The Crown Point Board of REALTORS® (CBPR) will be distributing a siza

Melinda Bussino, long-time advocate for homeless Vermonters, died Sunday after suffering a heart attack a week earlier. She was 65.

Melinda was the Executive Director of the Brattleboro Area Drop-In Center, a day center and community food shelf for the homeless and lonely, which she helped found in the late 1980s.

According to annual housing vacancy statistics compiled by the Census Bureau, the estimated statewide rental vacancy rate fell in Vermont from 6.1% in 2010 to 4.2% in 2011--the lowest in the nation, with the exception of Oregon. Nationally, the rental vacancy rate was 9.5% in 2011. 

Vermont's owner vacancy rate remained about the same in 2011 at 1.7%. The national owner vacancy rate was 2.5%. 

Emphasizing the importance of economic recovery in distressed areas, U.S. Department of the Treasury's announced last week the award of $3.6 billion in New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) nationwide, including $35 million for Vermont projects.