Podcasts about vermonters

 A local couple gifts their town a farm and tasks them with transforming the property to benefit their community. Plus, the head of Vermont's prison system is stepping down, federal tax credits that help Vermonters install solar panels are going away, new hunting regulations in the state aim to tackle overpopulation of deer and Dartmouth Health adds more providers.

July in Vermont means hot dogs and peanuts and Cracker Jacks… and summer baseball. A few summers ago, reporter Liam Elder-Connors joined question-asker Emma Ramirez-Richer in the stands at Centennial Field to share some Dippin' Dots, root for the Lake Monsters and chat with fans about Emma's winning question. The team had just been sold the year before and Emma wanted to know: “What does the sale of the Vermont Lake Monsters mean for the team, and what does minor league baseball mean to Vermonters?”We're revisiting that episode this baseball season. Find the web version of this episode here.This episode was reported by Liam Elder-Connors and produced by Angela Evancie. Editing and additional production from Myra Flynn and Josh Crane. Engineering support from Peter Engisch. The encore was produced by Burgess Brown. Angela Evancie is Brave Little State's executive producer. Our theme music is by Ty Gibbons; other music by Blue Dot Sessions.Special thanks to Kate Phillips and Kevin Trevellan. As always, our journalism is better when you're a part of it: Ask a question about Vermont Vote on the question you want us to tackle next Sign up for the BLS newsletter Say hi on Instagram and Reddit @bravestatevt Drop us an email: hello@bravelittlestate.org Call our BLS hotline: 802-552-4880 Make a gift to support people-powered journalism Leave us a rating/review in your favorite podcast app Tell your friends about the show! Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public and a proud member of the NPR Network. 

The new hurdles that may have to be cleared by Vermont homeowners hit by flooding and hoping for a buyout from FEMA. Plus, Londonderry residents will vote on whether to green-light new restrictions on short-term rentals, plans are underway in Putney to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Landmark College, for a second consecutive year a record was set for the amount of unclaimed money returned to Vermonters, and a rally is held at the New Hampshire Statehouse in support of local farmers impacted by cuts to federal farming grants. 

Thousands of Vermonters could lose their federal food benefits. That's due to federal changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Plus, the state is offering to help homeowners repair septic systems, the head of the U-V-M Health Network talks efforts to reduce spending and there's a new resource for families of L-G-B-T-Q+ youth.  

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, supplies the vast majority of food aid in Vermont, where about 65,000 residents received $155 million in benefits last year.

Vermonters overwhelmingly voted to enshrine reproductive rights in the state constitution in 2022. But what if those rights – to abortion, birth control and other reproductive health services – are nearly impossible to access?Putting care out of reach appears to be the strategy behind the Trump administration's relentless assault on Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest provider of reproductive health care. President Trump's “big beautiful bill” that he signed into law on July 4 includes a provision to defund Planned Parenthood and other organizations that provide abortions. A federal judge has temporarily blocked this provision, but if the Trump administration prevails, Planned Parenthood says that numerous health care centers may close, mostly in states where abortion remains legal.This compounds a problem in Vermont, since half of Planned Parenthood's clinics in the state have closed in the last three years due to an ongoing financial crisis with Planned Parenthood of Northern New England (PPNNE).Medicaid already bans funding for abortions. Most of Planned Parenthood's Medicaid patients who obtain family planning services receive birth control and STI testing. One in four Planned Parenthood patients in Vermont and Maine are insured by Medicaid, and one in five in New Hampshire.“The absurdity of all of this is just so transparent,” Nicole Clegg, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, told The Vermont Conversation. “We have long-lasting relationships with our patients. We could be their main provider for years … and to suddenly be told, ‘Sorry, you can't go to that provider anymore because they also provide abortion care' — that's what's happening here. That's the goal.”Clegg emphasized that “the overwhelming majority of what we're providing to patients are disease testing and treatment, cancer screenings, wellness exams, birth control. Those are the primary needs that people have during their reproductive years.”Abortion opponents are “no longer interested in the states where they've been successful in banning abortion. They're now really focused on the states where abortion is still legal, so that includes Vermont, and what they're trying to do is go after providers. So that's the new tactic,” Clegg said.She noted that people seeking an abortion in states where it is banned are increasingly coming to New England for care. She told the story of a couple seeking an abortion who drove from Oklahoma to Vermont “because they felt like that was going to be the safest option for them.”“We live in an area of the country where we are a little bit insulated from this fear, but this fear is very real.”What is motivating the attacks?“It's about abortion. It's about controlling people and their ability to make decisions and decide when to have a family,” Clegg replied.A 2024 Pew survey found that two out of three Americans – and 79% of Vermonters – believe that abortion should be legal in all or most cases.“We needed to sort of wake people up by having them lose these basic rights. That's where we are right now.”One in three women have received care from Planned Parenthood in their lifetime, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. “There's just no other healthcare provider in our country that has that kind of reach and impact,” Clegg said.I asked Clegg what a world without Planned Parenthood would look like. She cited research on what has happened in areas where a Planned Parenthood health center has closed.“Worse pregnancy outcomes. Increased rates of cancer. Increased rates of unintended pregnancy. Untreated sexually transmitted diseases. Increased rates of HIV and AIDS.”Will Planned Parenthood survive?Clegg noted that this year marks Planned Parenthood's 60th anniversary. “We have touched the lives of more than a million people” in northern New England, she said. “I fundamentally believe we will get through this because people support us. People want to come to us for care. We are embedded in our states and a part of our community in deep ways. We matter too much for our states and our communities to just accept that we would close our doors.”

