Monthly Archives: April 2016

Gov. Peter Shumlin announced today new results from five water samples collected near the Pittsford Fire Academy. The results were received as part of the first batch of testing in the State’s effort to proactively investigate 11 additional sites statewide where perfluorocarbons may have been used

Redevelopment would create and preserve hundreds of downtown jobs and homes and completely rebuild and modernize mall’s downtown retail; Agreement commits owner to restoring public streets lost during Urban Renewal, paying construction workers livable wages, developing more than 50 permanently affordable home

A year after establishing a commitment to end family homelessness in Vermont by 2020, Gov. Peter Shumlin today announced a 28 percent decline in homelessness in the last year and issued a new Executive Order to increase access to affordable housing. The Order calls for owners of housing that receive state funds to make available at least 15 percent of their portfolio of housing units to Vermonters experiencing homelessness.

The 49-acre Kaiser Farm is nestled into Stowe’s picturesque Nebraska Valley. Christine Kaiser has farmed there for decades, producing eggs, pork, chicken, and goat milk in the valley’s meadows. Christine has managed her grassland and barnyards with an eye towards water quality because Miller Brook passes through the land. She is now working with Vermont Land Trust (VLT), Stowe Land Trust (SLT), and the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to conserve the farm and make sure the stream is permanently protected.

Our brains process information differently. When making important life decisions, we weigh a few factors deliberately (slowly). But for hundreds of other factors, we must rely on intuitive judgment — and we weigh these unconsciously (quickly). Even if in our slow thinking we work to avoid discrimination, it can easily creep into our fast thinking

Gov. Peter Shumlin today provided an update on the State’s response to the detection of the chemical PFOA in southern Vermont and provided information on additional testing that will be conducted around the state. These additional tests are not a result of specific concerns for drinking water safety. Rather, they are being conducted at sites where the State believes PFOA may have been used in certain manufacturing processes

Gov. Peter Shumlin, House Speaker Shap Smith, and Senate President Pro Tem John Campbell today announced the formation of the Vermont Hydropower Working Group, which will assess the partial or full acquisition of hydropower assets on the Connecticut and Deerfield Rivers currently for sale by TransCanada. The Working Group will thoroughly but expeditiously consider the potential acquisition of these assets in the coming weeks

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Representative Peter Welch (D-Vt.) Friday joined 205 other current and former members of Congress in filing an amicus brief supporting the Clean Power Plan (CPP), which would protect public health and create jobs by setting the first-ever carbon pollution standards for power plants, the nation’s largest source of greenhouse gasses.  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is considering a challenge to the Clean Power Plan in West Virginia et al. v. Environmental Protection Agency