balint on March 18 at 7pm on Zoom. Balint will be interviewed by award-winning reporter, Joyce Marcel kicking off a revived year-long series of Voices Live interviews, in person events and special focus sections. The discussion with Rep. Balint will focus on roadblocks and new opportunities to address Windham County’s housing needs and what’s being done currently to make a difference. Just weeks ago, Balint introduced sweeping new housing legislation, the Community Housing Act, a plan that invests over $500 billion in federal programs that fund construction of affordable and deeply affordable housing. The bill includes a suite of creative policy solutions to address root causes of the housing crisis and alleviate long term affordability challenges.

by Dan Smith, President & CEO of the Vermont Community Foundation What if young men in America and Vermont attended college or continued their training at the same rate as the state’s young women? What if boys and men did not commit suicide or die from overdose at rates that are significantly higher than girls and women? And what if, by fostering more public discussion about systemic trends in Vermont and the US, solutions emerged that benefitted everyone, including women and girls? Solutions that continued to acknowledge and embrace action on the corrosive gender discrimination that women and girls continue to face. The Vermont Community Foundation is co-hosting an event at the UVM Davis Center that will explore these issues and feature Richard Reeves, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC.

The Vermont State Police is identifying the trooper involved in this morning’s car crash on Interstate 89 in Bethel as Cpl. Eric Vitali, a 19-year veteran of the state police. Cpl. Vitali is receiving treatment at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire, for serious injuries. Initial investigative work by the Vermont State Police indicates Cpl. Vitali, a trooper assigned to the Royalton Barracks, was traveling Friday morning to a first-aid training at VSP Headquarters in Waterbury. He was driving in the left-hand, passing lane of I-89 beyond the Bethel exit at about 8:30 a.m. when his cruiser struck the back of a Bethel Volunteer Fire Department tanker truck that was parked in the passing lane to provide scene protection for a crash that had occurred at about 7:40 a.m. The force of the impact between the cruiser and the fire truck was significant and indicates the cruiser was traveling at highway speeds when the crash occurred. Cpl. Vitali was wearing his seat belt. The fire truck was unoccupied, and no one else was injured.

Vermont Business Magazine Girls on the Run Vermont’s registration for its spring program is now open statewide! GOTR is a physical activity-based, positive youth development program that inspires students in 3rd through 8th grade to be joyful, healthy, and confident. The ten-week program incorporates movement to empower participants to develop critical life skills, build confidence, cultivate positive connections with peers, manage their emotions, and stand up for themselves and others. Volunteer coaches utilize a research-based curriculum to engage teams of girls in fun, interactive lessons that foster the social, emotional, and physical wellbeing of participants. 

Two Rivers-Ottauquechee Regional Commission On January 4th, TRORC unveiled its scholarship initiative for 2024 where we are offering $2,000 to ten graduating seniors in the Region. This program welcomes applicants from any of TRORC's 30 towns, provided they are completing a state-approved high school education and have already been admitted to an accredited post-secondary education or career program. Students are required to submit their applications via email by the end of business hours on April 12, 2024.

Vermont Business Magazine The best time to plan your winter at world-class destinations like Mount Snow, Okemo, and Stowe in Vermont, and at Vail Mountain, Whistler Blackcomb, Park City Mountain, and Breckenridge.  Epic Passes for the 2024/25 season went on sale March 5 – offering the lowest price of the year and the most benefits. Launching at $982 and including 10 Buddy Tickets and six Ski with a Friend Tickets, the Epic Pass unlocks unlimited, unrestricted access to the best skiing and riding around the world. In addition at Mount Snow, the southern Vermont resort next year will be celebrating 70 years.

Vermont Business Magazine As the Department of Vermont Health Access has previously reported, Change Healthcare, which operates Vermont's Medicaid pharmacy claims system, experienced a significant cyber security issue on February 21. Change Healthcare has confirmed that this issue is impacting pharmacies and providers across Vermont, New England, and the country. Change Healthcare’s systems remain down, and the company has indicated that they have a plan in place for incremental restoration of services. The Department is aware of the statement issued by United Health Group on March 7 outlining the company’s plan for key system functionality to be restored. The Department will provide further guidance once we know what this means for Vermont Medicaid. At this time, the Department believes that complete restoration may take several weeks. 

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont) took to the Senate Floor yesterday to call out Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s failure to deliver for rural America. Welch pointed to the postal delays plaguing Vermont and other rural areas because of DeJoy’s policies, and the lack of a fully functioning Post Office in Vermont’s capital city as examples: “This is the United States of America. The Postal Service is older than the Constitution itself. The original infrastructure that we began building were roads to connect one Postal Service to another. That's what it was about. And it's getting wrecked. And the wreckage by Postmaster General DeJoy is reflected in his unresponsive attitude towards everyday Americans in every District of this country—and it's got to end."

Vermont Business Magazine The United States Attorney’s Office stated that Carleena Graham, 57, of Accokeek, Maryland, was sentenced today in United States District Court in Burlington to four years of probation following her guilty plea to a charge of wire fraud. As a condition of probation, Chief U.S. District Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford ordered that Graham make a final restitution payment of $209,000 within 60 days. Graham had previously paid $210,000 in restitution. On May 31, 2023, the United States filed a one count information charging Graham with wire fraud. The defendant pleaded guilty to that charge last summer. 

Vermont Business Magazine The recent announcement by Goddard College administrators that the campus would be shutting down for at least a year has alarmed many in the Goddard community. In response, a group of stakeholders–including leadership from the faculty union, staff union, alumni, and student body–have joined forces to transform the college into a cooperatively run institution. Goddard College was founded in 1938 by Royce “Tim” Pitkin and is renowned for its trailblazing “radical democracy” approach, in which students are full partners in planning and guiding their learning process based on their passions, not on prescriptive curricula.