Last Saturday, Steve Merrill, a Northeast Kingdom journalist banned from Gov. Scott’s press conferences earlier this year, told the assembled crowd about that experience and his research into Covid-19 vaccines. The longtime host of a NEKTV program recalled how the governor’s aides first accused him of being called a racist by others, then referred to his show as a ‘hobby entertainment’ not worthy of participating in a press conference before banning him. His appeals for reinstatement have been denied.