Mar 25-30, 2020
Vermonters Adapt to Life During a Pandemic; a UVM Researcher Talks Vaccines and COVID-19; Vermont Restaurants Consider Their Options for Survival; How to Host a Decent Livestream Concert
Cover Story
Vignettes of Vermonters Adapting to Life in a Pandemic
On March 8, our little corner of the world fundamentally changed. That was the day state officials announced the first Vermonter infected with the novel coronavirus. The number of infections mounted as the days passed; the first deaths were reported. Businesses closed; schools and institutions of all kinds shut down. No one can say what…
Coronavirus Numbers in Vermont: A Seven Days Tracker
Update: The numbers in the below graphics were last updated on June 15, 2021. Health officials reported the first case of coronavirus in Vermont on March 7, 2020 — only 47 days after it was detected in the U.S. Since then, Vermont has seen multiple waves, and lulls, of the virus. With the widespread availability…
Birth announcement: Cal Hazen
Jenny Montagne and Ryan Horvath are ecstatic to announce the birth of Cal Hazen on March 22, 2020. As expected, he is already brilliant, adorable and funny, and they look forward to getting to know him as he grows. Welcome to the world, Baby Bub!
State Commission Says the Howard Center Shares Blame for a 2016 Fatal Police Shooting
Nine days before he died in March 2016, Ralph “Phil” Grenon left a loud, hostile voicemail for his Howard Center psychiatrist. The police were coming to his South Square apartment to kill him, the 76-year-old Burlington resident said, and he was going to defend himself with knives. Such telephone messages were a feature of Grenon’s…
Race to Contain: A Nursing Home Is the Epicenter of Vermont’s Coronavirus Outbreak
For seven long days, Albert Petrarca shut himself away in his third-floor room at the Burlington Health & Rehabilitation Center, hoping the deadly pandemic sweeping through the building would pass over his door. The new coronavirus had infected at least 14 residents and two employees on the fourth and fifth floors, which hold the nursing…
Vermont Art Online Brings Exhibits to Stuck-at-Home Viewers
An article titled “2,500 Museums You Can Now Visit Virtually” has been holding steady as the No. 1 most read on the art newsletter Hyperallergic. For good, and obvious, reason. With the exception of those heroic individuals providing essential services in the time of COVID-19, most of us have hours to fill while under quarantine…
An NVU Art Prof Teaches Printmaking Without a Printer
Remote learning typically involves video lectures and online tutorials. But how can you remotely teach classes that require making things by hand or with equipment not normally found in a college student’s home? Since colleges have been shut down to help contain the spread of COVID-19, teachers and students are finding out. At Northern Vermont…
UVM Researcher Offers Insights on Vaccines and COVID-19
Sean Diehl likens the development of a new vaccine to the construction of a house. Before workers can turn a shovelful of dirt or hammer a nail, an architect must create a blueprint that shows how the building’s thousands of components fit together and in what order. Similarly, vaccine researchers trying to stop the spread…
Seeking Safe Exposure? Stream These Pandemic Movies
Earlier this month, the mostly forgotten 1995 blockbuster Outbreak suddenly leapt into the Netflix Top 10. That isn’t the only thriller about a deadly disease that Americans have been streaming in record numbers. In the Guardian, Charles Bramesco speculated that people are “flocking to these films for a sanctioned version of exposure therapy, in which…
Enterprising Vermonters Go Virtual With Online Classes, Tours and Cute Animals
You’ve burned through your Netflix queue after a few days of social distancing. Now what? Many Vermont organizations are taking their workshops, activities and exhibitions to the web, giving residents opportunities to move, learn and be entertained from the compulsory comfort of their homes. What follows is just a sampling of the virtual experiences now…
Hackie: Fuhgettaboutit
Located on Route 17 about two miles from the Champlain Bridge, the West Addison General Store is the real deal: a bona fide, old-school Vermont general store. That’s general as opposed to specific. Yup, they carry everything from penny candy to baseball caps to fishing worms. And the floor and shelves are made of wood.…
Can COVID-19 Be Transmitted Via Dogs?
Dear Reverend, I’ve been going out for a lot of walks lately. Partially to get some exercise, but mainly to keep my sanity. I’m always mindful of staying at least six feet away from people. Everywhere I go — Centennial Woods, the Intervale, the waterfront, the Burlington Country Club — people are walking dogs without…
Pete Davidson Guides a Teen Through a Hilarious Take on ‘Big Time Adolescence’
Well, the words “home movie” have suddenly taken on new meaning, haven’t they? Theater chains have fought against the generational shift to streaming for years, but the coronavirus would appear to have settled that contest for the foreseeable future, and Hollywood has wasted minimal time in pivoting to digital. While the release of tentpoles such…
Isolation Becomes Connection in Moving Prison Drama ‘The Mustang’
This week, after watching four pandemic movies, I flailed around in search of something less horrifying to review. As regular readers know, I’m not a big fan of “comfy” or heartwarming movies. But stories about taciturn, closed-off people bonding with animals get me in the feels. So when I spotted last year’s The Mustang on…
Love and Japan, ‘Tears for Vanishing Ways’
(Self-released, digital) Anyone who’s rocked the mic at one of Edward Jahn’s Burlington karaoke nights knows the guy has a thing for Sting. Not only is he enthusiastic about the man who fronted the Police, his impression of the singer is uncanny. So it’s no surprise that his new project, Love and Japan, owes a…
Keychains, ‘Ornament’
(Self-released, digital) Look, I’ve put a lot of thought into what my listening habits might be while in a bunker. Between scavenging for scrap metal to make my own Mad Max car and fighting off mutants trying to steal my secret stash of Mexican Cokes — don’t try it, motherfuckers — I’d be spinning the…
Soundbites: Rough Francis’ Urian Hackney Goes Viral With Nirvana Parody
Now that COVID-19 is the only thing on anyone’s mind, it’s getting harder and harder to remember a time when we weren’t preoccupied with handwashing and maintaining a six-foot distance from others. But the new reality is also leading to an abundance of artistic creativity. For instance, livestream concerts are on a serious rise. Related…
Letters to the Editor (3/25/20)
Hardship Posts [Re “Vermont’s Defensive Line,” March 18]: Serving as board president of the Howard Center, Vermont’s designated agency for Chittenden County, and as a board member of Middlebury’s Porter Medical Center, a member of the University of Vermont Health Network, I have the privilege of working with the dedicated, innovative and self-sacrificing staff of…
In My Room: Tips for Doing Livestream Concerts
Now that Gov. Phil Scott has shut down bars, restaurants, nightclubs and every other place people typically gather en masse in Vermont, the world feels a whole lot smaller. Like, the size of one’s own home. But, oddly enough, home is now the best place to stay connected with local music and comedy scenes. Livestream…
Free Will Astrology (3/25/20)
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Your oracle comes from Aries poet Octavio Paz: “The path the ancestors cleared is overgrown, unused. The other path, smooth and broad, is crowded with travelers. It goes nowhere. There’s a third path: mine. Before me, no one. Behind me, no one. Alone, I find my way.” APRIL FOOL! Although the passage…
