802 News with Mark Johnson

Doris Sumner is the author of "Camp Life: Combating the Sexism We Tolerate and Why the Military Should Take the Lead." She served in the military for 36 years in several capacities, including as State Equal Opportunity and Diversity Manager for the Vermont National Guard.

Lawmakers will try later this month to overturn Gov. Phil Scott's veto of a bill allowing for the creation of an Overdose Prevention Center in Burlington. Ed Baker, a retired psychotherapist, and David Mickenberg of the Drug Policy Alliance discuss how the center would save lives and reduce the strain on emergency workers.

Ashley Van Zandt, a mother of two from Lyndonville, suffered from an unusual aftereffect from Covid that left most foods tasting and smelling like "moldy garbage" or the "bottom of your compost bucket" for a year until she tried a radical treatment in Texas.

The head of the coalition of Vermont's free health care clinics says: "More people falling through the cracks into the safety net is indicative of a system that is failing." Olivia Sharrow blames "out of control hospital costs" for the rise in uninsured and underinsured people seeking help at the state's nine free clinics.

State Treasurer Mike Pieciak was elected in 2022. Before that he served as Commissioner of the Department of Financial Regulation, where he played a key role in the state's Covid response and helped untangle the Ponzi-like fraud at Jay Peak. Part of his job as treasurer includes overseeing the Unclaimed Property Division, from where I received my $29 check.

UVM History Department senior lecturer Andrew Buchanan discusses why it's important to look at what happened before 1941 and after 1945 to understand the full implications of World War II... even to today.

Auditor of Accounts Doug Hoffer has released a 69-page report on the role of state officials in the EB-5 ponzi scheme scandal. Three developers, Ariel Quiros, Bill Stenger and William Kelly were sentenced to jail in connection with the fraud.

Ten years ago, Vermont documentary filmmaker Bess O'Brien put the spotlight on opioid addiction in "The Hungry Heart." Now, she aims to raise awareness about Vermonters facing food and housing insecurity in "Just Getting By." The film tours from March 22 - April 12 throughout the state.

Dan Daltry served as a contact tracer for the Vermont Department of Health in the frightening early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, which was declared a national emergency four years ago. Daltry, an infectious disease program manager, has worked for the department since 2006. This interview will also appear as part of the Vermont Historical Society's oral history project on the st

Lawmakers and Vermonters are bracing ahead of Town Meeting Day over potentially staggering increases in education property taxes.