Vermont Edition

Reporter Carrie Klein from Canary Media, a nonprofit news outlet focused on clean energy, examines the draft rules released by the Public Utility Commission. Commissioner June Tierney from the Department of Public Service joins the conversation to discuss the report. She represents the public interest in utility cases before the Public Utility Commission and in federal and state courts.At the end of the month, the commission will hold a public hearing on the draft. It will be held on Wednesday, October 30th, starting at 6:30 pm. You can find that information here.Broadcast live on Monday, October 14, 2024, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.Have questions, comments, or tips? Send us a message or check us out on Instagram.

It’s time to bust out the binoculars and listen for a birdsong— the Bird Diva is back.

Vermont Public hosted a debate on Wednesday with candidates for lieutenant governor of Vermont.Incumbent Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman, a Progressive-Democrat from Hinesburg, is an organic farmer and former member of the Vermont House and Senate. His challenger is Republican John Rodgers of West Glover, also a former member of the Vermont House and Senate. Rodgers runs a stoneworking and excavation business and hemp and cannabis farm.During the debate, the candidates agreed on some topics, like banning assault weapons in Vermont, but disagreed on many others, including how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Vermont. They also discussed which political party best represents working class Vermonters.

The 2024 general election is just one month away. To get voters prepared and informed before casting a ballot, Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas explains her office's first-of-its-kind voter guide. It includes candidate profiles, voting instructions and information about each election position Vermonters will be asked to vote on. This election season, several Vermont legislative seats are open for the first time in decades. The outcome of these races could have significant implications for Vermont’s legislature. We discuss with Calvin Cutler, political reporter with WCAX. Plus: Vermont Public's senior political reporter Bob Kinzel shares the significance of Montpelier's recently reopened post office.

The war in Gaza has reached a grim milestone. It's been one year since the shocking and deadly Hamas-led attack in Israel, and one year of bombardments in Gaza that targeted everything from military strongholds to hospitals full of civilians.On this episode of Vermont Edition we open our phone lines to hear audience reflections on the past year. We speak with Tarek El-Ariss, the James Wright Professor and Chair of Middle Eastern Studies at Dartmouth College. His memoir of growing up during the Lebanese Civil War, “Water on Fire: A Memoir of War," came out earlier this year. University of Vermont associate professor, Peter Henne, discusses his research and teaching, which focuses on the Middle East and global religious politics.Broadcast live on Thursday, October 3, 2024, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.

Every month, a Seven Days food writer joins Vermont Edition to talk about local food, restaurant openings and closings, and other big news from our region’s food and beverage scene. In this edition of the series, Jordan Barry shares her favorite you-pick apple orchards, information about Vermont Chicory Week, and upcoming restaurant openings.

From the quarries of Barre to the crystals of Belvidere Mountain in Lowell and Eden, rocks and minerals play a significant role in Vermont's history and culture. The Vermont Rocks! exhibit at the Bennington Museum, up now through Nov. 10, dives into the state's geologic past. Jamie Franklin, curator of the Bennington Musuem, and Ken Carlsen, a geologist and educator from Bennington, discuss the exhibit and the state's subterranean wonders. Carlsen will give a special presentation on the Belvidere Mountain quarries on Oct. 5th at the museum.Bennington Museum is a Vermont Public underwriter.

Guests include the director of a new play in White River Junction, a podcaster in Jeffersonville, and Sasquatch callers in Whitehall.

Vermont Public hosted a debate on Tuesday with candidates for Vermont’s seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. It was the first in a series of debates and candidate interviews ahead of the general election on Nov. 5th.Incumbent Congresswoman Becca Balint, a Democrat from Brattleboro, is running for a second term. She previously represented Windham County in the Vermont Senate. Her challenger is Mark Coester, a Republican from Westminster. He is a small business owner with a background in fishing, logging, and sugaring.During the debate, the candidates disagreed on nearly every topic, including climate change, foreign policy and the role of the federal government in addressing rising health care costs and solutions to the affordable housing shortage.

September 30th is the National Day for Truth an Reconciliation, a Canadian holiday marking the harmful impact of residential schools.

Sugaring connects us to the trees around us, and produces a delicious, sweet product for our pancakes, salad dressings and marinades. But it can also cause its fair share of headaches — like when you have to battle rugged terrain, bad weather and plundering woodland creatures to get that sap you want so much.Peter Gregg knows a thing or two about the highs and lows of sugaring. In his recently published memoir, "The Sugar Rush," Gregg tells the story of how he and his longtime best friend fell in love with sugaring. Gregg runs a 1,000-tap sugaring operation in Rupert and is also the longtime publisher of "The Maple News," the largest trade magazine for the maple syrup industry in the US and Canada.Then: Over the past four decades Vermont Creamery has grown from a small artisan dairy company based in Websterville to a must-have brand for retailers like Wegmans and Whole Foods. This year, it celebrates its 40th anniversary. The company's co-founder, Allison Hooper, joins Vermont Edition to mark the milestone.

