Vermont Public
How do you pronounce Westminster, Vermont?
- Title
- How do you pronounce Westminster, Vermont?
- Date posted
- 11 months ago
- Description
- No, you’re not reading that wrong: The town of Westminster, in Windham County, has just one “i” in its name (at least, officially). But that doesn’t stop some residents from adding a second.
Do you live in a town with a disputed pronunciation? Let us know in the comments and help us decide where we should go next on our Vermont town pronunciation tour.
Thanks to Ruth Grandy, Helma Holton and Henry Roberts.
📽️ Filming & editing by David Littlefield and Kaylee Mumford.
- Title
- A loss of security
- Date posted
- 11 months ago
- Description
- Federal funding cuts to rental assistance programs mean some families may be forced back into homelessness. Plus, state legislators continue to debate education reform, the state signs on to California’s lawsuit against Trump’s national guard deployment in Los Angeles, Vermont must re-apply for federal funds meant to expand broadband access, and free summer lunches for kids.
- Title
- Stories of childlessness, by choice or by chance
- Date posted
- 11 months ago
- Description
- The birthrate in the United States is on the decline, and of all 50 states, Vermont’s fertility rate is the lowest. We'll listen to a recent episode of Vermont Public's podcast Brave Little State where reporter Nina Keck looks into a listener’s question about childlessness.
Then, we'll be joined by sociology professor Amy Blackstone of the University of Maine, who researches why some people opt out of parenting. Her book is Childfree by Choice (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/592243/childfree-by-choice-by-dr-amy-blackstone/) .
Broadcast live on Tuesday, June 10, 2025, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.
Have questions, comments or tips? Send us a message (https://www.vermontpublic.org/show/vermont-editionmailto:vermontedition@vermontpublic.org) or check us out on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/vermontpublic/) .
- Title
- Sen. Peter Welch on Trump's budget: 'Kill the bill'
- Date posted
- 11 months ago
- Description
- President Trump’s administration is urging the Senate to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The White House says the bill will deliver tax relief, generational welfare reform, and historic spending cuts. President Trump wants to see it passed by July 4th.
Democrats, meanwhile, are making the opposing case – that the massive policy bill will increase the national debt to dangerously high levels, cut programs like Medicaid and food stamps, and only help the rich with its tax cuts.
On Vermont Edition Monday, Vermont’s junior senator Peter Welch laid out his argument against the budget bill. “That's why a big part of my time is, how can I encourage or persuade three or four of my Republican colleagues, for instance, to vote no on this bill?” he said.
Welch was Vermont’s representative to Congress from 2007 to 2023, until he was sworn into the Senate. He currently serves on multiple Senate committees, including Agriculture, Judiciary, Rul...
- Title
- Land for Farmers’ Markets
- Date posted
- 11 months ago
- Description
- There’s growing concern over the future of Vermont farmers’ markets because many don’t own the land where they operate. Plus, Vermont Senator Peter Welch says the Trump’s budget bill would “inflict bipartisan suffering,” the head of the Vermont Afghan Alliance says the recent travel ban is another blow to reuniting Afghan who helped the U.S military with their families, AAA warns people of a text scam, and updates on road work as we enter road construction season.
- Title
- Sen. Peter Welch: "My hope is that we kill the bill."
- Date posted
- 11 months ago
- Description
- President Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" is bad for the economy, U.S. Sen. Peter Welch tells Vermont Edition.
https://www.vermontpublic.org/show/vermont-edition/2025-06-09/as-senate-debates-the-budget-vermont-sen-peter-welch-hopes-we-kill-the-bill
- Title
- Patrick Leahy: Congress 'rolls over and plays dead'
- Date posted
- 11 months ago
- Description
- Former U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy is urging Congress to challenge "blatantly unconstitutional" moves by the Trump administration.
https://www.vermontpublic.org/local-news/2025-06-09/in-treatment-for-cancer-former-u-s-sen-patrick-leahy-urges-congress-to-step-up
- Title
- As Senate debates the budget, Vermont Sen. Peter Welch hopes "we kill the bill"
- Date posted
- 11 months ago
- Description
- As Senate debates the budget, Vermont Sen. Peter Welch hopes "we kill the bill"
- Title
- The long view
- Date posted
- 11 months ago
- Description
- A conversation with former Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy, whose eight-term tenure was the third longest in the history of the US senate. Plus, Vermont in April received 68 Million dollars more in revenue than expected, Northeast Kingdom campgrounds are seeing a slow start to the summer season, a new addiction treatment center is set to open in Bennington, and a state representative takes advantage of a nearly empty House chamber to read from his play about dogs and drinking.
