Current News

Vermont Business Magazine US Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont) this week led his colleagues in urging Congress to support and fund the Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing (PRO Housing) program in the upcoming Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) Appropriations Act. The PRO Housing program directly assists state and local governments’ efforts to incentivize inclusive housing policies. These grants encourage eligible organizations to identify barriers that hinder the development of affordable housing, and implement plans to lower housing prices. In FY24, Congress appropriated HUD $100 million for competitive awards to states, local governments, metropolitan planning organizations, and multi-jurisdictional entities. In FY23, over 180 entities applied for PRO Housing awards. Given the overwhelming demand for the program, maintaining funding of at least $100 million in FY25 will enable HUD to serve a wide array of communities.  

Vermont Business Magazine The Attorney General’s Office announced that Wentworth C. Comes, Jr., 83, of Hancock, Vermont, was arraigned today on three felony counts of Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material and two misdemeanor counts of Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Materials. The charges brought against Mr. Comes are the result of a criminal investigation 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, and Randolph Police Department.

Vermont State Police The Washington County State’s Attorney’s Office has filed an additional charge of involuntary manslaughter against Satnam Singh, 24, of Brampton, Ontario, arising from this incident. He is expected to be arraigned on the new charge at 1 p.m. Wednesday, May 22, in the Criminal Division of Vermont Superior Court in Barre. Singh remains jailed for lack of bail. On April 11, 2024, at approximately 0646 hours, Troopers from the Berlin Barracks and Fatal Crash Reconstruction Team and Department of Motor Vehicles responded to a two vehicle crash on Route 100 in Moretown. Upon arrival, both vehicles were located at an uncontrolled position off the east side of Route 100. The operator of the Subaru was pronounced dead at the scene and the sole occupant of the vehicle. 

Vermont Agency of Transportation This weekly report is a list of planned construction activities that will impact traffic on state highways and interstates throughout Vermont for the Week of 5/20/24. Please remember to drive safely in all work zones. Lives depend on it.

Vermont Business Magazine On a brilliant Sunday, May 19, the University of Vermont Class of 2024 celebrated the culmination of four extraordinary years of accomplishment at the university’s 223rd commencement, held in front of an overflow crowd of parents, relatives, friends, and other well-wishers on the historic University Green in Burlington. The path to this day for the entire Class of 2024 had its own unique twist and turns–not all of them welcome. Four years ago, in the spring of 2020, as they made their plans to come to UVM and prepared for their high school graduations, a worldwide pandemic suddenly locked down daily life. Instead of inspiring celebrations with friends and family, this class had to make do with graduations over Zoom, or distant drive-by recognitions in parking lots or, in many cases, no ceremony at all.

Vermont Business Magazine After 14 years of service in the Vermont Legislature, Senator Brian Campion (D-Bennington) announced he will not seek re-election. Campion was first elected to the Vermont House of Representatives in 2010, where he served two terms, and then to the Vermont Senate in 2014.  Campion has served as chair of the Senate Committee on Education since 2021. During his tenure, he has also served as chair of the Senate Committee on Ethics, vice chair of the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and as a member of the Senate Committees on Finance and on Agriculture. 

Vermont Business Magazine At its May meeting, the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board (VHCB) approved $2,930,630 in funding for seven conservation projects that will protect 1,682 acres in five counties, and $32,843,765 to support seven housing projects in six counties around the state. The awards for housing developments will enable the construction of permanently affordable rental homes for individuals, families, older residents, and households experiencing homelessness, in addition to providing project capacity funds for outreach activities to expand Champlain Housing Trust’s (CHT) Homeownership Equity Program Down Payment Assistance statewide.

Vermont Business Magazine Average gasoline prices in Vermont are $3.60/g, down 1.1 cents per gallon from last week's $3.61/g. The lowest price in the state yesterday was $3.39/g while the highest was $3.84/g, a difference of 45.0 cents per gallon. The national average price of gasoline has fallen 3.5 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.55/g today. The national average is down 12.0 cents per gallon from a month ago and stands 2.2 cents per gallon higher than a year ago.

Vermont Business Magazine The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has announced seven grants totaling $1,113,735 to Vermont arts and cultural organizations, including the Vermont Arts Council, which has been approved for an $973,735 NEA FY 2024 partnership agreement to deliver arts programs, services, and activities throughout Vermont. The Vermont awards are part of more than $110 million in recommended NEA grants to organizations in all 50 states and US jurisdictions.

Vermont Business Magazine Surgery to remove malignant melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, is often lifesaving. But cutting away both the melanoma and up to four centimeters of the skin around it, which could harbor cancer cells, may cause long-term pain and scarring in patients. A clinical trial at the UVM Cancer Center, currently enrolling volunteers, asks the question: Would reducing the amount of skin removed around the melanoma improve patients’ post-surgery quality of life without increasing the risk of melanoma returning?

Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets This year's Open Farm Week is set for August 4th-11th. Join us as we celebrate the 10th anniversary of this cherished Vermont tradition! Register your farm now to get in on the fun! For a whole decade, farmers have been throwing open their barn doors and inviting Vermonters and visitors alike to experience the magic of Vermont’s farming heritage. It's been a decade of sharing stories, savoring flavors, and celebrating the hard work of our farming community. Open Farm Week is all about connecting people with the roots of their food—introducing them to the farms and the fabulous farmers who make it all happen. From cozy on-farm dinners to hands-on workshops and captivating tours, there's something special happening at every participating farm.

by Joyce Marcel, Vermont Business Magazine “We have a super-complex, nuanced and nerdy business,“ says Fluency CEO Mike Lane. “But we’re building a great business. That is really the goal here.“ Fluency Inc. is a privately held, self-funded, successful and still-growing company founded in Burlington in 2017 by former executives from Dealer.com. The company automates digital advertising for large clients, who then place their ads with large global companies like Google and Meta (parent of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp). As a co-founder of Dealer.com, Lane probably became a very wealthy man. But instead of sailing around the world on a private yacht, drinking cocktails and draping diamonds on supermodels, he, along with his close friend Eric Mayhew, Dealer.com’s senior director of advertising products; Brian McVey, Dealer.com’s former account executive; and Scott Gale, the company’s former software engineer, started Fluency.