Sep 5-11, 2018
Vermont’s Sheriffs Run a Big Business; Rachel Lindsay Releases Graphic Memoir About Mental Illness; A Stowe Counselor Helps Students Navigate Gap Year; Ad Libbing the South End Art Hop
Cover Story
For Vermont’s Sheriffs, Policing Is a Lucrative Business
When Sam Hill became Washington County sheriff in 2004, it took some time for the municipal cop to adjust to the quirks of his new office. “In Barre City, when someone asked if we could help, we just normally helped,” he recalled. “When I came here and someone asked for help, I would have to…
The Cannabis Catch-Up: What the Next Week Holds
It’s been a slow week in local weed news, so we’re previewing some of the events coming down the pipe in the week ahead. Let’s start with Friday and Saturday, September 7 and 8, when the second annual Vermont Hemp Fest is held at the Burke Mountain Hotel and Conference Center. “We’ll have two full…
Obituary: William “Will” Rowe, 1947-2018
VERO BEACH, FLORIDA William “Will” Rowe was born November 26, 1947, in Yonkers, N.Y., the fifth child of Harry and Agnes Rowe, and passed away on August 31, 2018. He is survived by his brother David Rowe and sisters, Frances Rowe and Susan Rowe, and Susan’s husband, Ib. His brother Donald Rowe passed away in…
Porky’s Place Serves Up BBQ in New Haven
Porky’s Place, a barbecue restaurant that raises its own pork and beef, opened last month at 7404 Ethan Allen Highway in New Haven. The family-run restaurant is owned by Lonie and Chrystal Parker of Waltham, whose sons do chores on the farm while their daughter cooks at the restaurant. With seating indoors and out, Porky’s…
Album Review: Abby Sherman, ‘Finding Hope’
(self-released, CD, digital download) With multiple tattoos, an acoustic guitar slung across her lap and an ineffable sense of wisdom in her voice, Abby Sherman seems like a pretty cool mom. According to a Stowe Today profile, the 26-year-old Morrisville native’s debut album, Finding Hope, is completely autobiographical. Early on the seven-track collection, the singer-songwriter…
Album Review: Alabaster Samovars, ‘Alabaster Samovars’
(Self-released, digital download) Alabaster Samovars is a rap duo that has, out of nowhere, dropped one of the best 802 albums of the year. Consisting of Burlington rapper the Marijuana Pot Man — yes, really — and Philadelphia producer Remington Iron, the two have delivered an eponymous 11-track magnum opus that’s no fat, all frills.…
Artist Lydia Kern Talks Glitter, Bones and Solidarity
Burlington’s biggest art event of the year, the South End Art Hop, is this weekend, September 7 through 9. According to the South End Arts and Business Association, which organizes and presents the Hop, the event draws some 30,000 people annually. For better or worse, it seems to be an opportunity to experience art, not…
Bye-Bye Bailey? UVM May Drop Library Namesake for Supporting Eugenics
The University of Vermont may change the name of its library because one of the building’s namesakes was involved in the eugenics movement. The idea was proposed during racial justice protests last year when students blocked traffic and made various demands, including a new designation for the Bailey/Howe Library. In an era when many historic…
Workers Uncover a ‘Pretty Cool’ Historic Tunnel in Downtown Burlington
A small crew from Don Weston Excavating, a Williston company, made a historic find last week in downtown Burlington. While digging at the intersection of Church and Maple streets as part of a citywide water line replacement project, the crew broke through the top of a small, mysterious tunnel that runs east to west, six…
Barn Opera Director Josh Collier Adapts Mozart for the #MeToo Era
Mozart’s 1790 opera Così fan tutte, or Thus Are All Women, contains one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever written: “Soave sia il vento” (“May the Wind Be Gentle”). The song is a trio for soprano, mezzo and bass. In classical music, it is considered so perfect in every way — composition, balance,…
Movie Review: ‘Operation Finale’ Proves That the World Didn’t Need Another Adolf Eichmann Movie
Can we agree it’s time to knock it off with the Holocaust movies already? Is there a lazier way to summon a sense of seriousness and artistic significance than going there? At this point, it’s not just lazy; it’s tasteless. And no film on the subject made in this millennium is more tasteless than Operation…
Hackie: Smitten
The moon was still visible in the dawn sky when I reached the small apartment complex in Enosburg Falls, about 20 miles northeast of St. Albans. The units were built to house seniors and were designated, as it said on the sign, as “Independent Living.” Harold Powell was scheduled at 9:30 a.m. for, God willing,…
Middlebury Actors Workshop Opens Staged-Reading Series With ‘Red Speedo’
As summer draws to a close, Middlebury Actors Workshop kicks off its fall season with the second annual Cutting Edge Off-Broadway Play Reading Series. It opens with Lucas Hnath’s 2016 play Red Speedo, directed by Rebecca Strum. The play tells the story of a swimmer named Ray, performed by Sam Finn Cutler, who is about…
Rachel Lindsay’s Graphic Memoir ‘Rx’ Creates a Buzz
Two letters were written on cartoonist Rachel Lindsay’s left hand on a recent Saturday: RX. Did the pen mark reference book duties related to her newly released Rx: A Graphic Memoir? No, she said — it was a reminder to pick up her prescription. Since 2016, Burlington-based Lindsay has contributed her largely day-in-the-life comic “Rachel…
