The Frequency: Daily Vermont News

Breaking down Rutland’s mayoral race, which has recently generated some controversy for the well-known candidates. Plus, Democratic legislative leaders decry the Scott administration’s efforts to roll back climate policy, Brattleboro Memorial Hospital support staff have unionized, University of Vermont officials generally expect research to continue like normal despite Trump administration efforts to cut federal funding, and a Barre granite quarry is no longer offering public tours.

Assessing the damage from a weekend storm that brought more snowfall to parts of Vermont than has been seen in at least a couple of years. Plus, Winooski voters will decide an eviction notice ballot measure on Town Meeting Day, Vermont’s Supreme Court dismisses a lawsuit opposing the governor’s appointment of an interim education secretary, UVM receives top tier status for schools engaged in scientific research, and the incoming interim police chief in Burlington will serve for two years and stay on as an advisor once a permanent chief is hired.

We meet the Vermonters of the Green Mountain Chorus, who raise their voices to provide singing valentines on the 14th of February. Plus, a lawsuit filed in federal court accuses a Burlington police officer of using excessive force in an incident last summer, Sen. Sanders introduces legislation aimed at lowering Americans’ credit card debt, the EPA plans to inspect cleanup efforts at a Bennington Superfund site, why New Hampshire farmers can get paid to pause mowing on their hayfields in early summer, the Vermont-born band Phish has been nominated for entry into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and we consider the courtship that ended with the Boston Red Sox hooking up with a coveted free agent in our weekly sports report.

Reporter Erica Heilman shares a success story from HomeShare Vermont, a program that matches folks who have extra housing with people who need it. Plus, House lawmakers pass a bill making it easier for prosecutors to charge Vermonters with hate crimes, Vermont’s attorney general joins a multistate effort to block the National Institutes of Health from slashing billions of dollars in medical research, nursing staff at Northwestern Medical Center in St. Albans vote to unionize, the head of Vermont’s largest health insurer is retiring after a 16-year tenure, and the Vermont Green Football Club announces its new head coach.

In an excerpt from a recent episode of Brave Little State, we explore why Vermont relies on just one landfill for its trash disposal while neighboring New Hampshire has half a dozen. Plus, Vermont’s Department of Public Service says some $400 million in federal grant money is at risk due to a federal funding freeze, Congresswoman Becca Balint urges Vermont lawmakers to prepare for more potential federal budget cuts, Burlington’s Festival of Fools is canceled this year due to funding difficulties, the Vermont House upholds the result of a contested election in Bennington, and adaptive mountain biking gets a boost from a state tourism grant.

In the final installment of a collaborative series on homeless deaths in Vermont, we hear from a former girlfriend and from the daughter of a man named Sean Kelleher, who died in a violent accident. Plus, school boards eye personnel job cuts amid financial pressures, an initial estimate puts repairs for the damaged Bennington Battle Monument at $40 million, Burlington International Airport is set to debut a new seasonal non-stop route to South Carolina, the Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival is screening some classic neo-noir movies, and we examine the fallout from a shocking NBA trade and offer a pick for the winner of this Sunday’s Super Bowl in our weekly sports report.

We hear the story of a Morristown man who passed away last April after struggling with substance abuse, in the first of a three-part collaboration with Seven Days analyzing the number of unhoused Vermonters who have died over the last several years.. Plus, lawmakers want to examine COVID-era appropriations that may not be yielding adequate returns for taxpayers, a Brattleboro nonprofit secured grant funding to support refugees before a federal funding freeze,tariffs on Canadian goods could raise Vermonters’ energy bills, officials ponder options for the future of Vermont’s waste disposal, and Vermont’s senators register their opposition to Robert F. Kennedy’s Jr.'s nomination for health secretary.

Treasurer Mike Pieciak has convened a task force to help guide Vermont through a flurry of action in the early days of the second Trump administration. Plus, Vermont’s teachers’ union says Gov. Scott’s education reform plan would require mass educator layoffs, the governor seeks to roll back almost every major climate law enacted by Democrats in recent years, land in the Northeast Kingdom has been conserved for wild fish habitat and flood resilience, and Democratic lawmakers fear future federal funding for Vermont is in serious jeopardy under the Trump administration.

To increase the pace of home building, some housing experts say Vermont needs to turn to the assembly line. Plus, Gov. Scott wants to place new fees on electric vehicles in lieu of gas tax revenues, Vermont’s attorney general says she won’t back down on challenging Trump administration efforts she doesn’t believe pass legal muster, national testing results show declines in math and reading for Vermont fourth and eighth graders, a Middlebury philosophy professor discusses how to live a full life by mastering what she calls the ‘art of the interesting’, and we take stock of what sports fans are waiting for–from the pending Super Bowl to the start of the new baseball season–in our weekly sports report.

We visit an East Putney resident who helps maintain a nearby cemetery, in an excerpt from a recent Brave Little State episode about “adopting” small, local graveyards. Plus, Gov. Scott lays out budget priorities he says are aimed at making the state more affordable, Vermont’s congressional delegation slams President Trump’s decision to freeze federal grant and loan funding, state officials are waiting to see if the freeze will impact disaster relief, advocates for LGBTQ+ people emphasized that an executive order discounting gender identity doesn’t apply to the state government, and Vermont saw a record amount of tourism dollars in 2023.