"When Worlds Collide" was the theme of this year’s Commentator Brunch, and it reminded Sarwar Kashmeri that words themselves sometimes collide – with interesting results.
State regulators have approved wind testing towers
in southern Vermont, despite opposition from
the host towns. The decision comes during an intensifying debate
over renewable energy projects in Vermont.
Former New York Times reporter and VPR commentator Martha Molnar talks about her new book, TAPROOT: Making A Life On Prairie Hill. The book details her experience of moving to Vermont.
Earlier this year at the VPR Commentator Brunch, the theme was "When Worlds Collide…" and that reminded Vic Henningsen that some encounters have consequences that reach far into the future.
The landmark Broadway musical Show Boat – music by Jerome Kern, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II – opened in New York on December 27, 1927 and remains to this day one of the most popular musicals ever written.
Listen Saturday at 12 p.m.
At this year’s Commentator Brunch, the theme was "When World’s Collide…" which reminded Annie Guyon of the time her father met some of her more colorful friends – at a party.
Officials
say the state has made progress in the past year in the effort to expand both
broadband and cell service and coverage for both now exceeds 90% of the state.
VPR will air live NPR special coverage of talks between President Obama and congressional leaders regarding impending automatic spending cuts and tax increases.
Governor Peter Shumlin says
he’ll support a federal ban on the sale of semi-automatic assault weapons. And
he thinks an NRA plan to place armed guards in all schools is a bad idea.
Vermont flutist Laurel Ann Maurer is giving a series of concerts in the area this weekend, and will be Walter Parker’s guest live in the studio Friday at 11. We’ll hear a selection from her Grammy-nominated CD for our Friday Feature on a Vermont artist.
VPR will air live NPR special coverage of talks between President Obama and congressional leaders regarding impending automatic spending cuts and tax increases.
At the Commentator Brunch earlier this year, the theme – "When Worlds Collide" – reminded commentator Mary McCallum of an unexpected and rather shocking encounter – with herself.
Plow operators had plenty of work as the snow kept piling up Thursday
when the big winter storm that hammered the South and Midwest arrived in
New England.
Today’s Vermont Edition is dedicated to children’s literature, and we
have four stories to bring you of writers, illustrators and devotees of
those early books that can spark a life-long love of reading.
Former State Senator Edgar May – a Pulitzer prize wining journalist
who became a liberal voice in Vermont politics – has died. May was 83, and had suffered a stroke about three weeks ago, according
to his sister, former Vermont Governor Madeleine May Kunin.
A
winter storm that raged through the South and Midwest began dumping snow overnight in New England. By
sunrise, 3 to 8 inches had fallen across Vermont – with plenty more on the way.
Every year we invite commentators to write on the same theme and share their essays at a brunch, which we record to feature a sampler of the event later on the air. This year’s topic was "When Worlds Collide" and it got commentator Tom Slayton thinking about politics and change in Vermont.
Even
though Lamoille County is also home to many farms, food processed and packaged
hundreds or even thousands of miles away is often easier to obtain than food
grown, raised or produced locally. That’s why the town is working with a group
of volunteers to try and start a downtown food coop.
Ski resorts in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont hope the season’s first significant winter storm will erase memories of last year’s meltdown caused by warm weather.
Teen pregnancies have been
declining for almost two decades now, and the rates in Vermont and New Hampshire are among the lowest in the nation. While that may be
good news, it’s also one reason a residential program for teen mothers in Lebanon, New Hampshire is closing its doors. That will leave some teens
without social services they have come to depend on.
At
the VPR Commentator Brunch earlier this year, the theme "When Worlds Collide…" inspired
Bill Schubart to venture into the exciting world of
semantics.
As Christmas arrives once again, Jay
Parini remembers hearing the Christmas story read by his father, and he
reflects on the meaning of this birthday, two thousand years ago, and
its continuing resonance for more than two billion people around the
world.
A
century ago mills were a central feature of working life in the Upper Valley. Generations of families depended on them for their
livelihood. Now
one example of the area’s industrial history is being highlighted in a traveling
Smithsonian Museum exhibit.
The trees may be bare, but
there’s still a lot of action at Vermont’s apple orchards. This time of year, growers
are packing fruit for sale, and putting the rest of the crop in long-term
storage to sell through the spring.
It’s
taken more than a decade, but the Superfund
clean-up of an abandoned copper mine in South Strafford is almost finished. The
EPA has sealed 45 acres of tailings-which are finely ground sulfide ore-that
had been leaching into local waterways.
The Northeast has made big
gains in cutting carbon pollution. But a regional program to
further reduce greenhouse gas emissions is struggling with how to build on that
success. Environmentalists want governors keep up the pressure.
From afar, most of the damage
Vermont sustained during Tropical Storm Irene last year has been fixed,
but almost 16 months after the epic storm inundated the state on a late
summer day, many Vermonters and state government are still working to
recover.
This week Joel Najman’s My Place program presents an hour of songs by the Jewish songwriters who have provided the pop music soundtrack of the Christmas season.
The Third Coast International Audio Festival brings the best new
documentaries produced worldwide to the national airwaves in a special
program hosted by award-winning writer, producer and humorist, Gwen
Macsai.
Peter Fox Smith explores two operas – Puccini’s "La Boheme" and Massenet’s "Werther" – both of which take place around Christmas.
Listen Saturday at 12 p.m.
A powerful wind storm that blew through Vermont yesterday caused more power outages than Super Storm Sandy.
As
of this morning, around 6,700 households and businesses are without power. The majority of those outages are in hard-hit Addison and
Rutland Counties. And the lights might not be back on for some until
Christmas Eve.
Sometimes
a certain photograph or a familiar smell can trigger a rush of memories. Other
times it can be a long forgotten song. In
the case of John Stone, a recording he made years ago brought back vivid
memories that illuminate a part of Vermont’s cultural past.
Treat your ears to an aural stocking stuffed with Holiday-related music by Tony Bennett-John Coltrane, Bob Dorough and Miles Davis – as well as bon bons from Elvis Costello, June Christy, Don Pullen, and more.
As a long-time conservative observer of fiscal policy in government,
John McClaughry expects that debate about our tax capacity
will dominate the coming session of the state legislature.
As of
nightfall, some 20,000 power outages were still being reported across Vermont after
strong winds buffeted the state, causing more damage than did the remnants of
Superstorm Sandy.
Sen.
Patrick Leahy says he’ll support a renewal of a ban on the sale of semi-automatic
assault weapons. He says he’ll also back a plan to require background checks at
all gun shows.
Senator
Patrick
Leahy talks about what he thinks should happen with gun laws and retired Middlebury College political science professor Eric Davis discusses how politics influences gun control legislation.
Vermont’s Veteran’s Home in Bennington was already facing problems stemming from
deficiencies in its quality of care identified after state inspections last
spring.
In Vermont, the effort to boost local food production is a priority
that’s spelled out explicitly in state law. The Legislature passed the Farm
to Plate investment program in 2009. The program aims to create jobs in the
farm economy and improve access to healthy, local foods.
As
travelers rush to catch planes for the holiday season, the municipal airport in
Lebanon looks less busy than its competitors in Burlington and Manchester.
The
final count for Rutland’s Gift of Life Marathon Blood drive was 1,954
pints of blood, which means the city fell 14 pints short of the record set by Manchester, New Hampshire.
Many
Vermonters are without power today, as high winds have knocked down trees and
power lines. Utilities are reporting nearly 18,000 customers without power.
Harry Christophers conducts the Handel and Haydn Society Chorus and Orchestra from Symphony Hall, Boston, in this 159th annual performance of Handel’s Messiah.
On Thursday, Vermont Gas Systems filed a petition for a state permit to begin construction of its underground pipeline project, which has already collided with opposition from local residents who don’t like the route.