President Trump's new travel ban is in effect. For a month now, people from 12 countries have been barred from entering the U.S., including Afghanistan, Burma and Eritrea. Seven other countries are partially banned, and the President has floated the idea of banning several more.We'll hear how the travel ban affects refugees, green card holders, international students and others in our region. joined from Brattleboro by Joe Wiah, director of the Ethiopian Community Development Council, a refugee resettlement agency in Brattleboeo, Tracy Dolan, the director of Vermont's state refugee office, and Kristen Connors, an immigration attorney at Montroll, Oettinger and Barquist in BurlingtonPlus: The Mexican consulate recently set up a mobile location in Brattleboro. We'll hear from a Mexican farmworker living in Vermont amid the Trump Administration's immigration crackdown.

Close your eyes and try to picture the Vermont flag…If you're drawing a blank — you're not alone.Our flag defies almost all the flag design rules set out by the North American Vexillological Association. That's part of the reason why Brian Sewell, of Burlington, thinks Vermont should consider an upgrade. He asked:“Other states are undergoing redesigns of their state flags. How much do Vermonters know about our flag? And is it time to update ours too?”Have an idea for a new Vermont flag design? Check out our web post for a template and instructions to submit it to the show — we'll post our favorites! We've also included question-asker Brian's proposed redesign as inspiration.For more on flag design, check out this TED Talk from Roman Mars: “Why city flags may be the worst-designed thing you've never noticed”This episode was reported by Mikaela Lefrak. Editing and production from the BLS team: Sabine Poux, Burgess Brown and Josh Crane. Our intern is Lucia McCallum. Angela Evancie is our Executive Producer. Theme music by Ty Gibbons; other music by Blue Dot Sessions.Special thanks to Zoe McDonald, Amanda Gustin, Ted Kaye and Katie Grant.As always, our journalism is better when you're a part of it: Ask a question about Vermont Sign up for the BLS newsletter Say hi onInstagram and Reddit @bravestatevt Drop us an email: hello@bravelittlestate.org Make a gift to support people-powered journalism Tell your friends about the show! Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public and a proud member of the NPR Network. 

A good jingle is short, catchy and teaches you a business name or phone number that you can't get out of your head — maybe even for years.This hour we celebrate the art of the local jingle. We from some jingle writers who have written some legendary earworms. Jim Giberty is based in Bethel and wrote ads for local ski areas, as well as some broader New England gems, most notable, The Lobster Claw in Cape Cod. Cary Reich is based in Florida, but penned songs for Pizza Putt and Wendell's Furniture that will be familiar to longtime Vermonters. And we hear from Daisy Nell, a folk musician who has just so happened to have her songs become local jingles - her most famous being from the 1980s for the Snowsville General Store. Broadcast live on Thursday, July 10, 2025, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.Have questions, comments or tips? Send us a message or check us out on Instagram.

A Plainfield couple whose home was severely damaged by flooding two years in a row anxiously await news on whether they'll get a FEMA buyout for the home they can't stay in. Plus, Gov. Scott's administration starts a review of the newly passed federal budget bill to assess its impact on Vermont, the health department seeks to open three new methadone clinics in communities outside the state's Hub and Spoke treatment system, Sen. Welch meets with Vermonters impacted by flooding from the past two years, and the federal budget bill makes cuts to flood research funding at the University of Vermont. 

Elle Purrier St. Pierre is an Olympic medalist, indoor track world champion, dairy farmer, and mother of two — balancing it all from her home state of Vermont. In this episode of Breakfast with Boz, join the two Vermonters for a chat on chasing world-class competition while living in the Green Mountain State, lessons they've learned from rural living, and the forces driving Elle to be the best version of herself.

Over 800 people — including nearly 300 children — were slated to exit the program on Tuesday, as an executive order that extended their stays expired, according to data provided by the Department for Children and Families.

Vermont cartoonist and writer Jeff Danziger has been skewering politicians and others in power for half a century and at 81, has no plans to retire. Plus, Vermont state lawmakers are considering ways to increase safety in the wake of the killing of a Minnesota state representative and her husband, climate scientists say several days of extreme heat earlier this week are a harbinger of what's to come due to climate change, Burlington's City Council approved a new traffic pattern for a downtown street currently under construction, and the Fish and Wildlife Department is looking for Vermonters who want to go on a wild goose chase.

