Jun 13-19, 2018
John McClaughry: Conservative, Politico, Hobo; Comedian David Cross Talks TV, Net Neutrality and ‘Feud’ With Burlington Mayor; A Succession Plan for Pioneering Cheesemakers Orb Weaver
Cover Story
Riding the Rails With John McClaughry: Conservative Thought Leader, Politico, Hobo
Feather River John lazily strummed his guitar in the back of a speeding Ford Ranchero, hat slung low to shield his eyes from the brilliant northern California sun. Beside him in the bed of the coupe-truck, Hot Shot Timer plucked away on a battered old banjo. When they weren’t singing — mostly out of tune,…
Vermont Restaurant Week Donates More Than $23,000 to the Vermont Foodbank
A total of $23,165 was donated to the Vermont Foodbank as a result of Seven Days’ 9th annual Vermont Restaurant Week — $1,785 more than last year. This popular annual event was presented by Vermont Federal Credit Union and organized by Seven Days. “A wholehearted thank you to the Vermont Federal Credit Union, Seven Days,…
Obituary: Gregory L. Sharrow, 1950-2018
Pittsford After a 12-month struggle with multiple myeloma, a form of bone marrow cancer, Gregory Lew Sharrow of Pittsford, Vt., passed away in the early morning of April 2, just after his 68th birthday. He is survived by his husband, Robert Hooker, and their close friend and caregiver Brian Moulton, both of Pittsford; daughters Madeline…
Magnolia Bistro Owner’s Facebook Post Sparks Calls for Boycott
Updated on June 19, 2018. A Burlington restaurant owner has come under fire after he posted on Facebook that “junkies should detox or die,” leading to a flurry of calls to boycott his business. Magnolia Bistro owner Shannon Reilly wrote the inflammatory comment on Friday in response to a post by Mayor Miro Weinberger, who…
Obituary: The Reverend Congreve H. Quinby, 1928-2018
Burlington Congreve H. Quinby, 89, of Burlington, Vt, died on June 14, 2018, at home. Born in Rochester, N.Y., to H. Dean Quinby Jr. and Alice H. Onderdonk on November 28, 1928, he graduated from Phillip’s Academy, Williams College and Seabury-Western Theological Seminary and served as a naval intelligence officer during the Korean War. He…
Obituary: John Powers Cain, 1950-2018
John Powers Cain, age 68, passed away on June 16, 2018, at home and surrounded by his loving family, after a long and courageous battle with various illnesses. John was born on May 19, 1950, in Burlington, Vt., the first of seven children born to L. John Cain and Paulina P. Cain. John married his…
Obituary: Dorothy Carpenter, 1926-2018
Burlington Dorothy Frazer Carpenter was born June 17, 1926, in Rockville Center, N.Y., and grew up in Long Beach, N.Y., a short walk from the white sand beach and ocean of the south shore of Long Island. She graduated from the Long Beach public schools and the University of Vermont. She was a member of…
The Cannabis Catch-Up: Vermont State Government Preps for Legalization
We’re two weeks away from legalization day and Vermont state government is getting its ducks in a row. On Thursday, the Attorney General’s office released workplace guidance on the new cannabis law. Seven Days’ Sara Tabin took a spin through the 17-page document and found that, really, not much has changed. Meanwhile, also on Thursday,…
The Parmelee Post: Burlington Named Best Construction Site to Raise a Family In
Time magazine published its annual “Best Places to Raise a Family in the U.S.” report Wednesday. The Queen City took home the top spot in a brand new category. Burlington surpassed nine other work zones, including the eastern parking lot of the Harbor Square Mall in Egg Harbor Township, N.J., to be named the best…
Seriously: A Nest With a View
In this episode, two birds visit the Burlington waterfront to discuss some recent developments. Featuring Michael Frank as “Georgie.” CREDITS Written, filmed, and edited by: Bryan Parmelee Artwork/photography by: James Buck, Bryan Parmelee, Dreamstime Logo/art direction by: Don Eggert Audio by: Bryan Parmelee, Freesound Related Stories
![A Room for Lily [SIV536]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sevendaysvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/episode536-2.webp?resize=1200%2C900&ssl=1)
A Room for Lily [SIV536]
6/10/18: Friends and family gathered at Lily Stilwell’s recently remodeled home in Fayston last Sunday to celebrate her new space. In October of 2016, Lily was severely injured in a car crash when she was just 19-years-old. This accident left her paralyzed from the waist down and her parent’s home was not fit for her…
Vermont Singers Aim to Revitalize Franco-American Music
Kim Chase is an atheist, but she considers Franco-American music sacred. In her first year teaching at Lyman C. Hunt Middle School in Burlington, when she tried to lead the class in French folk songs, a student began singing “Kumbaya,” Chase recalled. Incensed at the mockery, she immediately returned her guitar to its case and…
Movie Review: Movie-Goers May Not Want to Check Into the ‘Hotel Artemis’
Have you seen the new John Wick? It’s called Hotel Artemis. Just kidding. The film is actually connected to the smash action franchise only in the sense that virtually anything halfway interesting in it has been purloined from the Wickiverse. Halfway interesting, I should note, is a bar this bomb reaches fleetingly and infrequently over…
Scarlett Letters: Is My Boyfriend’s Pot Habit Ruining Our Sex Life?