The Brattleboro Development
Credit Corporation will add a new face to its leadership team — but one with a
familiar name. The nonprofit group
has hired Patricia Moulton Powden as its Director of Workforce Development and
eventually, its executive director.
Many people and cultures around the world have
celebrated the return of the light in the midst of winter darkness. We’ll learn how Vermonters celebrate the solstice.
There is some consternation
over the Mayan Long calendar, and a cycle within it that by some counts ends
this Friday. But because there is such a clamor over just what the
calendar does indicate, we decided to
ask a Vermonter who has both a particular interest and expertise in the Mayan
calendar for some answers.
Vermont has proved fertile ground for food co-ops and farmers’
markets. But advocates for a strong local food economy say it’s not enough to
make nutritious local foods available. They
want to get fresh locally grown food to everyone.
Double digit increases in
health care costs are posing a significant budget challenge to many school
boards across the state and local school officials are also feeling pressure
from Governor Peter Shumlin.
Scientists who’ve been
tracking Lake Champlain’s fish populations say that, while lake trout are in
ample supply, the surviving adults are exclusively hatchery-raised fish.
The United States government says it’s not going to seek the death
penalty against a man charged with killing a woman as part of a drug deal in
southern Vermont.
As a new wave of interest in Abraham Lincoln sweeps across the
country, Howard Coffin notes that
Abraham Lincoln almost paid a visit to Vermont. Almost…
Sen. Patrick Leahy has
decided not to become the chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations
Committee. Leahy is the longest serving
member of the Senate. He says he decided to remain as chair of the Judiciary
Committee, and maintain his seniority on Appropriations.
State
health officials say turnout was strong at a series of clinics held today to
vaccinate Vermonters for Pertussis, commonly known as whooping cough.
For college students who are swamped with heavy reading during the academic year, semester breaks offer the promise of time to read for fun. For suggestions on what to read, Marlboro College has a tradition. At the end of each term a panel of students, faculty and staff describe their favorite books in a minute or less each.
UVM Professor of Fisheries Ellen Marsden, speaks with Vermont Edition about the situation about the failure of trout in Lake Champlain reach adulthood.
Efforts to explain the Connecticut shootings have coalesced around
mental health care. But some providers worry about drawing too close of a
connection between violence and mental illness.
A
tiny insect is damaging Vermont’s
hemlock trees. The hemlock wooly adelgid eats the trees and subsequently kills
them. And there’s no known enemy of the insect, until now. Researchers have been releasing a type of beetle that
feeds exclusively on adelgids to try to stem their spread.
Planners looking to boost downtowns around the state have been focusing on home
grown stores that specialize in fresh produce and local products. In Barre, a group hopes a new co-operative grocery store will revive the city’s central business district.
For
folks in Rutland this year’s Gift of Life Marathon was a real nail biter.
Unofficially Rutland fell just 18 pints short of setting the national record for a one-day drive, collecting 1,951 pints of
blood. Manchester, New Hampshire set the
record of 1,968 pints last year.
The Vermont Health Department is offering
free vaccines at clinics around the state to prevent the spread of whooping
cough which has reached epidemic numbers in Vermont.
The state is appealing a
ruling by the Federal Emergency Management Agency that denied full funding for
a culvert in Townshend destroyed by Tropical Storm Irene.
All three members of Vermont’s Congressional delegation say it’s essential that
Congress explores practical and meaningful steps to help prevent another mass
shooting, like the one that took place in Connecticut last week.
Officials are trying to prevent any more highway fatalities this year
by urging drivers to slow down, buckle up and not drive drunk
this holiday season.
Xarissa Holdaway, senior web producer at the Chronicle of Higher Education talks with Vermont Edition about the success of divestment campaigns at universities.
What does Vermont have in common with the Arctic? It turns out quite a few scholars who study the arctic make their home in Vermont. We’ll find out about the Center for Circumpolar studies and discover what we can learn by studying the arctic.
It’s likely that every school district in the country is
taking a look inward at safety protocols today following the tragedy at Sandy
Hook Elementary. VPR’s Mitch Wertlieb speaks with Education Commissioner
Armando Vilaseca about Vermont’s
school safety procedures.
‘Tis the season to give and receive gifts – often of food. It’s a
practice that reminds Ron Krupp of some of the unique food
gifts that came to us from Native Americans – in addition to the
traditional crops of corn, beans and squash that we most often hear
about.
In Rutland, organizers of the city’s newly expanded winter
farmer’s market say they’re thrilled with the community support they’ve
gotten. The larger location has boosted
attendance and sales for participating vendors.
A legislative study committee
has recommended that lawmakers oppose taxing computer software that’s accessed
over the Internet. The committee, which included
members of the business community, debated whether a cloud computing tax will
hurt innovative companies or cost the state much-needed revenues.
The U.S. Forest Service says a snowmobile
trail in Vermont’s Green Mountain National
Forest has
been closed because the trail was damaged by "unauthorized
excavation" and "substandard alterations."
The state of Vermont is among eleven across the country that successfully
pushed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to tighten standards for
airborne soot.
Vermont State Police are urging drivers to
slow down in hazardous winter conditions after numerous vehicles slid off roads
in southeastern Vermont over the last two days.
For a second day, officials
are locking the front doors to the five public schools and community
library in South Burlington after a ‘non-specific’ concern.
Senator
Patrick Leahy has now become the senior most member of that chamber and he’s in
line to become the chairman of the Senate Appropriations committee.
Beethoven’s Mass in C, Op. 86, is not one of his most celebrated works, but it is one of his finest. We’ll hear it this afternoon, as well as music for the season and Haydn’s "Gypsy Rondo" Piano Trio.
Education Commissioner Armando Vilaseca is asking all Vermont schools to
review their crisis safety plans and he also wants schools to explore ways to
control access to their buildings without turning the facility into a fortress.
Days after the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in
Newtown, Conn., educators across Vermont are reassuring families that
they’ve put
plans in place to handle emergencies. The state’s largest school district is hoping to learn from the
tragedy that left 20 children and six teachers dead.
On Route 7 in Shelburne a winery, a brewery, two farms and other food-related businesses have created what some are calling a "culinary corridor." A refurbished factory there is home to two food businesses and efforts are under way part of the effort to bring more food ventures to the area.
We look at how toys and games
became such an integral part of our culture and provide solace for children, hear from one of Vermont’s
three electors and stop in at a food venture center on Route 7 in Shelburne.
Mary McCallum loves the holidays, but this year she’s beginning to think there may be a direct correlation between our growing appetite for material goods – and a diminishing sense of ritual.
Food and food products increasingly have become
a key part of the state’s economic development strategy. From small-scale
farming to value-added agricultural products, the business of food could become
the business of Vermont.
A group of concerned residents in Burlington wants to create a co-operative to buy the city’s
embattled telecommunications utility. The grassroots idea comes as city officials are hoping
to settle a federal lawsuit aimed at reclaiming taxpayer money from the
municipally-owned Burlington Telecom.
Many
kids are getting out on the slopes this winter, thanks to learn-to-ski-and-ride
programs offered to local students at resorts across the state. The
low-cost programs are designed to be accessible to all Vermont school children.
Vermont State Police are ramping up their focus
on drunk driving through the holidays. A national effort targeting drunk
drivers began on Friday and goes through January 1st.
The Shumlin administration has signed a
contract with global information technology provider CGI to provide the computer and networking infrastructure that will
support Vermont’s new health insurance exchange to be set up by the
beginning of 2014.
Two Vermont hospitals that affiliated a year ago say they’ve been
able to realize more than $1 million in cost savings in the first year of their
partnership.
University of Vermont-based Peace Corps
recruiter Kelly Dolan helps send people to the farthest reaches of the globe,
where they’ll spend two years working on development projects as varied as
community gardens in Central
America or health education
in Africa.
Three Vermonters are planning to gather to
cast the state’s three votes in the Electoral College that will formally elect
President Barack Obama to a second term.