Assessing the threat of a small invasive worm that's capable of decimating Vermont's beech trees. Plus, Vermonters will experience a second consecutive day of extreme heat today, a new opioid-use disorder treatment center opens in Bennington, a new executive director is named for the independent state board that oversees Vermont's health care system, Kinney Drugs is taking over former Ride Aid stores in Springfield and Brattleboro, and plans move ahead for Burlington to get a new independent movie theater.

Not being able to drive in this state can be isolating — especially for older Vermonters navigating the challenges of aging.  Ninety-two-year-old Gerry Quinlan has found a way, with a network of friends that can drive her to their weekly coffee dates in Essex.But she's wondering how others do it, so she came to us with this question:"How do you maintain a social life in Vermont once you can no longer drive?"Join us as we ride along with Gerry and others who have given up their keys, but not their communities and friendships.For a full transcript of this episode and photos from our reporting, check out our web post.This episode was reported by Burgess Brown. Editing and production from the rest of the BLS team: Sabine Poux and Josh Crane. Additional editing from Erica Heilman. Our intern is Lucia McCallum. Angela Evancie is our Executive Producer. Theme music by Ty Gibbons; other music by Blue Dot Sessions.Special thanks to Lilias Ide, Andrea Stauffeneker, Laura Brooke, Martina Anderson and Andrew Bernstein. As always, our journalism is better when you're a part of it: Ask a question about Vermont Sign up for the BLS newsletter Say hi onInstagram and Reddit @bravestatevt Drop us an email: hello@bravelittlestate.org Make a gift to support people-powered journalism Tell your friends about the show! Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public and a proud member of the NPR Network. 

9-9:30am Senate Minority Leader Scott Beck joins the program to discuss the end of the legislative session and what policies were passed to help Vermonters 9:30-10am John Goodnight rejoins the show to discuss the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran 10-10:30am Alison Despathy informs listeners about rising energy costs, action listeners can take, and how the lack of action by the legislature on key issues is hurting Vermonters.  10:30-11am Nick Murray, Public Affairs Manager for Yes. Every Kid, provides an update on New Hampshire passing Universal Education Freedom Accounts into law last week.

Hunger stalks the Green Mountains like a silent and stealthy predator. Two out of five people in Vermont experience hunger, according to Hunger Free Vermont. And the problem may soon get much worse.The Trump administration has proposed sweeping cuts to SNAP, formerly known as food stamps, the nation's largest food assistance program. The Senate is currently considering a budget reconciliation bill passed by the House that includes billions of dollars in cuts to SNAP and Medicaid. Up to 13,000 Vermonters may have their food assistance reduced or eliminated if the measure is approved. Many legal immigrants, including refugees and asylees, will no longer be eligible for food benefits, according to Ivy Enoch of Hunger Free Vermont.To find out what this means to the people who will be directly affected by the potential cuts, I visited the largest food shelf in central Vermont, located at Capstone Community Action in Barre. The food shelf is open three days a week. When I visited, a steady stream of people of all ages came through the doors, quietly but gratefully filling grocery bags of food. Volunteers buzzed about helping.Emmanuelle Soumailhan, coordinator for Capstone's food shelf, said that the food shelf gets about 800 to 1,000 visitors per month, double the traffic it received before the Covid pandemic. The potential for federal cuts has her concerned that “we're not going to have enough food and we're going to see a surge of people … (and) we're just going to run out of money.”Stephanie Doyle came to the food shelf to get food for her family. She said that her SNAP benefits did not cover her family's food needs for the month. “You just can't afford getting fruits and vegetables and all that stuff that you need to do to be healthy, especially when you have a child that you're taking care of.”Doyle wants to ensure that her teenage daughter is “fueled really well in school so that she has a chance to thrive and get a good education just like all of the other kids who have more.”Leslie Walz, a retired school nurse from Barre, was volunteering at the food shelf. She was outraged by the prospect that SNAP funding would be slashed.“I don't know what's going to happen to these people that are dependent on the food shelf here,” she said. “Many of them don't have a place to live. They're living out of their cars. They were living in motels. It's essential. It can't be cut, not if we have a heart.”Liz Scharf, director of community economic development and food security at Capstone, insisted that philanthropy and charity can not replace lost federal funds. She is hopeful that the most draconian cuts will be avoided.“I just hope that in the end we're a country that decides to make sure our people are cared for, rather than giving money to the highest wealth individuals in this country through tax breaks,” said Scharf.Disclosure: David Goodman's wife, Sue Minter, was the executive director of Capstone Community Action from December 2018 to January 2025.

