Starting in January, all individuals and businesses with fewer than 50 employees will go through the new Health Insurance Exchange, known as Vermont Health Connect, to purchase insurance policies.

To date, two companies have been approved to sell policies on the exchange – Blue Cross of Vermont and MVP. An application by a third entity, the Vermont Health CO-OP, has initially been rejected by the state. In larger states, there are as many as a dozen carriers selling policies.

Wed 6/19/13 Noon & 7PM A new law makes it illegal to feed bears, a practice that had led to increase in nuisance bears getting too comfortable in populated areas. But state wildlife officials say it is not the bears' fault, but rather it is people who are the problem. We learn more from Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Patrick Berry and state bear biologist Forrest Hammond.

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The Population Media Center is a Vermont non-profit based in Shelburne.  Their focus is on population growth and reproductive health.  They get their message across by creating entertainment with an educational angle which is used in developing countries. Now they’ve released a TV show aimed at  Latino teenagers in Los Angeles.

The TV show is called East Los High and it’s distributed online on Hulu.

Tues 6/18/13 Noon & 7PM   We think we know money. We’ve been trying to accumulate it and we’ve been spending it faster than we can make it for a long time. So what would it take to change our perception of money?

For Cabot farmer and author Ben Hewitt, it was watching how a neighbor earning less than $10,000 a year derived great pleasure from the simple things in life. That inspired Hewitt to write his latest book, “Saved: How I Quit Worrying About Money and Became the Richest Guy in the World.”

New Hampshire lawmakers are trying to find a compromise when it comes to allowing seriously ill people to use marijuana in their medical treatment.

Both the House and Senate have passed bills legalizing the medical use of marijuana, but the Senate version eliminated a House-proposed option for patients to grow the drug at home.

Supporters of the home-grow option argue it is crucial to ensure immediate access for terminally ill patients. They say it will take time to get dispensaries up and operating.

In New Hampshire, a program that gives businesses tax credits for funding scholarships that send students to private or public schools has been declared unconstitutional. However, a judge says it can continue as long as none of the money goes to religious schools.

The program's supporters argue it provides educational choice to low-income students. Opponents call it a back-door voucher system that diverts taxpayer money to religious schools.

The union representing Vermont state workers has reversed a vote its board took last week to fire its executive director.

The union has now placed him on paid leave while an investigation is done.

The Vermont State Employees Association board voted last week to dismiss executive director Mark Mitchell. But union President John Reese and others objected, and the board had another emergency session yesterday.

This could be a key week for the future of the 2013 Farm Bill in Congress.

The U.S. House is expected to vote on a new dairy program that’s designed to stabilize milk prices for dairy farmers.

The vote in the House is important because the U.S. Senate has already given its approval to a 5 year Farm Bill that includes the new dairy program.  House approval this week would make it very likely that the program will be part of the final legislation.

Gov. Peter Shumlin has signed three bills that promote energy efficiency and clean energy for homes, farms and businesses.

The legislation signed Monday creates new financing programs for residential and commercial sectors. It allows the Vermont Economic Development Authority to borrow up to $10 million from the state Treasury to establish the loan programs and a new energy efficiency loan guarantee program.

The bill also provides $6.5 million for residential efficiency loans through a program run by Vermont Housing Finance Agency.