Ada writes that her piece was inspired by "a picture of a girl sitting down and leaning on her arm, her
hair blowing in the wind. Beneath her, mostly covered by her shadow, is a
heart drawn in the sand."
This week Joel Najman’s My Place program presents pairs of pop music hits recorded by different generations of the same family. For example, one pairing includes a hit by Frank Sinatra with one by his daughter Nancy Sinatra. The program also includes seven other pairings of this type by other artists who "kept it in the family" when it came to placing hit records on the pop music Hot 100.
In this week’s episode of The Moth Radio Hour, after many years in the legendary Blue Man Group, a performer makes a profound connection with an audience member.
Whether tree trimming, fretting over what to buy Uncle Fred this year, or slowing
down after a typically busy week, welcome the weekend with music from
Gato Barbieri,Al Jarreau, Billie Holiday, Hubert Laws, Max Roach, and others…
While contemplating the likely effects of climate change and global
warming, commentator David Budbill thinks about what it means to have an
"open winter" – and a house with a woodstove.
Vermont utility regulators are questioning the environmental
benefits of a state law that promotes renewable energy development. Under a law passed in 2005, Vermont utilities and renewable energy developers can sell
what are called renewable energy credits, or RECs.
The American decision to formally recognize a coalition of Syrian
opposition groups as the legitimate representatives of the Syrian
people, is seen by critics here and abroad as too little, too late. But
Barrie
Dunsmore says we should see Washington’s great caution over involvement
in the Syrian revolution as the new normal
Many people find their houses cluttering up this time of year and make an effort to eliminate some of it.
Susan Cooke Kittredge has found that getting
ready for the holidays has raised some questions about what to save and
what to let go.
Vermont Health Commissioner
Harry Chen says an epidemic of pertussis, or whooping cough, has hit the state
and he wants everyone over the age of 19 to get a special booster shot in the
coming weeks.
The state has given Barre authority to establish a special tax district that’s
designed to help the city pay for public works that will attract economic
development.
Burlington songwriter Maryse Smith and her band were busy on the Burlington music scene after her critically acclaimed first album, Is Becomes Was, came out in 2009. But that was followed by a few tumultuous years and a long break from recording and performing. Now, she’s back with a self-titled album and a few lessons learned.
Officials at the Agency of Natural Resources
have given the owners of the Moretown landfill an ultimatum: clean up the smell, or shut down. We’ll look at how the state deals with
its solid waste, and what will happen to the Moretown landfill.
The
bankruptcy of a large chain of radio stations has led to the sale of 10 Vermont stations. Many
of the stations are being purchased by local buyers with a background in
station ownership.
Gov. Peter Shumlin was in Florida most of the day Wednesday to hear how F-35
fighter jets compare to F-16s. Shumlin says he doesn’t think the new jet is appreciably
louder than the one it would replace at the Vermont Air National Guard.
All three members of Vermont’s congressional delegation may be ready to allow the
so called "payroll tax holiday" to expire at the end of the year. That would boost tax burdens for middle
income families.
Environmental officials
and emergency responders say a failure in hose at a Barre gas station
led to the leak of as much as 3,000 gallons of gasoline into the ground.
Vermont Edition visits Purinton Christmas Tree Farm in Huntington, where Owner Peter Purinton explained how to select the perfect tree for the holiday.
Vermont State Police Lieutenant John Flannigan, commander of traffic safety talks about why we’ve seen so many traffic accidents and what the state police are doing to lower the number of fatalities.
On the last mono-sequential day until January 1, 2101, we’ll hear about orbifolds, phyloogenetics and Math-O-Vision as we
discuss practical applications of math, hear what the state police are doing to lower the number of traffic fatalities and we head out to find the perfect Christmas Tree.
A
federal appeals court has set a date in mid-January for oral arguments in a
case that tests the limits of a state’s authority to regulate nuclear power.
VPR’s Mitch Wertlieb talks with Chittenden County State’s Attorney TJ Donovan about Israel Keyes, who confessed to a number of murders from his Alaska prison cell, including Bill and Lorraine Currier of Essex.
Governor Peter Shumlin says he will not support a plan to tax sugar-sweetened beverages as a way to help reduce obesity in the state. New Hampshire health officials praise plan to reduce the waiting time for psychiatric patients seeking a bed at NH State Hospital. Three men face charges in a stabbing incident at a UVM parking lot.
Governor Peter Shumlin says
he will not support a plan to tax sugar sweetened beverages as a way to help
reduce obesity in the state. But proponents of the tax say it’s needed
because Vermont is facing an obesity epidemic.
Fran Stoddard has been taking note of a
remarkable number of innovators in business and non profit ventures who
make Vermont their home. They bring the best of Vermont to international
development. Project Harmony International’s Ann Martin is one of them.
Governor Peter Shumlin said he was surprised that he didn’t think an F-35 fighter jet was much louder than an F-16. Shumlin and
the mayors of Burlington and Winooski were in Florida on Wednesday for a demonstration of the two jets.
For
the fourth year in a row, Vermont has been ranked as the healthiest state
in the country. The state did well in categories including low incidences in violent crime and low-birth-weight-babies,
as well as low rates of infectious disease.
Champlain College student, Mahmoud Jabari, talks about using a computer game to address the problem of violence against women in the Palestinian city of Hebron.
Gus Speth is widely known as a leader in national environmental policy
circles but he’s now turned an eye to a different problem: a political and economic system that he says
is broken.
There’s a new exhibit at the Montshire Museum of Science in Norwich that features the works of world-class wildlife artist Charley Harper. Ted Levin says it’s
wildlife art at it’s most entertaining.
It’s
been more than a year since Jon Graham and Beth Frock lost their home to
Tropical Storm Irene, and their life since then has taken on the feel of a
Samuel Beckett play.
The Campaign for Vermont, which
describes itself as an independent policy group, wants lawmakers to consider a
plan that makes major changes to the state’s education system.
The
number of homeless people in Vermont increased by one percent in the past year. A
Council on Homelessness appointed by Governor Peter Shumlin was given the task
of drafting a plan for ending homelessness.
Federal prosecutors in Vermont say a Burlington man has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for
defrauding a federal department by lying about his income to receive rental
subsidies.
The state of Vermont’s insurance company has tentatively agreed to a
multi-million dollar out-of-court settlement with the family of a Vermont State trooper who was killed during a car chase more than
nine years ago.
Investigators say an Alaska man who confessed to killing eight people across the
country had researched Ted Bundy and other serial killers and enjoyed watching
suspense crime movies.
Narrated by Leonard Nimoy and sung by the acclaimed vocal sextet The Western Wind Vocal Ensemble, "Chanukah in Story and Song" is a unique holiday program created especially for public radio listeners.
India and northern New England sit on opposite ends of the globe.
But Suzanne Spencer Rendahl has
discovered that students in both regions share a common classroom via
the internet, thanks to Silicon Valley-based Khan Academy.
Senator Bernie Sanders warns that he’ll oppose one change to Social Security that’s under discussion as part of the fiscal cliff talks. Sanders says some want to shift the way the annual cost of living is adjusted for people who receive Social Security benefits.
Anne, Knowles, chair of the Geography Department at Middllebury, talks with Vermont Edition about her recent American Ingenuity Award from the Smithsonian Magazine for using GIS technology to understand historical events.
When
Jay Peak co-owner Bill Stenger made a stunning proposal
earlier this fall to bring over $500 million and about 10,000 jobs into the
Northeast Kingdom, there were loud cheers, and only a few skeptics. Now
the hard work has begun: finding investors and training workers.
Organizers of Rutland’s Gift of Life Marathon say appointments for the
upcoming blood drive on December 18th are lower than expected. They say that may be due to
long wait times last year. But
the Red Cross says it’s pulling out all the stops to ensure Rutland has one last shot at setting a national record.
