Latest Vermont Headlines

All the headlines from our Vermont Topic Page, ordered by recency.

IRS Tax Code Change Called Threat to Captive Insurance States

Feb 20 2008 // U.S. Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., is asking the U.S. Treasury to block a pending tax code change seen by some as a threat to Vermont’s captive insurance industry.Welch and three Democratic colleagues from states that...

Vermont Firefighters Join Campaign for Photoelectric Smoke Detectors

Feb 11 2008 // When a fire killed a Barre, Vermont mother and four children in 2005, there was something peculiar: As firetrucks arrived, the apartment was full of smoke and had a working smoke detector, but it wasn’t sounding its...

Vermont Captive Leader Crouse to Retire

Feb 10 2008 // Leonard Crouse, Vermont deputy commissioner of captive insurance and a fixture in the state’s captive insurance industry for 18 years, has announced his plans to retire effective June 1.For more than 30 years Crouse...

Court Asked to Decide Beneficiary in Vt. Case of Murdered Father

Jan 30 2008 // An insurance company holding a life insurance policy on a Vermont man who was shot to death — allegedly by his own son — wants a court to decide who gets the $150,000.Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. asked U.S....

Welch Joins Vermont Mutual as Commercial Lines Underwriter

Jan 25 2008 // Michael P. Welch recently joined Vermont Mutual Insurance Group in Montpelier as a commercial lines underwriter. Welch spent the past 11 years with Underwriters Agency of New England as assistant vice president of...

Supreme Court to Review $6.8M Vt. Verdict Against Drug Maker

Jan 23 2008 // A drug manufacturer won Supreme Court review last week of a $6.8 million verdict in the case of a woman whose arm had to be amputated after she was injected with one of its medications.A jury in Vermont awarded the money...

Vermont Captive Insurance Leader Crouse to Retire

Jan 22 2008 // Leonard Crouse, Vermont deputy commissioner of Captive Insurance and a fixture in the state’s captive insurance industry for 18 years, has announced his plans to retire effective June 1.For more than 30 years Crouse...

Vermont Rethinks Law Curbing Drug Firms’ Use of Prescription Data

Jan 17 2008 // A new Vermont law restricting the drug industry’s use of data on doctors’ drug prescribing habits is facing a federal lawsuit and a new round of scrutiny.The law, which was amended in the waning days of last...

Judge Rules Vt. Statute of Limitations Not a Defense for Diocese

Jan 7 2008 // A Superior Court judge has overturned a jury ruling that Vermont’s Roman Catholic Diocese isn’t liable for a pedophile priest because a victim’s lawsuit was filed after the statute of limitations had...

Vermont Records Fewer Highway Deaths

Dec 28 2007 // Vermont is on track to post a decrease in traffic deaths in 2007.As of mid-December, 66 people had died on Vermont highways, compared with 87 in 2006 and 73 in 2005, according to the Governor’s Highway Safety...

Uninsured Drivers in Vermont Could Face Increased Fines

Dec 27 2007 // Uninsured drivers would face $500 fines under a bill that Vermont lawmakers plan to consider in their upcoming session.State Sen. Richard Sears, D-Bennington, said he has heard many complaints from people who have been...

Suspended Vermont Doctor Faces 21 Counts of Unprofessional Conduct

Dec 13 2007 // A former Burlington, Vt. eye doctor who beat federal fraud charges for performing allegedly unnecessary cataract surgeries has lost his latest battle, with a finding by the state Board of Medical Practice that he engaged...

Vt. Fatal Crash Spotlights Dangers with Ambulance Services

Dec 5 2007 // An ambulance crash that killed a passenger and seriously injured an emergency medical technician last week in Vermont spotlights two major concerns in many serious ambulance crashes: questionable driving and hazardous...

Security of Vermont’s Enhanced Drivers’ License Questioned

Nov 6 2007 // The technology planned for an enhanced drivers’ license system that will allow Vermonters to return to the United States from Canada without a passport is insecure and a threat to privacy, according to some computer...

Vt. Gets Funds to Fight Internet Crimes

Oct 24 2007 // Vermont law enforcement agencies fighting Internet crimes against children are getting some help from the federal government.U.S. Attorney Tom Anderson says the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force will receive a...

Vermont Official Says Sprinkler System Saved Historic Complex

Oct 18 2007 // A sprinkler system is being credited with extinguishing an arson fire in the basement of the historic, downtown Gates-Briggs Building in dowtown White River Junction, Vermont.The building is home to dozens of businesses...

Captive Insurance Industry Fears IRS Rule Change on Reserves

Oct 17 2007 // Captive insurance industry insiders say proposed changes to Internal Revenue Service rules could hurt the industry that in Vermont alone supports 1,400 high-paying jobs.The IRS rules would end the deductible status of...

Vermont Landlord, Painters Faulted for Lead Paint

Oct 11 2007 // Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell said this week that a Newport couple who own rental properties will spend $150,000 to mitigate lead paint problems in their properties and make an additional $15,000 in payments to...

People

Sep 24 2007 // The National Association of Professional Surplus Lines Offices has named its officers and directors for the 2007-2008 term. The new NAPSLO president is Mary Ellen Rozzell, who is with Continental/Marmorstein & Malone...

Vermonters Told Regular Tree Pruning Helps Reduce Storm Damage

Sep 11 2007 // When a sudden storm whipped through Brookfield, Vermont two weeks ago, it wreaked havoc. Chunks of century-old maples were ripped down, felling power lines and leaving piles of debris across roads.“We’ve been...