The political ruckus over the last few days about the prospect of a Plan B alternative to Gov. Peter Shumlin’s single payer health care reform project has masked an important fact about both reform schemes: neither his administration nor the various Plan B advocates have enough information yet to build a credible plan for changing the current system.

Chief Executive Officers of many of Vermont's largest employers are generally optimistic about the economy, according to a recent survey.

The 1st quarter VBR-EPR Business Conditions Survey was conducted by the Vermont Business Roundtable and Economic Policy Resources, a Williston research and analysis firm. 

The survey of Vermont Business Roundtable's membership, which includes CEOs of approximately 120 businesses in the state, is conducted quarterly. 

Officials with the Shumlin Administration are warning that some road projects scheduled for this summer may have to be scaled back if Congress does not replenish the federal Highway Trust Fund.

The state relies on the trust fund to match state dollars for transportation projects.

Members of the Vermont House want to boost the wages of laborers working on many state-funded projects. But leaders in the Senate are worried about how the proposal would impact local construction firms. And supporters of the legislation are running out of time.

The bill could pump as much as $3 million into the wallets of construction workers, according to an analysis conducted by the legislative analysts. It would do so by requiring firms who bid on some state-funded capital projects to pay prevailing wages as determined by the federal government.

Gov. Peter Shumlin is dismissing a legislative consultant’s plan that lawmakers could use as an alternative to the administration’s single-payer health proposal.

The concept memo was drafted for the Legislature by health care economist Ken Thorpe. His plan was conceived as an alternative to single-payer, and would extend health coverage for more Vermonters by relying on state and federal subsidies as well as the existing insurance-based system.

At his weekly news conference, Shumlin said Thorpe’s ideas were based on “a failed model” of health care financing.

In 1970, nearly half of all mothers stayed home to raise their children. In the next several decades though, more and more women returned to work after having children. Pew Research Center has released a new study that shows the number of stay-at-home moms has risen to 29 percent.

D’Vera Cohn, senior writer for Pew Research, and Kathryn Flagg, staff writer for Seven Days, discuss the findings and why we’re seeing a return to stay-at-home parenting.

Almost everyone’s seen a cat video on the Internet. Whether it’s a slapstick routine set to an impressive soundtrack or just a cute, furry face, the clips can be hard to resist.

Recently, the Humane Society of Chittenden County held a cat film festival — and fundraiser — for Vermonters to showcase their pets.

On a recent Sunday morning, almost 300 cat lovers gathered at the Majestic 10 theater in Williston to do something that most people do when nobody’s looking: watch funny cat videos.

When it comes to eating local, the very definition of “local” is changing. Movers and shakers in the local food movement are reframing the concept of local food from being strictly about mileage to one that incorporates a set of implied values — like how the workers or animals were treated, and land stewardship.

As home to the nation’s first primary, New Hampshire is the place candidates go to explore their prospects for a presidential campaign.

There’s a new look to the entrance of the VA Hospital in White River Junction. The sprawling campus now has an iron gate at the main entrance.There is no fence yet connected to the gate, so it’s not really a major barrier.  But VA officials say there are also many other less visible security measures in place.

In 2010, the Veterans Administration conducted what it called a “Vulnerability Assessment,” and found that many facilities needed to ramp up security.