John Kleinhans, President of the Student Government Association at Lyndon State College, is a young man with his eye on the national political stage.

John entered politics at the precocious age of seven by campaigning for his father’s run for councilman in his hometown of Vernon, Conn. The issue that sparked his father’s passion? The failure of local schools to supply crayons to kindergartners.

A Vermont jeweler announces the launch of Sandra Bomhower Jewelry, custom

design jewelry in gold and silver featuring diamonds, drusy, and a huge

selection of colorful stones, including local beach glass and beach

pebbles. The effect is elegant jewelry with an Asian feel.

“I let the stones guide the design; it always starts with the stone,”

says Bomhower.

Bomhower favors drusy, a sparkly gemstone formation, and plays with

contrasting stone textures. She pairs lustrous pearls with dark water-worn

A Rutland, Vt., man won an online essay contest sponsored by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who asked Vermonters for ideas on ways to reduce the $13.8 trillion national debt in a fair and sensible way.

Joseph D. Lisaius, President of Lisaius Marketing, announced that Ryan Hayes has recently accepted a full-time position as a graphic designer with the company.

Prior to joining Lisaius Marketing, Ryan most recently worked as a graphic designer at the weekly Vermont publication, Seven Days. He previously worked at the Burlington Free Press, after honing his skills with a design studio in Nashville. You can catch Hayes around town on weekends, on the drums, with local musicians, Erin McDermott and The Porters.

KeyBank announces the addition of Chris Jarvis to its Vermont Retail Banking team. Jarvis was named Vice President and Manager of KeyBank’s Taft Corner branch in Williston.

Prior to joining Key, Jarvis spent 16 years with Merchants Bank, most recently as a Branch President and a Corporate Banking Officer. He also served as a trustee on the Merchants Bank Foundation.

While most of her fellow St. Johnsbury Academy students spend their February vacation relaxing, senior Molly Cantore of St. Johnsbury plans to be working as a volunteer rebuilding Lafayette, Louisiana homes destroyed five years ago by Hurricane Katrina.

Cantore doesn’t plan to be working alone, however. She’s also recruiting other Academy students and adults for the project, which would include joining ongoing home reconstruction efforts led by the nationwide Habitat For Humanity organization.

The Vermont E9-1-1 Board, which oversees the state’s emergency communications system, has announced the selection of David Tucker to serve as Executive Director starting on January 7th. Tucker is currently the Commissioner of the Department of Information and Innovation. He began at DII as Deputy Commissioner in 2005.