- Title
- Lobbyists in Vermont's legislature
- Date posted
- 11 months ago
- Description
- Lobbyists play a major role in Vermont's legislative process. Vermont Public's Peter Hirschfeld and Seven Days' Hannah Basset explain.
- Title
- Capitol recap: In abeyance
- Date posted
- 11 months ago
- Description
- Lawmakers have taken a two-week pause to hammer out an education reform bill they couldn’t get over the finish line by the scheduled end of the legislative session, and we’ll examine whether they’re any closer to reaching a deal.
- Title
- Education reform talks are still on ice
- Date posted
- 11 months ago
- Description
- One week after the House and Senate reached an impasse, education reform talks are still on ice. Catch the full episode of Vermont This Week:
https://www.vermontpublic.org/show/vermont-this-week/2025-06-06/in-review-education-negotiations-housing-deal-lobbyists-role-in-legislating
- Title
- How much influence do lobbyists have in Vermont's Statehouse?
- Date posted
- 11 months ago
- Description
- During this lull in legislative action we’re pulling back the curtain on the inner workings of the Statehouse to discuss some often overlooked players who influence the bills that make it to the Governor's desk.
This week's panel:
Mitch Wertlieb - Moderator, Vermont Public
Pete Hirschfeld - Vermont Public
Hannah Basset - Seven Days
- Title
- Price Caps
- Date posted
- 11 months ago
- Description
- Vermont lawmakers are trying to control healthcare costs by capping how much hospitals can charge for specialty drugs and we hear from Woodstock resident and comedian Vicki Ferentinos. Plus, lawmakers sign off on a bill that requires tech companies to adjust product safety features for youth, West Windsor will now fine drivers who damage the town’s covered bridges, a federal judge blocks the U.S Labor Department from shutting down a nationwide workforce development program, and it’s been a decade since two men broke out of an infamous prison in upstate New York.
- Title
- Reimagining life without kids
- Date posted
- 11 months ago
- Description
- Wanting children, and not being able to have them, is an experience people rarely discuss publicly. But it’s one that cuts close to the bone for many — like Gina Accorsi, of Milton.
Gina is grieving the loss of a path she can’t take, and she’s looking for support as she charts a new one. She reached out to us with some questions:
“How common is childlessness in Vermont today? Is there a support system or community acceptance here for childless people?”
If you’re looking for more support, check out AllPath Family Building (https://allpathsfb.org/) . We also posted a callout seeking advice from Redditors (https://www.reddit.com/r/vermont/comments/1k0jt91/support_or_advice_for_people_unable_to_have/) .
For a full transcript of this episode and photos from our reporting, check out our web post (https://www.vermontpublic.org/podcast/brave-little-state/2025-06-05/you-have-to-build-a-new-picture-re...
- Title
- Summer reading: Ease into the season with these book recommendations
- Date posted
- 11 months ago
- Description
- Summer reading: Ease into the season with these book recommendations
- Title
- Sam's club
- Date posted
- 11 months ago
- Description
- 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.
- Title
- Why soccer star Sam Mewis thinks Vermont is 'a hotbed for soccer'
- Date posted
- 11 months ago
- Description
- "I didn't expect to move to kind of a hotbed for soccer."
The Burlington-based Vermont Green FC will host two women’s soccer exhibition games this June, coached by former U.S. Women's National Team player Samer Mewis.
Read: https://www.vermontpublic.org/show/vermont-edition/2025-06-04/why-soccer-star-sam-mewis-thinks-vermont-is-a-hotbed-for-soccer
- Title
- New historic roadside markers and soccer star Sam Mewis
- Date posted
- 11 months ago
- Description
- Vermont’s roadways are dotted with iconic green and gold markers. They tell stories of our region’s past.
Today on Vermont Edition, the state’s Historic Preservation Officer tells us about the state’s newest historic markers, like the one for Devil’s Bowl Speedway, New England’s fastest dirt track, or another in Fayston for Ralph Waldo Ellison, author of the classic novel Invisible Man.
Then, soccer star Sam Mewis will coach two women’s exhibition games this summer for the Vermont Green. She’s a FIFA World Cup champion, an Olympic medalist and one of the best midfielders to come out of the U.S. We’ll hear more about coaching in Vermont, and her popular Men in Blazers podcast, the Women’s Game.
- Title
- Sales glitch
- Date posted
- 11 months ago
- Description
- 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.
