May 29 – Jun 4, 2019
R&B Icon Patti LaBelle Headlines Burlington Discover Jazz Festival; As City Policy Stalls, Homeless Erect Tents; Chef Cara Chigazola Tobin Recounts Her Path to Honey Road
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Patti LaBelle Headlines the Eclectic Burlington Discover Jazz Festival
Recent generations of Vermont musicians who grew up playing in their school jazz orchestras likely share a formative experience: performing on Church Street during the annual Burlington Discover Jazz Festival. A primary mission of the fest is instilling a love of jazz in the community, so the phrase “Get ’em while they’re young” aptly applies…
In Memoriam: Scott Skinner
Scott Skinner died on December 15, 2018. A celebration of life will take place on Saturday, June 29, 2 p.m., at Old Labor Hall, 46 Granite Street, Barre, Vt. Related Stories
Obituary: Jason Patrick Gorman, 1977-2019
Jason Patrick Gorman died tragically and needlessly on May 26, 2019. Known as Jay by the people who loved him, he suffered most of his adult life from drug addiction. Jason was born in Chicago, Ill., on March 28, 1977. At an early age, he moved to Quincy, Mass., where he and his identical twin…
Obituary: Steven ‘Boj’ William Keough
Steven “Boj” William Keough died May 25, 2019, with his family surrounding him. He was born in Bennington, Vt., where he lived with his parents, Florence Butler Keough and William “Bill” Keough, and his sister Joyce Walden. He moved up to Chittenden County when he attended Saint Michael’s College from 1976 to 1980 and met…
The Parmelee Post: Enraged Fans Demand Rewrite of Legislative Season Finale
Fans of the long-running Vermont series “Dome of Gold” have signed an online petition calling for a remake of the 2019 legislative season finale. The finale episode, which aired on Wednesday, was almost universally derided as unrealistic, directionless drivel. The subsequent petition accuses the writers of the political drama of being “woefully incompetent.” “How could…
Obituary: Roslyn Cristiano Payne, 1940-2019
Roslyn Cristiano Payne died on May 21, 2019, at the age of 78. A resident of Richmond, Vt., she died at home holding the hand of her daughter, Sierra Payne. During the last few years, Roz suffered from dementia. She left this Earth in the town where she felt most comfortable and had spent most…
Obituary: Richard Boomhower
Richard “Dick” Boomhower, age 90, of St. George Road, Williston, Vt., died on Tuesday, May 21, 2019, at Barre Gardens in Barre, Vt. He was born to Marguerite (Paradee) Boomhower and Gordon Boomhower on Borderville Hill, Fairfield, Vt. He worked on the family farm. After high school, he bought a milk route bringing milk from…
Hackie: New York Sans Nudity
My last taxi fare to New York City had been memorable. It all went down this past winter on a frigid night featuring a windchill temperature well below zero. I had managed to deliver my customers safe and sound to their destination, thank goodness, before the memorable part kicked in. Moments later, unable to make…
A B.I.G. Endeavor Aims to Spread Art, Music and Kindness
It’s not unusual for people with good intentions to establish a nonprofit to fulfill them. That’s why curator Sarah Drexler and musician Tim Danyliw recently founded the Balanced Intelligence Group. If the name is a bit cryptic, the acronym works handily for their tagline: “If you’re going to dream, dream B.I.G.” Sounds inspirational, but what’s…
A Brief Guide to Free Shows at the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival
Now in its 36th year, the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival is one of the most highly regarded music events in Vermont. Top-shelf entertainers headline the 10-day marathon, and the 2019 lineup is no exception. Household names Patti LaBelle, Bobby McFerrin and Brian Wilson lead the pack and emphasize the fest’s stylistic diversity. It’s not hard…
‘TRASHburgh’ Unveils New Comics Quarterly
For the past two years, the comedic web series “TRASHburgh” has entertained denizens of Plattsburgh, N.Y., with offbeat sketches that lampoon life in the Lake City — lovingly, for the most part. Produced by musician Matt Hall, the show is a community endeavor with contributions from a broad range of local artists, writers and actors.…
A Burst of Construction Is Forever Changing Winooski’s Thoroughfares
