The Frequency

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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. 

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. 

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.

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.  

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.

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.