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Leahy touts foreign investor program
MONTPELIER (AP) -- U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont is hailing renewal of a program designed to encourage investment in the United States by foreign job creators.
The EB-5 Immigrant Investor program allows conditional working papers to be given to foreign nationals who want to come to the United States to build businesses that provide jobs to Americans.
Two Vermont resorts, Jay Peak and Sugarbush, have used the program to help big development projects. Other firms taking advantage of the program include DR Power Equipment in Vergennes and AnC Bio in Newport.
The U.S. House this past week passed legislation renewing the program. The Senate had approved it earlier and it’s now headed to President Barack Obama for his signature.
Vt. officials: Mosquito spraying effective
BRANDON (AP) -- Vermont Agency of Agriculture officials say pesticide spraying a week ago appears to have been effective in reducing mosquito populations in Brandon and Whiting.
Officials said that mosquito populations were cut in half.
Agency of Agriculture coordinated the spraying of the pesticide Anvil over hard-to-reach swampy areas a week ago after mosquito pools tested positive for Eastern equine encephalitis and an 87-year-old Brandon man died from EEE.
Health Department officials confirmed that another Vermonter diagnosed with EEE is still in the hospital. They
N.H. health care forum to draw business leaders
MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) -- Hundreds of business leaders from around the region are expected at the fourth annual health care forum presented by New Hampshire Business Review and MVP Health Care on Oct. 2.
The forum is being held 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at the Grappone Conference Center in Concord.
Dr. Aaron Carroll, director of the Center for Health Policy and Professionalism Research, will be the keynote speaker. He plans to offer an analysis of the Affordable Care Act and how it will impact the nation’s economy and New Hampshire’s business climate.
There also will be a panel discussion on legal and operational issues that will impact employers and employees, and on reform efforts that go beyond the ACA to curb spending, contain costs and reform the health care industry.
Would-be deer hunters in N.H. invited to lecture
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) -- New Hampshire Fish and Game officials are inviting aspiring deer hunters to a free lecture as part of its weekly outdoor adventure talks.
Longtime naturalist Dave Priebe will offer essential information to new whitetail deer hunters.
Fish and Game officials say whitetail deer are the state’s most sought after game animal. Hunters in 2011 took more than 11,000 deer in New Hampshire.
The session takes place at 7 p.m. Wednesday at New Hampshire Fish and Game headquarters in Concord.
The series of Wednesday night adventure talks runs through Oct. 10.
N.H. bridge reopens after 2 years of construction
ENFIELD, N.H. (AP) -- A 340-foot bridge over Mascoma Lake in Enfield has opened two years after being closed because of structural deterioration.
The new Shaker Bridge opened to traffic Saturday following completion of a $10.5-million replacement project.
The bridge was built in 1938 and was closed in August 2010 after an underwater inspection found severe corrosion in steel supports.
The bridge closure disconnected downtown Enfield from the town’s lakeside residential areas, turning six-minute commutes into 30-minutes drives as motorists were forced to drive around the lake.
The Department of Transportation said the previous bridge handled about 1,200 vehicles per day.
Approaches on education differ for Brown, Warren
BOSTON (AP) -- Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown and Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren both agree that more needs to be done to improve education in the United States, but the two disagree on how those improvements should be made.
A Harvard University Law School professor, Warren has trumpeted affordable and high quality education as a key issue in her campaign ads and speeches. She supports funding for school lunch programs, early childhood education and experimenting with ways to close the achievement gap.
In Congress, Brown has pushed to make higher education more affordable, voting to extend low rates for student loans. He also supports expanding charter schools, teacher evaluations based on student achievement and requiring colleges to disclose where they are spending money.
