Mar 10-16, 2021
A Year in the Life of Three Single Moms in Vermont; Despite a Large-Scale Prison Outbreak, Scott Resists Vaccinating Inmates; An Artist Sues Vermont Law School Over Planned Removal of His Slavery-Themed Mural
Cover Story
Mother Load: A Year in the Life of Three Single Moms in Vermont
Since last March, one sentence has been looping endlessly on the ticker tape in Bree LeMay’s brain: What the fuck is going on right now. It’s not really a question but a mantra, an all-purpose reaction to a year of being marooned in a 1,200-square-foot apartment with a toddler, a prepubescent boy and no dishwasher.…
Obituary: Marshall MacDonald True, 1938-2021
Longtime UVM history professor found happiness and comfort in his family
Obituary: Netta Engel Tudhope, 1932-2021
North Hero cancer survivor became an advocate for others and was “a gift to everyone she met”
Despite a Large-Scale Prison Outbreak, Scott Resists Vaccinating Inmates
Vermont Gov. Phil Scott announced on March 2 that correctional staff would be among those next in line for a coronavirus vaccine. But he had a different message for their charges, saying inmates, “like the rest of us,” would need to “wait their turn.” For many, it was already too late. That same evening, the…
Woodstock Author Julia Cooke Chronicles the Women of Pan Am in ‘Come Fly the World’
What image comes to mind when you think of an airline stewardess from the 1960s or ’70s? Maybe it’s a conventionally beautiful woman in a trim uniform, smiling as she serves coffee to men in suits. While this certainly was part of the job, the stewardesses working for Pan American World Airways were, in fact,…
Waiting to Inhale: Critics Accuse Gov. Scott of Slow-Walking Establishment of Pot Sales
A new industry is waiting to be born in Vermont, but our pro-business governor seems strangely reluctant to ease it into life. Two dozen Vermont communities voted last week to allow retail cannabis sales within their borders. Only three municipalities that considered the question on their Town Meeting Day ballots rejected it. There’s clearly widespread…
Narrow Shoulders, ‘Now Be Here’
(Twosyllable Records, cassette, digital) “Past and future always tug at our mental fabric, threatening to rip the rug from under us.” So concludes the brief description that accompanies Narrow Shoulders’ Now Be Here, a fleeting, experimental journey of impressionistic soundscapes and low-key trip-hop. Its creator, Twosyllable Records founder Zach Pollakoff, layers clarinet, synths, guitar and…
North Country Author Russell Banks On His Latest Novel, ‘Foregone’
In one respect, the coronavirus pandemic — freighted with a monk-like mantra of distancing and isolation — has been a boon to upstate New York author Russell Banks. Foregone, his 19th work of fiction, is out this month. Denied his usually busy travel routine, Banks completed another book — having researched the topic in pre-pandemic…
From the Publisher: Tunnel Vision
“‘Happy one-year pandemic anniversary,’ said no one ever” was the greeting on an email I received Sunday night. Indeed, we’ve been once around the sun since Gov. Phil Scott’s lockdown to slow the spread of the coronavirus, and everyone seems eager to mark the miserable milestone. The governor declared a state of emergency on March…
Bottom Line: Marina McCoy Used a Pandemic Year to Grow Her Sustainability Business
Last March, Marina McCoy was entering her fifth year in business as a sustainability director for music festivals and other big events, helping organizers reduce the trash they generated. Her company, Waste Free Earth, had contracts worth about $300,000 in the works for the coming year. The coronavirus pandemic swept it all away. Waste Free…
Moira Smiley and VOCO, ‘In Our Voices’
(Self-released, CD, digital) It’s said that a melody line is the horizon of a composition, as the notes are written left to right. Meanwhile, harmony, with its vertically oriented notes, is an ascending line. I’ve always pictured this concept as a sort of reflected sunbeam, hitting a clear, pacific stretch of ocean and shooting back…
Soundbites: The Vermont Comedy Club Hosts a Virtual 24-Hour Marathon
Which do you prefer: “panniversary” or “pandemiversary”? I think panniversary rolls off the tongue better, but the meaning of pandemiversary is a bit clearer. Whatever you want to call it, it’s been a year since the pandemic shat all over everything relating to music, nightlife and live entertainment. Also, practically every aspect of day-to-day life.…