The small white 1920s bungalow at 243 East Allen Street in Winooski will soon be torn down to make way for a 24-unit apartment building. A dumpster out front is ready for the debris. It’s part of a homes-to-new-apartments growth trend that critics say threatens historic properties in the revitalized mill city. Across the street…
Letters to the Editor (5/29/19)
More Perfect Union? [Re Off Message: “Community Health Centers of Burlington Unionization Effort Ends With Mixed Results,” May 10]: As a longtime patient at the Community Health Centers of Burlington, I’m proud to hear that my health care providers have decided to organize and form a union. The pressures faced by these workers — short…
I’ve Got a Bad Case of Eczema and Am Worried About Having Sex
Dear Reverend, I recently met a guy I really like, and it appears he really likes me, too. Our dates have been getting a little hot and heavy over the last month, and it’s pretty clear where this is heading. Thing is, though, I’ve got a bad case of eczema kind of all over, and…
Eat This Week, May 29 to June 4, 2019: Books for Cooks
A monthly food-devoted book club at Hunger Mountain Co-op will kick off on May 30 with discussion of The Best American Food Writing 2018, edited by former Gourmet editor-in-chief Ruth Reichl. Gather in the Montpelier food co-op’s community room to partake of a little food for thought.
Endgame Fail: Legislative Leaders Are the Big Losers of the Session
Well, that was one for the history books. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Sen. Dick Sears (D-Bennington), who’s seen plenty in his 26 years in the Vermont Senate. “It” is the endgame of the 2019 legislative session, in which the House and Senate failed to pass their two top priorities, a paid family…
White River Indie Festival Takes Cinephiles From Brecht to Virtual Reality
On June 1, Little Beeri marches into White River Junction. Little who? If you’re asking, you clearly haven’t seen “Little Beeri’s March,” a weird and wonderful 25-minute film epic from Upper Valley director John Griesemer and codirector/cinematographer Whittaker Ingbretson. Following an appearance last month at the Denver Underground Film Festival, the short will have its…
Burlington’s Fletcher Free Library to Host Moon Rocks and Meteorites
An exhibit arriving at the Fletcher Free Library this Sunday is truly out of this world. As part of a grant program called NASA@ My Library, the Burlington book lender will host rare moon rocks and meteorites for just two hours on June 2. Fletcher Free secured the loan only after tween/teen librarian Abby Wanserski…
Book Review: ‘The Silk Road’ by Kathryn Davis
Imagine strolling along Burlington’s Church Street on a sunny spring afternoon and asking the people you meet, “What’s a novel?” Probably most replies would include mention of characters, narrators, plots and settings. But what if a writer could construct a readable and absorbing novel that largely omits the supposed necessities of vivid depictions, continuous story…
Album Review: The Dubois, ‘Poops and Boobs’
(Self-released, digital download) There are those who believe art can and should thrive under constraints. In that spirit, the RPM Challenge is a musical gauntlet first conceived in 2006 by the Portsmouth, N.H., alternative paper the Wire. The idea is that a musician or band spends the month of February recording at least 10 tracks…
UVM Neural Scientist Mark Nelson Elected to National Academy of Sciences
In the late 1970s, when Mark Nelson was working on his doctorate in neural sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, he had to attend a three-hour seminar every Saturday morning on the intricate workings of the brain and central nervous system. During those discussions, he recalled, the blood vessels of the brain never even…
After 63 Years on Shelburne Road, Kaigle’s Citgo Is Closing
For six decades, Kaigle’s Citgo has stood as a landmark on the southern border of Burlington and South Burlington. If you could somehow Marty McFly your way back to May 1956, when Armand “Freckles” Kaigle opened the gas station under the name City Service, the differences in the surrounding landscape would strike you immediately. While…
Opera Company of Middlebury Updates the Cinderella Tale With ‘Cendrillon’
At a recent live radio preview of the Opera Company of Middlebury’s upcoming production, held at the Vermont Public Radio performance studio, soprano Lindsay Ohse and tenor John Riesen sang an impassioned duet from Jules Massenet’s Cendrillon (Cinderella). The two not only looked their parts as Cendrillon and Le Prince Charmant, they are also serious…
