Current News

The Vermont State Police has completed its investigation into the July drowning death of 3-year-old Tate Holtzman at Smugglers’ Notch Resort in Cambridge. Detectives determined that Tate was enrolled in a licensed daycare program through the resort and was walking with adult supervision near the outdoor splash pad when he stepped on an unsecured cover to an underground cistern. The cover gave way, and Tate fell into the water below. Teenage lifeguards on duty at the nearby pools were immediately notified and began making multiple entries into the tank to locate Tate. These lifeguards did so at extraordinary personal risk in a heroic attempt to save Tate’s life. The Vermont State Police presented its investigative findings to the Lamoille County State’s Attorney’s Office. Prosecutors determined that no criminal charges would be filed as a result of Tate’s death.

by Mike Donoghue, Vermont News First Wade Cochran, director of the enforcement and safety division at the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles, has been placed on paid leave pending an unspecified external investigation, according to officials. Agency of Transportation Secretary Joe Flynn said DMV Commissioner Wanda Minoli placed Cochran on leave on Thursday. Flynn declined to provide any details. Cochran, 48, of Waterford, declined comment. The FBI is conducting the investigation, which stems from an alleged incident before Cochran’s hiring at the DMV last August.

Public Assets Institute and Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy While most state and local tax systems worsen inequality with the wealthy paying a far lesser share of their income to taxes than low- and middle-income families, Vermont’s tax code is progressive through the bottom 80 percent of income distribution and regressive through the top 20 percent. That’s according to the latest edition of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy’s Who Pays?, the only distributional analysis of tax systems in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. This relative progressivity in Vermont’s tax code is largely driven by the state’s use of personal income taxes and targeted, refundable anti-poverty tax credits. However, declining progressivity in higher-income brackets and the reliance on property taxes for higher-income taxpayers for education funding leave room for improvement. 

Vermont Business Magazine Veterinarians Without Borders/Vétérinaires Sans Frontières, a Canadian non-profit organization focused on animal health to improve the health of communities, today announced an expansion into the United States, with the establishment of the registered US charity Veterinarians Without Borders USA. Together, these two charities are rebranding as Veterinarians Without Borders North America (VWB North America). VWB North America works in more than a dozen countries and serves more than 1.5 million people and animals annually through a range of programming including emergency response efforts, establishing animal health systems and empowering marginalized populations. In the US, VWB North America is offering training services to animal welfare organizations, specifically geared toward animal shelter staff and volunteers, including the Lucy Mackenzie Humane Society in West Windsor, Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine In March of 2022, Melissa and Christopher Fitzhugh's lives took an unexpected and frightening turn. Their daughter, Heidi, made her grand entrance into the world at just 25 weeks, three full months ahead of schedule. Weighing just 1 pound, 8.7 ounces, Heidi's premature birth was the beginning of an intense, emotional journey for the Fitzhugh family at the University of Vermont Children’s Hospital's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). The NICU, known for its exceptional care and dedication, recently received the prestigious 2023 Press Ganey Human Experience Guardian of Excellence Award. The recognition places the UVM Children’s Hospital among the top 5% of health care providers nationwide for patient experience, underscoring their unwavering commitment to clinical excellence and empathetic patient care.

by Devon Green, VP of Government Relations, Vermont Association of Hospitals & Health Systems Welcome back! In every session, usually around the third week in April, there's a simultaneous head explosion as we all mentally calculate the number of hours in the day and the things that need to get done and realize that it's physically impossible. This year, I'm feeling it in week one. There are some huge ideas impacting health care out there, and not a lot of time. 

Vermont Business Magazine VNAHSR provides training for those interested in becoming hospice volunteers. Training will be held on Friday, January 19 from 8am – 4pm in the Casella Conference Room at the Rutland office, located at 7 Albert Cree Drive. Training is free and open to individuals 16 years of age and older. Volunteers need to pass a background check. No previous hospice and health care experience is required. Pre-registration and proof of COVID-19 vaccination are required. At the VNA & Hospice of the Southwest Region (VNAHSR), volunteers play a critical role in enhancing the end-of-life experiences of people facing serious illness and their families.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Optometric Association (VOA) is dedicated to advancing the field of optometry in the state, working to promote excellence in vision care by advocating for policies that benefit patients, continuing education for practitioners as industry procedures advance and creating opportunities for Vermonters to have greater access to vision care. Recommendations laid out in a 2023 report from the Office of Professional Regulation (OPR) would enable the VOA to continue moving forward with that mission by expanding Vermont optometrists’ scope of practice to include in-office optometric procedures.

Vermont Business Magazine The UVM Medical Center Board of Trustees recently appointed five new trustees, adding individuals with experience in finance and business, elder care and advocacy, health consulting, nursing, pediatric nephrology and women’s health to the 18-member board. As part of the group’s annual reorganization, Trustee Jesse Bridges, MPA, chief executive officer of United Way of Northwest Vermont, was appointed Board chair, and Trustee Alyson “Aly” Richards was appointed Board vice chair. Trustee Thomas Little, Esq., who served as Board chair in 2023, will continue to serve as a member of the group.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Secretary of State’s long-time Director of Elections, Will Senning, has announced he will be leaving that position next month for a new job with the federal government.  Vermont Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas shared the news today along with plans to conduct a nationwide search for Senning’s replacement. Senning has been with the Elections Division of the Secretary of State’s office for more than 12 years, 10 of those as Director. Senning now will become the Region 1 Election Security Advisor for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), a division of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The agency is responsible for cybersecurity and infrastructure protection at all levels of government, and this includes the protection of elections.  

Vermont Business Magazine Green Mountain Power (GMP) is urging customers to plan ahead for damaging back-to-back regional storms that forecasters say will bring high winds, heavy wet snow, and rain across Vermont starting Tuesday. The National Weather Service issued a High Wind Watch for much of Vermont Tuesday evening through Wednesday with possible gusts above 65 MPH. This first storm is forecasted to be followed by a similar severe storm Friday evening through Saturday. In addition to internal GMP crews, GMP has more than doubled its field force with external crews.

Vermont Business Magazine At its December meeting, the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board (VHCB) invested in farm, natural land, and affordable housing projects that increase economic vitality and build strong communities throughout Vermont. Funding was approved to support the creation of 88 units of permanently affordable apartment housing in three Vermont communities through a total investment of $4.76 million, and an additional $1 million investment in funds to support housing developments statewide. The Board also voted to invest $3.2 million in the conservation of 409 acres in ten communities, and $300,000 to advance flood resilience efforts. Among the conservation projects funded was Vermont Outright’s initiative to purchase a summer camp on Lake Sunset, fulfilling its long-held vision to create a permanent gathering space dedicated to LGBTQ+ youth in Vermont and beyond.