WVTK Local & State News January 14, 2014

Vermont Health Access is recommending small businesses who have yet to enroll to do so directly with Blue Cross Blue Shield or MVP. A press release says the recommendation comes after some uncertainty with the payment feature on the website. Testing is still ongoing. Any business who has already enrolled in a Vermont Health Connect plan for all of 2014 doesn't need to take any further action. Vermont Health Access says individuals who do not have access to insurance through work should continue to sign up online, through a Navigator, broker, or the call center. Businesses and individuals have until April 1 to pick a Vermont Health Connect plan.

Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a $21 million in funding to help create economic opportunities for dairy farmers across New York. A press release says the funding will help dairy farmers convert waste to energy and develop individual business and environmental plans to reduce operating costs and increase profitability. Gov. Cuomo also plans on hosting a second Yogurt Summit in 2014 to discuss growth opportunities in the yogurt industry in the state.

Brandon is among 17 towns to share in $257,000 in grants from the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation to help restore and maintain Vermont’s historic buildings.  Brandon received a $14,500 grant for its Town Hall and Community Center.  Built in 1861, the building was closed between 1979 and 2006. It was re-opened as a community center for concerts, lectures, auctions, theater productions, meetings and dances. The grant will be used to restore 10 triple-hung windows of the main hall.

Mayor Miro Weinberger wants to bring six public investment projects to the Burlington waterfront.  The tens of millions of dollars needed for this come from investments, plus nine-point-six million in tax increment financing funds.  The centerpiece is a development of the Moran Plant, the old power plant which has been vacant since the 1980’s.  The Burlington City Council has to approve it, and then the plan goes on the city’s ballot for Town Meeting Day in March, with voters having the final say.

He hit the magic mark, scoring more than two-thousand points in his high school career.  That’s the milestone reached and passed Monday night by Rochester High School senior Pavin Parrish who scored 40 points in the game against Arlington.  He only needed eight points to reach two-thousand, hit it early and just kept going.  Parrish is the seventh Vermonter to reach the 2-K mark, and the final score was 86 to 50 over Arlington.