The Bernie Buzz

On Friday, I joined Senator Peter Welch in Montpelier to announce more than $100 million in federal funding that the Vermont congressional delegation secured for 69 projects across Vermont.

The fourth “Youth Chess Day” will be held on Saturday, March 14 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Vermont State University in Randolph. The Learn to Play session is a great opportunity for students in first through eighth grade to learn how to play and hone their skills, while more experienced players in first through twelfth grade can test their knowledge in a recreational tournament in the afternoon.

With the 2026 Winter Olympic Games kicking off today, followed by paralympics on March 6, we reached out to some of our incredible Vermont summer Olympians and asked them to share some good luck wishes with their fellow Vermont Olympians competing in Italy. Thanks to rugby star Ilona Maher of Burlington, weightlifting champion Carissa Gump of Essex, mountain biker Lea Davison of Jericho, track athlete Andrew Wheating of Norwich and rowers Brooke Mooney of Peru and Billy Bender of Norwich for sending in their well-wishes.

This past weekend I hosted three town meetings in Sheldon, Bristol and Poultney. The turnouts were great and I want to thank all who attended and those who helped make the events possible. During these meetings we discussed some of the most important issues facing Vermont and the country — including the affordability crises in health care, education, housing and groceries.

If you are reading this and you are in high school, please know that I want to hear directly from you. Tell me about the challenges you and your fellow students are facing and how we can begin to address them together. Further, I want to know what questions you have for me that we can discuss during this virtual town hall. I will be reviewing your questions and selecting a group of you to ask your questions live on the call.

I hope you will join me on Friday, January 23, for a town meeting with Dr. Stephen Leffler, the new CEO of University of Vermont (UVM) Health. In his role, Dr. Leffler is responsible for leading the largest health care institution in the state, which includes UVM Medical Center, Porter Medical Center, Central Vermont Medical Center, and UVM Home Health and Hospice. The UVM Health Network also includes three hospitals in Upstate New York. Together, Dr. Leffler and I will discuss how we improve our broken health care system, expanding access and lowering costs. We look forward to taking your questions.