Dear Scarlett, My boyfriend and I have been together for four years and living together for two of them. He has smoked pot every day since I met him. I never minded, but for the last six months he hasn’t been interested in having sex with me. He gets high, eats dinner in front of…
Letters to the Editor (6/13/18)
Fraudulent Fruit? In response to your blog post titled “An Heirloom Tomato Salad With Mystery Tomatoes” [Bite Club, June 6], we felt it important to respond, clarify some inaccuracies and provide some additional information. When this menu item was created, we were using tomatoes from Half Pint Farm sourced through the Burlington Farmers Market. When…
Free Will Astrology (6/13/18)
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): “Whether you love what you love or live in divided ceaseless revolt against it, what you love is your fate,” wrote Gemini poet Frank Bidart in his poem “Guilty of Dust.” And now I offer it to you. Why? Because it’s an excellent time to be honest with yourself as you…
Hackie: The Wind on Her Face
It was a quarter to one, 15 minutes ahead of schedule, when I rolled up the driveway of Pamela McVie’s Charlotte home, came to a stop and cut the engine. Stepping out of my taxi, I faced west under the azure sky. Extending my arms outward, I bent forward into a full-body stretch, my idiosyncratic…
Guard Beat Up Inmate in Dispute Over Chicken Patty, Inmates Say
In the year since 269 Vermont inmates were moved from a privately operated prison in Michigan to a state-run one in Pennsylvania, they have repeatedly complained about threats of violence by guards. Seven Days reported in February that Vermont officials visiting Camp Hill prison witnessed a correctional officer verbally threatening Vermont inmates. Last month came…
Four New Albums From Formerly Local Artists
In addition to the scores of albums Seven Days receives from the myriad bands and artists currently living in Vermont, we also see a fair number of submissions from formerly local folks. And since we love keeping tabs on old friends, every now and then we take a brief look at their most recent projects.…
Ethical Charades: No Consequences for Scott’s Conflict
If Vermont had an ethics enforcement process with any power, Gov. Phil Scott might be facing an official investigation. But it doesn’t, so he won’t. Before he became governor, Scott owned half of DuBois Construction, a business that frequently bids on state contracts. His share was worth an estimated $2.5 million. When Scott took office…
Isn’t That Sweet: Newest Vermont State Police K-9 Is Named Maple
A sweet new K-9 trooper is headed to the Rutland barracks of the Vermont State Police. Maple, a 2-year-old yellow Labrador retriever, will begin training in Connecticut this fall as an explosives sniffer. The pooch will then start working with her handler, Trooper Steven Gelder, when his current bomb dog, Nacoma, retires in January. Maple…
Book Review: ‘MEM’ by Bethany C. Morrow
“I am a memory. Now I suppose I’ll live like one.” So opens MEM, the slim debut novel by Bethany C. Morrow, which lures readers into the shimmering and complicated world of an alternate Montréal, circa 1925. In this bustling, quasi-European city in the throes of industrial advances — trains, planes and automobiles, as well…
Animator of ‘Yellow Submarine’ and Classic TV Shows Pops Up in Burlington
“It was twenty years ago today Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play,” begins the tune introducing the 1967 Beatles album that music scholars by and large consider the apotheosis of pop. At the time of its release, 20 years probably sounded like an eternity to young Beatles fans. How surreal it is, then, to…
Burlington to Ease Access to Opioid Addiction Medication
Gregory Shaw was spending $40 a day to buy addiction meds on the street as he waited to start opioid treatment at Rutland’s West Ridge Center. When a dealer offered him cocaine instead, the 35-year-old, who had been out on probation, took it — a decision that ultimately landed him back in prison. Shaw was…
Muddied Waters: No Clear Solutions for Burlington’s Wastewater Problem
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) declared at a press conference in Burlington last week that he’d secured $8.4 million in federal dollars to help clean up Lake Champlain — an “amazing achievement,” he said, that included $1.3 million for sewer upgrades in shoreline municipalities. As Vermont’s senior senator spoke on June 4 at the ECHO aquarium and…
BarnArts Stages Timely Production of ‘It Can’t Happen Here’
After the 2016 elections, Sinclair Lewis’ 1935 novel, It Can’t Happen Here, along with other dystopian, anti-fascist writings, sold out on Amazon. While readers nationwide were diving back into the disturbing story, Vermonters in Barnard were recognizing their own connection to the book. It Can’t Happen Here was written in Barnard, where Lewis and his…
