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.
-
Why a New Hampshire town is pausing work on a multi-million dollar project to fix a pair of pedestrian bridges between Brattleboro and the Connecticut River. Plus, a renowned Vermont climate expert calls for a national day of activism to rally for solar energy projects amid federal rollbacks, parts of the northern Champlain and St. Lawrence Valleys have been under a heat advisory while drought conditions are being seen throughout the state, and Vermont increases the amount of Medicaid dollars people can use moving back home from long-term care facilities. -
The Montshire Museum in Norwich has what’s known as a wind phone in its 100-acre forest for people who want to speak to lost loved ones. Plus, State regulators review budgets from Vermont hospitals with a requirement to keep expenses and insurance rates at no more than a three percent hike from last year, construction begins on forty new affordable housing units in Burlington, a federal lawsuit seeks to overturn a new New Hampshire law that denies state funding for schools with DEI programs, and a new poll shows more young people in Quebec want the province to become independent.
-
A conversation with the retiring head of Vermont’s Department of Corrections after his nearly four year tenure. Plus, Gov. Scott faces backlash for his decision to provide the federal government with the sensitive personal information of people receiving food assistance benefits, Brattleboro Memorial Hospital puts its budget before state health care regulators as it tries to mitigate severe financial deficits, housing advocates advise people forced to leave Vermont's motel voucher program to appeal to the state's Human Services Board, and Gov. Scott says he’s working on a strategy to bring a good number of state employees back to work in downtown Montpelier.
-
Day programs providing critical care for older adults and people with disabilities have been closing in Vermont, but efforts are underway to extend services in some areas. Plus, state officials move to expand access to Vermont’s medical cannabis program, a local donation will add more than 50 acres of land to Roxbury State Forest, Vermont’s Supreme Court is preparing to hear a lawsuit over who can maintain public trails that run through private land, an associate justice is set to retire from the state’s high court, and we reflect on a very good week for fans of the Boston Red Sox in our weekly sports report.
-
Vermont’s after school summer programs are using a patchwork approach to get the funding they need to operate this year. Plus, a new affordable housing project opens in Berlin, Vermont remains on a list of states the Justice Department claims have regulations preventing the enforcement of federal immigration laws, why a former state Governor has stopped just shy of visiting every one of Vermont’s 251 towns, villages, and cities, and New Hampshire becomes the first New England state to ban transgender health care for minors.
-
How to spot old schoolhouses in Vermont even when they’ve long since been converted to buildings for other purposes. Plus, the Scott administration says it probably overestimated how many Vermonters will lose health insurance because of federal cuts to Medicaid, a St. Johnsbury hospital announces service closures in an effort to lower health care costs, state officials hope a chemical compound can help suppress algae blooms threatening Lake Carmi, attendance at Vermont state parks has been affected by rainy summer weather and the current political discord between the US and Canada, and our weekly sports report appears today to focus on Major League Baseball and analysis of the moves made and not made by teams at the trading deadline.
-
Analyzing data on the number of unhoused people in Vermont collected from a single night in January. Plus, revenues in Vermont are expected to grow by over one percent in the new fiscal year but economists warn new federal tariffs could weaken the numbers, insurance companies with state marketplace plans are proposing more modest rate hikes this year but concerns remain that they’re still too expensive, the state Attorney General settles with a Saint Albans creamery over violations of its federal wastewater permit, and more than half a million liquid rabies vaccine baits will be spread across northern Vermont over the next few days.
-
Speaking with the head coach of Vermont Green FC about the soccer club’s chance to complete an undefeated season by winning the U-S-L League Two title this weekend. Plus, Vermont’s largest hospital system is laying off nearly 80 staff members as part of an effort to rein in costs, why Vermont’s criminal defense lawyers face the prospect of not getting paid until fall, the Vermont National Guard will utilize a program pairing veterans and military service members with vacant jobs, and a new mobile simulation lab will help with emergency training for the state’s rural EMS companies.
-
Examining the role a new methadone clinic will play now that it’s ready to treat people in Bennington. Plus, Vermont appears to have missed a mandatory deadline to curb greenhouse gas emissions this year, why regional Planned Parenthood health centers can’t get reimbursed for the care they provide to Medicaid patients, health officials warn of two mosquito-borne viruses detected in St. Albans and Rutland, and state transit companies experiment with on-call bus service to help mitigate rising costs and ridership changes.
-
A visit with fans of the Vermont Green football club as they prepare for a first ever appearance in the USL League Two eastern conference finals against Lionsbridge. Plus, Sen. Welch floats legislation exempting small businesses from Trump administration tariffs, revenues from Vermont’s lottery games have declined over the past year, South Burlington’s school superintendent has resigned following months of tension with the city’s Educators’ Association, and we consider the wild week the Boston Red Sox had coming out of Major League Baseball’s all-star break in our weekly sports report.
