Vermont

Agency of Agriculture releases recommendation for hoop house installation at Half Pint Farm and the Intervale Center

April 15, 2008 -- Montpelier, Vt – The Agency of Agriculture released its decision to allow the construction of a hoop house at the Intervale Center and Half Pint Farm. Working collaboratively with the various partners involved including FEMA, the Intervale Center, the farmer, ANR and the city of Burlington, parameters for the construction have been established to ensure that the availability of flood insurance to residents of the city of Burlington is not jeopardized.

Hoop house: Photo by Justin Henry (CC)    » read more »

April 15, 2008 -- Waterbury, VT – Drivers need to be alert and cautious because moose are on the move, according to the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department. Moose are more likely to be crossing roadways at this time, especially after dark or early in the morning as they move from wintering areas to spring feeding locations.

Moose: Photo by Steve Wall (CC)

More moose are hit by motorists in May and June than at any other time of the year. There is smaller peak of activity in September and October, the breeding season for moose.    » read more »

Celebrate Health during National Public Health Week April 7-13

April 10, 2008 -- BURLINGTON – Each year, nearly one in five Vermont children and adolescents (nearly 29,000) will have a diagnosable mental health or addictive disorder, or a co-occurrence of both disorders. Without prevention, early screening and intervention, these problems can become more acute and severe and will take longer to heal.

According to the 2008 Health Status of Vermonters, 32 percent of girls in 10th grade reported being depressed in 2005, a rate for girls that is more than double the adult rate for women between the ages of 18 and 59. Young boys also experience a higher rate of depression than adult men (18 percent of 12th grade boys, 8-to-10 percent of men ages 18-59).    » read more »

WASHINGTON (Tuesday, April 8) -- The members of Vermont’s Congressional Delegation – U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and U.S. Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) -- Tuesday renewed their support for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq and disagreed with Gen. David Petraeus’ call for freezing troop levels in Iraq and for keeping the door open to U.S. involvement in the Iraq conflict for the foreseeable future.

U.S. Army Soldiers from the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team engage anti-Iraqi forces in Buhriz, Iraq, March 14, 2007: The soldiers are conducting their first mission in the Diyala province. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Stacy L. Pearsall)    » read more »

April 07, 2008 -- WATERBURY—The Chester Innkeepers Association is the first Vermont innkeepers association to have all of its members designated as Green Hotels as members of the Vermont Business Environmental Partnership, a state program that recognizes businesses that go the extra step in being environmental stewards.

Quail Hollow Inn, Chester, Vermont    » read more »

Vermont Celebrates Public Health Week April 7-13 with Real-Life Stories, Events

April 04, 2008 -- Montpelier, Vt. — Vermont Governor Jim Douglas and Health Commissioner Sharon Moffatt, RN, MSN released The Health Status of Vermonters, Thursday April 3 — a report by the Vermont Department of Health that tracks progress on key public health measures related to illness and disease, clinical preventive services, health insurance, access to medical care and personal health behaviors.    » read more »

04/02/2008 -- The National League of Cities (NLC) today presented key Senators with the signatures of nearly 400 local officials from 46 states in support of funding for the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program. In a meeting today with Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt), NLC officials displayed 400 energy-efficient light bulbs representing the innovative work already occurring in cities and towns across the country to advance energy conservation.

Senator Bernie Sanders    » read more »

April 2, 2008 - Vermont Attorney General William H. Sorrell announced today Vermont along 16 other states, the District of Columbia, the Corporation Counsel for the City of New York, the City Solicitor of Baltimore, and 11 environmental advocacy groups have asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to order the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to respond to last year’s landmark ruling in Massachusetts v. EPA.    » read more »

State awards $209,000 to preserve historic landmarks on Vermont farms

March 18, 2008 -- WAITSFIELD – Vermont Governor Jim Douglas on Monday announced nearly $209,000 in Historic Preservation Barn Grants that will be awarded to 23 farms to help preserve these iconic structures.

Standing before a barn at the historic Von Trapp Dairy Farm that will receive a new roof courtesy of a $10,000 grant, the Governor noted that the program benefited two of Vermont’s most important industries, agriculture and tourism.    » read more »

Boston, Mass., March 17, 2008 – Nearly $5.4 million in grants and innovative financing are available to Northeastern communities and organizations working to significantly reduce diesel emissions and improve public health.    » read more »

Filings with Vermont's Secretary of State's Office show new business starts lagging in 2007

March 13, 2008 -- Montpelier -- Vermont Secretary of State Deb Markowitz announced today that the number of new businesses registered with her office's Corporations Division during the year 2007 have declined as compared to prior years. As of January 1, 2008, there were registered in Vermont 16,561 Vermont corporations, 8,848 foreign corporations (out-of-state companies doing business in Vermont), 43,143 trade names (sole proprietorships), and 15,641 limited liabilities companies.    » read more »

March 10, 2008 -- MONTPELIER, Vt. – The State of Vermont will be looking to generate some green by being green at an upcoming international environmental technology trade fair and conference in Vancouver.

Representatives of the Vermont Department of Economic Development and the Vermont Global Trade Partnership will be joined by several Vermont companies at GLOBE 2008, a biennial trade fair and conference scheduled for March 12 through 14.    » read more »

Welcome to the inaugural post in our new blog section subtly entitled Crackpot Candidates. This is the place where we'll be posting derisive commentary on the seemingly limitless numbers of somewhat, shall we say, unusual individuals who strive toward the lofty post of elected office, and their often striking political platform planks.    » read more »

WASHINGTON, February 28 – More than one in every 100 American adults is in jail or prison, according to new research on the nation’s surging inmate population. The same study also found that Vermont is one of only five states that spends more money on prisons than on higher education.

“Incredibly, with over 2.3 million Americans behind bars, we now have more people in jail than any other country on Earth,” Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said. “In my view, these sad facts reflect a very distorted set of national priorities.    » read more »

New England continues trend of lower releases to air, land and water

Boston, Mass., Feb. 21, 2008 – EPA’s most recent Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) data is now available for the reporting year of 2006. This year, due to continued increases in electronic reporting by industry, TRI data is available earlier than ever for both local communities and national analysis.    » read more »