Judiciary Court Administrator David Kennedy and a volunteer Vermont Guardian ad Litem (GAL) were interviewed in a WCAX news series on a pilot program in Franklin county to address the need to recruit more GALs. Explaining how a GAL advocates for a child in the court system can be complex, but news anchor Alexandra Montgomery did a great job!

Watch the news series on WCAX to learn more.

In what is (to some people) a dry and technical field like energy engineering consulting — for healthcare, higher education, multifamily, manufacturing and other large commercial and industrial facilities, no less — it can be challenging to attract substantive attention from the media.

So we are all celebrating the in-depth profile of Cx Associates and its principals, Jen Chiodo and Matt Napolitan, in the May issue of Business People Vermont. Check it out.

The headline in the Spring 2017 issue of the national Audubon magazine starts the story, "Maple Syrup Makers Are Turning Their Forests Into Prime Songbird Habitat." And then the story continues by introducing one of the maple syrup producers participating in Audubon Vermont's Bird-Friendly Maple prgram.

For maple syrup producers Steve and Amy Wheeler, a good year isn’t only measured by buckets of sap. It’s also marked by the number of pewees singing in the woods, the rows of woodpecker tunnels lining the sticky trunks, and the sight of nuthatches clownishly piling into tree cavities.

Read the full article to learn more about how the program works and the at-risk birds that are benefiting the most. 

New website for CCVS

Just in time for the annual celebration of Crime Victims Rights Week, the Vermont Center for Crime Victim Services launched its new look, website and social media accounts.

The CCVS website and social media accounts pick up the beautiful, soothing colors artist Carol Boucher used in the sunset pastels she has graciously given CCVS permission to use in printed posters for many years. The site was also reorganized and rebuilt to be mobile-friendly and to meet W3C standards for website accessibility for persons with disabilities.

Call2Recycle, Inc., the appointed battery stewardship organization in Vermont, announced over 114,000 pounds of batteries have been collected statewide in 2016, vastly exceeding its goals for the year. This is a 187% increase from the previous year, prior to the legislation that led Vermont to become the first state in the U.S. requiring producers to finance a collection and recycling program for single-use (primary) batteries.

Building Bright Futures unveiled the latest “How Are Vermont’s Young Children and Families?” report at a State House press conference Wednesday, January 11. The statewide media were all in attendance and individual key findings in the report were selected for coverage by WCAX, WPTZ, Vt Digger, the Times Argus, and the Associated Press. Favorite quotes and findings include:

Montpelier's Pavilion Building was packed on Saturday, January 7th and an overflow crowd watched via streaming video from the Unitarian Church during live presentations by the five finalists in the Sustainable Montpelier Design Competition hosted by Net Zero Vermont. VPR and Fox 44 TV covered the action, and the Times Argus wrote up a summary of the presentations and highlighted the online voting opportunity. WCAX and the AP news wire helped to spread the word about

The Blue Ribbon Commission on Financing High-Quality, Affordable Child Care issued its final report this month, and the Permanent Fund for Vermont's Children, Building Bright Futures, and their partners working together to advance theVermont Early Childhood Framework and the accompanying Vermont Early Childhood Action Plan are spreading the news throughout Vermont.

As a temporary exhibit was hung in City Hall, Net Zero Vermont Inc. announced public presentations by the top five finalist teams for the Sustainable Montpelier 2030 Design Competition will be held on Saturday, January 7, 2017 from 3:00 to 5:30 p.m. in the Pavilion Building Auditorium. Seating is limited and advance registration is encouraged for this free event.

Congratulation to our clients Heidi Clute and Christina Ubl. The two business partners and their firm Clute Wealth Management were featured in the October issue of Plattsburgh business magazine, Strictly Business.

"Matching the Money with the Dream" is an indepth profile by reporter Meg LeFevre that covers the duo's business story from 1980 to the curent day.