Feb 15-21, 2012
Meet the Public Service Board, Vermont’s Most Powerful Men You’ve Never Heard Of; Conflicting Views on Wanda Hines; the History and Future of the Vermont Accent; Post Irene, Misery on the Menu
Cover Story
Monopoly Board
Meet the Public Service Board, Vermont’s most powerful men you’ve never heard of
Biomass or Biomess? Activists Protest Latest Biomass Development
The debate over burning trees for electricity is heating up again as a wood-fueled power plant moves closer to construction in Fair Haven. The Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation issued an air quality permit last week to Massachusetts-based Beaver Wood Energy to construct a biomass generation plant and accompanying wood pellet manufacturing facility in a…
Movies You Missed 26: Tiny Furniture
This week in movies you missed: no, not a documentary about obsessive miniaturists (for that, try Marwencol). Tiny Furniture is a low-budget comedy about aimless youth that won a big prize at SXSW in 2010. It landed 25-year-old writer-director Lena Dunham a deal with Judd Apatow and HBO to develop her own TV series, “Girls,”…
Tom Hanks Plays VT’s Capt. Richard Phillips in Movie Filming on Cape Cod
When Capt. Richard Phillips of Underhill arrived home after his 2009 ordeal as the hostage of Somali pirates who had boarded his cargo ship, the nation celebrated him. Now Phillips is receiving an additional honor vouchsafed to few: He’ll be portrayed on screen by Tom Hanks (right). (Note: Since no stills from the Phillips film…
Seven Days Burlington Mayoral Debate … and Drinking Game
Missed out on the deluge of Burlington mayoral debates over the past few weeks? Never fear! We’re throwing our own this afternoon — and it’s going to be a good one. Here are the detes: Today, Thursday, at 5 p.m. at City Hall Auditorium. We’ll have an all-star cast of characters grilling the aspiring mayors.…
House Bill Looks to Snuff Out Mail-Order Sales of Electronic Cigarettes in Vermont
Ex-smokers and others trying to quit or reduce their cancer-stick consumption are burning mad over a new bill in the Vermont Legislature. H.747, introduced by Rep. Bill Frank (D-Underhill), would classify electronic cigarettes as “tobacco substitutes” and ban their mail-order sale to and from Vermont. Electronic cigarettes, or “e-cigarettes,” are battery-powered devices that deliver a vaporized…
The Transparency Pander: Burlington Mayoral Candidates Go All In On Open Government
When you’re running for public office, you have to strike a bit of a balance. You want to let voters know where you stand, but you don’t want to make promises you can’t — or won’t — keep. These things matter because you might just get elected — and then people may well remember those…
Media a No-Show at Weinberger’s Economic Development Press Conference
If a mayoral candidate holds a press conference, and no press shows up, does he make a sound? He does if he’s Democrat Miro Weinberger, who found himself literally audience-less Wednesday at the unveiling of his big economic development plan. Weinberger gathered a half-dozen supporters around him at Burlington’s Union Station to explain how, as mayor,…
In The Market For A Hostel? Burlington’s Is For Sale.
Sharp-eyed readers of the Seven Days classifieds may have noticed an intriguing tidbit in the Jan. 25 and Feb. 1 listings: Two years after opening in the Queen City, the Burlington Hostel is for sale. Former Seven Days writer Lauren Ober spent a night at the hostel in 2010, shortly after Brian and Olga Dalmer…
Speaking in Tongues
Work: Htar Htar Yu, staff interpreter, Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program
Say What? A video exploration of Vermont-speak
This week’s Seven Days features a story called “Say What?” that examines the origins and somewhat uncertain future of the native Vermont accent. To help illustrate just what the heck we’re talking (er, talkin’) about, we mined the depths of YouTube to unearth a few videos that showcase the local vernacular in all its glory.…
WTF: What’s that weird shack in the Superblock parking lot?
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot: We just had to ask…
News Quirks
Curses, Foiled Again While police were in the process of citing Eldon Alexander, 36, and Korin Vanhouten, 47, for shoplifting merchandise worth about $25 from a store in Ogden, Utah, someone broke into their parked getaway vehicle and stole $60 worth of items. (Deseret News) Jonathan D. Miller, 18, and Myshawn L. Bonds, 19, arranged…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): What do you typically do just before you fall asleep and right after you wake up? Those rituals are important for your mental health. Without exaggeration, you could say they are sacred times when you’re poised in the threshold between the two great dimensions of your life. I’ll ask you to…
Crumbs
Side Dishes: New Japanese restaurant in St. Albans; Gordon Ramsay visits Vermont
Meet the Neighbors
A 125-year-old Burlington club keeps the art of play reading alive
Letters to the Editor
Rutland Remembered I grew up in downtown Rutland in the late ’70s and early ’80s [“Leaving RutVegas,” February 1]. It was a unusual upbringing, growing up on a bustling Center Street surrounded by retail and restaurants. At that time, almost every storefront was filled. The Center Street Alley, my backyard, had been completed. What I…
![CSWD Creative Reuse Showcase [257]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sevendaysvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/episode257.webp?resize=400%2C300&ssl=1)
CSWD Creative Reuse Showcase [257]
2/11/12: Trash becomes art at this popular annual show. Eva travels to Adams Farm Market in Williston to see the 16th Annual CSWD Creative Reuse Showcase. High schoolers from Chittenden county recycle trash into works of art and compete for prizes and inclusion in the month-long March exhibit at Frog Hollow Vermont State Craft Gallery…
Growing Figs in Vermont with the Northeast Organic Farming Association
Figs are a sultry, sensual food. When opened, they are thought to resemble female sex organs. Purported to have aphrodisiac qualities, they contain zinc, magnesium and vitamin E, all crucial for sexual vigor. They’re not a food you might normally associate with Vermont. But Lee Reich (pictured), who calls himself a farmdener (“more than a…
‘Troublemaker’ Bill McKibben Talks Keystone XL With Colbert
Vermont’s own globetrotting, carbon-fighting climate activist Bill McKibben cropped up on national television again last night, this time in a repeat visit to the Colbert Report. By way of snappy introduction, Colbert — eyes gleaming gleefully — had this to say of his visitor: “My guest Bill McKibben believes in global warming… so I’m going…