We’ll hear Stravinsky’s orchestration of a Chopin waltz, the Birthday Cantata Overture by JC Bach for a musical birthday, and Liszt’s Les Preludes among others!
Bianca Caputo of Hazen Union High School writes: "When I was in my sophomore year, I went on a writing kick. That same
year I started night running and it helped deal with a bunch of my
problems. Writing is another outlet for me so the two naturally came
together."
Christian Zacharias is the soloist and conductor in a program that includes Haydn’s Symphony No. 76, Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 18, and the complete ballet score for Beethoven’s The Creatures of Prometheus.
Green Mountain Power officials announced Friday that their new innovation center in downtown Rutland will also provide a new hub
for Efficiency Vermont and NeighborWorks of Western Vermont.
In recent years, the state’s small inns and
B&Bs haven’t had their own organization, but that is now changing with the
formation of a new association that’s designed to give innkeepers a bigger voice in
state policy and more power to market themselves to visitors.
Groove along to jazz "hits" by Ramsey Lewis, Cannonball Adderley, Lee
Morgan and others in the first hour, as well as equally entrancing work
by Marian Mc Partland, David Murray, Steve Lacy, and others.
Mary McCallum loves words. Her
recent experience with some new medical jargon affirmed her belief that
words have the power to shape how we respond to some of life’s troubling
situations.
The operators of the Moretown
landfill have responded to a state ultimatum with a plan they say will address
odor problems at the facility. The state has put the
landfill on notice to resolve the odor issue quickly, or face a shutdown order.
Congressman Peter Welch says
he’s pessimistic that Congress and President Obama will be able to reach
agreement on a deficit reduction package by the end of the year, but he
doesn’t think "driving" over the so called "Fiscal Cliff" will hurt the economy
as long as a solution is found in January.
Governor Peter Shumlin
was just elected as chair of the Democratic Governor’s Association. He
says the position gives Vermont a stronger voice in national issues that
affect the state. Political scientist Eric Davis explains how it raises Shumlin’s own political profile as well.
January 1, 2013 will bring big tax increases and massive budget cuts
unless Congress and the president resolve their impasse concerning the
federal deficit.
Gov. Shumlin is
going to Florida to listen to the F-35 fighter jets take off. The state
experimented with using text messages to alert 911. The systemic
problems continued for people in mental health crisis. And the
negotiations over the fiscal cliff called into question whether
unemployment benefits would continue for some people.
Amid
pressure from angry parents, students, and teachers, the superintendent of the
Franklin Central Supervisory Union requested–and was granted–a leave of
absence this week.
Gov. Peter Shumlin says
he’s not going to host a traditional inaugural ball after
he’s sworn in to his second term in office. Instead he’s going to
host an open house that
will also serve as a fundraiser for ongoing efforts to help victims of
last year’s Tropical Storm Irene.
Gov.
Peter Shumlin says he’ll travel to Florida next week, where he’ll hear
first-hand the sound of
fighter jets that could soon be based at the Vermont Air Guard in South
Burlington, fulfilling a campaign promise that he made to progressive
supporters who oppose the F-35 program.
The
Korean company planning to build a bio-tech facility in Newport is now likely
to create 450 permanent and 50 seasonal jobs, double the number proposed
in September.
Robert Appel, executive director of the Vermont Human Rights Commission, talks about the legal changes Vermont has seen in civil rights during his tenure.
We discuss the challenges the Department of Mental Health is facing and
the plans for navigating forward as it still feels the effects of Tropical Storm Irene.
In
Pittsford Wednesday night, town officials voted against prohibiting medical
marijuana dispensaries. The vote comes as many towns continue to grapple with
the contentious issue.
It’s
a situation that has many Vermonters in equal parts frustrated and
baffled. They’ve been approved for
buyouts of their storm damaged properties by the Federal Emergency Management
Agency following last year’s visit from Tropical Storm Irene, but they money
has yet to come through.
Tom Slayton has been feeling a bit
overwhelmed by the season. But recently, he found some inspiration at a
performance by Lost Nation Theater of a David Budbill play.
One of the biggest health
care issues of the upcoming session will be Governor Peter Shumlin’s plan to
reduce the benefit package for some of the participants in the Catamount Health
Care program at the beginning of 2014.
The Waterbury Police Department is getting
help from the Vermont Sheriff’s Association to continue its recovery after
flooding from Tropical Storm Irene inundated its downtown headquarters.
The state has dismissed
trespass charges against a Northeast Kingdom newspaper publisher who was arrested last year while
he was covering an anti-wind protest.
An anti-nuclear group says Entergy Vermont Yankee has disobeyed Public Service Board orders by
operating without a new state permit, and it’s asking the Vermont Supreme Court to order the immediate shutdown of the plant.
Vermont has had some pretty high profile IT disasters in the
last few years. The state has spent millions on computer systems that are
not fully functional. But on Wednesday, the Commissioner
of the Department of Information and Innovation Commissioner
announced the state is getting some of that money back.
As
leaders at the Statehouse prepare to debate
whether to decriminalize marijuana for recreational use, city and town officials
across Vermont are grappling with how to handle the prospect of medical
dispensaries coming to their community.
The Vermont Department of Environmental
Conservation is working to reduce water pollution in the Lake Champlain watershed by requiring a number of municipalities and
other groups to do more to control storm water runoff.
Vermont’s court system and Department of Motor Vehicles have spent nearly $20 million on computer systems that do not work. We’ll explore why there have been so many failures in the state’s efforts to modernize its technology systems.
This time of year, the sight of truckloads of Christmas trees on the
highway headed south, remind Peter Gilbert of the story of Boston’s Christmas
tree. It ‘s a powerful story that goes back exactly ninety-five years to Halifax, Nova Scotia and
the first World War.
Governor Peter Shumlin is set to increase his national
political profile. Tuesday night, Shumlin was elected as the new Chair of the
Democratic Governors Association.
The lawyer for a grandmother
found mentally incompetent to stand trial on charges of giving a fatal
drug overdose to her infant grandson is asking that she be released from
jail.
The state mental health
system has suffered another setback with the resignation of the medical
director of the Vermont State Hospital. The system was already under
strain with patients needing psychiatric help waiting days in emergency rooms
for care.
The Vermont Health Department is stepping up efforts to combat
the growing problem of drug-resistant illnesses and has launched a new program
to discourage the overuse of antibiotics.
We’ll hear one of Bach’s many Preludes and Fugues this afternoon, followed by one of Mozart’s Adagios and Fugues based on Bach. Also, Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto and seasonal selections from the Dale Warland Singers and the Rose Ensemble.
We discuss the growing concern
over antibiotic resistance, its consequences and what can be done to
avoid it and we hear how the high price of corn might affect Vermont
farmers.
The 2012 Messiah Watch lists performances of Handel’s Messiah in the VPR listening area. Tell us about performances of Messiah that are happening near you. Send us the information by filling out VPR Contact Form.
A
two-year-old internship program based at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center is recruiting young people with special needs to work
at the hospital. The larger aim is to prepare them to enter the job
market.
The state is moving with
plans to replace its Waterbury psychiatric hospital with new beds at other
facilities around Vermont. But the transition has been
rough for patients and the medical hospitals where they’ve been cared for since
the Waterbury facility was flooded by Tropical Storm Irene.
Vermont law enforcement officials say an Essex
couple killed by an Alaska man who crossed the continent in search of victims
each tried to escape before they were killed in the basement of a vacant
farmhouse.
A company developing a wind
project on the Milton-Georgia line has agreed to pay a
$10,000 fine and contribute another $10,000 to a remediation fund for
violations of its state permits during blasting for the project.
Vermont labor
officials say hundreds of people could lose their unemployment
benefits if Congress fails to avert the so-called fiscal cliff. The federal
unemployment insurance program that has been providing additional weeks of
benefits to the long-term unemployed is set to expire.
