Vermont Viewpoint

A group of legislators and advocates are supporting a series of bills aimed at addressing Vermont’s opioid abuse crisis. We’ll discuss this legislation with Attorney General T.J. Donovan. Artist Matt Neckers has created rocket ships and a mobile art gallery. We’ll catch up with the creative Eden artist. Then Radio Vermont forecaster Roger Hill discusses his new podcast, Roger Hill's Weather Classroom and all things meteorological. We finish with 30 minutes of open phones.

We’ll talk with Wendy Reynolds of Planet Axis. The organization creates inspiring documentaries including “Community Through Crisis,” which followed the exploits of Vermonters during the pandemic. Then we get the low down on Vermont’s captive insurance industry and why it has been so important to the state for almost 40 years. National correspondent Bob Ney pops in with his take on what’s happening around the country and the world.  We’ll talk with Kevin McCallum of Seven Days on Elon Musk's satellite internet program Starlink and whether that helps or hurts broadband efforts in rural areas.

Kevin O’Connor of VTDigger brings us up to date on plans for Town Meeting Day, concerns over municipal charters and what the Harris Hill Ski Jump has in store for its centennial celebration. We hear from another candidate for mayor of Burlington. This time, City Council member Ali Dieng joins us with his vision for the city.  We’ll learn about the exhibits at the Burlington Museum & Art Center, including the inaugural Artful Ice Shanties Design-Build Competition!

The real estate market is red hot. So, it’s a good time to know what your options are when it comes to securing a mortgage loan or when you’re thinking about refinancing. Steve Kendall of Union Bank joins us with the intel. Then we head to Northfield to browse through Art, etc., an artisan crafts and art gallery, with owner Andrea Melville. And then we’ll learn about JAG Productions, which is based in White River Junction and produces classic and contemporary African-American theatre. They’re getting ready to debut a series of short radio plays.

For almost two decades, the Northland Journal has been covering the history and lore of Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. We’ll learn about it from publisher Scott Wheeler. We then learn about the Historic Preservation Grants recently awarded by the State of Vermont. And we finish off talking to Sam Talbott-Kelly, seamstress for Norwich University’s Uniform Store, and a recent creation of hers being shown at the school’s Sullivan Museum.

Burlington City Councilor Max Tracy is the Progressive Party’s candidate for Mayor. We’ll learn what plans he has for the city if elected mayor on Town Meeting Day. Then we delight in learning about the delicious Vermont cheeses. Marty Mundy of the Vermont Cheese Council joins us as several Vermont cheesemakers.

Chef Michael Kloti of Michael’s on the Hill spends the first segment talking food and offering helpful tips on what you might make for your sweetheart on Valentine’s Day. Bob Ney then pops in with a look on the news from around the world. Melissa Pasanen of Seven Days offers tips on where to order take out on Valentine’s Day (especially if you weren’t successful following Chef Michael’s instructions). And we get ready for race day when we talk to the only Vermonter to have competed in the Daytona 500, Kevin LePage.

In the first segment, it’s an open phones free for all. Then, it’s a free-for-all of a different sort when we talk about music and life with Billy Bratcher of the Starline Rhythm Boys.

We’ll start the show by learning about a company based right here in Waitsfield whose maps are the go to guide to get you around places like Portsmouth, New Hampshire or Princeton, New Jersey. Then, we meet the guy who is re-opening the fabulous Blue Benn Diner in Bennington. To celebrate Valentine’s week, Sally Pollak of Seven Days joins us to tell us how six couples she interviewed met. We hear the details of the recently released Vermont Agriculture and Farm System Strategic Plan. 

The Department of Environmental Conservation’s Clean Water Initiative Report shows that the state’s $194 million investment in water quality over the past five years is paying off. We’ll learn how and what still needs to be done. We then get to enjoy some of Vermont’s wonderful outdoors, going on some adventures offered by Umiak Outdoor Outfitters. And then we meet the folks who run a frankincense and myrrh distillery in Vermont and how their efforts are helping African communities.