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Dwayne Tucker is one of five candidates seeking the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor. He is a contractor and civil engineer. He’s also running for a Washington County state Senate seat.

The COVID-19 pandemic is having a real impact on the financial health of Vermonters.

Many Vermont households face a near-impossible task of making ends meet in the pandemic economy. Plus, Governor Phil Scott says his administration should have ensured testing for the Vermont inmates in Mississippi, the death of a logger in Stockbridge, and some more bonus poll data.

Doug Cavett is one of four Republicans going up against incumbent Gov. Phil Scott in the party's primary. Cavett has not run for office before. He lives in Milton, works at Rhino Foods in Burlington and is a former paraeducator in the Burlington School system.

Gov. Phil Scott has acknowledged that his administration failed to ensure that Vermont prisoners held in a Mississippi prison were all tested for the coronavirus.

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VPR Newscast for 8/4/2020 at 5:04 p.m.

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VPR Newscast for 8/4/2020 at 11:04 a.m.

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VPR Newscast for 8/4/2020 at 6:04 a.m.

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According to a new VPR-Vermont PBS poll, 67% of Vermonters say they are very concerned about the future of small businesses in the state. If you add in those who said they are somewhat concerned, the number jumps to 93%.

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Vermont residents support a mask mandate, the Black Lives Matter movement and the leadership of Gov. Phil Scott, according to a new poll from VPR and Vermont PBS.

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The new VPR-Vermont PBS poll offers a snapshot of Vermont in the midst of a pandemic and economic recession. This hour, we talk about what Vermonters are saying about the toll this is all taking on their mental health and personal finances.

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As college students return to Vermont for the start of the school year, there is some concern about a possible increase in the spread of COVID-19. Plus, as of August 1, a mask mandate is now in effect for all Vermonters, and the state is planning to distribute over 200,000 free cloth masks. This hour, it's our weekly update with Vermont's health department. We check in with Deputy Commissioner Tracy Dolan and take your questions. We will also get an update on the Vermont inmates who have tested positive for COVID-19 at the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in Mississippi.

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Civil rights icon Congressman John Lewis died earlier this month and the nation is paying tribute to his legacy. This hour, we listen back to a conversation recorded in Vermont last fall between Lewis and Andrew Aydin. The pair co-authored the graphic novel trilogy March , which tells the story of Lewis' rural upbringing and key role in the Civil Rights movement.

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Relationships of all kinds have been tested by the COVID-19 pandemic. Particularly romantic ones: some people are separated by quarantine or social distancing. Some are stuck in the house together while working from home. And some are struggling with a lack of connection to a significant other. This hour, we want your stories about how the coronavirus has tested your relationships, or lack of relationships

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A statewide mask mandate is slated to take effect in Vermont on Saturday, Aug. 1. This hour, our weekly health update focuses on this and other efforts by the state to quell the spread of COVID-19 . Plus, contact tracing: What is it and how does it work? We get a firsthand account of the process and answer your questions.

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Farm & Garden Forecast by VPR

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Morning Forecast by VPR

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Recreational Forecast by VPR

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Eye On The Night Sky For August 4. 2020 by VPR

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Farm & Garden Forecast by VPR

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What's a symbol from the South doing in the Green Mountain State? Jason Broughton and Megan Bellavance (both, as it turns out, librarians) asked us to investigate.

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Michael and Stacy Lee have had a really tough year. So why do they feel so positive?

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How did these communities form, and how are they being remembered? That's what Gale Harris wanted to know.

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Everyone loves to grouse about our cost of living. Bruce Post wonders: How bad is it really?

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If people — particularly elderly people — don't want doctors to take extreme measures to potentially save their lives, does that increase Vermont's COVID-19 death rate?

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This week, in a special episode of NEXT, we listen to a collection of award-winning stories from the New England News Collaborative — from the divorced couple that was the face of marriage equality in Massachusetts, to a close look at a First Amendment dispute in New Hampshire.

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This week on NEXT, New Englanders debate the removal of controversial statues. Plus, Connecticut is refusing to reveal the cost of some taxpayer-funded coronavirus tests. And we look at how the pandemic and climate change are complicating efforts in New Hampshire to stay cool during this hot summer.

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The pandemic forced many of us into new habits. Why can’t we do that with climate change? This week on NEXT, why seismic lifestyle shifts to help the environment could be possible right now. Plus, how the business community is addressing systemic racism. And the tension over thru-hikers who resisted calls to quit the Appalachian Trail during the pandemic.

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Eviction cases are expected to soar this summer. This week on NEXT, the debate over extending an eviction moratorium. Plus, a recent night of vandalism in Providence, Rhode Island, was blamed on “outside agitators” — the story is much more complicated. And 16 ideas for investing in a green pandemic recovery.

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This week on NEXT, how to stay safe during a pandemic as reopening continues in New England. Plus, Maine has the worst racial disparity for coronavirus infections in the country — we’ll talk about why. And a tattoo artist that covers up racist tattoos for free gets an uptick in requests.

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How is ice cream made? Why does ice cream melt? Why does some ice cream melt faster than others? We’ll answer your questions about this summery concoction with Rabia Kamara, of Ruby Scoops in Richmond, Virginia. It’s going to be sweet.

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Why do forest fires happen? What happens to the forest after a fire? Sometimes you send us questions about things you've heard about, and sometimes you send us questions about your experiences. We'll hear from 5-year-old Abby in Australia who wanted to know more about the bush fires near her home earlier this year. Liam and Emma tell us about their wildfire experiences in California, and we get answers to your questions from Ernesto Alvarado, professor at the University of Washington.