Print journalism has lost much revenue to the internet, and many
newspapers have reduced both workforce and pages published. But Elaine
Harrington reports that student journalism is alive and well in Vermont.
Vermont’s Enhanced 911 program is expanding its program to
receive emergency texts because state officials say the first phase of this pilot
project has been very successful.
Congressman
Peter Welch says he believes it’s unlikely that lawmakers and President Obama
will avert the so-called fiscal cliff, blaming House Speaker John Boehner.
Congressman Peter Welch is urging Vermont seniors to sign up for
Medicare benefits under the new health care law, through which the Obama administration
says Vermonters have saved $10.6 million.
Burlington’s Jewish community traces its roots to group of immigrants who escaped Lithuania in the 1880s and who established a Yiddish-speaking Orthodox community in Burlington’s Old North End. That history is explored in an upcoming Vermont Public Television documentary.
The Climate Change Conference in Qatar – coming as it does in the
destructive wake of Hurricane Sandy – has gotten Stephanie
Greene thinking about our dependence on electricity.
Eighty-one property
owners in the state who were especially hard hit by Irene remain in a sort of
financial limbo. They were the first accepted into FEMA’s hazard mitigation
buyout program – but they are all still waiting for the money. It’s a delay
that’s pushed many to the breaking point, including Brandon residents Linda
Bunn and Mary McManus.
As many prepare for the holidays, dozens of homeowners affected
by Tropical Storm Irene are still waiting for the funds they need to get back
on their feet. In Vermont, the
Federal Emergency Management Agency has approved buyouts of 81 properties,
but none of the owners has gotten any money yet.
It’s the first Monday of December and we’ll get moving with the First Ballet Suite of Shostakovich, plus works of Dukas, Beethoven, Rossini and many others!
The Vermont Department of Corrections wants
to hear from the public about its operations ranging from transitional housing
in Vermont’s communities to the operation of its prisons.
Former Gov. Jim Douglas is planning to attend
a screening and discussion of the Vermont Public Television series, "The
Governors," at Johnson State College.
Jingle bells were the theme at Saturday’s Festival of Lights in
Morrisville. The
annual holiday event is designed to showcase what Morrisville and its downtown
businesses have to offer.
This piece was written beneath the clouds, and has since been chosen
for publication in the YWP anthology. This recording was made from a
live reading at our anthology release party in front of a hushed crowd
of over 150 people.
Soprano Dawn Upshaw is the soloist in Sibelius’s Luonnotar, conducted by Thomas Ades, who leads his own In Seven Days and Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 1, with piano soloist Kirill Gerstein, and Sibelius’s Symphony No. 6
Both energy developers and
the citizens who oppose their projects complain that the state’s regulatory
process is too burdensome. But both sides fundamentally
disagree about what’s wrong, and how to fix it.
The
state has closed down the Border Lodge Credit union in Derby Line. The Vermont Department of Financial Regulation says the action comes after examiners raised serious concerns
about the credit union’s operation.
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters share prices, Vermont Law School deals with a budget shortfall, Dartmouth College announces a new president… and more voices in the news this week.
State
Representative Greg Clark was killed in an accident on US Route 7 in Waltham Friday morning. He was a Republican, and was re-elected this month to a fifth term.
Vermont is moving towards a single payer health care system, and doctors
trying to imagine how an overhauled system will change the way they
treat and interact with patients.
Nearly every American knows that during the presidency of
Abraham Lincoln, the Civil War was fought and won by the North, the
slaves were freed and Lincoln was assassinated. But as Barrie Dunsmore tells us this morning,
Americans who wish to know more about their country’s greatest president
will be well served by going to see the new motion picture "Lincoln."
Tax credits that are seen as
vital for the renewable energy industry are set to expire at the end of the
year. Vermont’s congressional delegation supports extending the
credits. But the legislation is tied up in high-level budget and revenue
negotiations now underway between Congress and the White House.
Congressman Peter Welch and four
congressional colleagues are calling for passage of a law allowing states to
levy sales taxes for online and catalog purchases.
The state Supreme Court has ruled that the
director of the University of Vermont’s student health center was not legally liable for the actions of a
physician assistant who improperly prescribed opiate medications to 12 students.
Vermont Health Department officials have
rewritten rules designed to implement a new law on childhood immunizations, but
some parents aren’t satisfied with how those changes are being made.
The Vermont Law School is hoping staff
members will take voluntary buyouts to help deal with a projected budget
shortfall on the South
Royalton campus.
South Korea
has selected St. Johnsbury Academy to help establish an international school on an
island being
developed as a huge educational hub for southeast Asia.
Dartmouth College has hired an
alumnus who built his career as a professor and provost at a major
university to succeed Jim Yong Kim as the school’s president. Philip Hanlon, a 1977 Dartmouth graduate and the
current provost at the University of Michigan, will take office on July
1 as the college’s 18th president, the college announced this
afternoon.
Despite a slow national
economic recovery, Vermont’s revenues are coming in on target with projections. But according to a state economist revenues aren’t expected to grow much either.
Children are often teased or bullied for
behavior that doesn’t fit within gender stereotypes – boys who like to dress up;
girls who prefer GI Joes and trucks to Barbies. We talk about how children are taught about gender.
There’s been much discussion and analysis of the women’s vote in
the 2012 election. Cyndy Bittinger notes that this time, the women’s vote clearly mattered.
According to a new report, private health insurance
premiums are increasing, on average, by roughly 7 percent this year and state
officials say it’s unlikely that this rate will go down unless comprehensive
payment reform plans are put into place.
A decade-long effort to clean up a
206-year-old copper mine in the Vermont town of Strafford is nearing an end and community members now have to
decide what to do with the area that was once the Elizabeth Mine.
The Vermont State Police top criminal
investigator says the man in a New Mexico prison for killing a Vermont girl in 2000 has a history of making wild claims as
part of a long-running goal of being incarcerated in the federal prison system.
Vermont’s
capital city is getting ready to begin construction of a project that
will have some of Montpelier’s downtown buildings being heated from a
central wood-chip fired heating plant.
The University of Vermont appointed former interim
president John Bramley on Wednesday to develop the university’s role in
economic growth. Bramley will work with the governor and the legislature to
make the most of limited resources.
We check in on what
we can expect from area schools during this winter’s sports
season and get update on what
changes to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act could mean for internet users.
The
Federal Emergency Management Agency has ruled against the state of Vermont in a decision that affects plans to replace the state hospital in Waterbury. FEMA
determined this week that the hospital was damaged but not destroyed by
Tropical Storm Irene.
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters shares gained
ground late Tuesday and into Wednesday on the heels of a fiscal fourth quarter performance that
far exceeded expectations.
A jury has found six Massachusetts women guilty of trespassing at the Vermont Yankee
nuclear power plant last year to protest the continued operation of the
reactor.
Vermont State Police investigators say two New Mexico men traveled to Vermont as part of a conspiracy to murder two people in the
state, but only one of those two has been charged as part of the conspiracy.
Independent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders is calling on distributors of gasoline in northwestern Vermont to stop charging customers higher prices than are being charged in other parts of the state.
To
mark its 25th anniversary, the Toxics Action Center released a report
called "25 Years of the Dirty Dozen: Past and Current Pollution Threats in
New England."
Democrats in the Vermont
Senate have nominated John Campbell to again lead the chamber in the next legislative
session. Campbell faced strong criticism for his
leadership style and for the sometimes chaotic way the Senate functioned in the last session.
Governor Peter Shumlin says he’ll ask lawmakers to
close a $50 million budget shortfall by making cuts to state programs and not by
raising any broad-based taxes.
A
trial is under way in Vermont for six elderly Massachusetts women accused of trespassing at the Vermont Yankee nuclear power
plant last year to protest the continued operation of the reactor.
A jury
has found six Massachusetts women guilty of trespassing at the
Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant to protest the continued operation
of the reactor. The women, who range in age from 69 to 93, represented themselves in court.
