Mitch Wertlieb
Senior Host and CorrespondentA graduate of NYU with a Master's Degree in journalism, Mitch has more than 20 years experience in radio news. He got his start as news director at NYU's college station, and moved on to a news director (and part-time DJ position) for commercial radio station WMVY on Martha's Vineyard. But public radio was where Mitch wanted to be and he eventually moved on to Boston where he worked for six years in a number of different capacities at member station WBUR...as a Senior Producer, Editor, and fill-in co-host of the nationally distributed Here and Now. Mitch has been a guest host of the national NPR sports program "Only A Game". He's also worked as an editor and producer for international news coverage with Monitor Radio in Boston.
An avid Boston sports fan, Mitch has been blessed with being able to witness world championships for two of his favorite teams (and franchises he was at one time convinced would never win in his lifetime): the Boston Red Sox in 2004, 2007, and 2013, and in hockey, the Boston Bruins, who won their first Stanley Cup in 39 years in 2011.
Mitch was known to play a music bed or two during Morning Edition featuring his favorite band The Grateful Dead. He lives in South Burlington with his wife Erin, daughter Gretchen, and their dog Fezzik. He (Mitch, not Fezzik) was host of Morning Edition on Vermont Public from 2003 until 2023. He now serves as the Senior Host and Correspondent.
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UVM assistant professor of political science Alex Garland joins us to talk about his new book, Pre-Existing Conditions: How Lobbying Makes Health Care More Expensive."
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A conversation with the head of Champlain Housing Trust on strategies for continuing affordable housing projects in a volatile market and with dwindling federal support. Plus, an unexpected million dollar donation allows a Brattleboro nonprofit to open a family shelter, a seventh incarcerated person in Vermont has died this year, employees go on strike at a St. Albans dairy plant, and the Nexstar media group returns the Jimmy Kimmel late night show to its ABC affiliate station in Vermont after refusing to air it for most of last week. -
What upcoming changes to a federal supplemental nutrition program will mean for the tens of thousands of Vermonters who depend on it. Plus, solar panel installers rush to finish work ahead of a deadline that will end income tax credits for solar projects, Vermont and other states win a court battle over federal funding for projects that were made dependent on helping to enforce federal immigration law, Vermont’s cannabis industry has launched an initiative to get people to visit the state’s various dispensaries, and a Vermont State trooper avoids injury after a vehicle collision with a bear.
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The redevelopment of Burlington’s downtown mall is nearing completion after more than a decade of delays and missteps. Plus, why it could become easier for the state’s cannabis dispensaries to advertise their products, even with recent rain Vermont is still in the throes of a drought, a former Newport employee who sued the city for being banned from public property agrees to a settlement, Champlain College students will gain access to semester-long programs abroad in a new partnership with Temple University, and we discuss the reversals of fortune for several Major League Baseball teams vying to make the playoffs with less than a handful of regular season games left in our weekly sports report.
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How an upstate New York community was able to access the resources needed to test for dangerous mosquito-borne diseases. Plus, a Scott administration push to get state employees into their work places more often gets support from Montpelier retailers, the Vermont League of Cities and Towns says many Vermont communities are experiencing a shortage of essential workers, state police reveal the name of a Burlington officer involved in a shooting incident, and Windham Southeast Supervisory Union bus drivers vote to ratify a new 5-year contract with their employer.
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Visiting a square dancing club in Pittsford helping folks stay fit and push back against some of the negative effects of aging. Plus, a former assisted living facility in Rutland could be turned into transitional family housing, why the state’s education secretary wants to expand access to pre-kindergarten, Burlington Electric Department will temporarily increase rebates for electric vehicles starting next month, and Vermont’s senators urge the Trump administration to recognize an independent Palestinian state despite the President’s opposition.
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Government officials from Vermont and Quebec take a boat cruise together to talk about the strained relationship between the US and Canada following President Donald Trump’s election. Plus, both of Vermont’s senators call for congressional Republicans to restore health care subsidies that are set to expire at year’s end, state police will start an investigation into a shooting by a Burlington police officer, a new program in Vermont’s largest city pays people with criminal records and addiction to stop using drugs, and every Vermont county is now dealing with severe drought and high danger fire conditions.
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How scientists are working to save the tiny Bicknell’s Thrush, a delicate songbird that travels thousands of miles to Vermont’s tallest peak to raise its young. Plus, state health care regulators make deep cuts to next year’s proposed UVM Medical Center budget, the state employees union is asking the Scott administration to reconsider its return to work order, Montreal’s geodesic dome will be closed for two months of renovations, and the Agency of Education is developing new graduation requirements for Vermont high school students.
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Afghan refugees are helping a Windham County school district serve up high quality vegetarian fare for students who don’t eat meat. Plus, Vermont’s home prices continue to rise even as the pandemic-era buying binge starts to level off, Gov. Scott taps an executive from Rutland Regional Medical Center to serve as Vermont’s next health commissioner and he’s also appointed a new labor commissioner, and recent drought conditions have been having an impact on apple crop yields.
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There’s excitement over the discovery of a timber rattlesnake in a part of Vermont the reptile had not previously been spotted. Plus, Vermont’s Secretary of State says she won’t comply with a Trump Administration request to turn over voter data, there’s been a vacancy easing in Chittenden County’s notoriously tight rental market, the co-founders of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream decry what they call a failure of political messaging by the company’s current owner, a shortage of horse veterinarians in Vermont is making things challenging for equine owners, and we preview two major bicycling races taking place today and Sunday in Quebec City and Montreal in our weekly sports report.
