Current News

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Average gasoline prices in Vermont are $4.34 per gallon, down 9 cents per gallon from last week, down 19 cents/g from last month and up $1.28/g from this time last year, according to AAA. The lowest price in the state this week was $4.06/g while the highest was $4.69/g. Gas prices remain higher than since the summer of 2022. The national average price of gasoline has fallen 12 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $4.12/g today. 

Vermont Business Magazine The City of Burlington has settled a civil rights lawsuit filed on behalf of a teenage resident (referenced in court filings as “J.A.”) over discriminatory and unconstitutional treatment by City officials, with the City agreeing to pay $150,000 to resolve the case. This case stems from an encounter in which Burlington police and paramedics needlessly escalated an interaction with J.A., used excessive force, injected him with ketamine, and forcibly removed him from his bedroom and home. J.A., a Black teenager with a documented history of complex trauma and behavioral and intellectual disabilities, was 14 years old at the time of the incident.

Vermont Business Magazine Two-thirds of children in Vermont are at risk of hunger, according to a new report from Hunger Free Vermont. The report, titled “Creating a Food Secure Future for All Vermont’s Children by 2035” was released this year by Hunger Free Vermont in collaboration with Vermont Foodbank and Feeding Champlain Valley. In 2025, approximately 79,000 Vermont children, about ⅔ of all kids in the state, were at risk of hunger because they live in households not able to afford all their basic needs. In collaboration with nearly 100 stakeholders, Hunger Free Vermont identified the following 14 strategies as central levers for creating a food secure future for all Vermont's children.

Vermont Business Magazine Rural Vermont has a constant presence at Vermont State University (VTSU), where four of its five campuses are located on the hilltops and vistas around smaller Vermont towns. And, the Vermont Rural Learning Collective (VRLC) is housed within the university’s Academic Support and Educational Opportunity Programs. Its goal is to support AmeriCorps members with a living allowance and professional development through a $386,780 grant from SerVermont for the 2025–2026 program year.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation is now accepting applications for the Advanced Wood Heating Assistance program. Funded by a $300,000 USDA Forest Service Wood Innovations grant, the program provides partial funding for municipalities to install or upgrade advanced wood heating systems. Vermont municipal buildings, including town office buildings, town garages, schools, and grange halls, are eligible to apply for funding. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) invites the public to view the latest round of updates to the state wetland maps in over 100 towns, within the counties of Addison, Bennington, Orleans, Essex, Caledonia, Rutland, Chittenden, Lamoille, and Frankin. The draft maps show the approximate location and shape of existing wetlands where previous mapping had been absent or inaccurate.

Vermont Business Magazine With the beginning of summer and anglers fishing from shore, the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department reminds people that open fires and swimming are prohibited at all Vermont state fishing access areas. Open fires and their remnants, create unsafe areas for other anglers and boaters to use and enjoy.  The remnants of these fires are also unhealthy for the animals and fish that live in the adjacent waters.  Fish and Wildlife cleans up the toxic waste left by open fires on state lands annually at considerable expense. Swimming at fishing access areas is prohibited due to safety concerns and because the primary uses of the fishing access areas are for launching and retrieving motorboats and for shore fishing.

Vermont Business Magazine U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont), Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Rural Development, Energy, and Credit, today pressed U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins about the Department’s progress in delivering over $62 million in disaster aid relief to Vermont communities impacted by devastating floods in July of 2023 and 2024. During his questioning, Secretary Rollins confirmed that $31.7 million in disaster aid block grant funding was approved for deployment to Vermont imminently.  

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General Charity Clark today joined a coalition of 20 attorneys general in suing the Trump administration over the addition of new terms to federal contracts that – in the name of purging “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) from federal contracting – impose unclear and confusing requirements on contractors that may violate antidiscrimination policies that contractors have followed for decades, and threaten severe penalties on federal contractors without adequate notice of what is prohibited.

Vermont Business Magazine U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont) has announced the delivery of $4,042,993 in federal disaster recovery funding, administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). This funding was awarded to the Vermont Studio Center, the Vermont Agency for Transportation (VTrans), and the Washington Electric Cooperative to support recovery, restoration, and mitigation efforts following the floods of July 2023 and 2024.

by Mike Donoghue, Vermont News First Four people, including a career criminal, were arrested during a drug raid at 501 Pleasant Street in Newport City on Tuesday, police said. Jennifer L. Sanville, 40, and Matthew R. Prue, 46, were both lodged at the Northern State Correctional Facility in Newport on charges from the drug raid and on some unrelated criminal counts, Newport Police said. Sanville, with a long court record, is facing two unrelated charges of being a habitual offender with each count carrying a possible life sentence, records show. City Police arrested Prue and Sanville on charges of sale of cocaine, trafficking fentanyl, possession of cocaine, and possession of narcotic drugs as part of a significant one-month drug investigation in Newport Police Chief Travis Bingham told Vermont News First.

Vermont Business Magazine Twenty child care programs across Vermont will receive a total of $264,500 through the latest round of Make Way for Kids (MWFK) Infant and Toddler Capacity Building Grants, supporting projects that will open new programs, expand existing capacity, and preserve critical child care services for Vermont families. Funded by the Vermont Department for Children and Families Child Development Division and administered by First Children's Finance Vermont, the grants support projects in 10 counties and reflect the many ways communities are working to strengthen Vermont's child care system.