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Local news, reporting and newscasts from Vermont Public Radio.

Vermont Public Radio


    • Oct 27, 2025 LATEST EPISODE
    • weekdays NEW EPISODES
    • 6m AVG DURATION
    • 1,217 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from VPR News Podcast

    Texas company eyes former Vermont Yankee site for battery energy storage system

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 27, 2025 5:30


    Representatives from PowerTransitions have been meeting with officials in Vernon about potentially developing the 140-acre site along the Connecticut River.

    What Now Sounds Like: Whales, wrestling and customer service

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 26, 2025 15:30


    I asked listeners to send me recordings from wherever they were, about whatever they wanted.

    Vermont towns try to balance open government and the threat of political violence

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 21, 2025 5:38


    Town clerks and select boards say it is getting harder to run meetings and conduct town business as the vitriolic tone of political polarization continues to ramp up.

    A Fairlee developer is building lots of housing in small towns — and showing others how it's done

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 20, 2025 5:13


    State officials want to clone Jonah Richard, an Orange County native who's building housing at a clip in the town where his family has lived for generations.

    A day at Joslyn House, a house where old people live together

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 19, 2025 16:49


    It's not a nursing home. It's a house where old people live together.

    What if you fall and can't get up? The fear is driving sales of personal emergency response systems

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 17, 2025 4:38


    As the population of older adults increases and accessing long-term care becomes more challenging, demand for medical alert devices is growing.

    Twenty-nine cows, eight pigs and no water

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 16, 2025 4:20


    East Hardwick farmer Rob MacLeod has no more water, and like many farmers, he's heading into winter with limited feed.

    'The gem in the tiara' of Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center turns 60

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 15, 2025 4:22


    The medical center's volunteer-run gift shop has a bit of everything for patients, medical staff and locals.

    A Vermont podcast about musical memories becomes a board game

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 11, 2025 3:39


    Hearing music from an event in your life can trigger memories, emotions and stories. A new board game called "Drop The Needle" taps into that phenomenon.

    'Hypnotic and reverent': Why a 12th-century mystic appeals to 21st-century audiences

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 10, 2025 5:38


    Christian mystic Hildegard von Bingen was a polymath. The 12th-century nun was a poet, artist, healer, philosopher and composer. On Saturday, Oct. 11, Vermont Public Classical will co-present "Hildegard Reanimated" with the Otter Creek Musical Festival.

    Hauling water and hoping for rain: Upper Valley farmers cope with extreme drought

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 8, 2025 4:33


    Vermont is in a drought, and the Upper Valley area is seeing some of the worst of it. Farmers there are wondering: Will they have enough water to last them through the winter?

    Vermont shelter providers hurry to add beds before the snow falls

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 7, 2025 5:02


    From Montpelier to Rutland to Waterbury, additional spaces are in the works for unhoused people, totaling about 100 seasonal and year-round shelter beds coming online during the next few months. They can't come quickly enough.

    Goats on ski trails? A potential climate solution hits the slopes at Jay Peak

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 6, 2025 4:01


    A new state grant is funding pilot projects across Vermont to swap weed whackers for goats and sheep in power line right of ways and ski trails.

    J.P. Sinclair reflects on his career investigating crimes in Vermont

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 5, 2025 15:11


    Captain J.P. Sinclair was at the center of hundreds of major crime investigations with the Vermont State Police. Here, he talks about it.

    Who's more charitable, dog owners or cat owners? A Dartmouth study looked into it

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 4, 2025 4:34


    Herbert Chang teaches social sciences at Dartmouth, and he authored a study that delved into a fairly simple question: Among pet owners, who donates more to charitable causes? The answer came as a bit of a surprise.

    Vermont Public's 10 favorite fall foliage drives

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 3, 2025 4:30


    The trees are showing off, seasonal roads are still open, and you don't even need snow tires yet. Here are our favorite routes and some suggested stops along the way. See the full guide.

    State says towns need to work together to prevent future flooding events

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 2, 2025 4:19


    If more towns band together to plan and pay for projects, it might be possible to reduce the impact of flooding in the state's larger economic centers, usually downriver.

    Wells are running dry. Climate scientists say it could be a sign of what's to come

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 1, 2025 3:49


    Spring-fed and shallow dug wells at Vermont's old homes are particularly vulnerable in the drought. Drilling a new well can cost as much as $20,000.

    State plans temporary reprieve for Vermonters facing loss of SNAP benefits

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 29, 2025 3:59


    Changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which begin to take effect this week, could imperil eligibility for thousands of Vermonters.

    Health insurance is hard

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 28, 2025 15:30


    A show about the challenges of picking health insurance and using health insurance and understanding health insurance. Plus hold music.

