Vermont Edition

When we file our taxes, we all have a guess as to where our money’s going. Education, infrastructure, the military, foreign aid. But for most of us, it’s just that – a guess.

We break down where exactly our tax dollars go, both at the state and federal level. Vermont’s new tax commissioner Bill Shouldice explains where the state’s pot of tax dollars comes from, and where it gets allocated He also breaks down how his office estimates property taxes every year.

Then, Chuck Marr helps us understand how it works. He’s steeped in the minutiae of federal tax policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. He tells us about the biggest programs our tax dollars fund, like Medicare and Medicaid, and how that could be changing with this new Administration and Congress.

They hang upside down, fly by night, and some of them drink blood?! Bats get a bad rap – but are they really as scary as they seem?

On today's Vermont Edition: Bats! It’s the latest installment of our March series, Animal Hour. Bats play a vital role in our ecosystems. But some species are endangered, and others are being threatened by disease. A small mammal biologist with Vermont Fish and Wildlife studies the bat species in our region. She’ll share fun facts about bats, and explain why they’re so important. 

We’ll also talk with a bat rehabilitator and founder of the Vermont Bat Center. He’ll tell us how to help injured or orphaned, or trapped bats.

Today on Vermont Edition: the history of the Vermont marble industry. Quarries around the state produced beautiful black, red, dark green and white marble. A Brandon historian will share stories of what it was like to work in a quarry, and the importance of marble to our region. We’ll also hear about the Marble Museum’s closure and the uncertain future of its collection, with the head of the Preservation Trust of Vermont.

Then: the annual Public Philosophy Week returns. Two local philosophy professors will tell us about upcoming philosophical lectures and mind-stimulating discussions around the state.

March marks the five-year anniversary of the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Vermont Health Commissioner Dr. Mark Levine was a steadying force through the early days of the lock down, a conduit of quickly evolving health guidance, and an advocate for the vaccine.

Gov. Phil Scott tapped Dr. Levine in 2017 to lead Vermont's Department of Health. As health commissioner, he provided guidance on public health concerns like opioid addiction, teen substance use, and respiratory viruses. He sat down with Vermont Edition ahead of his retirement at the end of March.

A new book preserves the stories of Vermonters during the historic COVID-19 pandemic. For the first time, you can read oral histories of more than a hundred state leaders, frontline workers and regular citizens. It’s called Life Became Very Blurry, An Oral History of COVID-19 in Vermont. The book illuminates the mindset of Vermonters during this unforgettable period in history, the way Vermont handled the epidemic, and how it reshaped the state. Its editor, Garrett Graff, is a bestselling author and historian. He teamed up with field historians, including our guest Amanda Gustin of the the Vermont Historical Society, to collect and publish this new book.

Broadcast live on Monday, March 24, 2025, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.

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Sheep used to dominate the Vermont landscape. But these days, it’s kind of rare to drive by a large flock. What happened to Vermont’s sheep?

Today on Vermont Edition: It’s the latest in our March series Animal Hour and it’s all about sheep. We begin with local historian Mark Bushnell who tells us all about the sheep boom and bust of the 1800s. 

Even though there aren’t as many sheep here as there used to be, there’s still a lot of Vermonters out there shearing sheep for their wool, raising lambs for meat, or producing award-winning sheep’s milk cheese. We’ll talk with Mark Rogers, head of the Vermont Sheep and Goat Association, and Amber Reed, a livestock grazing expert in Barnet.