Vermont labor officials say hundreds of people could lose their unemployment benefits if Congress fails to avert the so-called fiscal cliff. The federal unemployment insurance program that has been providing additional weeks of benefits to the long-term unemployed is set to expire.

Vermont's unemployment rate has climbed again. The state Department of Labor says the rate for July was 5.7 percent. That's up two-tenths of a percentage point from July.

Vermont's landfills are few, and some of what we throw away is now trucked out of state.  We look at how solid waste is handled, and efforts to divert more of away from landfills.

(Host) The House has approved legislation that's designed to create new job opportunities for members of the Vermont National Guard who recently returned from a year-long deployment in Afghanistan. The chairman of the House commerce committee says the bill is needed because as many as 30% of the 1500 Guard members who served in Afghanistan are out of work.

Governor Jim Douglas and Democratic leaders have reached a compromise that will erase a growing deficit in the state's unemployment insurance fund. The agreement calls for businesses to pay more, while workers will see a freeze in benefits.