VPR's Expanded Legislative Coverage

The Legislature convenes this week, and VPR News will bring you broader and deeper coverage throughout the 2013 session.

The session begins on Wednesday, and Vermont Edition will broadcast live from the Statehouse at noon. Jane Lindholm will speak with House and Senate leaders about the goals and priorities for the session.

On Thursday, January 10, VPR News will carry live coverage of Gov. Peter Shumlin’s inaugural address at 1:30 p.m., hosted by Jane Lindholm and Bob Kinzel.

VPR’s audio stream from the Vermont House and Senate goes live beginning a 10 a.m. on Wednesday. The stream can be heard online at VPR.net or via VPR’s iPhone and Android apps, allowing listeners to tune in to proceedings anytime, anywhere.

Listen throughout the session for expanded legislative coverage. Reporters Bob Kinzel and John Dillon will continue their in-depth coverage of day-to-day developments, trends, and features, with a greater concentration on breaking news.

On Saturdays at 9:30 a.m., host Peter Biello will interview Bob Kinzel about the developments of the past week and a preview of the coming week.

In addition, reporter Kirk Carapezza will spend several days a week in Montpelier covering the Legislature for VPR’s digital reports. He’ll keep a legislative blog, post photos from the Statehouse, and update followers via Twitter (@KirkCarapezza) and VPR’s Facebook page.

You can keep up with all of VPR’s Legislative coverage at VPR.net.

Bob Kinzel and The Barn Band Release "The Spirit Of Vermont"

You know VPR Reporter Bob Kinzel for his outstanding coverage of the Statehouse and Vermont's political scene. But did you know that he's also an accomplished musician? His band, The Barn Band, recently released an original song to raise money for Irene recovery. Jane Lindholm spoke with Bob about the song on today's Vermont Edition. Check out the full video of "The Spirit of Vermont" and its lyrics below.



The Spirit of Vermont

Mother Nature
Do what you want
You can’t break
The spirit of Vermont.

Try anything,
Take your best shot,
You can’t break
The spirit of Vermont.

Big rains came
Flooded our land,
We joined together,
We took a stand.

Folks in Waterbury,
All gathered round,
Went door to door,
Rebuilding the town.

CHORUS

Roads got washed out,
Soon it was clear,
Rochester to Rutland,
You can’t get there from here.

Some folks lost all,
But all lent a hand,
From mucking the floors
To clearing the land.

CHORUS

Now the sun is shining
There’s lots to be done,
Down in Wilmington,
It’s already begun.

We’ll end up stronger
Than we did at the start,
We helped each other,
With our hands and our hearts.

CHORUS

Listener Feedback: Gubernatorial Debate

A lot goes on behind the scenes to prepare for a live broadcast debate with the candidates for governor. The format needs to be clearly thought out, the hosts' questions need to be researched in advance, listener questions are sought and incorporated, the candidates themselves need to agree to the date involved, microphones need to be wired in place and checked for proper audio levels, media coverage needs to be considered, and more.

It's no small job but it's a great public service and very exciting to be able to provide a statewide opportunity for Vermonters to hear a one-on-one debate.

So it was especially heartwarming after the debate when a listener wrote in and said this:

"You put some needed and clear pressure on, grilled them, did not let them slide endlessly around the park and tried to get the treasured goods. The candidates responded. The result was 90 minutes of quality."

He also said in his note: "Who won? I think Kinzel and Lindholm won."

Thank you! A few other comments we received:

"Job well done last night with the questions and keeping at these two who continue to wiggle around answering straight on. It is clear that Dubie and Shumlin are not fond of one another. I think they are testy with eachother and you both do a good job of defusing the heat." - Amy Robb, Pomfret

"That was the best political debate by miles I ever saw. Bob's and Jane's preparation was super outstanding. The candidates were easy to appreciate for who they are. VPR did a fantastic job informing the public, so Democracy can perform its miracle. I could not be more pleased." - Dan Allen, Montpelier

"Thank you very much for hosting the debate this evening. I was very impressed with the way both Jane and Bob managed the evening and keeping the candidates "on task" to answer the question at hand and allowing the opportunity for the public to participate." - Mei Mei Brown, Brandon


We're so glad our preparation came through! Jane and Bob did their very best to help you draw clear distinctions between the candidates, the VPR staff behind the scenes were the broad shoulders of the debate, and you, the listeners, made it possible to begin with. If you missed the debate, you can listen to it online here.

Bob Kinzel Goes Viral

From John Van Hoesen, VPR's vice president for news and programming:

"Sometimes, the digital age can be so cool.

