Sen. Bernie Sanders says the frustrations and confusion that many people have experienced with their various health care exchanges creates a great opportunity for backers of a single payer system.

Sanders says the difficult rollout of the Affordable Care Act and the complexity of the new law highlights the need to adopt a streamlined single payer system in the future.

That’s why on Monday, he introduced legislation to phase out the Affordable Care Act in several years and replace it with a publicly financed, state-administered single payer system.

Animal shelters say they see an increase in people wanting to adopt pets this time of year.  “Many times people might think that getting a dog or a puppy as a gift for someone during the holidays might be a good idea," says Lisa Peterson of the American Club. "You know, it’s really not the best time to bring a new dog to your family.” While the intentions are good, a lot of careful thinking should go into adopting pets – including research on how shelters, breeders and rescue groups manage the health of the animals they offer for adoption.

Starting in January, Vermonters will be able to get a new kind of driver’s license. It’s called the Real ID. Supporters say the new cards will protect federal courts, nuclear power plants and commercial aircraft against terrorism.

Opponents say the cards raise privacy concerns.

The impending closing of Vermont Yankee has everyone worried about job losses in southern Vermont. But a group of people in Windham and Bennington counties have been working for years to try to understand the region’s underlying economic situation.

The select boards in Manchester and Dorset met concurrently at the Bennington County Court House last week and signed a five-page memorandum "to study further collaboration and consolidation of public safety functions."

Vermont has received a failing grade from a national advocacy group that says the state doesn’t require Supreme Court justices to disclose enough financial information.

Over the course of the next ten years, more than half of all Vermont teachers are expected to retire.

To help deal with this demographic change, Vermont’s teachers union will ask lawmakers to adopt several proposals to encourage more young people to enter the education workforce.