    A decade later, Burlington's downtown mall redevelopment open

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 25, 2025 4:23


    Have you tried square dancing lately? Research shows it can help fight aging

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 24, 2025 4:42


    Square dancing is a popular activity for millions of people all over the world, but it can be more than just a hobby. Research shows it can fight many of the negative effects of aging.

    Vermont turns to cruise ship diplomacy to mend ties with Canada

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 23, 2025 4:41


    Vermont is hoping that state-level diplomacy will alleviate the strain that U.S. foreign policy has put on the state's business ties with Canada.

    Susan Randall on cancer, federal funding and the ever-humbling project of parenting

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2025 16:02


    Susan Randall is private investigator and we've been friends for 30 years. Every now and then we get together and compare notes on our lives.

    Vermont poured hundreds of millions of dollars into housing during the pandemic. What has it built?

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 18, 2025 6:56


    No one had published a full accounting of the extraordinary amounts of public money spent on housing since 2020. We pieced it together.

    Estate tax

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 17, 2025 3:55


    Scientists are racing to save a tiny songbird that nests on New England's alpine summits

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 15, 2025 3:54


    As the climate warms, scientists are working against the clock to solve a mystery about why the Bicknell's thrush, which travels thousands of miles to raise its young on mountaintops across Vermont and the Northeast, is declining.

    Ralph Rockwell talks about a lifetime of rebuilding vehicles, and then we go to a tractor pull

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 14, 2025 14:43


    Ralph Rockwell talks about a lifetime of rebuilding vehicles, and then we go to a tractor pull, where tractors are pulled, and sandwiches are eaten.

    Even with more Vermont homes on the market, prices are still rising

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 11, 2025 4:03


    In Chittenden County, the median sale price of a primary home reached $500,000 last year.

    Rogue rattlesnake removed from Grand Isle

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 11, 2025 3:14


    A timber rattlesnake was removed from a yard in Grand Isle this summer — far from the only known breeding grounds in Vermont. Experts say it could have hitched a ride to the island in a car or boat.

    Court rules that Christian school can compete in Vermont sports league

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 10, 2025 4:27


    The Alliance Defending Freedom, a powerful conservative law firm that has won several precedent-setting cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, brought the lawsuit on behalf of the Quechee school.

    Bernie Sanders on what comes after his 'Fighting Oligarchy' tour

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 9, 2025 5:15


    Beyond his endorsements of high-profile candidates, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders said he's hoping to encourage younger and working class people to engage in the political process at all levels.

    Woman pleads not guilty to murder in shooting of Border Patrol agent

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 8, 2025 3:57


    Teresa Youngblut, 21, pleaded not guilty on Friday to new charges, including murder, related to the fatal shooting of a Border Patrol agent in Vermont earlier this year. If convicted, Youngblut could be sentenced to death.

    Fifty: A phoenix moment

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 7, 2025 14:21


    A show about turning 50 and recording "Total Eclipse of the Heart"

    Finding God, and a place to pee, in East Barnard

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 5, 2025 4:33


    Randy Leavitt, whose family has been in East Barnard for 10 generations, is building an outhouse with a composting toilet outside the village church. It will be open to the public.

    A Vermont animal sanctuary proves that roosters can live peacefully after cockfighting

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 3, 2025 7:00


    VINE Sanctuary in Springfield specializes in a once-rare form of rehabilitation for roosters rescued from cockfighting and other dangerous situations. The teaching sanctuary also provides haven for cows, geese, sheep, pigeons, turkeys, goats, horses and emus.

    Champlain Valley high schooler starts poker club to empower girls

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 2, 2025 4:35


    The international Poker Power organization teaches women and girls poker-playing strategies that aim to strengthen risk assessment, decision making and financial literacy. Lark McCarron started the first-ever high school Poker Power club.

    Daphne Kalmar on teaching elementary school, which is a little like being a short order cook

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 31, 2025 14:55


    Daphne Kalmar taught elementary school for over 20 years, and she was one of those teachers — one of the exciting and inspiring ones you never forget.

    Erosion, federally endangered sturgeon spark debate over Connecticut River dams

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 27, 2025 4:18


    Operators are proposing big changes for how they run three dams on the Connecticut River.

    Haskell Free Library inspires Vermont play about borders and belonging in the Trump era

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 26, 2025 4:40


    During the first Trump administration, Muslim families used the library, which sits on the Vermont-Quebec border, to meet loved ones they couldn't visit in the U.S. because of a travel ban.

    Remembering Abenaki elder, cultural preservationist Jeanne Brink

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 25, 2025 1:25


    Brink spent most of her life in Vermont's Washington County. She first got exposure to Abenaki language and traditions through her grandmother, Elvine Obomsawin Royce, and other relatives, who would make baskets and share family stories.

    Rolling strikes with Brattleboro's senior bowling league

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 25, 2025 3:35


    There's one league at the Brattleboro Bowl that plays all year round, but you can only join it if you're over age 50.

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