By Morgan True, VTDigger.org If hospitals are going to be paid based on keeping the people they serve healthy—one of Vermont’s health care reform goals—they need to invest in primary care services, according to state regulators and hospital executives. That’s difficult when hospital income is still dependent on fee-for-service—billing for each patient visit or procedure—especially…

By Anne Galloway, VTDigger.org The voter turnout for the 2014 primary election was one of the lowest, if not the lowest turnout in history, according to Eric Davis, a retired political science professor from Middlebury College. Just under 40,000 Vermonters went to the polls, or about 8 percent of registered voters. Davis says of that…

Secretary of Transportation Brian Searles reminds candidates for public office and their supporters of the need to comply with Vermont’s sign control law (10 VSA Chapter 21). “The Vermont sign law prohibits off-premises signs within the state highway rights-of-way,” he said. “Every campaign season we have candidates and their supporters, many of them unknowingly, placing…

By John Herrick, VTDigger.org Vermont’s environmental permit review process must be changed, according to a top state regulatory enforcement official. David Mears, commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation, told members of the Associated Industries of Vermont last Tuesday, Aug. 19, that the state must make it easier for developers to apply for environmental permits…

By Laura Krantz, VTDigger.org The number of alleged child abuse or neglect cases filed in courts across Vermont last year grew 21 percent from the year before, according to data from the state. The Department for Children and Families (DCF) attributes the rise to the impact of opiate addiction on child safety. One state prosecutor…

By Hilary Niles, VTDigger.org The state will take public comment on Vermont’s draft Telecommunications Plan Aug. 25-28 at four locations around the state. The Telecommunications Plan is a 10-year policy roadmap for meeting state government’s goals of providing stable and predictable rates for telecom services within a technologically advanced network that reaches all areas of…

By John Herrick, VTDigger.org Vermont electric customers could be on the hook for the cost of out-of-state transmission projects as the result of a federal court decision Friday. The U.S. Court of Appeals – D.C. Circuit upheld an order by federal energy regulators requiring regional planning for transmission projects designed to connect renewable power to…

BROWNINGTON—Curtis Smiley with the Vermont Big Game Trophy Club says a huge bear taken in the 2013 hunting season is the heaviest bear taken in Vermont by bow and arrow since 1898; it is a new record, Vermont Fish and Wildlife announced last week.  Kevin Lamere of Brownington, Vt., shot the bear on Oct. 5,…

By Anne Galloway, VTDigger.org MONTPELIER—A legislative panel has come to an agreement with the Shumlin administration on $31.28 million in cuts to the state budget. Lawmakers approved a rescission that will remove a 1.6 percent increase in Medicaid reimbursements for health care providers, saving the state about $10 million. The 10-member Joint Fiscal Committee initially…

By Anne Galloway and VTDigger staff, VTDigger.org MONTPELIER--Gov. Peter Shumlin on Tuesday, Aug. 12, ousted Agency of Human Services Secretary Doug Racine and replaced him with Health Commissioner Harry Chen. “I felt that Doug Racine had done great things for the agency,” Shumlin said at an unrelated news conference. “It was time for a leadership…

By Anne Galloway, VTDigger.org Sen. Jim Jeffords died Monday morning at the Knollwood Military Retirement Residence in Washington, D.C. He was 80 years old. Jeffords had lived at Knollwood since his wife died of ovarian cancer eight years ago. The Vermont congressman and senator served 32 years in Congress until he retired in 2006 after…

By Tom Brown, VTDigger.org Libertarian candidate for governor Dan Feliciano fell 220 signatures shy of qualifying to appear on the Republican ballot. Now he is appealing to GOP voters to write him in at the polls on primary election day. On Thursday Aug. 7, Feliciano criticized the Shumlin administration’s policies on several issues and faulted…

By Anne Galloway, VTDigger.org The Shumlin administration proposed $31 million in budget cuts for fiscal year 2015 to a panel of lawmakers Monday, Aug. 11. The reduction in state spending is a response to a revised revenue outlook for the coming year. Most of the $31 million in savings is achieved through cuts to external…

VTFMA and NOFA-VT host selfie photo contest With over 70 farmers’ markets in the state, Vermont has good reason to mark National Farmers’ Market Week. From Aug. 3-9, 2014, the Vermont Farmers’ Market Association (VTFMA) and the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont (NOFA-VT) will be joined by the Vermont Agency of Agriculture and farmers’…

By Morgan True Harpoon Brewery recently announced that it would become an employee-owned company starting in August. The Boston-based craft brew maker was founded in 1986 and now has 187 full-time employees, with 26 at its brewing facility in Windsor, making it the 12th-largest craft beer maker in the U.S., according to a news release.…