VPR News

Senate leaders say they hope to quickly pass a bill that would create a retail marijuana market that the state would tax and regulate.

A growing number of climate advocates say increasing the price of fossil fuels is the surest way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but leaders in the House and Senate are resisting calls for a carbon tax in Vermont.

Syria—and its nearly decade-long civil war—has been the subject of countless news stories and foreign policy debates. Syrians fleeing violence from war and the Islamic State weigh heavily in the international conversation about refugees and migration. In 2003, Shaftsbury photographer Kevin Bubriski started documenting what would become some of the final images of pre-war Syria. His stark black-and-white pictures of the architecture, places and people of Syria are collected in a new book called

This month the Vermont DMV sent out a postcard alerting motorists to the end of "conditional passes" for cars failing emissions tests during inspection, along with a list of ways to get a vehicle "ready" for inspection. For many, the postcard led to confusion rather than clarity. We're looking at what's changed for Vermont's vehicle inspections and what you need to know about getting your car ready for inspection.

Last week, Will Novak — who lives in Phoenix, Arizona — got an email that was not meant for him, inviting him to a bachelor party here in Vermont for someone he'd never met. His reply? “Count me in!”

Vermont Attorney General TJ Donovan has released findings on the alleged racial harassment of former state Rep. Kiah Morris, saying that Morris was a victim of harassment but there is not enough evidence to prosecute. We're talking with the attorney general about the investigation, his office's new bias incident reporting system and his other priorities in the coming year.

Recently, with my daughter and two grand-daughters, I watched Mary Poppins make her gracious, technicolor return to the disheveled, precarious lives of the Banks family. Michael Banks is now grown-up and recently widowed, with three little kids of his own. Sister Jane is a labor organizer. Short on ready cash, the siblings are about to lose their childhood home to a money-hungry banker. Enter Mary Poppins, bringing stability and compassion to a world that seems to have lost both.

Farmers needing government loans confront empty offices and unanswered calls as the partial government shutdown drags into the fourth week. State officials are also concerned that the shutdown will result in a delay in developing a program designed to help struggling dairy farmers.

In the mid-twentieth century, “cigarette girls” distributed their wares in casinos, office workers puffed away at their desks, and parents lit up while the whole family gathered in the living room to watch TV. Then, in 1964, the U.S. Surgeon General declared cigarettes dangerous. With the public health campaigns that followed, smoking gradually disappeared from American lives.

Attorney General TJ Donovan said Monday he will not file charges in the reported racial harrassment of former State Rep. Kiah Morris, though he believes Morris and her family were victims.

Without a statewide mass transit system, the need for an automobile is more acute in Vermont than in many other areas of the country. Especially in our most rural towns. And for many people, affording a reliable vehicle can be out of reach. Good News Garage , a nonprofit that refurbishes donated vehicles and gives them to Vermonters in need, is reporting lower vehicle donations this winter. But not a lower need for cars.

Vermont law enforcement officers filed fewer traffic tickets in 2018 than the year before, marking the first decline in three years, according to the Vermont Judiciary . Money collected from traffic fines in 2018 also declined — even more steeply than the number of tickets issued.

Sen. Patrick Leahy says William Barr, President Donald Trump's nominee for attorney general, needs to make assurances that he won’t interfere with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold two days of confirmation hearings for Barr beginning on Tuesday.

As one who’s never served in political office, I often remind myself how easy it is to opine with impunity about what’s right and wrong with our state and national governance systems – a reminder that opinion writing demands respect, objectivity, and a healthy dose of humility.

Small colleges in Vermont and around the country are struggling to fill classrooms and remain viable. Meanwhile, Sterling College is attracting students from across the country and around the globe to its Northeast Kingdom campus to take classes offered by its School of the New American Farmstead.