Yesterday, for example, Bob Kinzel, who's been writing about health care reform for many years, decided not long after our morning news meeting that he would try to reach Howard Dean to get his reaction on the progress of health care reform in Washington. So let's first honor the tradition of analog, because the idea started in Bob's head! But next, Bob shot an email off to Dean and got a positive response.

So in the noon hour, Bob was on the phone to Dean, who was on his mobile phone in Puerto Rico. And in his news-making way, Dean said to Bob and Bob recorded the following:

"This is essentially the collapse of health care reform in the United States Senate. And, honestly, the best thing to do right now is kill the Senate bill and go back to the House and start the reconciliation process, where you only need 51 votes and it would be a much simpler bill."

So Bob began to organize his story for VPR. Meanwhile, a blogger at the Washington Post had heard that Dean had talked to VPR about health care and got on the phone to Bob to find out just what was up and Bob confirmed the quote. In minutes, the digital world was alive with blogs and tweets about VPR's news in the making. Bob also began work on a story for NPR's newscast and we provided the information to Mara Liasson for her interview with Robert Siegel during All Things Considered.

VPR posted the text of the story online and the whole piece aired in our 5:50 p.m. newscast.

In the meantime, the big news organizations were at our digital door, all wanting instantaneous audio for their own news programs. I don't think we've had so many emails and phone calls in such a short period of time.

In the end, dozens and dozens of blogs repeated the news, page after page of them on Google, and news organizations were posting on their sites, entry after entry.

In addition to hearing this story on VPR or seeing it online, you may have heard VPR's audio on CNN, The Today Show, MSNBC or ABC.

And so far, thanks to our digital analytics, we can tell you that Bob's story was the fourth most-viewed story on VPR.net in 2009. The Crown Point Bridge is still leading this category!

It's a fast world but, as always for all of us here at VPR, as cool as the digital age is, it's the coolest when we can provide meaning to something that's important to you. "

Bob Kinzel Is Distinguished

The Vermont Association of Broadcasters recognized VPR's Bob Kinzel this week for something we've recognized a long time: his distinguished service.

Bob's been reporting the news from Montpelier since 1977 -- after a stint at WJOY in the Burlington area, where he was hired by VPR's own Joel Najman. For years, Bob operated the Vermont News Service. His stories were heard on radio stations around the state. Bob eventually started hosting call-in programs on VPR and joined the staff full-time in 2002. He's recognized in Montpelier as the dean of the Statehouse reporting corps.

Bob was one of two long-time radio journalists honored by the association with the distinguished service award. The other was Tim Johnson of WTSA in Brattleboro, who's been reporting from Windham County since 1973.

The VAB inducted two people into the Vermont Broadcasters Hall of Fame, including Marselis Parsons, the longtime WCAX-TV anchor who recently retired. The other was Belva Keyworth, a broadcasting pioneer who died in 2004. She owned WBTN AM and FM for nearly 50 years. VPR now broadcasts on WBTN-FM in Bennington, fullfilling Keyworth's vision to maintain the station as a community resource.

Our colleague in public broadcasting, Ann Curran of Vermont Public Television, was honored by the VAB as Broadcaster of the Year for her work in helping television stations in Vermont convert to digital transmission.

Community service awards went to Ray Kimball, general manager of WCFR in Springfield, WKOL-FM in Burlington, and Nassau Broadcasting’s WWFY-FM, WORK-FM, WSNO-AM, WMOO-FM and WIKE-AM.

Congratulations to Bob and the many other fine honorees!

"First Tuesday" Is Here

The first Tuesday in March is Town Meeting Day and VPR has many ways for you to get your town's news on the air and online. Plus you can hear all about towns and cities around the state.

Today: Vermont Edition at Noon
We'll talk with Kermit Richardson of Orange, who's stepping down after 50 years as town meeting moderator there; with Rockingham moderator Mike Harty about the effects of tough economic on voter generosity; and with Alison Forrest of Huntington about the town meeting lunch. We'd also like to hear about your Town Meeting traditions.

You can email us at Vermontedition@vpr.net or post your comments here.

Tonight: Special Coverage on VPR from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
Bob Kinzel hosts with guest Steve Jeffery of the Vermont League of Cities and Towns. We travel around the state to hear results from the day during this special 90 minute program. Email results or comments to news@vpr.net or call the show 1-800-639-2211.

Anytime: Post Your Comments or Your Town’s Results.

VPR Documentary: First Tuesday
This hour-long documentary, narrated by VPR's Steve Delaney, explores the rich tradition of Town Meeting Day, its importance to Vermont life and the challenges to grassroots democracy during changing times.

Where We Are: See Ross Sneyd’s post for more on Town Meeting and where VPR’s staff will be.