A class of students at Middlebury College learned recently how difficult it can be to make wise philanthropic decisions when the class was asked to give away real money to worthy recipients.

Vermont Gas Systems is inching forward with its plan to expand natural gas service to Addison County and points south, with the support of town officials.

Last Friday as the Dalai Lama prepared to speak at Middlebury College an emailed press release announced that the college would be quote "fully divesting its endowment from war." Without providing many details it suggested that Middlebury had decided to use the occasion of the Tibetan leader's visit to announce it would no longer invest in companies working in the defense industry. 

The Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of Tibet, took a message for young people to Middlebury College on Friday. He told young people that this was their century and urged them to make it one of peace, which he said can only come through educating the heart to learn generosity and compassion. 

The spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists is visiting Vermont for two days of appearances at Middlebury College.

We check in with Vermont Democratic Party Chairman Jake Perkinson from the Democratic National Convention and Middelbury playwright Dana Yeaton on his latest works and we sort through our listener mailbag.

We check in with Vermont colleges on how important sustainable efforts are on and off campus, and learn about an Essex High School group that won an MTV contest.

VPR's Jane Lindholm talks with Middlebury College Professor Jon Isham about the goals of the school's new Center For Social Entrepreneurship.

Middlebury College is going to install 34 solar energy trackers on campus that will produce 200,000 kilowatt hours of power a year.

A former Middlebury College hockey player who was dismissed from the team is now suing the school.

In announcing his choice of Brian Searles to head the Agency of Transportation, Governor Shumlin has called for a revitalized public transit system in Vermont.

Now that the pomp and circumstance is over at most Vermont colleges, some new graduates are facing a tough job market. A New England economist says the situation is likely to get better by the middle of next year. But that's little consolation for students right now.

Vermont National Guard Sgt. Thomas A. Middleton talks about his book detailing his deployment to Iraq with Task Force Saber. Middlebury's Sue Halpern reads from some eye-opening student interviews. And music from vocalist/trumpeter Jennifer Hartswick.

The Middlebury Police Department has closed its investigation into the death of 19-year-old Nicholas Garza. A report says he was severely intoxicated when he disappeared, and there's no evidence of foul play or third-party involvement.

Middlebury College is touting its new wood-chip fired biomass steam heating plant that is helping the college meet its goal of becoming carbon neutral.

Prominent civil rights activist the Rev. Al Sharpton spoke at Middlebury College last night, telling a packed house of 675 people to get involved and be agents of change.

Middlebury College is planning to cut 100 positions over the next three years through attrition.

The educators who have signed onto the Amethyst Initiative developed by former Middlebury College President John McCardell say the current drinking age of 21 has been ineffective.

Vermont's Community Health Centers are an important piece of the state's health care puzzle. On the next Vermont Edition, we'll talk about how these centers operate.  Also, an interview with one of the state's top college professors and we'll learn about an art exhibit in Stowe featuring the work of one of Mexico's best known painters.

Middlebury Police say they do not believe there was any foul play in the death of Nicholas Garza.

The Middlebury College community is reacting to the news that police have pulled the body of a man from below the falls in Otter Creek, the body they believe is missing student Nick Garza.

An autopsy is scheduled for this morning on the body of a man pulled from the Otter Creek in Middlebury that police believe is that of missing Middlebury College student Nicholas Garza.

Lower water levels in the Otter Creek are enabling Middlebury Police to resume the search for missing Middlebury College student Nicholas Garza.

Natalie Garza hasn't given up hope for her son , or for the authorities who have searched for him.

New Yorker staff writer George Packer says in some ways, he misses the time he spent embedded with soldiers in Iraq. That may seem strange based on what he wrote in his book "The Assassins Gate: America in Iraq," a chronicle of nearly everything that went wrong following the U.S. invasion in 2003. Packer speaks with VPR's Mitch Wertlieb.