We speak with FIFA World Cup champ Sam Mewis as she prepares to coach two women's exhibition games for the Burlington-based Vermont Green FC soccer club. Plus, cuts to federal food benefits could affect thousands of low-income Vermonters, computer chip manufacturer Global Foundries announces a 16 billion dollar investment in its New York and Vermont plants, a federal pause on the nationwide Job Corps program leads to the expected closure next month of a workforce development center in Addison County, and the search is on in New Hampshire for a missing three foot long fiberglass banana. 

Considering the fate of Vermont's electric vehicle sales mandate now that the Governor has paused its implementation. Plus, Gov. Scott says he will sign a bill delivering 14 million dollars in tax cuts to young families, older Vermonters, and people with military pensions, House lawmakers reject a bill that would have allowed cannabis growers to sell directly to consumers, Green Mountain Power offers free energy storage batteries for homes in remote areas of Windham County, the Vermont Food Bank in Rutland reopens after a year-long renovation, and state wildlife officials ask anglers not to disturb sea lamprey as they migrate up the Connecticut River to spawn. 

Visiting the White River Valley to find out how a popular pick-up soccer league helps bring folks from all walks of life together to get some kicks. Plus, a Senate-approved bill would change how Vermonters can buy cannabis, there are new health guides available designed by and for Vermonters with developmental and intellectual disabilities, the state pauses funding for widespread P-C-B testing in schools, and new grant funding may help Rutland repurpose a downtown building being vacated by Walmart. 

Lake Memphremagog provides drinking water for around 200,000 Canadians, and recreation for countless Vermonters. It also faces serious environmental challenges. Today on Vermont Edition: the fight to restore and protect the water quality of our region's largest lakes. We'll hear from a Quebec-based group about their effort to designate Memphremagog as a lake in crisis. We'll also talk with a scientist from the Lake Champlain Basin Program, and a shoreline ecologist with Vermont's Department of Environmental Conservation. They'll tell us about the biggest threats to these water bodies, like phosphorus runoff.

Do you know what rocker panels are? No? Well, one listener found out hers were rusted during her annual car inspection — and that they were in need of a pricey repair. Vermont is one of just nine states that still requires annual safety inspections for all cars. And over and over, car inspections — especially car inspections that end in failure — bring frustrated Vermonters to the BLS question box. Three listeners want to know why Vermont's inspection requirements persist, even as other states have axed theirs. And they ask: Do inspections actually make the roads here safer?For photos from our trip to Brian's North End Automotive (feat. Potato the dog) check out the web version of this story.Thanks to Keese Lane and Mike Santos of Essex Junction, and Julianne Jones of Derby, for the great questions.This episode was reported by Josh Crane. Editing and production from the rest of the BLS team, Sabine Poux and Burgess Brown. Our intern is Catherine Morrissey. Angela Evancie is our Executive Producer. Theme music by Ty Gibbons; other music by Blue Dot Sessions.Special thanks to Rick Green, Steve Belitsos, Brian Chase, Drew Cline,  Amy Tatko, Scott Davidson, Jeremy Reed, Ernie Patnoe, Pete Hirschfeld, Abagael Giles, Joey Palumbo, April McCullum, Melody Bodette, Mike Dunn, Andrea Laurion and Lola Duffort, .As always, our journalism is better when you're a part of it: Ask a question about Vermont Sign up for the BLS newsletter Say hi on Instagram and Reddit @bravestatevt Drop us an email: hello@bravelittlestate.org Make a gift to support people-powered journalism Tell your friends about the show! Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public and a proud member of the NPR Network.

Parts of our region are experiencing a very wet and muddy spring. For some, the rains bring up tough memories of the flooding of recent years. For some towns, the floods of 2023 and 2024 caused immense damage and upended lives. While we all hope 2025 doesn't make this list, it's better to be safe than sorry. Here to to talk flood preparedness is the director of Vermont Emergency Management, Eric Forand. His office is working to improve communication with individual towns when a disaster hits. We also talk with volunteer organizers about their plans to help Vermonters weather this years storms. Megan Mathers of Northeast Kingdom Organizing and the Kingdom United Resilience and Recovery Effort, and Jon Copans of the Montpelier Commission for Recovery and Resilience join us. 

We continue our series showcasing Vermont musicians who entered this year's NPR Tiny Desk contest with the Hokum Brothers and Wes Pearce. Plus, the Trump administration terminates a federal grant aimed at helping low income and aging Vermonters better utilize the state's high speed broadband network, federal grants have also been scrapped for Vermont arts and culture organizations, several Vermont political leaders visit Quebec to offer apologies for the actions taken by president Trump, and the Granite State's legal community reacts to the death of former Supreme Court justice and New Hampshire Attorney General David Souter. 

