By Kirk Carapezza Jeff Wheel, the owner of Advance Music Center in Burlington, says December marked the first holiday season where customers would come in and take pictures of the electric and acoustic guitars, keyboards and pianos that he sells. The would-be customers then walked out to compare prices on websites, where they could avoid [...]
VPR News Blog
From Vermont Public Radio
January
31 2013
Waitsfield Seeks Bond to Build Town Offices
By Amy Kolb Noyes On Town Meeting Day in Waitsfield, voters will decide whether to bond up to $1.6 million to build a town office building. The town offices are currently housed below the town library, on Bridge Street. If the bond passes, the town would purchase a lot on Route 100 where it would [...]
January
31 2013
St. Albans Town Meeting to Vote on Charter
By Amy Kolb Noyes Town Meeting Day voters in St. Albans will be asked to adopt a town charter change allowing the town to collect a local option tax. A 1 percent tax would be enacted on sales, meals, alcohol or rooms. The proposed charter change would also authorize the select board to appoint members [...]
January
31 2013
Republicans Resist Move Toward Single Payer Health Plan
By Kirk Carapezza House Republican leaders continue to resist the state’s slow move toward a single payer health care system. The Republican caucus on Thursday charged the Shumlin administration with failing to comply with the state’s health care reform law. House minority leader Don Turner, R-Milton, said a report commissioned by the Shumlin administration and [...]
January
30 2013
Montpelier on Ice Jam Watch
By Amy Noyes With rain in the forecast through Thursday night, the City of Montpelier is warning residents of possible river ice jams. “Currently there is no jam and no threat of flooding,” Montpelier posted on the City website today. “However, the city continues to monitor the river and weather forecasts and will continue to [...]
January
30 2013
Marijuana Dispensary Proposed in Brandon
By Amy Noyes The Brandon Development Review Board will hold a hearing next month on an application to convert a factory into a medical marijuana dispensary. The property received a conditional use permit from the town for light manufacturing use in April 2008. The current request before the DRB seeks a change of use to [...]
January
30 2013
McKibben to Lawmakers: Act Now On Climate Change
By Kirk Carapezza Environmentalist and author Bill McKibben addressed members of the Legislature from the podium of the House on Wednesday, urging them to pass legislation during this biennium that might combat climate change in Vermont – and elsewhere. McKibben used his speech to admonish lawmakers that climate change and global warming – and how [...]
January
30 2013
Cabot Considers Closing High School
Voters in Cabot are being asked to decide whether to close the town’s small high school and offer school choice for ninth through twelfth graders. The question is on the warning for the annual Cabot School District meeting. That meeting will be held at 6:00 p.m on Monday, March 4, the evening prior to Town [...]
January
30 2013
As Lawmakers Take Up Climate Change, Businesses Say They Are Part Of Solution
By Kirk Carapezza As lawmakers turn their attention to climate change this week, business leaders and farmers were at the Statehouse Wednesday morning to talk about how it affects their operations and their bottom lines. Joe Fusco, the vice president of Casella Waste Systems, said the solid waste company sees climate change as part of [...]
January
30 2013
Vermonters’ Savings Rate Tops Nation
NPR reports on a study by the Corporation For Enterprise Development that indicates 44 percent of Americans live on the financial edge, without enough money in savings to stay out of poverty if they were without work for more than three months. A state-by-state breakdown shows Vermonters are actually doing better than anyone else in [...]
Supported By
Kirk Carapezza, Vermont Legislature
Kirk blogs from the statehouse as part of VPR's news team in the capital. Follow Kirk on Twitter @kirkcarapezza and on VPR.net.
Vermont Legislature
Steve Zind, The Vermont Economy
Senior Reporter Steve Zind reports on the impact of jobs and the economy on Vermont. Follow Steve on Twitter and his reporting on The Vermont Economy at VPR.net.
The Vermont Economy
Amy Noyes, Public Post
Amy Kolb Noyes is VPR's Public Post reporter, using Vermont city and town government documents to source and research news stories and trends. Follow Amy on Twitter and at Public Post.