Vermont Edition

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Battery energy storage systems — BESS — are popping up across the country. They strengthen the electrical grid by storing energy and releasing it at high demand times, and can lower energy costs for customers. But some neighbors of some proposed facilities have concerns about safety and aesthetics. In Vergennes, residents are pushing back against plans by the company Lightshift to build one on Pan...

It's is the latest installment of our Town by Town series. where every month, we take an hour to learn about a randomly selected town or city in Vermont, with the goal of hitting all 252 of them. Today: Brattleboro, in Windham County. Home to a little over 12,000 people, making it one of the larger municipalities in the state. The town sits right along the Connecticut River. It was named after Col...

Design-build architects are trained not just to envision a home or structure, but to build it themselves and to improvise based on their on-site experiences. For years this movement centered around Prickly Mountain in Warren. A handful of visionary young architects moved to Vermont’s Mad River Valley in the 1960s to explore the more creative and experimental aspects of homebuilding.  Waitsfield fi...

First, we're joined by Vermont's Attorney General Charity Clark , who discusses her ongoing legal battle against Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram. Then, a roundtable of historians and curators discuss the events going on around the state this summer to commemorate the 250th birthday of America. We're joined by Stephen Perkins of the Vermont Historical Society, Angie Grove of the...

The Vermont Legislature adjourned for the session Friday evening after Democratic lawmakers and Gov. Phil Scott reached an agreement on education reform. Lawmakers also passed a budget bill and a yield bill to set tax rates, and Gov. Scott is expected to sign all three.  To help us make sense of this sessions' hot topics are a trio of Vermont Public statehouse reporters: Peter Hirschfeld and Lola...

What hours of bodycam footage reveal about ICE operations in Vermont

Have you ever thought about just how many insect species call your yard home? There are thousands of species to discover just outside your door. The app iNaturalist lets users upload photos to identify insects, animals, fungi and more. Each iNaturalist entry helps the team at the Vermont Center for Ecostudies (VCE) catalogue every living species in the Vermont Atlas of Life .  Two VCE biologists d...

Vermont Edition went down the rabbit hole with a recent episode of Brave Little State to find out if there really are more twins per capita in the town of Sheldon — and if so, how it happened. Two sets of Vermont twins told us about going into business together. Leah Klatzker and Rachel Klatzker , co-owners of So Full Sisters , run two food trucks as well as a Middlebury College coffee stand.  Cir...

Some movie stars or celebrity chefs have massive followings on Instagram or YouTube. Others gain followers by posting addictive content. But some people simply post about what they love, and build a community from there. Today on Vermont Edition, three Vermonter content creators showcase their passions on social media. Mirna Valerio is an endurance athlete, writer and brand ambassador for major br...

Military academies and ROTC clubs teach children and young adults — most of them boys — how to fight in war. But this education comes with its own risk of scars. Vermont-based freelance journalist Jasper Craven explores American military education in his new book, God Forgives, Brothers Don't: The Long March of Military Education and the Making of American Manhood . Craven has reported on the mili...

We’re nearing the traditional end point of Vermont’s legislative calendar. Adjournment at the statehouse in Montpelier is tentatively scheduled for May 29, but there’s a lot left to settle before the state’s part-time lawmakers head home.  Throughout this legislative session you’ve heard lawmakers on Vermont Edition discuss these issues. Now, we get to hear from the state’s top elected official, G...

Tick season is upon us yet again, and tick bite-related emergency room visits in the Northeast are higher than normal right now. It’s hard not to resent these disease-spreading arachnids. Ticks spread pathogens like anaplasmosis, babesiosis, Powassan virus, and Lyme disease.  We're joined by David Allen, an associate professor of biology at Middlebury College to talk about the different types of t...

Burlington police body cam footage from March ICE raid will be released 'very soon,' says mayor

Vermont has no shortage of artists creating new works.  Author Tim Weed of Putney has a new novel set in Vermont called The Gatepost that blends modern science and ancient cosmology. Photographer Nathan Larson of Windsor packed up his entire life into a van and hit the road. A new book of poetry and photographs captures his adventures. And filmmaker Robbie Leppzer 's latest work is a documentary a...

There are many tech tools making their way into kids’ classrooms: Chromebooks and iPads, Canvas and Powerschool, ChatGPT and Claude. Is that a good thing? Depends on who you ask.  Some states are passing laws to limit in-school screen time . Rep. Angela Arsenault , a Democrat from Williston, supports these measures, saying Vermont should better regulate the use of tech like chatbots and smartphone...

Manufacturing is an important part of Vermont’s economy. According to the state, about seven percent of Vermont workers are employed by manufacturing companies and those employees make an average of $68,000 dollars a year. But the sector is shrinking fast. Between 2020, before the pandemic, and now, the number of manufacturing jobs has fallen by more than 11 percent. Case in point: The infant form...

Over the past few years, Vermonters have upped their flood resilience efforts. As we enter another flood season, this work becomes even more urgent. Douglas Farnham , the state’s Chief Recovery Officer , joins to tell us about how changes at the Federal Emergency Management Agency are impacting Vermont flood recovery efforts. And he gives us an update on the FEMA buyout program. Also, we talk with...

It's Vermont Edition’s annual spring gardening show and our guest is Charlie Nardozzi, gardening consultant extraordinaire, speaker, and TV and radio host. You can hear Charlie on Sunday mornings right here on Vermont Public for All Things Gardening. His latest book is called The Continuous Vegetable Garden, all about how to create a low effort, perpetually productive food garden.

After SCOTUS strikes down tariff rule, who gets a refund?

At both the state and federal level , there's growing momentum behind the progressive idea of new taxes on the richest Americans. Democrats in Montpelier recently revived the idea of raising taxes on high-income earners, but the effort was not successful .  Vermont Public's Peter Hirschfeld shared details on what was being proposed, why it wasn't able to happen this year and why the issue is sure...

As the weather warms, farmers in our region are filling up their customer lists for their annual CSAs.  Today we hear from two local organizations working to increase access to healthy, locally grown food through community supported agriculture. Gabby Boyston is the Boyson is the food access manager at the Intervale Center in Burlington, and Grace Woroch is the community health manager at Vermont...

Circus Smirkus has been training young performers for four decades. But with financial challenges and an aerial accident last summer, the future of the touring youth circus is uncertain. The youth circus cancelled its signature Big Top Tour this summer. Reporter Mary Ann Lickteig of Seven Days explains what that means for the organization’s finances. We’ll also talk through some parents’ disconten...

Strafford’s Noah Kahan is arguably the most famous musician to come out of Vermont in recent years. A new Netflix documentary, "Noah Kahan: Out of Body," follows the Upper Valley singer-songwriter as he grapples with fame, his mental health and complex family dynamics. Following the meteoric success of "Stick Season" in 2022, Kahan spent the next few years touring, playing increasingly larger venu...

The most significant land use law in Vermont’s recent history is on the brink of major change. Key portions could be repealed, like the “road rule” and tier system. Today, we discuss the future of Act 181. The law inflamed tensions between urban and rural Vermonters. Housing and infrastructure reporter Carly Berlin catches us up on lawmakers debate over Act 181 in Montpelier. We also hear from Ale...