Vermont Public
The only primary care doctor in Island Pond
- Title
- The only primary care doctor in Island Pond
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- Dr. Bob Primeau is the only primary care doctor for miles. He has spent his entire career taking care of patients from the day they’re born until the day they die. But his field is changing, and Primeau is nearing retirement age.
"At the end of the summer, I'm leaving the primary care practice," Primeau says. "I'll have more time to devote to our local trail network, to play music, maybe even do some work overseas or teach at the high school. None of that will be as important as the 34 years I spent as the doctor in Island Pond."
This story is a collaborative documentary, told from the point of view of its main subject, in his own words. The narration is the result of many hours of conversation and work between Dr. Primeau and producer Anna Van Dine, written based on transcripts and emails.
See photos and learn more at vermontpublic.org. (https://www.vermontpublic.org/local-news/2025-04-29/day-lifetime-essex-county-health-cl...
- Title
- Corrections crisis
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- Lawmakers, union leaders and administration officials all agree that the shortage of prison workers in Vermont is a major problem, but there’s no agreement about how to address the issue. Plus, racial disparities persist in police traffic stops, a technical glitch delays a vote on an Amazon warehouse project, a judge orders the state to give homeless Vermonters notice before ending motel shelter benefits, and Fish and Wildlife wants feedback on new proposed deer hunting regulations.
- Title
- Burke Mountain Resort sold to group with local ties
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- A federal judge approved the $11.5 million sale of Burke Mountain Resort to a group with local ties this week after nearly a decade in federal receivership.
Watch Vermont This Week: https://www.vermontpublic.org/show/vermont-this-week/2025-05-02/in-review-state-budget-reconciliation-mahdawis-release-transportation-funding-concerns
- Title
- Anyone’s guess
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- The challenge facing state lawmakers as they try to craft a budget with uncertain projections on how much federal revenue will be available.
- Title
- New Vermont law aims to prevent workplace violence in hospitals
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- Gov. Phil Scott signed a bill into law this week that aims to prevent workplace violence in hospitals.
Watch Vermont This Week: https://www.vermontpublic.org/show/vermont-this-week/2025-05-02/in-review-state-budget-reconciliation-mahdawis-release-transportation-funding-concerns
- Title
- Mohsen Mahdawi released from prison while immigration proceedings continue
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- Senate and House lawmakers work to reconcile a $9 billion state budget, as federal funding uncertainty looms. Plus, detained Columbia University activist Mohsen Mahdawi is released from prison. And a Lamiolle County Sheriff’s deputy has been suspended, after a murder trial ends in a sudden plea deal.
This week's panel:
Mitch Wertlieb - Moderator, Vermont Public
Stephen Biddix - NBC5
Liam Elder-Connors - Vermont Public
Aaron Calvin - Stowe Reporter/News & Citizen
- Title
- Volunteers mark new mountain bike trail in Ludlow, Vermont
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- In Vermont, about 70% of public trails run through private land.
Small volunteer groups across the state are building and maintaining trails, and working with property owners to keep their land open and accessible.
Read the story: https://www.vermontpublic.org/local-news/2025-05-02/most-vermonts-public-trails-private-land-sustainable
- Title
- Trail mix
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- Why there’s an urgent call to support and save public access to trails that cross over into private land. Plus, House lawmakers approve a state constitutional amendment protecting collective bargaining rights, a state commission that helped recognize Abenaki tribe groups explains their process amid criticism from two federally recognized First Nations, officials recover the body of a hiker who went missing in January, Vermont’s regular spring turkey hunting season is underway, and we review a wild week of action in the NHL and NBA playoffs in our weekly sports report.
- Title
- Two local orchestras celebrate music and fight mental health stigma
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- Two local orchestras celebrate music and fight mental health stigma
- Title
- The exception
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- A conversation with Lt. Gov. John Rodgers about a wide range of issues, including his willingness to speak out against the Trump administration and his advocacy for reforming state cannabis law. Plus, an activist who’d been arrested and detained after showing up to a citizenship appointment has been freed and can remain in Vermont for the time being, some key state spending priorities might be postponed or scrapped due to uncertainty over whether federal funding will be cut, Vermont has put a pause on dozens of AmeriCorps state positions after millions of dollars in federal funding for the program was halted, and Burlington's City Council approves a proposal for an overdose prevention site.
- Title
- New Yorker cartoonist Harry Bliss and poet Sarah Audsley
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- Today on Vermont Edition, the celebrated cartoonist Harry Bliss discusses his new graphic memoir, You Can Never Die. It’s about his life, his relationship with his dog Penny, and his grief over her death. We’ll learn about his successful cartooning career with the New Yorker and collaborating with the comedian Steve Martin.
