The federal economic stimulus program includes $8 billion for high-speed rail, and the New England states have banded together in a proposal to secure some of that grant money. It’s a competitive process, but the results could include high-speed passenger rail service from Boston to Montreal through Vermont, and development of the Western corridor with passenger rail from Burlington to Rutland to Bennington and south. The Agency of Transportation’s Rail Program Manager, Robert Ide, explains what’s in the proposal, and how likely Vermont is to see these improvements. Listen
Also, a mysterious illness has caused large scale die-offs of honey bees in the last three years. We talk with Calais writer Rowan Jacobsen for an update on Colony Collapse Disorder. Jacobsen is the author of "Fruitless Fall: the Collapse of the Coming Agricultural Crisis," out this month in paperback. Listen
And we continue our series on 400 years of music in our region. The new compilation CD, "Thrufters & Througstones" is a collaboration between Big Heavy World’s Vermont Music Library, the Vermont Folklife Center, and the Vermont Historical Society. All week long, we explore some of the selections with one of the project’s researchers, Andy Kolovos of the Vermont Folklife Center. Listen