- Title
- Why did Governor Scott pause the electric vehicle mandate?
- Date posted
- 11 months ago
- Description
- Electric vehicles – EVs – don’t emit pollutants into the air. That’s a good thing, if you’re focused on cutting emissions and curbing climate change. But they’re also often more expensive than gas cars, and the charging infrastructure along roads and highways isn’t fully built out yet. Considering these challenges, how do you get people to buy EVs?
In Vermont, the Scott administration proposed a rule to the Legislature in 2022 to end gas-powered car sales by 2035, which a legislative committee then approved. The rule stated that manufacturers should increase the percentage of EVs for sale in Vermont. State agencies said the strategy led to an uptick in EV ownership.
But then, about three weeks ago, Vermont’s Governor Phil Scott issued an executive order halting enforcement of this rule for 19 months. He also said his administration "remains committed to achieving emissions reductions, including vehicle emissions."
We hear more abou...
- Title
- Overtime
- Date posted
- 12 months ago
- Description
- A reporter roundtable discussion about the extra work needed this legislative session to pass an education reform bill. Plus, it’s unclear whether Gov. Scott will sign a bill that would shift the workings of Vermont’s homelessness response system from state government to private nonprofit organizations, Vermont receives a top grade for senior health and well being, the state has seen an unusually long string of soggy Saturdays since mid-March, nearly 2 million dollars in grant funding will help expand access to organic dairy products in northeastern states including Vermont, and officials in New Hampshire issue a consumer alert regarding real estate fraud.
- Title
- Three issues holding up Vermont's education reform bill
- Date posted
- 12 months ago
- Description
- As the Vermont Legislature heads into overtime to work on education reform, lawmakers are still divided on a few key issues.
Read: https://www.vermontpublic.org/local-news/2025-05-31/statehouse-adjournment-delayed-as-education-debate-rages-on
- Title
- The education bill that's divided Vermont's legislature
- Date posted
- 12 months ago
- Description
- Vermont’s legislative session was supposed to be over, but one massive and potentially historic bill will keep lawmakers in Montpelier longer than expected. That bill? Education reform.
Today on Vermont Edition: a trio of local education reporters break down the ed reform debate. This bill seeks to fundamentally transform how Vermont schools are run and how they are funded. It could set class size minimums, dramatically cut the number of school districts, and change how we pay for public education and independent school tuition. We'll hear from Alison Novak with Seven Days, Ethan Weinstein with VTDigger, and Vermont Public’s Lola Duffort.
- Title
- Chilling effect
- Date posted
- 12 months ago
- Description
- The threat to a program that’s helped millions of low-income people in the northeast pay their heating bills. Plus, federal officials detain migrant workers employed at an affordable housing project in Newport, the Development Review Board in Essex postpones a vote on whether to approve an Amazon distribution center, a new COVID variant is found in Quebec’s wastewater system, a global ski company that runs three resorts in Vermont rehires a former CEO, and the Vermont Law and graduate school receives the largest donation in its history.
- Title
- Capitol Recap: Burning midnight oil
- Date posted
- 12 months ago
- Description
- Lawmakers in Montpelier scramble to complete legislation on key issues including education reform and housing, but it’s unknown exactly when they’ll reach the finish line..
- Title
- Lawmakers disagree on what kind of housing Vermont needs
- Date posted
- 12 months ago
- Description
- The Vermont House and Senate are at odds over what kind of housing should be built to address the state's housing crisis.
Watch Vermont This Week: https://www.vermontpublic.org/show/vermont-this-week/2025-05-30/education-reform-bill-housing-debate-phone-free-schools
- Title
- Will Vermont lawmakers ban cell phones in schools?
- Date posted
- 12 months ago
- Description
- Vermont may soon join a growing list of states banning cellphones in schools.
Watch: https://www.vermontpublic.org/show/vermont-this-week/2025-05-30/education-reform-bill-housing-debate-phone-free-schools
- Title
- Is major reform on the horizon for Vermont?
- Date posted
- 12 months ago
- Description
- As the end of the legislative session nears, work on major reform continues. Plus, the debate over housing comes to a head. And Vermont may soon join a growing list of states banning cell phones in schools.