Plus: April is National Poetry Month. For the final installment of our April poetry series, we’ll talk with Sarah Audsley of Johnson. Her poetry often reflects her experiences as a Korean American adoptee living in Vermont.
![Mohsen Mahdawi addresses supporters outside Vermont courthouse [Full speech]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Xic6ZoYRg_c/2.jpg)
- Title
- Mohsen Mahdawi addresses supporters outside Vermont courthouse [Full speech]
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- "To President Trump and his cabinet, I am not afraid of you,” Columbia University student Mohsen Mahdawi said on Wednesday, addressing supporters outside the federal courthouse in Burlington, Vermont.
U.S. District Court Judge Geoffrey Crawford ordered Mahdawi to be released from detention Wednesday morning, more than two weeks after he was arrested by ICE at his citizenship appointment in Vermont.
Mahdawi's lawyers say his arrest was unconstitutional, in retaliation for his advocacy for Palestinian human rights.
Video by Joey Palumbo/Vermont Public.
Read the story: https://www.vermontpublic.org/local-news/2025-04-30/mohsen-mahdawi-released-from-prison-while-immigration-proceedings-continue
- Title
- Detained activist Mohsen Mahdawi released from Vermont prison
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- U.S. District Court Judge Geoffrey Crawford ordered Mohsen Mahdawi to be released from detention Wednesday morning, more than two weeks after he was arrested by ICE at his citizenship appointment in Vermont.
Read the story: https://www.vermontpublic.org/local-news/2025-04-30/mohsen-mahdawi-released-from-prison-while-immigration-proceedings-continue
- Title
- Second home hike
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- Lawmakers in Montpelier are revisiting an idea to place heavier taxes on second homes to help ease the state’s housing crisis. Plus, Trump administration cuts cancel thousands of pounds of food that were scheduled for the Vermont Food Bank, a new report reveals Americans are now more likely to want to know if they have Alzheimer’s disease before symptoms set in, a new sheriff has been appointed in Caledonia County, and Vermont joins a multi-state effort to make energy transmission more long-term reliable and affordable.
- Title
- The only primary care doctor in Island Pond
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- Dr. Bob Primeau has spent 34 years taking care of patients in a rural Northeast Kingdom community from the day they’re born until the day they die. But his field of primary care is changing, and Primeau is retiring at the end of the summer.
Listen to the podcast episode: https://www.vermontpublic.org/local-news/2025-04-29/day-lifetime-essex-county-health-clinic-dr-bob-primeau
- Title
- In Vermont, who speaks for the trees?
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- Three forestry experts discuss the many uses of Vermont's forested lands, and the potential local impact of an executive order about timber production.
- Title
- 'We don't have a great hand to play here'
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- A conversation with Gov. Phil Scott about tensions over federal immigration policy and the effects being felt in Vermont. Plus, the town of Woodstock moves to buy a local water system from a private company, a set of new permanently-affordable apartments will open in Colchester, bridge work is starting today that will slow traffic near Granville village, and Vermont’s US Senators condemn the arrest of a circuit court judge in Wisconsin last week.
- Title
- 116-year-old library traverses Vermont highway to higher ground
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- At midnight on April 26th, 2025 the Johnson Public Library started its 0.4 mile journey to its new home where it’d be less prone to future flooding. A small army of contractors, utility workers, town employees, and volunteers stayed up all night to ensure the 156 ton rig cleared Vermont’s Route 15 by 6am the next morning. The crew completed the complex project successfully, despite inclement weather and obstacles along the way.
Video by Brian Stevenson and Kyle Ambusk
Additional footage/photos courtesy of Adrienne Parker and drone footage from Tayler Engel.
- Title
- Vermont Gov. Phil Scott on risks to the state's federal funding
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- Federal transportation funding is at risk for states that refuse to cooperate with the White House's interpretation of federal immigration law.
“We don't have a great hand to play here in Vermont. We rely heavily on federal funding,” Gov. Phil Scott told Vermont Edition on Monday. “There are going to be times that we're going to say, you know, it's worth losing the funds over the principle.”
Listen to Vermont Edition: https://www.vermontpublic.org/show/vermont-edition/2025-04-28/gov-scott-talks-trumps-immigration-policy-tariffs-and-state-budget
- Title
- Gov. Scott talks Trump's immigration policy, tariffs, and state budget
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- Gov. Scott talks Trump's immigration policy, tariffs, and state budget
- Title
- A grand slam
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- Poet Geof Hewitt, Vermont's reigning poetry slam champion, performs each week at an open mic in Calais backed by a group of improvising musicians. Plus, lawmakers consider a new program to finance infrastructure that supports new housing, Lt. Gov. John Rodgers advocates for public consumption of cannabis, a new non-profit works to protect older people from fraud, and spring turkey hunting season kicked off this weekend.