Letters to the Editor (3/10/21)
Win Is Not a Mandate [Re Off Message: “Magic Number: How Weinberger Won the Mayor’s Race by 129 Votes,” March 4]: Two thoughts about the Burlington election: 1. With ranked-choice voting, Max Tracy would be the new mayor. Is it any wonder that the Democrats on the Burlington City Council and Mayor Miro Weinberger fought…
Progressives Feel Empowered After Nearly Toppling Burlington’s Incumbent Mayor
When Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger is sworn in for his fourth term on April 5, he’ll be surrounded by many familiar faces. The opponent he defeated by 129 votes in last week’s election, Progressive Max Tracy (Ward 2), will still be on the city council and will likely remain the body’s president. Councilor Ali Dieng…
I Just Remembered I Made a Sex Tape With an Ex, and I’m Freaking Out
Dear Reverend, I just had a panic attack when I remembered that I made a really raunchy video with an ex way back when — so long ago it was on a VHS tape. I’m not sure what happened to it, and I’d really like to find it. I think it’s either in my basement,…
A Car Parade Surprises Cavendish Veteran Celebrating His 95th Birthday
On March 7, 2020, Jim Hasson’s 94th birthday, Vermont was preparing for an unprecedented shutdown. On Sunday, the Cavendish man’s 95th birthday, things were looking up. He’d recently gotten his second shot of COVID-19 vaccine, and, under a chilly bright blue sky, he settled into a chair along Main Street. A surprise procession of more…
Artist Sues Vermont Law School Over Planned Removal of His Slavery-Themed Mural
In July 2020, Vermont Law School announced that it would remove from its campus a large mural that had incited controversy among students and faculty for its portrayal of slavery, African Americans and the Underground Railroad. Eight months later, the mural remains. Its removal has proved complicated — and could be a test case for…
Montpelier’s T.W. Wood Gallery Celebrates 125 Years and its Unique Treasures
Passersby would not suspect that a refurbished 1950s Catholic grammar school in Montpelier contains masterful paintings from the 19th century as well as works from the 1930s Works Progress Administration. In one room on the second floor of the Center for Arts and Learning, visitors can linger over the expressive faces and tiny details of…
‘The White Tiger’ Is a Lush, Dark Rags-to-Riches Tale
Our streaming entertainment options are overwhelming — and not always easy to sort through. This week, I watched The White Tiger, a Netflix film set in India that mashes up satire, class-conscious underdog story and crime drama with flash and style. Ramin Bahrani (Goodbye Solo, 99 Homes) directed and adapted the screenplay from Aravind Adiga’s…
Free Will Astrology (3/10/21)
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): The bad news is that the narrow buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea is laced with land mines. Anyone who walks there is at risk of getting blown up. The good news is that because people avoid the place, it has become an unprecedented nature preserve — a wildlife…
Grilling the Chef: An Unexpected Inaugural Year for Deep City’s Christina Scifo
Chef Christina Scifo Position: Executive chef at Deep City and Foam Brewers Location: Burlington Age: 40 Cuisine type: Local ingredients focus; casual food prepared with fine-dining technique and a wood-burning grill; omnivore menu with robust vegetarian and vegan options Education: New England Culinary Institute, associate’s degree in culinary arts Experience Highlights: cofounder, Pen to Plate…
The Tipsy Pickle Relishes the Flavors of Vermont’s Brewers and Distillers
In the event of an apocalypse, Angela Gerace is the person to call. Her dry storage is not only fully stocked with jars of pickles, it also has shelves lined with bottles of the best booze Vermont has to offer. “If something happens and we can’t drink the water, I’ve got everyone covered,” she joked.…
Champlain Valley Hops Teams Up With Local Brewers for the Vermont Hop Project
Update, March 16, 2021: Two additional breweries have joined the project since this story was first published. Vermonters love locally brewed beer. But what do they think of locally grown hops? Answering that question is one goal of the Vermont Hop Project, a collaborative brewing experiment that launches this week, spearheaded by Champlain Valley Hops.…