This week's panel:
Mitch Wertlieb - Moderator, Vermont Public
Lola Duffort - Vermont Public
Kevin McCallum - Seven Days
Tim McQuiston - Vermont Business Magazine
- Title
- Cleaning house
- Date posted
- 12 months ago
- Description
- The joys of spring cleaning with two Vermont professional home organizers. Plus, many construction projects along the state’s shores are paused for spring fish spawning season, a new study shows wildlife underpass tunnels are helping amphibians survive as they migrate across roads each spring, a teachers’ union contract is ratified after a unanimous vote by the Rutland City School Board, access to COVID shots could be compromised now that federal health officials aren’t recommending them for children and pregnant women, the first president of Vermont State University announces his retirement, and we reluctantly parse over what’s been a disappointing showing to this point in the Major League Baseball season by the Boston Red Sox in our weekly sports report.
- Title
- What's in the Waterbury water that makes businesses bloom?
- Date posted
- 12 months ago
- Description
- Darn Tough. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters. Ben and Jerry’s. Ivy Computer. Verde Technologies. KORE Power Battery Cell Developers. What do all these businesses have in common? They either were, or still are, in the small town of Waterbury, Vermont.
Today on Vermont Edition: what makes this one town in Washington County a good home for growing companies? Our guests this hour have their theories.
We’ll talk with leaders of companies based in Waterbury and the head of the town’s business development organization. Plus, we’ll talk about how other small towns can attract businesses that bring good jobs to the area.
- Title
- Why does Vermont still require car inspections?
- Date posted
- 12 months ago
- Description
- Are our colleagues at Vermont Public keeping up with their annual safety inspections? We hit the parking lot to find out.
Listen: https://www.vermontpublic.org/podcast/brave-little-state/2025-05-22/why-does-vermont-still-require-car-inspections
- Title
- Pick-up kicks
- Date posted
- 12 months ago
- Description
- 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.
- Title
- Checking in on Lake Memphremagog and Lake Champlain
- Date posted
- 12 months ago
- Description
- 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.
- Title
- How do you pronounce Barre, Vermont?
- Date posted
- 12 months ago
- Description
- If there were a Mt. Rushmore of mispronounced Vermont towns, Barre would be front and center.
We hit up the granite capital of the world on our Vermont town pronunciation tour.
Where should we go next?
Thanks to Lee Bonamico, Peter Coleman, Thomas Widmer, Rick Dente, David Biondolillo and Liv Dunton — and Church & Lexie the cats.
📽️ Filming & editing by David Littlefield and Kaylee Mumford
- Title
- Rep. Balint on the budget bill; outgoing VT Progressive Party leader; and Seven Days on local food
- Date posted
- 12 months ago
- Description
- First up, we're joined by Josh Wronski, the outgoing Executive Director of the Vermont Progressive Party to talk about his tenure there, what he learned in his nine years leading Vermont's third party, and how they should move forward.
Then, Rep. Becca Balint joins us to talk about the Big Beautiful Bill, Medicaid cuts, the war in Gaza, impeachment, and U.S.-Canada relations.
Lastly, it's our monthly local food segment with Seven Days food writer Melissa Pasanen.
Broadcast live on Thursday, May 22, 2025, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.
Have questions, comments or tips? Send us a message (https://www.vermontpublic.org/show/vermont-editionmailto:vermontedition@vermontpublic.org) or check us out on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/vermontpublic/) .
- Title
- Alison Bechdel's advice for young cartoonists
- Date posted
- 12 months ago
- Description
- "You can't try to follow in anyone else's footsteps. All you can do is do the work that is meaningful to you," Alison Bechdel tells young cartoonists.
Listen: https://www.vermontpublic.org/show/vermont-edition/2025-05-22/vermont-edition-at-home-alison-bechdel
- Title
- Capitol recap: Climate standstill
- Date posted
- 12 months ago
- Description
- Democratic lawmakers have spent the last five years laying the groundwork for the most aggressive emissions-reduction policies Vermont has ever seen. But a political seachange after the November election has brought that work to a standstill.
- Title
- Plant seeds at the community garden with us
- Date posted
- 12 months ago
- Description
- Before a string of spring showers hit Vermont, we spent a day at the Tommy Thompson Community Garden in Burlington to pull up some weeds and put some new seeds in the ground.
Subscribe to Sprouted: https://www.vermontpublic.org/sprouted
- Title
- Vermont Gov. Phil Scott signs two immigration-related bills into law
- Date posted
- 12 months ago
- Description
- Vermont Gov. Phil Scott signed two bills related to immigration this week.
Watch: https://www.vermontpublic.org/show/vermont-this-week/2025-05-23/in-review-education-reform-health-care-costs-in-vermont-disagreement-over-housing-policy
- Title
- Vermont's education reform debate is playing out in communities across the state
- Date posted
- 12 months ago
- Description
- Education reform in Vermont remains in limbo as the Senate scraps its version of the bill.
