Douglas urges special session of Safe Communities legislation
Douglas urges special session over Safe Communities legislation(July 21, 2008) Official Statement of Governor Douglas on a Special Session and Senate Hearings on Safe Communities Legislation:I met this afternoon with Senator Shumlin and Speaker Symington to urge them to support a special session to pass a civil confinement law to prevent the release of violent sexual predators, an expanded sex offender registry to empower parents with more information and a Jessica’s Law for Vermont to ensure convicted pedophiles are off our streets and behind bars for a very long time.We should take immediate action in these areas. Unfortunately, progress is impeded by a lack of support from Speaker Symington and Senator Shumlin.Speaker Symington and Senator Shumlin believe our response should be limited to the details of Brooke Bennett’s case. On the other hand, I believe our response should be about preventing future cases in every way possible-including taking immediate action where it is necessary and appropriate.I agree that we must learn from the tragedy of Brooke Bennett’s death, there is much we must do to prevent those horrible circumstances from occurring again. That is why my administration will work with Senator Sears to advance a comprehensive package of reforms when the Legislature returns in January. While our thoughtful bipartisan review takes place, however, we should also take immediate steps to protect our communities from violent, sexual predators.While civil confinement, an expanded sex offender registry and a Jessica’s Law may not have prevented Brooke’s death, each of these reforms would prevent future crimes against children. That alone should be enough reason for Speaker Symington and Senator Shumlin to support a special session. I had hoped that they would be willing to join with me to pass these reforms in the same spirit of bipartisanship with which my administration has embraced Senator Sears’ process.Our meeting today made it very clear that they oppose civil confinement, a meaningful sex offender registry and a Jessica’s Law for Vermont.I want Vermonters to know that I have heard them loud and clear. I will continue to fight for civil confinement so we can keep dangerous predators off our streets and away from our kids. I will continue to insist on an expanded registry so that parents will know where convicted sex offenders live and where they work. And I will push for a Jessica’s Law for Vermont so that those who harm are children are removed from our communities for very long periods of time.###
SBE Inc (dba SB Electronics) has officially broken ground on its new high‐volume manufacturing facility in Barre Town. Event speakers included Governor Jim Douglas, Lieutenant Governor Brian Dubie, Representative Peter Welch, the US Assistant Secretary of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Cathy Zoi and Susan “Sam” Matthews, Executive Vice President of the Central Vermont Economic Development Corporation. Earlier in the year, SBE Inc won a matching grant of $9.1 million as the major piece of funding for an $18 million project under the US Department of Energy’s Electrical Drive Vehicle Battery and Component Manufacturing Initiative, part of President Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, to expand its electric car technology manufacturing. SBE’s new manufacturing plant facility will be dedicated to the transportation market and will have capacity to produce Power Ring capacitors for over 100,000 plug-in hybrid and electric drive vehicles within 3 years. The 52,800-square-foot building will be a modern, controlled environment, state of the art manufacturing facility. By strategically planning the production floor layout to mirror the production process, SBE can reduce both wasted time and materials, and maximize efficiency. Integrating private offices, work stations, conference rooms and a large lunch /training room, the 13,000-square-foot office space has been designed with one core value in mind: “creating an enjoyable workspace for employees.” SBE expects to begin moving into the new facility in December 2010. SBE Inc is a leading developer and manufacturer of film capacitor solutions that provide a much higher degree of reliability, higher power density, and simpler cooling infrastructure, in demanding applications, particularly for automotive/transportation, alternative energy, utilities, power supplies/laser and military/aerospace. Originally a Sprague Electric Plant, SBE has been manufacturing capacitors for over 50 years producing over a billion capacitors, including the renowned Orange Drop®. The Company’s headquarters, engineering and product development center, and manufacturing operation are located in Barre, Vermont. For more information on the company’s products, technologies and markets, visit its website at: www.sbelectronics.com(link is external). Photos: Top. Ed Sawyer, president and CEO of SBE; Bob Lord Jr, contractor for the project (and investor in the project); Cathy Zoi, US Assistant Secretary of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy; Representative Peter Welch; Lieutenant Governor Brian Dubie; Governor Jim Douglas. Bottom. Representative Peter Welsh, Ltd. Governor Brian Dubie, Win Hunter (SBE board member), Stan Fishkin (SBE board chairman), Cathy Zoi, Governor Jim Douglas, Mark Browning (SBE board member), Ed Sawyer, Dick Green (SBE board member) and Bob Lord.Source: SBE Inc 4.20.2010