"French Fantasy" is a new release on Bridge Records of works for violin and piano, recorded by violinist Maria Bachmann and pianist Adam Neiman. We’ll hear Saint-Saens this afternoon.
The group e-Vermont has wrapped up its work on a community broadband project that helped people in rural towns improve online access, services and digital literacy.
More people are overweight and unhealthy in this country every year- and Vermont is no exception. How can we educate about obesity, diet and nutrition without shaming or marginalizing people who are overweight?
It’s possible that Vermont consumers could be paying the state sales tax on
Internet purchases in the not too distant future. That’s because Congressman
Peter Welch is working to include this plan in a massive fiscal compromise bill
that Congress is expected to consider in the coming weeks.
The
Vermont Disaster Relief Fund
has raised $6.6 million to help with the ongoing recovery from Tropical
Storm Irene. Organizers
say millions have poured into the fund since the storm’s anniversary in August.
Prosecutors
say a supply sergeant with the Vermont National Guard has been sentenced for
misusing a government credit card for personal purchases including equipment
commonly used to grow marijuana.
The
former finance director of Specialty Filaments Incorporated has been sentenced
to four months of home confinement and placed on probation for three years for
his part in federal fraud case.
Vermont
Secretary of State Jim Condos says the state’s election division will be doing
a random audit of voter tabulator results in the recent election.
Well
before dawn on Thanksgiving morning, Norwich Town Manager Neil Fulton got a
shock. He
was the acting fire chief for the holiday, so he got the call that the town’s
three police squad cars were all ablaze in the department parking lot.
A family in Fletcher shares the story of their
three-year old daughter’s rare and life-threatening condition, Urea
Cycle Disorder. Courtney and Steve Boutin tell the harrowing story of
Isabella’s UCD diagnosis when she was days old, and the liver transplant
that saved her life.
There were nasty reminders across Vermont this morning that the
winter driving season is upon us. State police say a 43-year-old Rutland woman died today after
her car spun around on an icy bridge and into oncoming traffic on U.S. Route 7.
When an energy project or a transmission line is proposed in Vermont, it’s the Public Service Board that decides whether the project can go forward. We learn how the board works, and why some people think the process of reviewing electric generation projects needs to be changed.
Bed
and breakfasts have long been known for their homey atmosphere and personalized
service, but as consumer demands have changed, Vermont’s traditional B&Bs have had to change with
them.
The mastermind of a $500 million economic
development plan has just returned from Korea optimistic about finding enough foreign investors to
bring new prosperity to the Northeast Kingdom.
A
homeless shelter in Burlington is raising money to help rebuild what it calls its
day station. The
station was temporarily moved to the parsonage of a Burlington church after its original location was damaged by a
summer flood.
The Springfield police chief says he needs at least two more officers
to help patrol the southern Vermont community that has seen a spike in crime in recent
years.
Six elderly
Massachusetts women are due to go on trial on charges they chained themselves
to the gate at the Vermont Yankee nuclear power
plant two days after the state was hammered by the remnants of Tropical Storm Irene.
In many ways, this is the quintessential NY chamber music experience. The conductor-less Orpheus Chamber Orchestra blazing a Brahms-ian trail with Gil Shaham.
A preview of a wealth of live performance happening in the VPR listening area this week, including Billy Joe Shaver, Le Vent du Nord, and Natalie McMaster!
Conductor
Giancarlo Guerrero leads the BSO in Roberto Sierra’s Fandangos,
Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1, with soloist Daniil Trifonov, and
Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5.
The recording of Tom Dooley by the Kingston Trio was one of the biggest selling hit singles of 1958 and one that sparked a popular folk music revival which continues to this day. This week Joel Najman’s My Place program traces the history of the real-life individual who is the subject of the song, and presents a series of recordings of songs that are predecessors of the Tom Dooley song, one dating back to 1929.
With Vermont largely spared from the full wrath of Hurricane
Sandy, Stephanie Greene caught up with a neighbor
with roots in New Jersey, who’s still working to recover from Tropical
Storm Irene.
Almost every business in Wilmington was damaged in Tropical Storm Irene. But no loss was greater than Ann
Coleman’s. Her entire art gallery was lifted up by the floodwaters and swept
away. Now Coleman hopes to replace
her loss with a building that will float — but stay put — in the next flood.
We’ll hear Chopin’s F Minor Piano Concerto this afternoon, played by Maria Joao Pires. Also, music for Black Friday and the highly virtuosic Cello Concerto by Robert Schumann.
Since the election, there’s been much discussion of how the
Republican Party must change in order to reach larger sections of the
American public. Vic Henningsen
offers his own suggestion.
Vermont
Olympians Andrea Mead Lawrence, Suzy and Rick Chaffee, "Rebel" Ryan and Mike
Gallagher have something in common: They all learned to ski at Pico. This
week, the Rutland County ski area celebrates its 75th anniversary.
Some
of Vermont’s best known ski Olympians trace their roots back to
the same hill: Pico Peak in Mendon. And
many are looking back fondly on the mountain and the extraordinary couple who
started it this year as Pico celebrates its 75th anniversary.
The developer of what could
be Vermont’s largest wind project says a proposed moratorium on
ridgeline wind could dampen investment in renewable energy.
The South
Burlington Development Review Board is expected to rule by early January
whether to permit a methadone clinic to open about 500 feet from the city’s middle school.
In rural places like Morristown, it’s easy for
shoppers to hop online, or drive to a hub like Williston. It’s also not far to venture
across the border to New Hampshire to take advantage of chain-store promotions. But Morristown is home to around 75 locally
owned businesses. And this year they’re banding together to encourage shoppers
to stay close to home.
Lynne Rossetto Kasper, award-winning host of public radio’s national food show The Splendid Table, will be available to answer listener questions throughout the live, two-hour program.
As we pause this Thanksgiving to reflect on our many blessings, Jim Douglas observes that our officials
in Washington have more on their plate than turkey.
Every
year when Thanksgiving rolls around, teachers face a challenge. How do you help
students uncover the real story of this holiday in a culturally sensitive way?
Vermont State Police say a 74-year-old Bradford man was killed while cutting wood when he was hit by a part of a tree
that was already on the ground after a branch was cut off.
A 30-year-old Arlington woman is free on bail after pleading not guilty to
charges stemming from a crash on New York Route 22 in Hebron that killed an 83-year-old man.
It looks like the state of Vermont will not meet its goal of starting construction on a
new psychiatric hospital in Berlin before the end of this month.
Henry Homeyer – like many of us – will be doing some traveling
over the holidays. Along the way, he hopes to discover some local, family-owned
restaurants serving local food – instead of relying on chain
restaurants – even if means getting off the highway.
Figures
announced this week show an uptick in the Vermont
unemployment rate, but those who watch the numbers caution it’s too early
to call it a trend.
Jennifer Megyesi is the author of The Joy of Keeping a Root Cellar. She spoke with Vermont Edition about how to store vegetables in a root cellar for the winter.
Green Mountain Power has
commissioned the last of its 21 wind turbines in Lowell – well in time for the company to meet an
end-of-the-year deadline for federal tax credits.
State utility regulators
recently gave a boost to a wind energy developer eyeing a project in the Northeast Kingdom. The Public Service Board
refused to dismiss the developer’s application for a wind testing tower. But the project still faces
fierce local opposition. And there are growing calls for a statewide moratorium
on ridgeline wind development.
The Vermont Transportation Agency is considering design
changes at the airport that serves Bennington to help it meet federal requirements due to take
effect in 2015.
Vermont State Police say six people are due in court in
January on charges stemming from fires that destroyed two warming huts in a Belvidere sugarbush.
People across Vermont should be seeing more law enforcement officers on the
roads over the holiday weekend checking to make sure motorists are wearing
their seatbelts.