We hear from Vermont-based musician Sarah Bell and the band Miles of Fire as they compete to be winners of NPR's annual Tiny Desk Concert. Plus, the Trump administration sues Vermont and three other states over their climate superfund laws, the state gets some good news regarding the safety of its milk supply from bird flu virus, a funding boost should help more low-income Vermonters connect freely to the state's high speed fiber broadband network, Quebec sees near record population growth mostly due to a recent influx of immigrants, and the Notch road between Stowe and Cambridge has been reopened after its annual winter closure. 

Speaking with the designer of a highly reviewed video game called Wanderstop that infuses parts of Vermont's largest city into the action. Plus, a legal defense fund is created to help non-citizen Vermonters targeted by federal immigration officials, lawmakers in Montpelier float a bill to keep education property taxes nearly flat by relying on $118 Million in surplus funding, the winners of the 2024 Vermont Book Awards have been announced, we'll preview events happening in Castleton this weekend to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Green Mountain Boys' defeat of the British at Fort Ticonderoga, and discuss why the favored defending NBA champion Boston Celtics find themselves in a two games to none playoff hole against the New York Knicks in our weekly sports report. 

Rep. Peter Conlon, Chairman of the House Education Committee. Ken Fredette, member of the Friends of Vermont Public Education. Cheryl Charles from the Vermont Rural Schools Community Alliance, and Miriam Hansen on her trip to Montreal with 50 Vermonters to pursue goodwill. 

This episode aired May 6, 2025Host Brad Ferland 9:00 to 9:30Matt Cota weekly Legislative updateThe beat goes on 9:30 to 10:15Tim Johnson ArsenaultRetired southern Vermont WTSA radio personality in Windham County and recently retired Vernon Town ClerkThe story of two public careers of news and service to Vermonters 10:15 to 11:00Lloyd Devereux RichardsVermont Author of Stone Maidens and his new novel The Runnert's a standalone thriller of young man who gets involved with someone he believes is a savvy businessman and ends up abandoned in a terrible situation and on the run from some very bad people.

Vermont isn't just shrinking in population, its aging.  The state has 30,000 fewer working age citizens between 25-40 then it did 25 years ago.  This, while modest population gains during the Covid-19 pandemic has reversed. For those of us at the Innova802 Crew, we see the effects every day.  Many citizens on fixed incomes, who represent a larger share of the population, cannot afford increases to taxes for education, infrastructure and public healthcare subsidies.   For many, the gut reaction is to say, no new Vermont citizens, no new Vermont students, no new Vermont employers taking in  public investment dollars.  While this may seem intuitively correct, it is in fact the path to a downward economic cycle that becomes very challenging to reverse, especially for rural states. We hosted Kevin Chu, Executive Director of the Vermont Futures Project during season nine of the Are We Here Yet? podcast.  One year later, the Innova802 crew had him back to talk about the effort to get all Vermonters on the same page, writing a book of growth in order to create a more livable Vermont bursting at the seams with opportunity and the right balance between caring for our neighbors and having the ability to pay for it.  Listen to VFP on Marketplace This Are We Here Yet? podcast is in association with the Innova802 podcast. This conversation on rural development is so important, we're hosting it on The Housers Podcast, too!

Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark recently filed her fourth lawsuit in two weeks against the Trump administration, this one to stop Health and Human Services secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., from dismantling the health agency. It is the 13th lawsuit that Clark has filed against the Trump administration in its first 100 days (see VTDigger's online tracker of Clark's actions). These are multistate lawsuits brought in conjunction with other Democratic attorneys general.Clark's lawsuits include challenging the gutting of the departments of Education and Health and Human Services, dismantling AmeriCorps, anti-DEI rules, tariffs, Elon Musk's unchecked power, and anti-LGBTQ+ rules in the military, to name a few.Clark, who was reelected in November to her second term as attorney general, accuses President Donald Trump of violating the U.S. Constitution that he was sworn to defend.“Every single time Donald Trump violates the constitution or federal law and Vermont has standing, we are suing,” she said.Trump has been on a remarkable losing streak. Nationally, more than 200 lawsuits have been filed against the administration so far, and judges have fully or partially blocked implementation of most of Trump's actions. During Trump's first term, Vermont participated in 62 lawsuits and won a favorable outcome in 60 of those cases. What is the point of taking actions that are struck down by courts?Clark points to Trump's record as a businessman, in which he declared bankruptcy six times. “I think some people would feel embarrassed if they had a business model that was going to have a lot of failures,” she said. “And he just doesn't. He's not oriented that way. He doesn't necessarily see a failure as a loss. I think he sees these as tools to understand what his power is and to stretch his power by intimidation.”“He's using these extreme cases to test the boundaries of his power and also to gain power for himself,” she added.Clark said she is especially concerned about Trump's attacks on poor people, such as slashing the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program and Head Start, the early education program for low-income people, both of which benefit thousands of Vermonters. “It isn't for the administration, the executive branch, to decide how to spend the taxpayers' money,” Clark said. She insisted that Congress “created these programs, and they have funded these programs, and Donald Trump needs to deliver the money to the programs.”What if Trump ignores the courts, as he seems to selectively be doing? Clark has a warning for Trump's lawyers who defy court orders. “There are consequences: It's disbarment. It's being in contempt,” she said. “At some point, lawyers who disobey will be punished.” Numerous Trump attorneys have been disbarred in recent years. The attorney general said her biggest concerns are apathy and the erosion of the media, which are interconnected problems. “There's apathy because people actually don't understand what's going on from a non-biased source.”Many people “are getting their news not from journalists, but from entertainers,” she said.Clark advises Vermonters to "hang in there.” “Our country is strong (and) was literally designed to protect itself from someone who wanted to be king,” she said.The attorney general said people must "do our part as citizens: voting, participating in democracy, protesting, speaking up. That's my message to Vermonters.”