Watch: https://www.vermontpublic.org/show/vermont-this-week/2025-05-23/in-review-education-reform-health-care-costs-in-vermont-disagreement-over-housing-policy
- Title
- Can Vermont lawmakers deliver on education reform?
- Date posted
- 12 months ago
- Description
- Education reform in Vermont remains in limbo as the Senate scraps weeks of work and Governor Scott insists lawmakers deliver. Plus, state leaders shine a spotlight on the cost of health care in Vermont. And disagreement over the state’s housing policy continues.
This week's panel:
Mitch Wertlieb - Moderator, Vermont Public
Calvin Cutler - WCAX
Mikaela Lefrak - Vermont Public
Shaun Robinson - VTDigger
- Title
- Lake Champlain's wild trout populations have rebounded. Scientists don't know why
- Date posted
- 12 months ago
- Description
- For the first time in decades, scientists are not going to stock Lake Champlain with hatchery lake trout. That's because wild fish are finally spawning and sustaining their populations again 🐟
Read the story: https://www.vermontpublic.org/local-news/2025-05-22/wild-lake-trout-populations-rebounded-lake-champlain-scientists-dont-know-why
- Title
- Should I stay or should I go?
- Date posted
- 12 months ago
- Description
- A young Vermonter debates whether to leave the state after graduation and a dispatch from the annual state surplus auction. Plus, Vermont’s unemployment rate ticks up slightly in April, federal immigration authorities arrest at least four people on their way home from their landscaping jobs in Vermont, investigators determine the cause of a plane crash in Manchester this winter, and runners prepare for the Burlington marathon this weekend.
- Title
- Why does Vermont still require car inspections?
- Date posted
- 12 months ago
- Description
- 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 (https://www.vermontpublic.org/podcast/brave-little-state/2025-05-22/why-does-vermont-still-require-car-inspections) .
Thanks to Keese Lane and Mike Santos of Essex Junction, and Julianne Jones of Derby, for the great question...
- Title
- Alison Bechdel draws Vermont's changing seasons in 'Spent'
- Date posted
- 12 months ago
- Description
- How do you draw a Vermont road during mud season? For cartoonist Alison Bechdel, it's like a brown, slithering serpent.
Listen: https://www.vermontpublic.org/show/vermont-edition/2025-05-22/vermont-edition-at-home-alison-bechdel
- Title
- Vermont Edition At Home: Alison Bechdel
- Date posted
- 12 months ago
- Description
- In the latest installment of our series, Vermont Edition At Home: The award-winning cartoonist Alison Bechdel chats with us from her home studio in Bolton.
Alison Bechdel is one of the country’s most renowned cartoonists. Her graphic memoir Fun Home was turned into a Tony Award-winning musical. Her new graphic novel, Spent, is set in Vermont.
- Title
- Benefit of the trout
- Date posted
- 12 months ago
- Description
- Lake Champlain’s wild lake trout population is sustaining itself on its own again, but scientists aren’t sure what’s brought the fish back. Plus, voters in Bethel and Royalton shoot down a school bond for the third time, a new federal COVID vaccine policy gets mixed reviews from a leading state infectious disease specialist, plans move ahead for a Canadian entrance to a historic library that straddles the U.S.-Canada border, and the Milton selectboard appoints a new town manager.
- Title
- Alison Bechdel tackles money and privilege in her new not-quite-a-memoir, 'Spent'
- Date posted
- 12 months ago
- Description
- Cartoonist Alison Bechdel joined Vermont Edition (from home) to discuss her new graphic novel, "Spent."
- Title
- Got junk? Vermont's home organizers want to help you declutter
- Date posted
- 12 months ago
- Description
- Spring is an annual rite of passage, a time of transition and regrowth. Some spend it gardening. Others reconnect with friends. And a few of us, like Vermont Edition's Mikaela Lefrak, derive actual joy from spring cleaning.
Two professional home organizers joined Mikaela to share their best spring cleaning tips: Sarah Thompson (https://www.cleanslatevermont.com/) of St. George and Amie Davis (https://www.amiedavisorganizing.com/) of Georgia, Vt.
If you need an extra dose of motivation, you could hire a DJ like Burlington-based Taraleigh Weathers, also known as DJ Cheetahtah (https://rockinglife.com/) . She'll come to your house to play music while you clean. She's also working launching her own YouTube channel that you can watch and listen to as you clean.
