Vermont Viewpoint

Maggie Leon is a Vermonter shredding it on the Red Bull Slide-In Tour, which is blazing a trail through Vermont this week. We open the show learning about Maggie’s journey as a professional snowboarder and her work at Burton. Michael Dougherty of VTDigger is up next as he tells us about the digital news service’s new “Virus in Vermont” series. We’ll hear stories about how Vermonters have been persevering during the pandemic. Cari and Ian Carlet, owners of Locally Social Coffee in St. Johnsbury, share their story of serving up delicious coffee and helping people in their community.

Pick up the Times-Argus and you’re often taken by the arresting photo gracing Page 1. That’s usually the work of photographer Jeb Wallace Brodeur. He shares his insight into being a photojournalist and some photography tips. National correspondent Bob Ney brings us up to date on the national and international news. He’s followed by Sally Pollak of Seven Days who has the latest on Bernie’s mittens and the women who made them. And we wrap up by talking about COVID vaccines with Kinney Drugs Pharmacist Hayley Hooks.

Having our schools as an outlet for Vermont farm produce and products is one half of the equation. Providing students with healthier foods and a better understanding of where they come from is the other. We’ll spend the first hour learning about the Farm to School Program.  A Vermont couple turned the loss of their 5-month-old child into a program that benefits foster children across the state. We’ll learn the details of a beautiful program called Tatum’s Totes.

Charlie Morrow has been creating wild and wonderful sounds in the Northeast Kingdom, in Helsinki, Finland and around the world. We get to meet this composer and sound artist and learn about his many installations. Vermont Law School professor and constitutional law expert Jared Carter helps break down legal issues surrounding Town Meeting Day ballot items as well as the Burlington mayoral race. And then we finish the show talking milk and maple syrup with farmers Gordon and Reid Richardson.  

Vermont has seen a series of refugees resettled in the state. But is there a value to the communities where they resettle? UVM Geography Professor Pable Bose has studied this question and shares what he has found. Barre Opera House Director Dan Casey shares the venues rich history and the restoration efforts taking place. Then, we open up the phones for your thoughts and memories of Town Meeting Day. We also have reporters calling in from the field with updates on what’s happening around the state.

VTDigger’s Kevin O’Connor has been researching the key issues that will be voted on around the state on Town Meeting Day. He’ll get us prepped for Tuesday. A new quarterly publication will focus on the history, health and ecology of the Connecticut River. Dick Shriver, publisher of Estuary Magazine, joins us to discuss the river and the new venture. We meet a Canadian actor who now calls Vermont home. Allan Nicholls appeared in “Slap Shot” and several Robert Altman films. We’ll also hear about his singing career with J.B. & The Playboys. 

Post-census, somebody has to sit down and figure out what our state house and senate districts will look like. For the second decade in a row, Tom Little has been put in charge of the Legislative Apportionment Board. He joins us to outline the work the board will be doing this year. National correspondent Bob Ney joins us. We’ll then hear from two Seven Days writers who have interviewed some of Vermont’s candidates of color who are running in local elections this Town Meeting Day. And we finish the show speaking with former Vermonter Ed Tracy, whose new book - “Gorilla in the Room” - is a series of essays that marry his battle with colon cancer and an imagined Broadway play.

We open the show with Vermont author Ann Ambrecht, who has investigated the $9 billion global business of herbal supplements and products. Her new book, “The Business of Botanicals,” reveals whether they deliver on their promises. Central Vermont Home Health and Hospice President and CEO Sandy Rousse joins us to discuss the organization’s effort to help get people vaccinated and the funding they receive from the communities they serve. CCV President Joyce Judy and others from the community college discuss programs that are designed for high school seniors and for those already in the work force. 

Mercy Connections supports re-entry for women coming out of prison and educates adults who are focused on well-being, academics, job readiness and business ownership. We’ll start the show hearing about the organization’s work. In the wake of recent events in Texas, Public Service Commissioner June Tierney and VELCO President and CEO Tom Dunn join us to explain how Vermont’s power grid is able to survive our bitterly cold winters. We finish the show by speaking with author and historian Alex Kershaw about his career and about serving as the selection committee chair for Norwich University’s William E. Colby Award.

Vermont Fish & Wildlife Commissioner recently accepted signed the state’s Big Game Management Plan for 2020-2030. Commissioner Porter discusses the key issues that the plan addresses for Vermont’s deer, bear, moose and wild turkey. Zac Cota of the North Branch Nature Center take us back into the great outdoors to explore winter nature phenomena like owl nesting and we’ll prep for the upcoming amphibian migration season.