Super Volunteer Laura Hale Grows Community in Burlington’s Old North End
When Burlington resident Toni Foote, a mother of six, faced a housing crisis in late July, a friend gave her some advice: Talk to Laura Hale. “If anyone knows what you should do, it’s her,” the friend told Foote. Before long, Foote was in Hale’s North Champlain Street condo, enjoying a cup of coffee. Her…
Eat This Week, September 5 to 11, 2018: New American Cuisine
Recent immigrants and refugees gather daily at Pine Island Community Farm to care for hundreds of goats and chickens and to nurture rare cultivars on their individual veggie plots. On Saturday, September 8, the resident farmers will treat visitors to traditional foods from their homelands, along with farm tours, live music, games and good cheer.…
The VCFA Master’s for Children’s Writing Has Become a Powerhouse
During the first of two tours in Afghanistan, JP McCormick was preparing to fly home from a dusty airfield in Kandahar when he discovered his passion for writing children’s fiction. “I was exhausted, I was spent,” recalled McCormick, whose tattooed arms reflect his years in the U.S. Army. “I was a rifle platoon leader, so…
Movie Review: Clever ‘Searching’ Brings the Mystery Genre Online
When was the last time you saw a whodunit in the theater that kept you guessing? In recent years, mystery and thriller lovers have grown used to getting our fix from streaming services, with their seemingly bottomless supply of procedurals and true crime docs. The occasional best-seller adaptation or star vehicle aside, this genre doesn’t…
At Philo Ridge, a Couple Invests in Vermont’s Farming Future
On a mid-August morning at Philo Ridge Farm in Charlotte, sheep were grazing the paddock near the one-acre market garden as a straggler from the cow herd moved out to fresh pasture across Mount Philo Road. A group of 15 visitors sampled farm-grown zucchini sticks and mint leaves offered by tour guides who led them…
The Big Four: The Donors Who Fuel Vermont Conservatism
It isn’t easy being a Republican in Vermont. The electorate has a definite leftward lean. The state party is chronically underfunded. With rare exceptions, Republican candidates have fewer resources than their Democratic counterparts. But a few Republican donors are trying to shift that balance: Skip Vallee, a Shelburne fuel dealer; Lenore Broughton, a Burlington resident…
Thunderhill: Low-Flying Mystery Planes Rattle Small Vermont Town
A deafening roar lured Tammy Pitmon out of her Underhill home on August 27. Looking skyward from her deck on the side of Mount Mansfield, she was shocked to see a large aircraft so low “I was sure the plane was flying into the mountain,” she told Seven Days. “That’s how dramatic it was.” Pitmon…
Letters to the Editor (9/5/18)
Whose Race? Regarding the Seven Days article “Cranked Up” [August 8], in which Rough Francis’ Bobby Hackney comments, “It’s about the color of our skin,” is it OK for a black guy to tout race and color but unacceptable for a white guy? A friend stopped me as I described another friend as “a black…
Scarlett Letters: My Boyfriend Doesn’t Like My Dog
Dear Scarlett, I have been seeing a guy for about two or three months, and I like him a lot. But there is a problem. He never wants to hang out at my house because he does not like my dog, Cha-chi. Cha-chi has been with me through thick and thin, and I love him…
Perfect Storm: Art Hop, Stowe Jazz Festival, Pride and Otis Mountain Get Down
I’ve been trying to come up with a snappy nickname for the region’s second weekend in September. Why does it need a nickname, you ask? Because it’s one of the busiest three days for the area’s various arts communities. The confluence of artsy-fartsy happenings from Friday, September 7, through Sunday, September 9, is a perfect…
Free Will Astrology (9/5/18)
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): By volume, the Amazon is the largest river in the world. But where does it originate? Scientists have squabbled about that issue for more than 300 years. Everyone agrees that the source is in southwestern Peru. But is it the Apurímac River? The Marañón? The Mantaro? There are good arguments in…
Sabouyouma Are Ambassadors of West African Culture
Before the advent of written language, media and technological communication, oral tradition was the only way people could convey information over time or great distances. Storytellers would travel their lands, spreading word of political happenings and other forms of cultural knowledge. Those tasked with disseminating the latest news went by many names, depending on the…
Nepali Kitchen & Bar Pairs Friendship With Food and Drink
Step inside the red wooden building on North Avenue in Burlington and you’ll find an appealing tableau: a pool table; the smells of garlic, ginger and cinnamon; a Miller Lite sign; and probably the friendliest bartender in town. The pool table occupies the middle room of the building, which is home to Nepali Kitchen &…
Red Clover Ale Comes to Brandon This Fall
Brandon Village is home to many things, but a vibrant bar scene isn’t one of them. So when Red Clover Ale Company opens a brewery-taproom at 43 Center Street this fall, it’ll inject a welcome shot of sauce into the village culture. According to brewery cofounder Pete Brooks, Red Clover will offer eight beers on…