Movie Review: Tragedy and Horror Combine in the Chilling ‘Hereditary’
Hereditary, the feature debut of writer-director Ari Aster, is one of those films for which I recommend using a flow chart of caveats. Do you like horror movies? What about horror movies that are emotionally grueling and taboo breaking? Do you enjoy the experience of sitting in a theater after a film ends trying to…
Album Review: Homeboy Aurelio, ‘Himself’
(Self-released, CD, digital download) When last we heard from former opera student Alex Vitzthum in early 2017, he was making synth-forward electronic music strangely partnered with a smattering of Gregorian chanting under the name Clam. His unexpected pairing of styles resulted in a charming yet esoteric record called Sonnendruck. Shortly after releasing it, the Vermont…
Eat This Week, June 13 to 19, 2018: On Deck
Sit back on a summer deck with a cocktail, whydontcha? At Stonecutter Spirits’ summer deck party in Middlebury, seasonal sippers include gin drinks with lemon and melon or citrus and basil. Visitors can also engage in lawn games over cups of whiskey splashed with Champagne and peach or anise and bitters — and get their…
Soundbites: Free to Be … You And Me
After 10 solid days of nonstop action at the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival, you might be itching for your next free outdoor music fix. And even if you’re prone to mosquito bites like I am, don’t let the threat of airborne pests stop you from basking in the glorious — and free — sounds of summer.…
Worthy Burger Expands to Waitsfield This Summer
Soon fans of Worthy Burger who live in central and northern Vermont won’t have to travel as far to get their fix. The burger place that launched in South Royalton six years ago will open a branch in Waitsfield this summer, according to Jason Merrill, who co-owns the new Worthy with his business partner, Kurt…
Comedian David Cross on Net Neutrality, Netflix and His ‘Feud’ With Miro Weinberger
Earlier this year, when David Cross announced that he would be returning to perform in Burlington, he appeared to take a shot at Mayor Miro Weinberger. “Well, Burlington, you asked for it, you got it,” he wrote on Facebook. “Despite Miro Weinberger doing his best to keep me out, I’m coming.” The post went viral-ish,…
Carte Blanche Food Truck Gets Rolling in Burlington
Taco Gordo is putting down roots in the Old North End (see “South to the ONE”), but its former trucks won’t lie idle. They’re rolling again in Burlington as Carte Blanche, specializing in international street food. It’s a business venture of Chris Donnelly and Mojo Hancy-Davis, who met when they worked as cooks at Misery…
Album Review: Swimmer, ‘Throw It Out’
(Self-released, digital download) When it comes to figuring out their musical DNA, Swimmer aren’t a tough nut to crack. The Burlington quintet describes its sound as “experimental rock-fusion,” which is jam-band speak for “We’re a jam band.” A more nuanced description of Swimmer’s artistic parentage is possible, but the short answer is this: They sound…
In Calais, a New Musical Marks a Comeback for Playwright and Venue
Literature, stage and screen are filled with comeback stories. In fact, the United States of America is the land of second chances — or was before the current administration’s immigration policies. Next week in Vermont, an intimate theatrical production in a very small town will pack in no fewer than three starting-over stories. Mad as…
Art Review: Photographs by Matthew Thorsen, BCA Center
His surname, Thorsen, means “son of Thor,” the hammer-wielding Norse god of thunder and lightning and protector of mankind. So how do you live up to that? If you’re Matthew Thorsen, you go a lot of places and take pictures. In “Thorever: The Photography of Matthew Thorsen,” currently on view at the BCA Center in…
Pioneering Cheesemakers Orb Weaver Transition Their Farm
On a sunny morning in early May, Marjorie Susman walked by bright tulips and daffodils, past the greenhouse, and down the stone stairway to the Orb Weaver Farm cheese room to start the season’s penultimate Monday batch. It is normal for the Monkton dairy to wind down its annual cheesemaking routine in May. But this…
Taco Gordo and All Souls Tortilleria Come to Old North End
Two Mexican-themed businesses will join the growing array of food enterprises in Burlington’s Old North End around Labor Day, when Taco Gordo and All Souls Tortilleria move to 208 North Winooski Avenue. The businesses will share the site of the former Burlington Beverage Center & Bottle Redemption, a space that is currently under renovation. Taco…