Album Review: Sabouyouma, ‘Sabouy’
(Self-released, digital download) Sabouyouma are a dynamite local Afro-funk septet built around the electric presence that is Ousmane Camara, a singer, balafon player and griot from Guinea. The band’s debut album, Sabouy, is a ferociously tight workout that sounds flat-out amazing. This is more than just world music; it is world-class. The band’s name means…
Artist Joan Morris Talks Fabric Dyeing, Print Making and ‘The Lion King’
If you’ve been to a Broadway production of The Lion King, you’ve seen Joan Morris’ textiles. Her hand-dyed fabrics transform the ensemble cast in Act 2 — during the “Can You Feel the Love Tonight?” scene — into a lush, fantastical rainforest. Those costumes began life far from the stages of Manhattan — in Morris’…
Pop-Up Campers: As a City Policy Rewrite Stalls, the Homeless Pitch Tents
When Justin Reynolds became homeless in April 2017, he pitched a tent at a spot in Burlington where he thought no one would bother him. The place was quiet, and he kept to himself. But Queen City cops eventually told him to leave. It happened several more times, and when Reynolds got sick of it,…
Soundbites: Brandi Carlile Concert Canceled Mid-Show, Refunded
Two of a Kind Did you ever have one of those weekends full of shows that you know you’ll remember for a long time to come? I can say confidently that I’ll remember the pair of concerts I saw on Friday and Saturday until my brain stops working. In terms of style and vibe, they…
Movie Review: ‘Brightburn’ Offers a Dark Twist on the Superhero Mythos
Someone should write a guidebook for movie parents raising demon spawn. You know, What to Expect When You’re Expecting a Kid but Wind Up With a Freak of Nature, Antichrist or Baby From Space. Because, let’s face it, these moms and dads may inhabit different genres, but their child-rearing challenges usually prove pretty much the…
Free Will Astrology (5/29/19)
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): I prefer live theater over movies. The glossy flawlessness of films, accomplished by machines that assemble and polish, is less emotionally rich than the direct impact of live performers’ unmediated voices and bodies and emotions. Their evocative imperfections move me in ways that glossy flawlessness can’t. Even if you’re not like…
Movie Review: Two ‘Booksmart’ Teens Cut Loose in a Fresh Twist on the Coming-of-Age Comedy
Here’s one way Booksmart diverges from previous coming-of-age buddy flicks: When the relationship of best friends Molly (Beanie Feldstein) and Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) reaches a crucial juncture, the soundtrack cues up “Unchained Melody.” In a movie about male BFFs, there’s no way that über-romantic song wouldn’t be used ironically. In Booksmart, it couldn’t feel more…
Squabbling Legislators Squander Chance to Deliver Democratic Deal
Sen. Tim Ashe (D/P-Chittenden), the normally unflappable president pro tempore of the Vermont Senate, looked a little uncomfortable at 2 p.m. last Friday. He was perched on a chair outside House Speaker Mitzi Johnson’s (D-South Hero) Statehouse office, waiting for a meeting that would settle a standoff between the two leaders — and determine the fate…
Sampling the Ready-to-Eat Options at the Burlington Farmers Market
The beans and blueberries aren’t ready, and the carrots and cucumbers are a ways off, too. But as I learned on a recent Saturday, if you’re waiting for summer’s full bounty before you hit the Burlington Farmers Market, you’re missing out. The market, which opened May 11, is already humming with artists and artisans, community…
Chef Cara Chigazola Tobin: the Path From Pizza to Honey Road
When Cara Chigazola Tobin was a 17-year-old high school student in Lebanon, N.H., she walked into a pizza place in Hanover to ask for a job. “Can you cook?” the chef-owner of Everything But Anchovies asked her. “Yes, definitely!” she answered. She loved food, but her claim was a bit of a stretch. (“I had…
Commuters Fuel Up at Bradford’s Vittles Espresso & Eatery
A drive-through food business launched in Bradford last week when Kendall Gendron opened Vittles Espresso & Eatery. Like a mobile version of a fast-food window, the food truck is designed for customers to navigate from the driver’s seat. Gendron takes orders from her window, then gives the food to the drivers as they wait in…