Champlain College,Champlain College is one of the nation’s best institutions for undergraduate education, according to The Princeton Review, the widely-known education services company. The Princeton Review has chosen the college for inclusion in the forthcoming edition of its popular annual ‘best colleges’ guidebook, “The Best 376 Colleges: 2012 Edition” (Random House / Princeton Review Books) which will be available in bookstores in early August.Also, the New York Times in a BLOG is reporting that the Princeton Review and GamePro Media, the publisher of GamePro magazine, which it called a video-gamers’ bible, “have joined forces to handicap what they consider the ‘Top 10’ undergraduate and graduate programs in video game design.”‘We chose Champlain College as one of our “best” undergraduate colleges based on several criteria we consider when reviewing schools for this book,’ said Robert Franek, senior vice president of publishing for The Princeton Review. ‘First, we must have a high regard for their academic programs and other offerings. Second, our selections take into account institutional data we collect from the schools and the opinions of their students attending them whom we survey. We also greatly value the feedback we get about schools from our college-savvy staff across the country as well as from students, educators and parents who use our services and books.”Champlain College President David F. Finney, on hearing the news, said, ‘This recognition is a reflection of everyone at Champlain College for a continued commitment to providing the most student-centric, professionally-focused, education in the country.’Says Franek, “Only about 15% of the colleges in the nation are in this book, and they vary considerably by region, size, selectivity and character. It includes public and private schools, traditional and non-traditional colleges, historically black colleges and universities, and science and technology-focused institutions. However, each one is an outstanding institution we highly recommend to college applicants and their parents. In our opinion, these are ‘the crème of the crop’ institutions for undergraduates in America.’In Franek’s letter to Champlain announcing the decision, he wrote,‘It was a great pleasure reviewing your school’s impressive credentials. You have much to brag about!’He noted Champlain is one of only six institutions that will be added to the 2012 edition.Ian Mortimer, Vice President of Enrollment Management at Champlain, says in his experience, ‘It is rare that an institution gets selected for this listing during its first application and lobbying effort; it usually takes a few tries. However, our story and data were very compelling.’Champlain College joins University of Vermont, Saint Michael’s College, Middlebury College, Green Mountain College and Bennington College on the list of Vermont higher education institutions included in the national guide to top colleges.‘The last step of The Princeton Review’s process is capturing the real student experience and evaluating it against other institutions in the top 15 percent,’ Mortimer added. ‘More than 200 Champlain students provided information on our college to the Review, and their stories and critical feedback are what sealed the deal; they told their story and the Review was impressed.’The Princeton Review’s annual “Best Colleges” guide is the only college guidebook that has both two-page profiles on the schools and college ranking lists of “top 20 schools” in 62 categories. The ranking lists are entirely based on The Princeton Review’s surveys of more than 122,000 students at the 376 schools in the book who rate their own schools and report on their experiences at them. Among the ranking categories are lists of colleges in the book at which students most highly (or least highly) rated their administrators, their career centers and their athletic facilities. Other categories reflect campus and study body political leanings, race/class relations, LGBT acceptance, participation in sports, and religion. The Princeton Review as a company does not rank the colleges in the book hierarchically, 1 to 376, either for academics – the company believes all 376 schools are first-rate, academically – or by any other category.The book also has unique ratings ‘ scores from 60 to 99 ‘ on each college’s profile in eight categories including Financial Aid, Fire Safety, and Green: a rating based on the college’s environmental commitments. The rating scores are based on institutional data collected from the schools.‘The Best 376 Colleges: 2012 Edition’ will be available online and in bookstores in early August.
Vermont’s congressional delegation ‘ Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) ‘ on Wednesday applauded the announcement by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to expand assistance to Vermont for the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP). Vermont is slated to receive nearly $1.8 million to help provide free fresh fruits and vegetables to children throughout the school day.The USDA FFVP makes fruit and vegetable snacks available at no cost to children in participating schools. The program began in 2002 as a pilot program in a small number of schools and, with the support of Vermont’s congressional delegation, was greatly expanded in the 2008 Farm Bill. As a result, the FFVP will provide $1,734,894 to the Vermont Department of Education for the 2011/2012 school year, ensuring between $50 and $75 worth of fresh produce per student in qualifying schools. Leahy, who pushed for expansion of the program as a leading Senate Agriculture Committee conferee on the 2008 Farm Bill, said: ‘This is a perfect fit for Vermont. Our state is a leader in the Farm To School movement and leads all others in the fresh foods in our children’s diets. Starting healthy eating habits early in life carries lifelong benefits.’ Leahy also has led in creating, expanding and funding USDA’s related Farm To School program.‘Providing children with fresh, healthy fruits and vegetables at school is good for them and good for our family farmers. This is a welcome investment in childhood nutrition and in the growing local-foods movement in Vermont,’ said Sanders. He said the program compliments a $120,000 grant he secured that will help 40 Vermont schools plant community gardens this spring to serve as outdoor classrooms to educate children about agriculture and nutrition. Welch, who successfully amended the FFVP to encourage schools to purchase locally grown food, said: ‘Today’s announcement is great news for Vermont. In addition to providing nutritious meals to Vermont’s school children, this important program will also invest in our local communities and support our family farmers. ‘ (WEDNESDAY, March 23, 2011)