Pat Bradley

Vermont officials held the first Public Budget Forum Tuesday evening to get citizen input on the formulation of the statewide budget.  

In the last Legislative session, Act 162 was passed requiring the state of Vermont to “develop a process for citizen participation in the development of budget goals, as well as general prioritization and evaluation of spending and revenue initiatives.” The Vermont Workers Center had advocated for the law to be passed.  Executive Director James Haslam says they sought more transparency and greater needs assessment in the budget process.

This is National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. Hunger-Free Vermont has challenged Vermonters to eat this week, nutritiously, on a food stamp budget.  Among those who accepted is the mayor of Burlington and his family.

Governor Peter Shumlin will soon pick the person to fill the new position of Vermont secretary of education.

The state Board of Education on Tuesday approved the three finalists recommended by the board's search committee.

They are current Education Commissioner Armando Vilaseca of Westford; Daniel French, superintendent of the Bennington-Rutland Supervisory Union in Manchester; and Brent Kay, superintendent of the Orange Southwest Supervisory Union in Randolph.

A teacher at the Frederick H. Tuttle Middle School in South Burlington is Vermont's 2013 teacher of the year.

Jay Hoffman, a technology education teacher, was honored Tuesday during a special meeting of the state Board of Education.

As teacher of the year, Hoffman will visit schools around the state and work with teachers. He is also a candidate for the National Teacher of the Year award.

This spring, Hoffman will travel to Washington, D.C., for a reception at the White House.

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin is shaking up the top ranks of his administration, with the announcement of seven senior staff changes.

Chief of Staff Bill Lofy is leaving to join the Democratic Governors Association, which Shumlin hopes to chair after an election in that group next month.

Lofy will be replaced by Elizabeth Miller, currently Department of Public Service Commissioner. She'll be replaced there by Chris Recchia, who's currently the deputy secretary of natural resources.

A neighbor is challenging the state's plans to open a temporary mental health facility in Middlesex to help replace the Vermont State Hospital which was flooded by Tropical Storm Irene.

When Irene flooded the state hospital more than a year ago, patients were sent to other facilities around the state. The loss of the hospital put strains on emergency services, with some patients waiting days for a bed to become available.

The state wanted to open the temporary facility in January while a permanent 25-bed hospital in Berlin is built.

Congress  returns for the lame duck session this week with a number of issues to resolve.  North Country Congressman Bill Owens talks about specific items that he says must be resolved before the end of the year.

The fiscal cliff is the cloud over Congress as its lame duck session begins.  While that is a priority issue for Congressman Bill Owens, it’s not the only matter of importance that he says needs to be addressed.

A contractor that had hoped to have a key Vermont bridge fully renovated by year's end says the structure is going to stay closed a bit longer.

The contractor says it ran into unexpected problems recently involving the support structure and soil at the Veterans Memorial Long Bridge in Newport.

The bridge over Lake Memphremagog closed in 2010 for repairs. The closing meant lost access from Newport to a major east-west truck route. It connects to Western Avenue and the Interstate 91 access road.

The price of gas is continuing to go down in Vermont.

The website Vermontgasprices.com reports the price averaged $3.68 gallon Monday, down 7 cents in a week.

Nationally, the average price per gallon was $3.46.

Vermont's gas prices are still 18 cents higher than they were a year ago, but 25 cents cheaper than a month ago.

The national average stands at 3.1 cents per gallon higher than the same day a year ago, and 32.6 cents per gallon lower than a month ago.

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders says cuts to Social Security should not be a part of any deficit reduction package used to avoid what's being called the looming "fiscal cliff" of automatic spending cuts and tax increases slated to take effect January first.

Sanders is a member of the Senate Budget Committee. He renewed his calls Monday for the wealthy to pay their fair share toward deficit reduction.