Construction zones are as much a part of summer as mosquitos.

We’ve all had to heed the warning signs and stop until the highway flag man - or woman- lets us pass. 

There are approximately 1,000 flaggers on Vermont highways this summer.  They work for four companies that contract the workers out to construction companies.

Most flaggers were trained directly or indirectly by a good natured man with a quick laugh and a preference for comparing work zones to the McDonald’s fast food business.

This week, Dartmouth College is hosting a week-long Summit on Sexual Assault on College Campuses for several hundred college and university representatives, experts, students and non-profit organizations from around the country. Beginning Monday, July 13, the Summit will educate campus and community stakeholders on sexual assault prevention, education and response. Participants will also learn about best practices to apply in their own schools.

For the next few months, the U.S. Postal Service is holding public meetings about its plan to cut costs.

The University of Vermont has long been a national leader in the area of inclusiveness for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students. And the Advocate magazine counted UVM among the top schools for transgender students in 2012.

But some students say the university still has a long way to go.

A regional environmental group says New England’s governors are plotting the region’s energy future behind closed doors. And the advocates worry that Vermonters will end up footing the bill for natural gas pipelines that could widen the Northeast’s carbon footprint.

The New England States Committee on Electricity has been around since 2006, when the governors of six states created the nonprofit to oversee regional electricity planning. The group made big news earlier this year when it announced plans for a controversial expansion of energy infrastructure.

A union representing FairPoint Communications workers in Vermont says it will be another week until the results of a strike authorization vote are known.

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers represents about 1800 FairPoint employees in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. 

The vote results were initially expected as early as today, but because of storms earlier in the week, union officials have spent the past several days juggling the voting schedule.  

The Vermont Supreme Court has ruled the state can't collect DNA evidence from suspects in criminal cases unless they've been convicted of a felony.

In a 3-2 decision issued Friday, the court ruled a state law that allowed for the collection of DNA from people charged with felonies after a court decided there was probable cause violated the Vermont constitution.

  Three years ago, Vermont's DNA database law was expanded to include people charged with felonies. Five Vermont trial courts have ruled the law unconstitutional.

Listen for Outdoor Radio Thursday morning at 8:50 a.m.

This month on Outdoor Radio, we’ll venture out into a meadow of wild flowers that is literally singing with bumble bees. Biologists Kent McFarland and Sara Zahendra talk about the species we find in Vermont, the different ways they pollinate our flowers and crops, and the environmental factors that are threatening their population.

The Southwestern corner of Vermont is geographically closer to Albany, Concord, Hartford than it is to Montpelier, but many of the challenges facing Bennington are familiar to the rest of the state. We’ll talk with community leaders about Bennington's challenges and opportunities in front of a live audience at Madison Brewing Company on Main Street.

Tickets for the Vermont Brewers Festival in Burlington this weekend sold out in eleven minutes. Sally Pollak, who writes for the Savorvore Section of the Burlington Free Press, talks about the popularity of Vermont grown beer and the proliferation of Vermont breweries. We'll also learn why and how canned beer has made a comeback.

The VPR Cafe is produced in partnership with the Burlington Free Press.