Vermont Agency of Transportation This weekly report is a list of planned construction activities that will have traffic impacts on state highways throughout Vermont. Most crews will cease work at noon on Friday, July 1st in observance of the Independence Day holiday weekend. Please remember to drive safely in all work zones. Lives depend on it.
Vermont Business Magazine This afternoon, Lieutenant Governor Molly Gray issued the following statement in response to vandalism and threats at the Vermont State House following yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling: “As Vermont Capitol Police reported this morning, the Vermont State House was vandalized last night. The unknown vandals broke seven windows across the front of the building, including my office window. They also spray-painted the front portico, stating, 'if abortions aren’t safe, you’re not either'."
Vermont Business Magazine Employees of Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC) collected more than 110,000 COVID specimens at the COVID Resource Center (CRC) since January 2021. Clinical staff worked outdoors in inclement weather. Staff members throughout the organization spent time beyond their regular professional commitments to support the effort. Lab technicians worked overtime to deliver results. As the number of COVID-19 cases continues to decrease and the supply of rapid antigen tests has stabilized, the need for PCR testing has declined dramatically. Federal funding for centralized testing has ceased. In addition, most workplaces and travel destinations no longer require PCR testing. As a result, SVHC will discontinue offering PCR tests at the CRC at noon on Friday, July 1.
Vermont Research News Societies, cultures, and thoughts are powered, defined, and limited by language. A new study analyzes the success of a Vermont school which taught the Abenaki language to non-indigenous students in 4th and 5th grade classrooms in helping these students learn about and challenge colonialism and the social injustice of climate change impacts. The scholars conducted a series of semi-structured interviews and examined materials like lesson plans and parent handbooks. They found that the effort to de-center colonial or extractive conceptions of land use conflicted with the content and structure of other classes that the students were taking.
Vermont Business Magazine Senator Patrick Leahy: "Today’s opinion from a narrow majority of the Court is not the end of abortion. It is the end of a woman’s right to safe reproductive health care. It is the end of women’s choice. It sets us back. It does not move us forward. What message does this send to women? That their choice — that their right to govern their bodies — doesn’t matter? That politicians know better?"
Vermont Business Magazine The Federal Emergency Management Agency will be sending nearly $1.5 million to the State of Vermont to reimburse the costs of providing emergency meals for residents in need during the COVID-19 pandemic. The $1,497,525 Public Assistance grant will go to the Agency of Commerce and Community Development for providing meal preparation and delivery service to high-risk populations under the state’s emergency feeding program “Vermont Everyone Eats” between February and March 2022.
Vermont Business Magazine Over 200 business-minded community members gathered at Hula on Tuesday to support LaunchVT’s 2022 cohort at Demo Night, the program’s annual pitch night and celebration of entrepreneurship. The 2022 cohort pitched their businesses to the audience and a panel of investor judges, including Bridget Croke, John Howard, and Matthew Upton. Two businesses walked away with cash awards and all seven will receive professional services from local businesses worth over $100,000. Demo Night marks the end of LaunchVT’s annual 10-week intensive accelerator program where entrepreneurs in the cohort work with dedicated business coaches and strategic advisors to address their startup’s most pressing needs, including refining their business models, developing their go-to market strategies, and preparing for future fundraising and investment.
Vermont Business Magazine A diverse coalition of Vermont health care organizations denounces the Supreme Court opinion which overturns both Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. The group includes the state's largest hospital system (University of Vermont Health Network) and the largest health insurer (Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont), as well as provider organizations and advocates.
Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Manufacturing Extension Center (VMEC) is pleased to announce the appointment of Patrick Boyle as its next Center Director and CEO. Patrick is based at VMEC’s office on the Vermont Technical College (VTC) campus in Randolph Center. He is responsible for leading the VMEC team in their mission to strengthen and grow Vermont’s manufacturing sector, and is the focal point for the Center’s collaboration with Vermont, regional, and federal stakeholders and partners.
Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Labor has announced that effective July 1, 2022, employer unemployment insurance (UI) contributions, or taxes, will decrease as the UI tax schedule moves from Schedule III to Schedule I. This change is part of an annual statutory calculation performed by the Department of Labor’s Economic and Labor Market Information Division. In addition, taxable employers will receive additional relief in January 2023 when the UI taxable wage base (TWB) decreases by $2,000. Effective January 1, 2023, the TWB will decrease from its current level of $15,500 to $13,500. Employers will pay UI taxes on the first $13,500 an employee makes in a calendar year. The last time the taxable wage base was near this level was in 2011 when it was set at $13,000.
Vermont Business Magazine Construction on the Champlain Parkway – after 35 years since initial site work was halted – has now resumed. This week, site preparation has begun. Following the federal judge’s ruling Friday, June 17 to lift the temporary restraining order on the Champlain Parkway, construction activities on the Champlain Parkway Project began on Tuesday. The Court gave the go-ahead to start construction while the legal challenge is pending. The City hopes to agree on a schedule resolving that legal challenge before the next construction season.
Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health reported June 22 that COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to decline and are considered "Low." Levels are at their lowest since a surge in cases that began last August. Deaths attributed to COVID-19 stand at 682. There have been 10 deaths in June attributed to COVID so far after 32 in May. May saw an increase in fatalities from April and March. Vermonters are reminded that all state COVID testing sites will close by Saturday, June 25. PCR and take home tests will be available until then and also through doctors' offices, pharmacies and via mail from the federal government.