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This week, we're getting out our bug nets and talking about dragonflies and ladybugs! Why do ladybugs have spots? How many different types of ladybugs are there? How do they crawl on the ceiling without falling down? Where do dragonflies and ladybugs sleep? Why are dragonflies called dragonflies? Do they bite? We're joined by Kent McFarland, a research biologist at the Vermont Center for Ecostudies and the co-host of another great VPR podcast called Outdoor Radio.

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In this special live episode But Why had a musical celebration with Mister Chris, the Junkman and May Erlewine, and we heard your songs. You can listen to But Why Live at vpr.org and call-in every Friday at 1 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time through June 26, 2020. This program is in collaboration with the Vermont Agency of Education to bring interactive educational opportunities to students while schools are closed.

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In this special live episode But Why held a discussion about race and racism with the authors of ABCs of Diversity, Y. Joy Harris-Smith and Carolyn Helsel. You can listen to But Why Live at vpr.org and call-in every Friday at 1 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time through June 26, 2020. This program is in collaboration with the Vermont Agency of Education to bring interactive educational opportunities to students while schools are closed.

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In these times of social distancing, when people can feel disconnected from one another, it's important to realize that nature is just outside your door. From bird songs to green frogs' croaking chatter, stay connected to the outdoors by exploring your own "backyard biodiversity."

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Birdwatchers know that when they see the Red-winged Blackbird return, spring is on its way. These birds are numerous and everywhere. The males are stark-black with a red epaulette, a striking flash of color on their wings, that they use to attract mates and ward off other competing males.

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Blue jays are pretty common. We see them all the time, and yet, they still have mysteries to share with us. Blue jays are also known as the "engineers of the forest." Their diet consists of acorns and beech nuts and they take these seeds to new areas and cache, or bury, their food. Sometimes they forget to come back to get these stored nuts and seeds allowing them to grow. The birds are planting new trees and expanding the forest.

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In the past 125 years, only two Januarys have stayed below freezing for the entire month. Some Vermonters relish a period of warmer temperatures while others lament the melting snow. Is there such a thing as a regular, consistent January thaw?

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You don't expect to see a moth in November, but these winter moths have adapted to thrive in the cold. The operophtera bruceata, or the Bruce Spanworm moth, spends the summer as a catapiller in the canopy of hardwood trees. They eat and eat, getting bigger until they fall down into the leaf litter and pupate. As the weather turns cold, around the end of October, they emerge as adults. This comes in very handy for these moths, because most of the birds have migrated away and there are very few predators left.

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We’ve been exploring all the ways that music has changed the world and us. In this episode we’ll discover that music might belong to more than just humanity. So many creatures on our shared planet also have a voice.

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“In the beginning was the voice. Voice is sounding breath, the audible sign of life.” Those beautiful words were written by Otto Jespersen, an early 20th century Danish linguist, in the book Language, Its Nature, Development and Origin. Jespersen was on to something with that statement, voice as “the audible sign of life.” It reminds me of another popular quote by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “Music is the universal language of mankind.”

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You’re at a wedding reception, this song starts to play and suddenly the dance floor is full of people moving together in rhythm. The crowd intuits the pulse of the music, corporately agrees on where the beat is and starts to move together. That’s how group dance works. This ability is something we share as humans and with other members of the animal kingdom. But do we ever think about what it takes to make this happen? How do we dance together and why?

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Which came first, language or music? It’s not just a “chicken or the egg” type of question. Many linguists and theorists have debated this subject. For a long time the accepted norm stated that music appears “to be derived from language,” meaning that music is a subset of verbal communication. But modern research is painting a different picture. There’s an earlier episode of Timeline called “Baby Talk” that dives into that research regarding the development of human communication.

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Do you remember the opening scene of Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey”? The director starts a movie about space by first showing us early humanity. We are introduced to two warring factions of hairy proto-humans, yelling and grunting at one another over some unknown conflict. That night one of the tribes wakes up at sunrise to a strange, black, rectangular object. In the shadow of this monolith, one of the members of the tribe picks up a bone and examines it. After a moment, it begins to beat the ground with this first “tool.”

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How the events of last year changed Vermont schools and law enforcement. Also - where's Jack?

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How do you know if a young person is plotting a school massacre? And what do you do then?

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How a Republican governor who had been rated "A" by the NRA decided that Vermont, one of the most gun-friendly states in the nation, needed gun control laws.

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When does planning a school shooting become attempted murder? The question went all the way to the Vermont Supreme Court.

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Who is Jack Sawyer, and why did he want to kill his former classmates?

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What role does storytelling have in addressing the opioid crisis? In March, Vermont Public Radio hosted a gathering at the Turning Point Center of Burlington to talk through that question with the team behind My Heart Still Beats .

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"When you have anxiety, or chronic depression, your mind is constantly going. And I tried opiates and realized that my brain was just quiet for a little bit."

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"When you're told over and over, 'Your child's a problem child — he's bad, he's bad, he's bad, he's bad!' ... You believe your kid's bad."

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"There were three things you could be good at: fighting, drinking or sports. So, I stink at sports. I can't fight. But I guess I can drink."

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"You’re right, I probably do deserve to be in jail the rest of my life. Or, I do deserve to give my life for hers. But since I can’t, let’s save somebody else’s life."