At the beginning of every week, I wonder if I’m going to find enough content to fill out this feature. So far, I get more than I can really include. Even in our sadly diminished media ecosystem, there’s still a lot of material worth checking out. And here we go…

“An enormously dangerous moment.” The latest edition of Mark Johnson’s “802 News” podcast is a short but brutally impactful interview with journalist and author Garrett Graff about the Trump administration so far. Graff outlines twin crises unfolding before our eyes: “A quick unraveling of many of the foundations of our smooth and functioning democracy and our smooth and functioning federal government.” Trump is undermining both, and either could lead us “toward a future catastrophe.” It’s well worth the 15 minutes. (Available on your podcast player of choice or via the WCAX-TV website.)

A Trump triple threat. The latest Montpelier Bridge contains not one, not two, but three articles describing the potentially devastating impacts of the Trump regime on the state and local levels. Matthew Thomas writes that Vermont is likely to see a two-thirds cut in flood relief funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Fiona Sullivan reports on federal cuts in child care and food aid for schools, and Phil Dodd has what should be a positive story about a plan to convert the Washington County Mental Health Services building in Montpelier into affordable apartments — but the whole plan depends on securing federal grant funds. Extra bonus: WCMHS is also worried about potential federal cuts. This all underscores Garrett Graff’s second big point: “Americans really don’t understand the myriad ways the federal government underpins the safety, security and stability of our daily lives.” Trump fucks around, we find out.

The Best Journalist in Small Town Media. Every time I see Aaron Calvin’s byline in the Stowe Reporter or News & Citizen, I know I’m in for a well-written and insightful piece. That was my impression anyway, and it’s now been validated by the New England Newspaper and Press Association. Calvin was a big winner at its annual New England Better Newspaper Competition; he was named the New England Reporter of the Year and took home four first-place awards for his reporting.

A sneak preview of next year’s NENPA competition can be found in Calvin’s latest work, about two Cambridge residents who face a costly dilemma. A few months before the 2023 flood, Patrick Abbott and Raeden Zavis bought the old VFW Hall for $20,000. Nearly two years after the flood, they are still trying to figure out what to do with the building. Calvin chronicles their hopes and dreams and all the obstacles they face.

A no-holds-barred look at small town policing. Maddie Lindgren of the University of Vermont’s Community News Service has written a terrific piece about a topic that could have been a cornucopia of clichés in lesser hands. Her subject is Silas Loomis, who is stepping down after a remarkable 53 years as town constable in Castleton. Loomis also served for 40 years in the military, which he said has left him “a walking threat to metal detectors,.” Lindgren’s story celebrates Loomis’ commitment to his community — but also details the downsides of that commitment:

“I’ve witnessed a lot over the years. A lot of fatalities, and a lot of motor-vehicle crashes. There’s some things I’ll die with. Sometimes it hasn’t been very pleasant,” Loomis said.

A heartfelt plea, a callous response. Montpelier resident Morgan W. Brown recently wrote a letter to Gov. Phil Scott about the governor’s determination to unshelter hundreds of vulnerable Vermonters, a subject close to Morgan’s heart because of his own experience. He begged the governor to “step up and do what is fair, right and just before it is too little, too late.” Morgan posted his letter on his blog, where you can read the whole thing. He did not post, but did share with me, the response he got from the governor’s office. It was a boilerplate repetition of Scott’s public position on the issue, and was signed, not by the governor or any actual living person, but simply “Constituent Services Office.” Bureaucracy at work.

Everybody loves technical education, but it seems that nobody is doing anything about it. Vermont Public’s Lola Duffort reports that waitlists for some of Vermont’s technical and career education programs are “a mile long.” These programs offer a solid career path for those who don’t want to go to college or university, and they promise to fill dire shortages in many blue-collar fields. Or they would if only people could get into them. The automotive tech program at Barre’s Central Vermont Career Center had 77 applicants last year — but only 16 spaces to offer. An electrician program had 16 openings and 46 applicants. Other programs around the state aren’t so oversubscribed, but with all the hot air we get from politicians about technical education, you’d think we’d be able to accommodate all comers. Apparently not.

Maybe leave education reform to the professionals? Finally, from the opinion section, Middlesex educator T. Elijah Hawkes posted a piece on Medium about the perils of the public education reform effort currently underway in the Statehouse: “First, it demands massive changes to a system that is working well in various ways. Second, it will distract the Agency of Education — and many others — from the actual work required for important school improvements.” Hawkes’ piece is sharply focused, and also full of the professional language he knows well. Which kind of underscores his point: Maybe we shouldn’t depend on generally knowledgeable politicians to effectively reform a system that’s complicated and multifaceted, not to mention vital for our economic, social and political future.

When I try to scan the waterfront of Vermont journalism for this weekly feature, I’m quite sure I never bat 1.000. If there’s anything you’ve seen that I might have missed, feel free to leave a note in the Comments.