Kevin Kelley

 The Vermont Student Assistance Corporation is facing an existential threat stemming from a new law that ends its function as a funnel for federal loans.

Tax credits and other incentives are spurring a solar-energy boom in Vermont, with more than half-a-dozen commercial projects underway or nearing construction in various parts of the state. Even with this spate of development, however, solar will account for only a tiny fraction of Vermont's electricity supply. But the sprouting of solar farms does point to a future in which this type of renewable energy might play a significant role in a state not noted for brilliant sunshine.

Vermont utilities’ pending 26-year power deal with Hydro Quebec looks likely to proceed, given the absence of opposition from environmental groups in the state. That position of at least tacit acceptance contrasts with the protests heard in the 1980s when HQ was negotiating a contract with Central Vermont Public Service and Green Mountain Power. That agreement was ultimately approved, but Burlington voters rejected a similar deal due to concerns about the impact of HQ’s dams on native peoples and the environment of northern Quebec.

With the exception of Middlebury College, none of Vermont’s higher education institutions ranks as “highly selective,” so all must aggressively market themselves in order to lure paying customers.

Grand Isle County's small economy rests, somewhat precariously, on three legs: tourism, agriculture and residential real estate. The first is faring well, the second is characterized by both high ambitions and an embarrassing scandal, and the third is moribund, at least for now. Conditions in the Champlain Islands in mid-2010 are thus inspiring a mixture of optimism and despondency.

Chittenden County's economic prospects are far from untroubled, but as the recession grinds on in many places around the country, the Burlington area's problems appear mild by comparison. “Chittenden County continues to lead New England in lowest unemployment rates, foreclosures, and the depreciation rate of homes,” Ernest Pomerleau, CEO of Pomerleau Real Estate, pointed out. “Our commercial vacancy rates, although higher than normal, are well below the region's averages,” he added.

Despite an agreement to begin shutting down the composting operation in Burlington's Intervale next month, truckloads of organic wastes could still be arriving at the site nearly a year from now under a proposal by the project's owner, the Chittenden Solid Waste District.

Vermont Law School is proud to proclaim that its environmental law program has again been ranked as the best in the country by US News & World Report. It's the 13th time in the past 19 years that the school has won that designation; its environmental program was ranked second on the other six occasions. “The caliber of the professors is the best thing about the program,” says Linda Kelly, a student working toward a master's degree in environmental law and policy on the South Royalton campus.

Enabling employees to lose weight, many companies now know, can be a big money-saver in the form of higher productivity, reduced absenteeism and lower costs for health insurance and workers' compensation. And with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reporting that two-thirds of US adults are either obese or overweight, there's clearly an enormous need for effective ways to shed that excess tonnage. But with so many diet plans to choose from, how's an HR manager to decide which works best?

With the second-lowest unemployment rate in Vermont, Windham County might seem to be enjoying a comparatively smooth ride through an especially rocky recession. But that's not really true, says Jeffrey Lewis, director of the Brattleboro Development Credit Corp.