802 News with Mark Johnson

802 News with Mark Johnson

In depth conversations with news makers, news breakers and Vermonters making a difference.

Episodes

November 18, 2025 52 mins

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Jessie Krebs is an outdoor survival skills expert. She discusses how to prepare for an adventure and what to do when things go wrong. Krebs runs O.W.L.S. Skills and teaches courses throughout the country, including here in Vermont. She graduated from Air Force survival training and lasted 46 days on the TV show "Alone."

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President Donald Trump is "an autocrat" who poses an unprecedented threat to American democracy. So says former Vermont Supreme Court Chief Justice Jeffrey Amestoy. With Trump loyalists running the Justice Dept., the FBI and the military, Amestoy worries the president will disregard court orders and election results with impunity. As Trump amasses power, Amestoy warns: "Don't look to an easy f...

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October 15, 2025 57 mins

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Mitra Mahtab (Naeimi), a 29-year-old Afghan woman, fled her country in 2021 after the United States completed its troop withdrawal and the Taliban regained control. The U.S. invaded Afghanistan after the 2001 9/11 attacks seeking to root out members of Al Quaeda. The Taliban greatly restricts the rights of Afghan women. Mitra had a long journey to reach the U.S. in 2023 and plans to help Afghan women after she graduat...

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Interim Police Chief Shawn Burke says a lack of accountability is a major factor behind the increase in drug use, theft, violent crime and other illegal activity in Vermont's largest city.  Burke was police chief in South Burlington but agreed in March to return as the interim chief in Burlington, where he previously worked for 21 years. In an interview at City Hall Park, a problem hotspot, Burke, 53, said he is ...

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September 21, 2025 53 mins

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Heather Darby is a seventh generation farmer in Alburgh. She is an expert in sustainable agriculture at the UVM Extension Service. She has a Masters in Agronomy and a PhD in crop and soil management. We talked about this year's severe drought and her concerns about the future viability of farming here in Vermont. 


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Former Vermont Supreme Court Chief Justice Jeff Amestoy writes about why famed lawyer Clarence Darrow became involved in a grisly murder case in the Green Mountain State in the 1920's. 

The book, Winters' Time: A Secret Pledge, a Severed Head, and the Murder that Brought America's Most Famous Lawyer to Vermont, can be purchased from the Vermont Historical Society.


 

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Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas says the Trump administration is attempting to tamp down voter participation with false claims about the accuracy of elections, "witch hunt" requests she'll oppose to turn over sensitive voter information and calls to scrap mail-in voting. Those efforts, along with sending National Guard troops to patrol major cities in largely blue states, are creating "tre...

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August 12, 2025 55 mins

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A grassroots group, Building Burlington's Future, recently formed to confront some of the issues facing the Queen City and advocate for policies to make the city "affordable, safe and vibrant."

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August 1, 2025 45 mins

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Owen Foster, chair of the Green Mountain Care Board, discusses the recent cost reductions proposed by the University of Vermont Health Network and the improved communications between the regulator and the state's largest health care provider. Hospital budget hearings before the GMCB start in August. Also, Chris Pearson of Vermont Health Care 911, reacts to the proposed cuts as well. 

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July 14, 2025 48 mins

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PBS journalist and author Ray Suarez will preach and discuss his book "We Are Home: Becoming American in the 21st Century" at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Burlington on Sunday, July 20th. The book is an oral history of immigrants who've come to the United States. Suarez will also discuss the recent immigration crackdown by the Trump administration. (An event in South Hero where Suarez will speak ...

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July 8, 2025 39 mins

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A new advocacy group, Vermont Healthcare 911, is taking aim at the rising costs of health care and increasing insurance rates. Coalition members Lisa Ventriss and Dr. Craig Jones discuss why they think their group's efforts -- along with the Green Mountain Care Board, the state's regulatory body -- will be more successful than past attempts to contain medical spending, particularly by the University of Vermo...

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June 17, 2025 38 mins

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WCAX veteran photojournalist Joe Carroll talks about his journey after learning last year he has advanced prostate cancer. The 62-year-old host of "Super Seniors" is currently in remission. 

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June 3, 2025 49 mins

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The recent arrest of undocumented farmworkers by federal agents in Franklin County at the state's largest dairy operation has sparked fears of further enforcement efforts, as well as outrage against the Trump administration. Will Lambek of Migrant Justice discusses the reaction of the farming community and the resilience of the migrants who come primarily from Mexico. Vermont produces 63 percent of the milk suppl...

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May 21, 2025 49 mins

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Does increasing tariffs make sense? UVM Economics professor Rich Sicotte explains the history, mechanics and wisdom of President Trump's push to levy higher fees on imported products.



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May 6, 2025 30 mins

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Sen. Peter Welch says there are limits to what he can do to stop the "lawless and pretty cruel" policies of the Trump administration given that Democrats are in the minority in the U.S. Senate. "It's hard, it's dangerous, but these are the times we're in. And I think we've got to hang in."

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April 16, 2025 38 mins

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Burlington-based historian Garrett Graff discusses "Life Became Very Blurry," an oral history of the pandemic featuring interviews of Vermonters. The Vermont Historical Society initiated the project. 

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Burlington-based journalist and historian Garrett Graff says the country is at an "enormously dangerous moment" and has seen "the quick unraveling of many of the foundations" of American democracy since Donald Trump's return to the presidency in January. 

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A key Vermont official is worried federal cuts to Medicaid could hurt patients, rural hospitals, physician practices and nursing homes. Congress is considering cuts to the program which costs more than $2.2 billion a year in Vermont. DaShawn Groves is the commissioner of the Department of Vermont Health Access, which oversees the Medicaid program, which covers 172,000 Vermonters.  

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March 17, 2025 50 mins

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Attorney General Charity Clark discusses the court cases Vermont has joined alongside other states against the Trump administration. 

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March 5, 2025 75 mins

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Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad will step aside in April after almost five years running the department. He cited differing views on policing than Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak for why he's leaving. Murad said the new chief will face multiple challenges, including recruiting more officers to a department still affected by city leaders' "tremendously bad" decision in 2020 to reduce the force by 30 pe...

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