- Title
- Bill H.91 could overhaul Vermont’s response to homelessness
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- A bill making its way through the Vermont Statehouse would provide a potential off-ramp to the state’s mass use of motel rooms as a primary form of shelter — and could spell an end to the political battles over the voucher program that have become a yearly ritual.
Watch Vermont This Week: https://www.vermontpublic.org/show/vermont-this-week/2025-04-25/in-review-dairy-farm-arrests-advocates-rally-for-mahdawi-small-town-housing-incentives
- Title
- François Clemmons on his longtime friendship with Fred Rogers
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- Actor and singer François Clemmons joined Vermont Edition from his home in Middlebury to discuss his iconic role as Officer Clemmons on “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.”
Listen to Vermont Edition: https://www.vermontpublic.org/show/vermont-edition/2025-04-24/vermont-edition-at-home-francois-clemmons
- Title
- Capitol Recap: Expanded Access
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- In this week’s edition of the Capitol recap, the Vermont Senate gave final approval on Friday to legislation that seeks to expand access to reproductive care.
- Title
- Eight migrant farmworkers arrested at Vermont dairy farm
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- In what’s being described as one of the largest immigration enforcement actions in Vermont’s recent history, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents arrested and detained eight workers at a Berkshire dairy farm this week.
Watch Vermont This Week: https://www.vermontpublic.org/show/vermont-this-week/2025-04-25/in-review-dairy-farm-arrests-advocates-rally-for-mahdawi-small-town-housing-incentives
- Title
- Will shifting federal immigration policy imperil farmworkers' futures in Vermont?
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- In what’s being described as one of the largest immigration enforcement actions in Vermont’s recent history, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents arrested and detained eight workers at a Berkshire dairy farm this week. Plus, Vermont Senator Peter Welch meets with Mohsen Mahdawi in prison, as advocates rally to show their support. And lawmakers hammer out the details of a new housing proposal aimed at spurring development in small towns.
This week's panel:
Mitch Wertlieb - Moderator, Vermont Public
Calvin Cutler - WCAX
Carly Berlin - Vermont Public/VTDigger
Colin Flanders - Seven Days
- Title
- White Hare/Brown Hare
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- Researchers are looking for ways to help snowshoe hares adapt to a changing climate. Plus, Vermont State Police investigate the non-fatal shooting of a Milton police officer, the state senate gives its preliminary approval to a ban on guns in Burlington bars, uncertainty about federal money for high speed internet infrastructure, and National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is this Saturday.
- Title
- Vermont Edition At Home: François Clemmons
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- Vermont Edition is launching a new series, featuring intimate conversations with noteworthy Vermonters right in their own living rooms. It’s called Vermont Edition At Home.
For the first installment, Mikaela Lefrak went to the Middlebury home of François Clemmons.. Clemmons is best known for playing Officer Clemmons on Mr. Rogers Neighborhood.
Clemmons discusses how he came to embrace his Blackness, his homosexuality, and his desire to be a performer.
Broadcast live on Thursday, April 24, 2025, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.
Have questions, comments or tips? Send us a message (https://www.vermontpublic.org/show/vermont-editionmailto:vermontedition@vermontpublic.org) or check us out on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/vermontpublic/) .
- Title
- Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean on the state of U.S.-Canada relations
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean called in to Vermont Edition this week to share his thoughts on the state of U.S.-Canada relations.
Listen to Vermont Edition: https://www.vermontpublic.org/show/vermont-edition/2025-04-22/a-cross-border-conversation-with-quebec
- Title
- François Clemmons on Fred Rogers, Purple Panda and his role as Officer Clemmons
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- In the first installment of “Vermont Edition at Home”, host Mikaela Lefrak joined actor and singer François Clemmons in his Middlebury living room to discuss his life, his career and his iconic role of Officer Clemmons on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.
Listen to Vermont Edition: https://www.vermontpublic.org/show/vermont-edition/2025-04-24/vermont-edition-at-home-francois-clemmons
- Title
- Big Night
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- Cars and climate change have annual early spring migrations for amphibians more treacherous. Plus, a judge orders the feds to keep a detained Columbia University student in Vermont, college presidents condemn the Trump Administration’s higher ed actions, the state wants to make the electric grid more resilient, and a measles outbreak in Quebec is over.
