VPR News

New guidelines unveiled by Gov. Phil Scott on Tuesday open the door for teachers and other staff at public schools, as well as certain public safety officials and corrections staff to get the COVID-19 vaccine. At the same time, Vermonters with certain high-risk medical conditions will also become eligible for a shot starting next week.

The FDA has granted emergency use authorization for a third COVID-19 vaccine: a single-dose injection from Johnson & Johnson. Distribution of the vaccine is now underway; however, early supply will be limited. In our weekly health update: more on this and what it means for Vermont's vaccination strategy.

It’s the first Tuesday in March, and that means one thing in Vermont: Town Meeting Day. But this year, like so many things in our pandemic era, things are different.

The U.S. House passed a new $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package last week. The aid bill still needs to move through the Senate before expanded federal unemployment benefits end on March 14. This hour, we talk with Congressman Peter Welch to go over what's included in the House package, and what it would mean for Vermonters.

Voters across Vermont will weigh in on local school budgets Tuesday, but a debate playing out in Montpelier right now could have far more influence over how much money districts have to educate their students.

On Town Meeting Day next week, residents of about 20 cities and towns around the state will decide whether to allow cannabis stores and growing operations to open in their communities. But the state still needs to finalize regulations around legal marijuana sales, which are likely over a year away.

People who have been vaccinated for COVID-19 can now leave Vermont and see friends and family without quarantining . As the vaccine rollout continues, more and more people can look forward to traveling and seeing loved ones they haven’t seen in months.

Music is a universal language. And If you may not be able to understand the language that local health officials are using to warn you about a deadly pandemic, music can provide another way to communicate. That's how the group KeruBo is discussing the COVID-19 vaccine among Vermont's African community, with the new song Chanjo .

The COVID-19 crisis has interrupted tradition, from holiday celebrations to Vermont's Town Meeting Day. This hour, we take an in-depth look at how individual municipalities are navigating Town Meeting Day this year, and we answer your questions.

If you want to understand how civil affairs are conducted in Vermont, it's important to know about the annual tradition of town meeting.

A total of 134 Vermonters have died from opioid overdoses through November of last year, a 35% increase from the 99 deaths reported in all of 2019. A group of lawmakers met last week to discuss potential policies, and one idea stood out: decriminalizing drugs in Vermont.

Gov. Phil Scott announced last week that travelers who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 do not have to quarantine when visiting or returning to Vermont. This hour, we get the details on new state guidance and the vaccine rollout, and we answer your COVID-19-related inquiries.

As Vermont works to expand who can get vaccinated for COVID-19, state officials say they are committed to ensuring those disproportionately affected by the virus, including those who are Black, Indigenous and people of color, have equitable access to the vaccine. But what does equitable mean, and is the state's plan achieving it?

Town meeting day in Vermont is the first Tuesday in March. This year many towns are moving to Australian ballot because of the pandemic. But not all: Up in Kirby, the clerks, select board and town moderator will meet on March 2, but just long enough to entertain a motion to move the meeting to May or June, when they can hold the meeting outside.

Public, educational and government access, or PEG access television, has for decades served community-produced cable programming to the Vermont public: graduation ceremonies. town meetings, the governor's twice-weekly COVID-19 press briefings. However, shifts in consumer behavior — away from cable in favor of internet streaming — have brought PEG access' primary financing mechanism, payments from cable companies, into question. This hour, we hear what a new report says about the financial