Lawmakers, union leaders and administration officials all agree that the shortage of prison workers in Vermont is a major problem, but there's no agreement about how to address the issue. Plus, racial disparities persist in police traffic stops, a technical glitch delays a vote on an Amazon warehouse project, a judge orders the state to give homeless Vermonters notice before ending motel shelter benefits, and Fish and Wildlife wants feedback on new proposed deer hunting regulations. 

We discussed data privacy and how its unregulated nature can really impact everyday Vermonters. Vermont Rep. Monique Priestley has become a national leader in this discussion. We were then joined by Kiki and Rachel from Migrant Justice to discuss milk with dignity as well as the workers who were abducted from a farm in Berkshire. And the show wrapped with Claire Whitehouse, the Secretary/Treasurer of AFT Vermont to discuss International Workers Day (May 1st) and the work of unions as well as todays events across the state.

After decades of navigating various mental and physical health struggles, three Vermonters sought out an autism diagnosis for themselves in their late 40s and 50s.

Vermont Edition is launching a new series, featuring intimate conversations with noteworthy Vermonters right in their own living rooms. It's called Vermont Edition At Home. For the first installment, Mikaela Lefrak went to the Middlebury home of François Clemmons.. Clemmons is best known for playing Officer Clemmons on Mr. Rogers Neighborhood.Clemmons discusses how he came to embrace his Blackness, his homosexuality, and his desire to be a performer.Broadcast live on Thursday, April 24, 2025, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.Have questions, comments or tips? Send us a message or check us out on Instagram.

Vermonters and Quebeckers share much more than a border. We do business together, get our passports out for vacation, and visit family. But this year, the threads that hold us together have frayed.Vermont Edition co-hosted a cross-border conversation in partnership with Radio Noon, a call-in program from the CBC in Quebec. Mikaela Lefrak and Radio Noon host Shawn Apel took calls and emails from listeners on both sides of the border about the current state of U.S.-Canada relations. We also heard about the real-world repercussions of President Donald Trump's “51st state” rhetoric.Vermont Public reporter Peter Hirschfeld joined the conversation as well to talk about the effect the Trump administration is having on Canadian tourism in Vermont, and how the state's lawmakers are reacting to the increased tensions. Broadcast live on Tuesday, April 22, 2025, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.Have questions, comments or tips? Send us a message or check us out on Instagram.

In our recurring series on class we hear from Isaac McDonald who spoke previously about growing up in the Northeast Kingdom, and is now back to talk about attending his freshman year at Columbia University on a full scholarship. Plus, high ranking state senate Democrats call for ending the contract that allows federal officials to detain people in Vermont prisons, in a state health department survey most Vermonters report being in good health, Clinton Community College in New York plans to move its operations to the SUNY Plattsburgh campus, Gov. Scott signs a bill designating November as the Vermont month of the veteran, and in our weekly sports report we predict an upset in round one of the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs by a team that only made it into the tournament on the last day of the regular season.  

Today on Vermont Edition, we'll explore the massive changes underway at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. A program known as LIHEAP offsets utility bills for more than 6 million Americans. Vermont Public reporter Abagael Giles tells us about the future of the program. We'll also talk with a Head Start supervisor in Windham Southeast school district, and the head of an agency that feeds hundreds of low-income, older Vermonters. Plus: Vermont's poet laureate, Bianca Stone helps us celebrate National Poetry Month.