To cap off our School Stories series, we thought we’d end on a wholly positive note, and turn to the wide world of school sports. Joining us to give the play-by-play on Vermont high school athletics is Jack Fitzsimmons, sports director for WCAX.

Today is the fourth and final installment of our weekly September series, School Stories. Every Tuesday, we've been exploring a different issues impacting education across Vermont. This hour, we're joined by Vermont’s interim Secretary of Education, Zoie Saunders. She was appointed to the position by Governor Phil Scott in April. Before moving to Vermont, she was an administrator for a school district in Florida, and a strategist for a charter school management company

Bureaucracy at the federal level is negatively impacting Vermont municipalities damaged by the 2023 floods.

The Middlebury writer is the subject of a new PBS documentary.

Last fall, three young men of Palestinian descent were shot while out for a walk. All three survived, but one, Hisham Awartani, suffered a spinal cord injury and is now paralyzed from the waist down. His mother, Elizabeth Price, shares an update on his health and explains the accessibility modifications their family has made to their Burlington home.Modifying homes to accommodate aids like wheelchairs can be a challenging process in Vermont, where much of the housing stock is older and not ADA-complaint. Edie Perkins, executive director of the Kelly Brush Foundation, became paralyzed from the chest down seven years ago following an accident. She worked with an architect to build an accessible home.Vermont does have a number of legal protections for people with disabilities. Big Hartman, executive director of the Vermont Human Rights Commission, explains how their office handles discrimination complaints, which are often related to housing. Rachel Batterson, director of Vermont Legal Aid’s Housing Discrimination Law Project, outlines the housing rights of people with disabilities.

Should phones be allowed in schools? Some local schools are banning them. Harwood Union and Thetford Academy have invested in lockable pouches made by Yondr, while Lamoille South Supervisory Union requires students to store their phones in lockers at the start of the day. We hear from a group of 7th and 8th graders from Williston Central School — Ella, Sunny, Ryan, Katherine, Evan, and Olivia — who share their relationships with their smartphones.Seven Days education reporter Alison Novak discusses how Vermont schools are trying to reduce student distractions. Dr. Heidi Schumacher, a pediatrician at the University of Vermont and a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics' Council on School Health, explains the signs of phone addiction that parents should watch for.Eight states have restricted phones in schools. Last session, lawmakers introduced a bill to ban phones in Vermont schools, but opponents argued it would be difficult to enforce. Rep. Angela Arsenault, a Democrat, says she plans to reintroduce a similar bill in the next session.One school in our region has long banned phones: North Country School in Lake Placid, New York, a boarding and day school for grades 4 through 9. Todd Ormiston, the school’s executive director, shares the benefits and challenges of keeping phones out of schools. Broadcast live on Tuesday, September 17, 2024, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.Have questions, comments, or tips? Send us a message or check us out on Instagram.

Vermont’s state government is falling short in its regulation of water quality on farms according the the federal government. The EPA found that state regulators aren’t enforcing the Clean Water Act because they’re not communicating clearly with farmers. Vermont Public's climate and environment reporter Abagael Giles has been following the situation and fills us in on the details. We're joined by David Cash, a regional administrator for the EPA, who oversees the northeast region, Julie Moore, secretary of Vermont’s Agency of Natural Resources, and Jon Groveman with the Vermont Natural Resources Council where he serves as the policy and water program director.Broadcast live on Monday, September 16, 2024, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.Have questions, comments, or tips? Send us a message or check us out on Instagram.

Racing pigs, cattle pulls and the storied Larkin dancers — the Tunbridge World's Fair is one of Vermont's most beloved and longest-standing annual traditions.The fair dates back to 1867. Each year tens of thousands of people come to central Vermont for its four-day run. Vermont Edition visited for a live broadcast.

Ethan Allen is a household name in Vermont. His youngest brother Ira has been overlooked by history — until now.Ira Allen played an important role in the founding of Vermont as the 14th state. Born in 1751, he was a land speculator, pamphleteer, politician and revolutionary. He is the subject of a new book by J. Kevin Graffagnino of Essex. "Ira Allen: A Biography," out on Sept. 13 from the Vermont Historical Society, shines new light on Allen and his prominent role in Vermont’s formative decades. Historian and VTDigger journalist Mark Bushnell also joined the show to discuss the oldest known burial ground in the state. The Bennington Centre Cemetery is the final resting place of many notable Vermonters, including Robert Frost, five Vermont governors, and Revolutionary War soldiers.