- Title
- Vermonters & Quebecers on U.S.-Canada cross border tension
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- Vermont Edition co-hosted a cross-border conversation in partnership with Radio Noon, a call-in program from the CBC in Quebec. Mikaela Lefrak and Radio Noon host Shawn Apel took calls and emails from listeners on both sides of the border about the current state of U.S.-Canada relations. We also heard about the real-world repercussions of President Donald Trump’s “51st state” rhetoric.
Vermont Public reporter Peter Hirschfeld joined the conversation as well to talk about the effect the Trump administration is having on Canadian tourism in Vermont and how the state's lawmakers are reacting to the increased tensions.
*This is a condensed version of the original hour-long call in show*
- Title
- Vermonters and Quebeckers react to the state of U.S.-Canada relations
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- On Tuesday, Vermont Edition host Mikaela Lefrak and Radio Noon Quebec host Shawn Apel took calls from listeners on both sides of the border — including former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean — who shared their thoughts on the current state of U.S.-Canada relations.
- Title
- New indie-folk musical brings the lives of Vermont farmers to Northern Stage
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- An original indie-folk musical premieres at Northern Stage in White River Junction next month. Set over the course of one working day, "The Vermont Farm Project" tells the stories of eight farmers. It's based on three years of interviews with farmers from Vermont and the surrounding region. Director Sarah Wansley of White River Junction and Hudson Valley-based writer Jessica Kahkoska tell us more about this unique production.
Plus, Vergennes native Alexandria Hall is based in Los Angeles, but a lot of Vermont's essence is found in her work. Her poems reflect the daily life and language of rural Vermont.
- Title
- Mohsen Mahdawi's lawyers provide update on his case
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- On Wednesday, a U.S. District Court judge said Mohsen Mahdawi, a legal permanent resident of the Upper Valley, should stay in Vermont for up to 90 days. Another hearing will be held next week, after the government has time to present the merits justifying Mahdawi’s detainment.
Speaking outside the federal courthouse in Burlington Wednesday morning, Mahdawi’s lawyers called for his release and read a statement he shared.
Video by Lexi Krupp/Vermont Public.
- Title
- Sea Squirts
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- More invasive species, like sea squirts, are being found on New England’s floating docks and piers and they may stick around thanks to warmer ocean temperatures caused by climate change. Plus, U.S border agents detain eight farmworkers at a Franklin County dairy farm, Vermont Habitat for Humanity programs lose AmeriCorps volunteers after federal cuts, state officials on Earth Day pledge to strongly oppose efforts by the Trump Administration to weaken environmental regulations, and a buyer for Burke Mountain Resort.
- Title
- Tourism businesses on edge as Canadian visitors say 'au revoir' to Vermont
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- Vermonters and Quebeckers share much more than a border. We do business together, get our passports out for vacation, and visit family. But this year, the threads that hold us together have frayed.
Vermont’s tourism industry is bracing for a rough summer as the state confronts mounting evidence that Canadian visitors are canceling travel to the United States.
- Title
- A cross-border conversation with Québec
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- Vermonters and Quebeckers share much more than a border. We do business together, get our passports out for vacation, and visit family. But this year, the threads that hold us together have frayed.
Vermont Edition co-hosted a cross-border conversation in partnership with Radio Noon, a call-in program from the CBC in Quebec. Mikaela Lefrak and Radio Noon host Shawn Apel took calls and emails from listeners on both sides of the border about the current state of U.S.-Canada relations. We also heard about the real-world repercussions of President Donald Trump’s “51st state” rhetoric.
Vermont Public reporter Peter Hirschfeld joined the conversation as well to talk about the effect the Trump administration is having on Canadian tourism (https://www.vermontpublic.org/local-news/2025-04-14/tourism-businesses-on-edge-canadian-visitors-say-au-revoir-vermont) in Vermont, and how the state's lawmakers are reacting to the increased tensions.
- Title
- How do you pronounce Barnet, Vermont? It's Barn-it, darn it
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- Brave Little State's town pronunciation tour continues in Caledonia County, in the town of Barnet. Where should we visit next?
Listen to the show: https://www.vermontpublic.org/podcast/brave-little-state
- Title
- Mussel Loss
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- Wild blue mussels have all but disappeared from New England’s coastline, a reality that’s been hard for people who harvest them for a living. Plus, Catholic Vermonters remember Pope Francis, who died Monday, Sen. Peter Welch pushes to permanently extend tele-health services for all Medicare recipients, labor negotiations between teachers and the school board sour in Rutland City, and hunters that sent a tooth from their deer to Vermont Fish and Wildlife can now find out how old that deer was.
- Title
- Here's how Vermont's dairy industry has transformed in the last 10 years
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- A new report finds that Americans consume more dairy than they did a decade ago. Vermont dairy farmers are trying to capitalize.
