The Frequency: Daily Vermont News Vermont Public

What’s driving increases in tick populations and the diseases they carry in Vermont and other Northeastern states. Plus, early voting for Vermont’s primaries gets underway, New Hampshire’s population is rising even in rural areas that normally see declines, Vermont Game Wardens will be on state waters on the July Fourth holiday to deter people from operating watercraft while impaired, an estimated 70 million people nationwide are expected to travel somewhere over the next week for Independence Day, and Burlington unveils a new monument in a neighborhood park dedicated to racial equality.

A Vermont man arrested for flashing a middle finger at a state trooper settles his lawsuit against the police. Plus, mental health programs in Rutland and Randolph get federal funds to help increase access for low-income Vermonters and veterans, UVMMC nurses say they’re prepared to strike against the state’s largest hospital if agreement isn’t reached on a new contract, regional educators gather today for a summit on artificial intelligence in schools, school officials in Woodstock have dropped plans to renovate or build a new middle and high school, and the Enosburgh-Richford school budget passes on its third round of voting.

Sounds from the first-ever Vermont Green FC women’s soccer match, which set records for attendance at Virtue Field in Burlington. Plus, a new payroll tax to help fund investments in child care goes into effect next month, state police say a human skull found in the Northeast Kingdom matches the identity of a Cavendish man who went missing in 2010, a multi-state study aimed at reducing opioid overdose deaths fails to achieve its goal, a groundbreaking ceremony is held for construction of a new Amtrak station in Brattleboro, and Vermonter Elle Purrier St. Pierre qualifies for the Paris Olympics after setting a record in the 5,000-meter track and field trials race.

Sounds from the first-ever Vermont Green FC women’s soccer match, which set records for attendance at Virtue Field in Burlington. Plus, a new payroll tax to help fund investments in child care goes into effect next month, state police say a human skull found in the Northeast Kingdom matches the identity of a Cavendish man who went missing in 2010, a multi-state study aimed at reducing opioid overdose deaths fails to achieve its goal, a groundbreaking ceremony is held for construction of a new Amtrak station in Brattleboro, and Vermonter Elle Purrier St. Pierre qualifies for the Paris Olympics after setting a record in the 5,000-meter track and field trials race.

After a presumed10 year absence, a snake native to Vermont reappears in southern Windham County. Plus, the Agency of Education schedules listening sessions to weigh public feedback on the state’s new school safety law, two Vermont school districts still haven’t passed their budgets for next year, taxi drivers in Quebec win compensation in a class action lawsuit after the government allowed app-based ride services to operate in the province, New England’s power grid held up well during the first major heat wave of the season, and clean up is underway after concentrated firefighting foam spilled at a National Guard aircraft hanger in South Burlington.

Tagging along to see how a prescribed burn in Ripton helps manage the forest land there. Plus, a health care consultant says Vermont needs to make sweeping changes to its hospital network, more Vermonters will get access to rebates for energy efficient appliances to replace equipment damaged in last year's floods, UVM fires ten people from its Center for Health and Wellbeing, and the Champlain Valley Expo announces plans to upgrade its 60-year old grandstand.