(The Middle Sq.) – Unemployment claims proceed to fall in Vermont and throughout the nation, in keeping with a brand new report from the U.S. Division of Labor.
The Unemployment Insurance coverage Weekly Claims report reveals that there was a rise of 18,000 advance claims for unemployment with 185,000 for the week. The division revised the earlier week’s degree by 1,000 to 167,000, and set the four-week transferring common of 172,250 unemployment claims filed throughout the nation.
In Vermont, there was a slight enhance in new claims filed for the week ending April 9. There have been 416 preliminary claims filed for the week, a 113 enhance over the earlier week’s complete of 303.
Advertisement
For insured unemployment for the week ending April 2, there was a drop of 82 claims. There have been 3,112 advance claims filed, in comparison with simply 3,194 for the earlier week, which is a drop of 82 claims.
The state did see its lone declare on prolonged advantages drop off for March 26.
For the week ending April 2, the preliminary claims filed have been 303, which was a rise of six over the earlier week and a drop of 1,458 from one yr in the past.
For insurance coverage unemployment declare for the week ending March 26, there have been 3,194 claims, which was a drop of 150 claims. There was a big drop of 6,847 claims that have been filed one yr in the past.
In response to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the nationwide unemployment price for March stands at 3.6%.
Advertisement
For February, Vermont had a 2.9% unemployment price, which was adequate for eleventh within the nation. The bottom unemployment charges got here in Nebraska and Utah, which have a 2.1% unemployment price. The best is the District of Columnbia at 6.1%.
Locals can now pull up, cool off and chow down at Morristown’s newest roadside destination, Gondolas Snack Bar. Owner Louis Ferris opened the creemee and burger spot on June 7 at 3107 Route 15.
A real estate professional with experience working in commercial kitchens, Ferris wants his new business to be ingrained in the community. After the former occupant of the spot, Mountain View Snack Bar, closed during the pandemic, he saw an opportunity to re-create his best memories of Vermont summers and give them back to people, he said.
click to enlarge
Courtesy
The six-patty Gondola smash burger
“I’m just so excited to bring everyone together here,” Ferris said. “Our customers stay and hang out long after they’re finished with their creemees.”
Gondolas whips up triple-scoop cones in flavors such as maple, tutti-frutti and cotton candy, plus smash burgers, fries and onion rings. Ferris wants the snack bar to be authentic, which to him means locally sourced ingredients, such as creemee mix from Kingdom Creamery of Vermont, and live music on Saturday nights.
“We’d love to see anyone from Little League sports teams or friends having a reunion here,” Ferris said. “We just want to be that fun place for the community to get a treat.”
Advertisement
Gondolas operates daily from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. until October. Find out more at gondolassnackbar.com.
Operators at a South Burlington wastewater treatment plant first noticed something strange Friday morning. A tank was filling with bubbles, like someone had filled it with laundry detergent.
“It looked like a white bubble bath,” said Bob Fischer, the water quality superintendent for South Burlington. “I could tell it was firefighting foam, but I didn’t know what kind.”
Fischer was right. The night before, 800 gallons of highly concentrated firefighting foam had spilled over the floor of the Vermont Army National Guard aircraft hanger in South Burlington.
It gathered in the landing gear of a Black Hawk military helicopter, before some 150 gallons flowed down a drain and entered the town’s wastewater system, according to National Guard estimates. The material reached a nearby pump station before entering the water treatment plant, which sits next to the Winooski River.
Advertisement
This type of firefighting foam is called aqueous film-forming foam or AFFF. It’s used for fires that involve flammable liquids, like burning jet fuel. The state of Vermont has banned its use because it contains relatively high concentrations of manufactured chemicals known as PFAS, which have been linked to cancer, liver problems and a myriad of other health issues and can be toxic even in tiny doses.
The Vermont National Guard hadn’t released the material for years — it wasn’t even supposed to be used in the case of a fire.
“If the fire suppression system discharged, all it would discharge is just water — we essentially bypassed the AFFF tank,” said Col. Jacob Roy, the construction and facility management officer at the National Guard. “We realized that the risk to the environment was pretty significant, and we did not want a chance having either a purposeful or accidental release.”
Vermont Army National Guard
Advertisement
/
Courtesy
Roughly 800 gallons of firefighting foam spilled over the National Guard aircraft hanger last week. Officials suspect there was a mechanical failure in their containment system.
Roy suspects the spill Thursday night was a mechanical failure in their containment system. He said there’s been no evidence of a fire.
Since Friday morning, contractors have been out every day cleaning and testing the National Guard facility, the sewer lines, the pump station and the wastewater treatment plant. Roy expects the facility to be open to staff by Wednesday morning.
And test results from the Winooski River should come back within a week.
Advertisement
In the grand scheme of things, a release of around 150 gallons — about the size of a hot tub — is pretty small within the bigger river system, said Matt Chapman, who directs waste management and prevention at Vermont’s Department of Environmental Conservation.
“It’s good for perspective purposes to appreciate that on a normal day in the Winooski River, the river has a flow rate of about 5,000 gallons per second,” he said.
April McCullum
/
Advertisement
Vermont Public
The National Guard hadn’t released the firefighting foam in years. It wasn’t even supposed to be used in the case of a fire.
While he’s not overly concerned about contamination in the river, he said what’s less straightforward going forward is how to properly dispose of the 650 gallons of foam that’s been collected. The EPA released interim guidance this year that includes incineration, storage in landfills and underground injection, but none of the options are good.
“I think it’s fair to say there’s no guidance from EPA,” Chapman said.
“One of the reasons why we still have this product over the years onsite, [is] because it is not an easy product to get rid of,” echoed Roy.
He said the disposal method will ultimately depend on the concentration of PFAS found in testing and directed further questions about the disposal process to the National Guard’s waste disposal contractor, Republic Services.
Advertisement
A spokesperson for the company said they operate several hazardous waste landfills across North America, which are engineered to safely and responsibly manage this type of waste.
Have questions, comments or tips? Send us a message.
North Country junior Sabine Brueck has been selected as Vermont’s top high school girls track and field athlete for the 2024 season, Gatorade announced Tuesday morning.
Brueck is the second athlete in program history to receive the award, which recognizes outstanding athletic excellence, high academic achievement and exemplary character.
The 5-foot-7 Brueck swept the 100- and 300-meter hurdles at the Division I state meet earlier this month, while also taking second in triple jump and third in long jump. Then at the New England championships, Brueck broke her own state record in the 300 hurdles (43.90 seconds) to nab third. Last week, she also reset the Vermont decathlon state record with a winning total of 5,755 points.
Advertisement
More: State records fall at 48th annual Vermont decathlon championships
Brueck has volunteered locally as a youth track, basketball and soccer coach and has also donated her time as a summer camp counselor, the Gatorade release said.
“Sabine has excelled in a variety of events this year,” Mount Mansfield coach Bill Eschholz said in a statement. “From the sprints to the hurdles to the jumps, she is, without a doubt, the best all-around athlete in track this year.”
Brueck has maintained an A average in the classroom. She will begin her senior year of high school this fall.
Advertisement
As part of Gatorade’s commitment to breaking down barriers in sport, every player of the year also receives a grant to donate to a social impact partner.
To learn more about the Gatorade Player of the Year program, visit playeroftheyear.gatorade.com.
Become a member of the Vermont Varsity Insider Facebook group at https://bit.ly/2MGSfvX.
Contact Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter: @aabrami5.