Journalist Garrett Graff is sounding increasingly urgent alarms about America's slide into authoritarianism.He said that what is happening under the Trump administration is not a constitutional crisis, which “normally means that there's some sort of tension in the system, disagreements between the two branches.” Instead, he insisted that the tension is absent because “what we are seeing is a Congress that is willingly abdicating many of its constitutional and statutory authorities to the President.”What is happening now is “a constitutional crash. And I mean that in the medical sense, where we are seeing the unwinding of our constitutional system writ large, and sort of a collective failure of checks and balances across the board.”“Checks and balances only work if Congress actually cares,” Graff continued. “And what we're seeing right now is Congress just not caring what the President does... They seem unwilling to stand up for both their traditional role and also their own personal power in Washington, lest it basically anger Donald Trump's hoards of supporters and turns MAGA against them.”Garrett Graff, a former editor of Politico and Washingtonian magazines, is a frequent guest on television news shows and a regular contributor to the op-ed pages of the New York Times and Washington Post. His oral history of the 2008 financial crisis, “The Weekend That Shook The World,” was published this week in the Washington Post op-ed section.“I think the 2008 financial crisis is a moment that we have not fully reckoned with in terms of how it shaped and changed the trajectory of our country,” noted Graff. “It caused an enormous loss of faith in the system and in institutions among voters and Americans. It launched the Tea Party wing of the Republican Party, which we have seen go in the years since from the fringe to the mainstream of the party.”“The fact that there were no Wall Street executives who were publicly held to account in criminal prosecution — basically that there were no CEOs who were perp walked on TV — caused a lot of people to rightly feel that the system was not working for them, that basically the powerful were being protected and they were being made to pay the price as ordinary mortgage holders or shareholders across the country. It also a big part of the rise of Donald Trump, who, in the wake of the financial crisis, begins his regular commentary for Fox News as this businessman and entrepreneur, and begins the way that he moves to the center of gravity in the Republican Party.”Graff was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for his 2022 history of Watergate. He is the author of numerous books about history and national security, including “When the Sea Came Alive: An Oral History of D-Day,” “The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9-11,” and “UFO: The Inside Story of the US Government's Search for Alien Life Here ― and Out There,”Graff also shares his writing about current politics in his online newsletter, Doomsday Scenario. Recently, Graff, who lives in Burlington, turned his lens closer to home. He is the editor of a new book from the Vermont Historical Society, “Life Became Very Blurry: An Oral History of COVID-19 in Vermont.” (Disclosure: VTDigger reporter Erin Petenko was interviewed for “Life Became Very Blurry.”Graff wrote that “it's possible that Covid will prove as transformational a moment for the (Vermont) population and culture as the back-to-the-land movement of the 1960s and 1970s.”He predicted that the “national revolution around remote work” will benefit Vermont in the long term" and bring "a new generation of Vermonters to the state who can make successful careers here.”Graff notes that nationally, the pandemic gave rise to nostalgia that has fueled Trump's promise to return the country to a mythical past, even to a time when the U.S. was ruled by a king."Right now, hour by hour, we are watching the court cases play out about whether the President can rendition people without criminal records to torture gulags in El Salvador and then declare them beyond the reach of US courts for any sort of due process whatsoever. It does not take a law degree to note that that is one of the most fundamentally unconstitutional sentences I could have possibly uttered, and goes against sort of every American tradition in the legal process and due process in our 250 year history. It sounds much more like something King George III was doing to the colonists when they declared independence than anything that we have seen a US president do ever since."Are we on the road to authoritarianism?"I think we are in a moment where we are trying to answer that question anew almost every single day." 

For some Vermonters, biking is simply a fun form of recreation or exercise. But for others, it's how they get to work or school.Bike advocates across the region are trying to make commuting by bike more accessible and safe for Vermonters. Joining us is Jonathon Weber of Local Motion, Hanif Nazerli of the Capital City Corridor bike share project, and Darren Ohl of the Vermont Bicycle Shop in Barre discussed road safety, to discuss bike infrastructure development, and access to good bikes and gear.Broadcast live on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.Have questions, comments or tips? Send us a message or check us out on Instagram.

In an excerpt from Brave Little State, we dig into the origins of the widespread, stylized Stowe logo. Plus, the final state budget approved by House lawmakers could be jeopardized by potential federal funding cuts it relies on, the state's emergency motel voucher program has begun imposing its off-winter limits on length of stays for some homeless Vermonters, Montpelier Roxbury Public Schools may join a national lawsuit against a software provider following a data breach that compromised personal information of students and school faculty, and the Vermont senate gives the green light to let freestanding birth centers offer their services. 

Highlighting streaming video services designed specifically to help people suffering from dementia and those who care for them. Plus, House lawmakers approve legislation shielding personal Internet information for some state and public officials, the head of the Green Mountain Care Board says the state's health care system is near a breaking point, a probe by the Agency of Education concludes a private school in southern Vermont that serves autistic students has failed to properly educate them, the author of a UVM study says large dead trees along stream banks should be protected for the significant amounts of carbon they store, and a home in Vergennes for older Vermonters welcomes its first residents since expanding its living space.

