John Dillon
John worked for VPR in 2001-2021 as reporter and News Director. Previously, John was a staff writer for the Sunday Times Argus and the Sunday Rutland Herald, responsible for breaking stories and in-depth features on local issues. He has also served as Communications Director for the Vermont Health Care Authority and Bureau Chief for UPI in Montpelier. John was honored with two regional Edward R. Murrow Awards in 2007 for his reporting on VPR. He was the lead reporter for a VPR series on climate change that in 2008 won a national Edward R. Murrow award for continuing coverage. In 2009, John's coverage of an asbestos mine in northern Vermont was recognized with a regional investigative reporting award from the Radio-Television News Directors Association.
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As environmentalists protest a western pipeline, northern New England towns also worry that a pipeline that crosses the region will soon carry tar sands oil from western Canada. Their concerns were heightened recently when the CEO of a local pipeline company told Vermont lawmakers he's looking for new business — including shipping the controversial heavy crude. Two dozen Vermont towns will consider the issue at their annual meetings this month.
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Vermont's Legislature overruled Republican Gov. Jim Douglas' veto and became the fourth state to legalize gay marriage. The Senate voted 23-5 and the House 100-49 to get the two-thirds needed in each chamber for a veto override. Nine years ago, Vermont was the first state in the nation to approve civil unions.