As winter settles in and the days get shorter, outdoor ‘things to do’
become ever more precious. On a recent walk, Howard Coffin encountered milkweeds gone to seed.
Contract negotiations between
unionized nurses and caregivers and the Brattleboro Retreat have gotten
increasingly testy. The psychiatric hospital and its 500 unionized workers were
far apart when talks ended last week.
Food is the centerpiece of Thanksgiving, and our guests today prompt us to seriously consider the meaning of food – and what it reveals about our cultural priorities and values.
If asked to characterize the recent election outcome in a single
headline, Madeleine Kunin might
sum it up like this: Women take over the New Hampshire Congressional
delegation!
The
forums, mandated by the legislature last session, require the Governor to hold
public meetings on budget priorities before the budget is written and presented
to the legislature.
Ski
areas across New England have made big investments in low-energy,
high-efficiency snowmaking to ensure the slopes are snow-covered earlier and
longer than last season.
Three
Michigan residents are facing drug charges and a 2-year-old
girl is in protective custody after a Vermont police officer smelled marijuana while following the
car they were riding in in the city of Winooski.
In spite of what his doctor tells him every year, Bill
Schubart assiduously avoids exercise. He prefers to work hard outdoors
and doesn’t miss the gym or its cost one bit.
A legislative study committee
is looking at whether the state sales tax should be extended to software that
is accessed remotely. It’s called cloud computing.
And the challenge for lawmakers is to make tax policy catch up with technology.
A
well-known defense attorney from Rutland died on Monday. Fifty-four-year-old
Mathew Harnett, who represented some of the most high profile criminal cases in
Rutland County, battled cancer.
A Fairfield family speaks with Vermont Edition about their cross-country trip on four-person tandem bicycle. Their journey is documented in the new book, Pedal To The Sea.
Have food stamps or food shelves helped your family get by in tough times? Today we’ll hear YOUR stories about the challenges of going hungry in Vermont. Do you make choices between paying for heating or for food? Tell your story, below.
Energizer expects a decrease in the demand for its batteries, so the company plans to
shutter its St. Albans plant in September. The drop in demand may be a good
sign for the environment, but it’s been a shock for a community that has come
to rely on those jobs.
Vermont
Gas Systems is inching forward with its plan to expand natural gas service to Addison County and points south, with the support of town officials.
A sentencing date has been
set in a Vermont court for a Mennonite pastor convicted of helping a
woman and her daughter flee the U.S. rather than allow the girl to have
regular visits with the woman’s former lesbian partner.
Gil Shaham is the
soloist in Benjamin Britten’s Violin Concerto, and Juanjo Mena conducts the
American premiere of Circle Map (a BSO co-commission) and Dvorák’s
Symphony No. 7.
This week Joel Najman’s My Place program presents a collection of popular songs from the 1960’s and 1970’s that relate to "friends" and "friendship" – a program dedicated to his Eastchester, New York high school graduating Class of 1962.
We continue our exploration of operatic prologues with the Prologue to Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra and the Prologue to Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov.
Listen Saturday at 12p.m.
The Jay Peak ski resort faces a $5,250 fine for violating an
environmental permit. Jay Peak has admitted to the violation, but there are
questions about whether the fine is tough enough.
If ever there were a staple of the operatic repertory worthy of its prominent position, it is Verdi’s La traviata, which we hear in a production by the Houston Grand Opera.
Listen Saturday at 1p.m.
Photo: Felix Sanchez, Courtesy, Houston Grand Opera
In the wake of the recent Presidential campaign, filmmaker and Marlboro
College teacher Jay Craven says he’s feeling cautiously hopeful about
the months ahead.
Vermont is seeing an increase in the number of people held in
jail while waiting for trial. The surge is straining the Corrections Department budget and it means the state will have to spend an
additional $3.5 million next year just to send prisoners out of
state.
In a case that could decide
the fates of 20 alleged criminals, a judge has rejected their attorney’s claim that the
prosecutor was improperly appointed by
Governor Peter Shumlin.
By a wide margin Americans believed the last United States Congress was
dysfunctional. Now many voters are concerned that last week’s election
didn’t do much to alter that partisan gridlock. However, as Barrie Dunsmore explains, there is a
revision of senate rules being contemplated that could make the next
Congress quite different.
The
vote was 74 in favor of joining the union and 45 against, in elections held this
week. The vote was supervised by the National Labor Relations Board.
A Burlington man has been arrested after police say he tried to
retrieve a package containing a pound of marijuana that had been delivered to the
wrong address.
New
campaign finance reports show that Vermont Republican gubernatorial challenger
Randy Brock spent more than $806,000 in his unsuccessful attempt
to unseat Democratic Governor Peter Shumlin.
The recent discovery in Washington DC of a rare transcript of the
1944 conference at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, at which the World
Bank and International Monetary Fund were created, got Tom
Blinkhorn thinking about the
back story of that meeting and its global importance.
There’s
still no definitive word on how much Vermont can expect in federal help with recovery
from Tropical Storm Irene. But a state official told a legislative committee Thursday that it’s expected to be January before the state can expect a firm
answer.
A new research paper shows doctors in Vermont are feeling the stress of being on the front lines of
the fight against prescription drug abuse. The report lays out several
recommendations – including changing insurance policies so that non-drug
therapies are covered.
The state is being
sued for discrimination against a female employee in the Department of
Corrections. The Vermont Human Rights Commission says the state failed to
provide equal pay to Lynne Silloway, an administrative services coordinator at
the DOC.
Barnet voters have decided to
keep an ordinance that allows all terrain vehicles to use some town roads. The
vote was prompted by a
petition proposing to ban ATV’s on public roads.
Take a walk down Brattleboro’s Main Street on a busy Saturday and you’ll find street musicians taking advantage of the warm sun. And that’s not all. If you’re lucky, you may run into GennaRose Nethercott, a curbside poet.
Over the past several years, Brattleboro
has had its share of setbacks. We broadcast live from the new Brattleboro Food Co-Op to get
an update on how the town has been dealing with the recent challenges.
House
Speaker Shap Smith says the Legislature needs to examine why state government
has invested in expensive information technology systems that have failed to
perform as promised.
Vermont hired two consulting firms shortly after Tropical Storm Irene to navigate FEMA’s bureaucratic
maze. The state is set to pay up to $4 million under a pair of consulting
contracts with the disaster management specialists.
Last
week’s election energized supporters of marijuana legalization, with Colorado and Washington voters legalizing the drug in their states. In Burlington, voters passed a non-binding referendum with
70 percent of the vote in favor of legalizing, taxing and regulating cannabis
and hemp.
With the election over, the
political jostling is heating up at the Vermont Statehouse. On Wednesday, Veteran lawmaker Paul Poirier
announced plans to run for House Speaker against Democrat Shap Smith.
The Brattleboro Retreat
psychiatric hospital is cutting 31 jobs. The move comes two days after
unionized workers held an informational picket over what the union has
called deteriorating contract talks.
In her new book, "Edward Hopper in Vermont," South Royalton author Bonnie Tocher Clause explains the connection between the painter and the Green Mountain State.
On election night, Burlington voters registered their support for legalizing marijuana in the city in a non-binding referendum. But leaders at the Statehouse say a more likely course of action is to decriminalize the drug.
The arrival of a new president at UVM has Jay Parini thinking back to one of its greatest presidents,
James Marsh, an important philosopher in his time and a Founding Father
of American Transcendentalism.
Over
the past month, questions have been raised about how safe Boy Scouts are from
sexual abuse. The
questions come in the wake of Los Angeles Times reports supplied by the Boy
Scouts about thousands
of files that contain the names of Scout leaders who allegedly abused boys
from 1947 to 2005.
It’s crunch time at many
colleges and universities. Some students reach for stimulants to help them pull
all-nighters studying for tests, and to
party afterwards. And we’re not just talking about coffee.
