Vermont Fish & Wildlife Join the Vermont Wild Kitchen via Facebook Live with Ali Thomas and Charlee Drury of Vermont Fish & Wildlife and Kate Spring of Good Heart Farmstead L3C where they will demonstrate some easy and delicious recipes that can be cooked right from the home kitchen. On the menu? Smelt! Also, a free, public walk of a forest management project being implemented at the Hinesburg Town Forest (HTF). And registration is open for Green Mountain Conservation Camps.

Vermont Business Magazine The Agency of Education and the Department of Health announced today new “Test at Home” guidance about testing and quarantine protocols at Vermont’s K-12 schools. These changes, which go into effect as soon as schools have the tests necessary to implement them, are designed to allow students and staff to remain safely in the classroom as much as possible. This program replaces the in-school Test to Stay program for presumptive close contacts of positive COVID-19 cases with an “at-home” based rapid testing process. State officials said the speed at which the Omicron variant spreads means that the current strategy -- which relies on contact tracing, in-school PCR surveillance testing, and in-school antigen testing -- is too slow and logistically burdensome to be workable for many schools.

Vermont Business Magazine On January 14, Governor Scott signed S.172, An act relating to authorizing alternative procedures for 2022 annual municipal meetings in response to COVID-19. Scot said in part: "Today, I signed S. 172, An act relating to authorizing alternative procedures for 2022 annual municipal meetings in response to COVID-19 because I believe public concerns regarding large gatherings may discourage some who would otherwise participate in Town Meetings and alternative arrangements will help increase voter turnout. Unfortunately, the Legislature has missed another opportunity to expand voter access further by expanding automatic mailing of ballots beyond general elections (Act 60) to include school budget votes, local elections and primary elections. Last year after signing Act 60 into law, I asked the Legislature to take this up when they returned in January, and if passed could be a model for the country."

​Vermont Business Magazine The Attorney General’s Office announced today that Allen Zeiner, 59, of Fayston, Vermont, was arraigned on January 13, 2022, on six felony counts of Promoting a Recording of Sexual Conduct. The charges brought against Zeiner are the result of a criminal investigation – including the execution of residential and online data search warrants – conducted by the Vermont Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (VT-ICAC), including personnel from the Attorney General’s Office, Homeland Security Investigations, Vermont State Police, Burlington Police Department, and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

Vermont Business Magazine Waitsfield and Champlain Valley Telecom (WCVT) plans to convert all remaining Bolton residents in its service area to fiber-optics in 2022. This was made possible in part by the Town of Bolton which has committed more than half of their American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding to help expand fiber-optic broadband to more residents through a public-private partnership with WCVT. Approximately $200,000 in town ARPA funds are being committed to this project as well as a request of matching grant funds from the State of Vermont to build fiber-optics to approximately 440 additional homes.