The Shumlin Administration says it’s making solid progress in its effort to enroll as many as 65,000 Vermonters on the state’s new health care exchange by the end of this month.

State officials say the exchange is now working well for individuals seeking coverage but small businesses have to use other options to purchase their policies.

State officials are recommending a variety of steps to improve mobile home parks and protect them from future floods.

The recommendations are included in a report that details many of the difficulties faced by mobile home park residents in the wake of Tropical Storm Irene.  Park residents comprise one-third of mobile home occupants in Vermont.

Clean-up and disposal of destroyed homes, compensation for lost property, and affordable financing to purchase new mobile homes were all urgent needs post-Irene.

The Vermont health care exchange came out of the starting blocks this fall limping badly and it’s not clear yet how long it will take Gov. Peter Shumlin’s bureaucrats to get it back on track. It’s not too early, however, to try to assess the effect the troubled launch will have on state politics in 2014 and on the fate of the Shumlin reform initiative out into the future.

The Vermont Republican Party’s Winter Gala – which featured remarks from New Jersey Governor Chris Christie – was upbeat and well-polished with an emphasis on party unity, attendees say.

Democrat Ed Adrian, a former Burlington City Councilor who ran for Vermont Senate in 2012, paid to attend the event. He said he was impressed.

“The scene was wedding-like, or wedding reception-like,” he said. “It was in a big hall, it was lit kind of a bluish purple, so the lights were sort of turned down.”

Vermont Health Connect has faced problems since it was launched two months ago. VPR’s Taylor Dobbs updates Vermont Edition on what the Shumlin administration knew about the problems with the state’s health care exchange web site and when.

Jericho is the best place for young families to live in Vermont, followed by Montpelier and Vergennes.

That's according to NerdWallet, a consumer advocacy website that has analyzed national and statewide data to determine the best places in Vermont for raising a family. The study looked at five factors important to young families including public school rating, median home value, ongoing cost of homeownership, median income and economic growth.

The 113th Congress has been called dysfunctional and the least productive in modern history. As Congress concludes its session for the holidays, Vermont Edition talks with Congressman Peter Welch. We'll look at what was accomplished, what is left undone and whether congressional leadership can turn around the dynamics of Capitol Hill in 2014.  Listen Friday, Dec. 13, 2013 live at noon.

Post your comments and questions below or on Vermont Edition's Facebook page.

For more than a week, Governor Peter Shumlin and top state officials have been in closed-door discussions with the owners of Vermont Yankee.

The talks focus on the details of dismantling the nuclear plant after it closes in December 2014.  So far, local voices have been excluded from the high-level talks.

The Windham Regional Commission, which represents the region’s interests of 27 southern Vermont towns, is one of several groups calling for a place at the table.