Both
the state and lawyers for Vermont Yankee now have filed written arguments to a
federal appeals court as the legal battle continues over the future of the
Vermont Yankee nuclear plant.
When Anne Averyt crossed continents this fall to
fulfill a lifetime dream to visit Russia, she discovered Vermont
connections remain strong no matter how far you travel.
Employees at the Brattleboro
Food Coop will vote Wednesday on whether to form a union. 140 of the coop’s 160 workers are eligible to say yes or no to
joining Local 1459 of the United Food and Commercial Workers.
A
re-election is a natural time for staff changes in any administration. But it
was a wistful Governor Shumlin who announced that some of his closest aides
will be leaving.
Neil Van Dyke of Stowe Mountain Rescue discusses recommendations his committee made to the Legislature regarding how the state handles search and rescue operations. The committee was formed after a missing hiker died last winter.
Massive storms like Sandy and Irene fit the model that climate
scientists have been predicting: climate change will bring more frequent
and intense storms our way. So what’s a Vermonter to do about it?
As Suzanne Spencer Rendahl
watches New York and New Jersey slowly recover from Hurricane Sandy,
she’s reminded of a night two years ago, when her family woke up to
similar howling winds – and a strange banging noise.
This
fall, the Los Angeles Times released what it called "The Perversion Files." It’s
a documented list supplied by the Boy Scouts and assembled by the LA Times of more
than 5,000 Boy Scout employees and volunteers accused of sexually abusing boys
between 1947 and 2005. The
names were revealed as part of a court case in Oregon, but the list covers almost every state.
An
ox that lived on Green Mountain College’s farm and was put down amid an outcry
over the school’s decision to process it into meat will be not used for food.
The
2013 winner will be revealed at 9:30
this morning at a state Board of Education meeting at the Frederick H. Tuttle Middle
School in South Burlington.
Maybe it’s all the storms and power outages in the news lately,
but Annie Guyon has been thinking about the many
definitions of the expression "living off the grid" – and she’s heard a
few interesting variations.
As the lame-duck Congress reconvenes Tuesday, Congressman
Peter Welch is outlining his priorities for the session. But Vermont’s lone congressman is skeptical a deal will be
reached to avert what is being called the looming fiscal cliff
This
year, for the first time, the public will be able to weigh in on the state
budget priorities before the governor presents his spending proposal to the Legislature
in January. The administration has
scheduled two public hearings this month.
Dr. Temple Grandin has changed the way livestock are treated in this country, and has also written extensively about her experiences living with autism.
Colonel Michael Morgan, of the 158th Fighter Wing of the Vermont Air National Guard talks about the recent deployment of Air Guard soldiers to Afghanistan and their mission.
The aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, and a recent visit to the
Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Park in Woodstock have
gotten Martha Molnar thinking about
Vermont’s vital role in the nation’s environmental history – and future.
On
Veterans Day, Americans thank all soldiers, sailors and marines for their
service and sacrifices. But
for women, serving in the armed forces can present some unusual challenges.
Vermont dodged the ravages of Hurricane Sandy two weeks ago,
but up and down the Eastern Seaboard many people are still suffering – and still
worried about heat and survival.
Vermonters who
want to advise Governor Peter Shumlin’s administration as officials draft next
year’s state budget have two chances to do so in the next two weeks.
A Vermont group that opposes allowing terminally ill patients
to request a doctor’s aid in dying says the Election-day defeat in Massachusetts of a similar proposal was the correct step.
A Vermont Superior
Court judge says he’ll rule soon on a motion to dismiss charges in 20 criminal
cases because of what a defense attorney feels was the improper appointment of
the Orleans County state’s attorney.
Settling in as the nights grow longer to listen to some wonderful new releases and to adore some old standards, plus a special set for Veterans Day too!
A Vermont
college has euthanized one of its farm oxen that have been at the center
of an uproar following the college’s decision to process the animals
into meat products following their retirement from the college’s farm.
This week Joel Najman’s My Place program celebrates the life in music of Laura Nyro with a collection of some of her most significant and memorable songwriting successes.
In the first of two programs of operatic prologues, we hear the Prologue to Monteverdi’s Orfeo, the Prologue to Pagliacci, and the Prologue to Götterdämmerung.
Listen Saturday at 12p.m.
Two Middlebury College political science professors say the results of the
2012 presidential campaign show that the election was largely determined by
voters’ views on the economy and not on the day-to-day events that received a
lot of attention from political pundits.
Helen Labun Jordan
has gotten used to ideas that are more about the future than the past.
And lately, she’s been contemplating the future of cooking, and what new
technologies may soon be arriving in our kitchens.
Senator Bernie Sanders says one of his top priorities in Washington is to fight efforts to recalibrate how Social
Security and veterans’ benefits are calculated. He says deficit
hawks want to switch to a system that would limit benefits.
VPR will air live coverage from the East Room of the White House of President Obama’s first comments to the nation after winning re-election.
Coverage begins at 1p.m.
Middlebury College
political science professors Matt Dickinson and Bert Johnson discuss some of the key factors in the presidential race and the future of the Electoral College.
A
46-year-old Colchester woman faces a January court date in a case in which
she’s accused of trying to smuggle drugs into the state prison in Newport.
Federal
prosecutors say a 25-year-old Brattleboro man is going to spend five years in federal prison
for trying to trade an assault rifle for cocaine and heroin.
VPR will air live coverage from the East Room of the White House of President Obama’s first comments to the nation after winning re-election.
Coverage begins at 1p.m.
Cities and towns in Vermont say Washington needs to deal with the coming fiscal cliff quickly because it could hurt their budgets and lead to another
recession.
Bill Schubart has been thinking about how we are
going to restore educational excellence in our college and university
systems and about the investment priorities of many institutions of
higher learning as they compete for students who can afford their
tuition.
Montreal Montreal Mayor Gerald Tremblay resigned this week amid allegations
of widespread corruption in the construction industry in Quebec.
Linda Gyulai, Municipal Affairs Reporter for the Montreal Gazette, speaks with Vermont Edition about developments in the story.
John Gregg, local news editor for the Valley News, speaks with Vermont Edition about the outcome of the elections in New Hampshire that resulted in the first Congressional delegation made up entirely of women.
Vermont was
once a state of rock-ribbed Republicans, but its “Blue-state” status was
solidified on Tuesday.
So where does the Vermont GOP go from here?
While watching the recent, surprisingly short World Series, Howard Coffin was reminded of a softball game
in a little Texas town, when he and an army post team went up against
the best of the best.
Many political observers felt
the GOP candidate for Auditor, state senator Vince Illuzzi, had a good chance of
winning his race. But in the end he lost to Democrat Doug Hoffer. Illuzzi said having an "R" next to his name
turned out to be a liability.
A
Vermont State Police detective says a Sheffield man
"was confessing to part of the murder" of a Sheffield woman in 2010 when he stopped cooperating with authorities.
Seven Vermont
ambulances and teams of emergency personnel are helping out in New Jersey as
another storm approaches parts of the state already devastated by Superstorm
Sandy.
We’ve heard a lot recently about the destructive force of rising tides and rushing water. Susan Cooke Kittredge reflects on how for centuries water has also brought people together.
In his first post-election news conference, Governor Peter Shumlin said his victory –
and that of other Democrats in Vermont – shows that voters here are not swayed by political
action committees or expensive ad campaigns.
Voters
in Burlington have overwhelmingly approved a $9 million fiscal stability bond. Mayor Miro Weinberger sees Tuesday’s vote as a
green light to fix the city’s money
woes by re-financing its debt.
Treasurer Beth Pearce and her opponent Wendy Wilton, Auditor-elect Doug
Hoffer and Vince Illuzzi, House Speaker Shap Smith and Attorney General
Bill Sorrell reflect on their races and look at what’s ahead. And VPR’s
Ross Sneyd and Valley News Editor John Gregg provide analysis of the
Vermont and New Hampshire races.