When scientists need massive volumes of data or they need data collected over a huge geographic range, they often turn to well-trained citizen scientists for help. From counting the populations of species, to monitoring water quality, citizens scientists are contributing to research and learning about science in the process. Wednesday at noon on Vermont Edition, we dive into some of the research projects in Vermont that are boosted by citizen-gathered data.

Senator Patrick Leahy has introduced legislation that makes major changes in surveillance programs used by the U.S. government.

As chairman of the Senate Judiciary committee, Leahy has worked on this issue for several months.

Speaking on the Senate floor, Leahy said his goal is to end the massive data searches that the National Security Agency has conducted in recent years.

Applications are now being accepted for the first round of funds provided by Entergy Vermont Yankee for economic development in Windham County. In a settlement with the state, Entergy agreed to pay $10 million over five years to help the region recover from the plant’s closing later this year.

Funeral services for Cheryl Hanna will be held Friday at 3 p.m.  in the Ira Allen Chapel at the University of Vermont.  

The well-known Vermont Law School professor died suddenly on Sunday. 

According to a news release, law school trustee emeritus and former board chair J. Scott Cameron will speak at the service.

Two years ago, Vermont’s House Committee on Health Care became the first legislative panel in the country to approve a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages. The vote triggered a massive response from the beverage industry, which poured more than $600,000 into advertising and lobbying aimed at killing the measure.

“We really got outspent, big time,” says Tina Zuk, director of government relations for the American Heart Association. “I think we got outspent 80-to-1.”

Congress is scheduled to leave Washington at the end of the week with a number of critical issues still unresolved. Vermont’s delegation says there is hope for progress on two bills covering veterans’ health care and transportation funding.

The House and Senate are far apart on an immigration bill to deal with more than 52,000 undocumented children who have crossed the border.

The village of Essex Junction will have to pay $22,625 in fines related to multiple unauthorized wastewater dumps last year, the state says.

According to the Department of Environmental Conservation, the Essex Junction wastewater plant wrongly released 1,954,853 gallons of un-disinfected wastewater into the Winooski River last summer.

The releases happened over two days, according to the DEC news release.

Each year, Vermont towns vote on municipal budgets to outline their spending for the coming year. But in Brandon, this process is at an impasse. Last week, voters rejected Brandon’s town budget plan for the fourth time.

Lee Kahrs, Editor of the Brandon Reporter, spoke with Vermont Edition about why the budget has been so difficult to pass.

The Waitsfield Community Solar Project got a big boost Tuesday, in the form of an $80,000 grant from the state's Clean Energy Development Fund. Neighboring Warren was also granted $80,ooo for its community solar project, going up near the town's elementary school. These are just two of nine grants Gov. Peter Shumlin announced during his "Summer Solar Tour." All the grants were issued to community solar projects in Vermont.

After having spent years forcing my younger sister to play student with me as the teacher, it came as no surprise to my family when I decided to go to law school to become a professor. I was so excited when I finally got to meet with the faculty advisor for those of us who wanted to teach. For now, I’ll just call him Professor Kingsfield, for reasons that will become apparent.

So Professor Kingsfield met with me, asked a couple of questions, and after just a few seconds said, “I don’t think you’re law professor material.” Just like that. “Not law professor material.”