The deteriorating water quality in Lake Champlain has been a topic of ecological concern, litigation and spending in the last two decades. Much of the problem comes from phosphorous washing into the lake from its massive watershed and setting off blooms of toxic, filthy blue-green algae.

Germany may have a woman chancellor, but more than two-thirds of German businesses have no women in a senior role. It’s not much better in the United States. According to a study by the Grant Thornton International Business Report, of 45 countries, the U.S. ranked ninth from last when it came to women in top managerial positions – well behind Russia, Indonesia, Latvia and Peru.

You might think things are better in Vermont. But of the 99 largest employers in the state, just 15 percent are headed by women. 

Higher Ground, a music venue in South Burlington, sold out a string of shows this past weekend. But it wasn't a band that folks were lining up to see.

The performance space hosted a popular festival celebrating the art of burlesque.

Last year, Vermont lawmakers heeded President Obama’s call to boost the minimum wage. But it’s unclear whether the president’s recent push for paid sick days will spur action in the Statehouse in 2015.

Former Executive Director of the Vermont Human Rights Commission Robert Appel recently wrote an opinion piece for the Rutland Herald that questioned the effectiveness of the state's bias-free policing policy. He was particularly concerned that traffic-stop data that has been collected has not been analyzed.