Today's location-specific episode features Vermont.  We explore the overview of the housing guiding document called Vermont Title 9 Chapter 137 Residential Rental Agreements.  Each of my location-specific podcasts is set up the same way answering the same four questions:  1) What are the basics of the Vermont Title 9 Chapter 137 Residential Rental Agreements, 2) What are the nuances of this location – what is different that stands out?, 3) Some guidance about abandoned items left behind by a tenant in a rental inVermont, and 4) Where to get help in your local area in Vermont.  This episode is NOT all inclusive – you must research further in your specific area including your County, Regional District, Parish, City or any other Governing Body that involves your rental location, but today's episode will get you started!

A 2023 U.S. Census Bureau report found that nearly 1 in 4 Vermonters said they'd experienced symptoms of anxiety. Studies show that even just petting an animal can reduce stress, lower blood pressure and abate loneliness. Shelburne's New Village Farm invites guests to pet, scratch, hold and snuggle their dog-like herd of Nigerian dwarf, Oberhasli, and French alpine goats.

A new book preserves the stories of Vermonters during the historic COVID-19 pandemic. For the first time, you can read oral histories of more than a hundred state leaders, frontline workers and regular citizens. It's called Life Became Very Blurry, An Oral History of COVID-19 in Vermont. The book illuminates the mindset of Vermonters during this unforgettable period in history, the way Vermont handled the epidemic, and how it reshaped the state. Its editor, Garrett Graff, is a bestselling author and historian. He teamed up with field historians, including our guest Amanda Gustin of the the Vermont Historical Society, to collect and publish this new book.Broadcast live on Monday, March 24, 2025, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.Have questions, comments, or tips? Send us a message or check us out on Instagram.

A new book preserves the stories of Vermonters during the historic COVID-19 pandemic. For the first time, you can read oral histories of more than a hundred state leaders, frontline workers and regular citizens. It's called Life Became Very Blurry, An Oral History of COVID-19 in Vermont. The book illuminates the mindset of Vermonters during this unforgettable period in history, the way Vermont handled the epidemic, and how it reshaped the state. Its editor, Garrett Graff, is a bestselling author and historian. He teamed up with field historians, including our guest Amanda Gustin of the the Vermont Historical Society, to collect and publish this new book.Broadcast live on Monday, March 24, 2025, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.Have questions, comments, or tips? Send us a message or check us out on Instagram.

We preview original classical music compositions written by Vermont students for a Music-COMP concert next week. Plus, what's behind the financial shortfall hampering Randolph's Gifford Medical Center, lawmakers consider a bill to provide emergency financial relief for Vermont's largest health insurer if its money woes worsen, the Vermont Senate approves legislation giving financial incentives to people who take care of seriously ill family members at home, lawmakers also advance a proposed constitutional amendment further protecting Vermonters' rights to organize and collectively bargain, the University of Vermont announces its next president, and we preview UVM's game against NC State in the opening round of the NCAA women's basketball tournament in our weekly sports report. 

Sheep used to dominate the Vermont landscape. But these days, it's kind of rare to drive by a large flock. What happened to Vermont's sheep?Today on Vermont Edition: It's the latest in our March series Animal Hour and it's all about sheep. We begin with local historian Mark Bushnell who tells us all about the sheep boom and bust of the 1800s. Even though there aren't as many sheep here as there used to be, there's still a lot of Vermonters out there shearing sheep for their wool, raising lambs for meat, or producing award-winning sheep's milk cheese. We'll talk with Mark Rogers, head of the Vermont Sheep and Goat Association, and Amber Reed, a livestock grazing expert in Barnet.

Sheep used to dominate the Vermont landscape. But these days, it's kind of rare to drive by a large flock. What happened to Vermont's sheep?Today on Vermont Edition: It's the latest in our March series Animal Hour and it's all about sheep. We begin with local historian Mark Bushnell who tells us all about the sheep boom and bust of the 1800s.Even though there aren't as many sheep here as there used to be, there's still a lot of Vermonters out there shearing sheep for their wool, raising lambs for meat, or producing award-winning sheep's milk cheese. We'll talk with Mark Rogers, head of the Vermont Sheep and Goat Association, and Amber Reed, a livestock grazing expert in Barnet.

Why voters in Royalton rejected proposed restrictions on what people can do with flood plain property. Plus, nearly half of Vermont's 14 hospitals lost money providing patient care last year, Gov. Scott vetoes a budget adjustment package that includes funding for affordable housing and the state's motel voucher program, federal updates to the state's flood hazard maps could result in more private property building restrictions, Vermont's Attorney General joins a lawsuit against the Trump administration to block layoffs at the US Department of Education, and state public health officials are urging Vermonters to make sure they're immunized against measles.

Programs that provide support for older Vermonters and their caregivers could be at risk due to proposed federal cuts to Medicaid. Plus, the Trump administration shutters a nationwide program that provided local food for schools and food shelves, GE Areospace invests in Rutland, the Vermont Senate gives initial approval to more restrictions on social media for kids, a call for state lawmakers to take action against bullying in schools after a Vermont teenager's suicide last year, and the Essex Westford School Board announces the district's next superintendent.