- Title
- Spongy moths
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- This week we bring you a series of stories from our public radio partners around New England exploring how the region’s flora, fauna and fungi are living with climate change. Plus lawmakers are trying to make a contingency plan in case the only Vermont-based health insurance company, Blue Cross Blue Shield, goes under. And Vermont’s unemployment rate holds steady, a new soil testing center for farmers opens at UVM, and where to watch trout travel upstream.
- Title
- Vermont lawmakers push for guardrails on federal detention
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- Democratic leaders in the Vermont Senate are asking Gov. Phil Scott to terminate a memorandum that allows federal immigration authorities to lodge detainees in state prisons — a move Scott said could exacerbate the harm to individuals targeted for deportation.
Watch Vermont This Week: https://www.vermontpublic.org/show/vermont-this-week/2025-04-18/in-review-outrage-after-ice-arrest-feds-use-of-prisons-social-security-lawsuit
- Title
- What if I can't recognize a bird call? The Bird Diva explains
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- Bridget Butler, a St. Albans naturalist known as the Bird Diva, joined Vermont Edition last week for our annual spring bird show.
Listen the the interview: https://www.vermontpublic.org/show/vermont-edition/2025-04-10/spring-bird-show-the-sounds-of-spring
- Title
- Overhaul
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- In this week’s edition of the Capitol recap, we examine a bill that would fundamentally overhaul Vermont's response to homelessness and provide a potential off-ramp to the mass-use of motel rooms as shelter.
- Title
- Vermonters react to ICE detainments in the state
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- Two national stories unfolding in Vermont on Monday — a hearing for Tufts University student Rümeysa Öztürk and the arrest of Upper Valley resident Mohsen Mahdawi — sparked outrage in the state.
Watch Vermont This Week: https://www.vermontpublic.org/show/vermont-this-week/2025-04-18/in-review-outrage-after-ice-arrest-feds-use-of-prisons-social-security-lawsuit
- Title
- Should Vermont prohibit federal immigration authorities from using state-owned prisons?
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- Vermonters across the state express outrage after an Upper Valley local, a permanent U.S. resident, is arrested by ICE agents. Plus, Vermont lawmakers want state-owned prisons off limits to federal immigration authorities. And the state adds another case to its growing list of lawsuits against the Trump administration.
This week's panel:
Cat Viglienzoni - Moderator, WCAX
Peter Hirschfeld - Vermont Public
Mark Johnson - WCAX
Kevin McCallum - Seven Days
- Title
- Home/school
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- In our recurring series on class we hear from Isaac McDonald who spoke previously about growing up in the Northeast Kingdom, and is now back to talk about attending his freshman year at Columbia University on a full scholarship. Plus, high ranking state senate Democrats call for ending the contract that allows federal officials to detain people in Vermont prisons, in a state health department survey most Vermonters report being in good health, Clinton Community College in New York plans to move its operations to the SUNY Plattsburgh campus, Gov. Scott signs a bill designating November as the Vermont month of the veteran, and in our weekly sports report we predict an upset in round one of the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs by a team that only made it into the tournament on the last day of the regular season.
- Title
- Friends describe Mohsen Mahdawi as a 'deeply peaceful person'
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- Friends of Mohsen Mahdawi, the Upper Valley resident and Columbia student detained at a citizenship interview in Colchester this week, describe him as a “deeply peaceful person” dedicated to building bridges across communities.
https://www.vermontpublic.org/local-news/2025-04-18/before-his-ice-arrest-mohsen-mahdawi-built-a-broad-network-of-friendships-in-vermonts-upper-valley
- Title
- Some people leave Vermont. Does Vermont ever really leave them?
- Date posted
- 1 year ago
- Description
- What does it mean to be a Vermonter if you’ve left the Green Mountain State?
Reporter Myra Flynn brings us on a sonic journey across the globe from Los Angeles to the Dominican Republic, to Jamaica. There are love stories, tales of taking chances and conversations about what it means to call somewhere home.
Thanks to question-asker Jesse Wingate of Virginia – formerly of North Troy, Vermont – for the great question.
For photos and an episode transcript, head to our website (https://www.vermontpublic.org/podcast/brave-little-state/2025-04-17/some-people-leave-vermont-does-vermont-ever-really-leave-them) .
This episode was reported by Myra Flynn. It was edited and produced by Josh Crane, Sabine Poux and Burgess Brown. Our intern is Catherine Morrissey. Angela Evancie is our Executive Producer. Digital support from Sophie Stephens. Theme music by Ty Gibbons; other music by Blue Dot Sessions.
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