May 25-30, 2016
Mall Talk: Burlington Debates Urban Renewal — Again; Vermont Tech’s First Class of Pilots Takes Off; Rolling Out the Summer 2016 Food Trucks
Cover Story
Before Burlington’s Proposed Mall Makeover, They Called It ‘Urban Renewal’
The tower of cardboard boxes spoke for itself at the May 2 meeting of the Burlington City Council. While activist Jay Vos testified against a $220 million makeover of the city’s downtown mall, his crude model illustrated how 14 stories — the height of proposed residential and office complexes that are part of the project — would…
Soundbites: On Comedy, Funky Town and Vanilla Ice
With the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival set to kick off in little more than a week, excitement is building over the impending 10-day jazzenanny. So naturally we begin this week with … comedy. Relax, hepcats. We’ll have loads of BDJF stuff for the next two weeks — and even a jazzy little tidbit later in…
Zero Tolerance: Judge’s Decision Threatens the Use of DUI Evidence
Driving under the influence is one of the most commonly prosecuted crimes in Vermont, with more than 3,000 charges filed per year. Some defense attorneys spend the bulk of their time fighting those DUI cases. Deputy state’s attorneys use them to hone their prosecutorial skills. A Northeast Kingdom judge’s recent decision could change the rules…
Restoring the Lareau Farm Barn — for Art
Want some art with that pizza? That’s pretty much what George Schenk envisions at American Flatbread Waitsfield Hearth. And he’s had it on the menu, as it were, every summer for 17 years in the barn adjacent to his restaurant and 13-room Lareau Farm Inn. While those wood-fired pies may be the main draw to…
Theater Review: Death of a Salesman, Parish Players
Drama begins when a character wants something and can’t have it. Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, currently staged by the Parish Players, is about a man who wants the wrong thing, and wants it so badly he destroys himself with delusions. Lured by the postwar image of an American dream of financial success and…
Talking Art With ‘Digital Immigrant’ Kristen M. Watson
Over the past decade or so, the millennial generation has been an almost comical object of cultural scrutiny. That fascination hinges, at least in part, on the generation’s status as the first digital natives — people who grew up in the internet age — and how it influences social development. Vermont artist Kristen M. Watson…
WND&WVS Surfs the Airwaves With a New Podcast
On May 2, Laird Hamilton hit the Burlington waves. No, not Lake Champlain; airwaves. The world-renowned surfer talked with the crew of Burlington-based water-sports shop WND&WVS in the first of a new podcast series produced by storeowner Russ Scully. “I just got an overwhelmingly strong ‘Let’s do this!” feeling and wanted to dive in headfirst,’…
Beach Bites Series Brings Food to Leddy Park
By all accounts, Vermont’s food-truck fleet is getting stronger and more diverse every summer (read about seven newish up-and-comers here). In addition to ArtsRiot’s weekly Friday night Burlington Truck Stop, Queen City residents can find rolling eats daily along Pine Street and near Maglianero café in the South End or at Burton in Burlington. And,…
WTF: What’s the Story With the Hidden Cemetery in Waterbury?
Two Seven Days readers recently inquired about a small cemetery that’s visible to motorists traveling southbound on Interstate 89, just beyond the Waterbury exit. Bordered by the highway to the north and the New England Central Railroad line to the south, the graveyard can be spotted through the trees near mile marker 62. But there’s…
Winooski Development Projects Face Parking Squeeze
Two big developments are proposed for downtown Winooski: A seven-story boutique hotel could rise up on a parcel next to the bridge, before the traffic circle; and just past the north end of the rotary, a four-story building could include a 1,500-person performance hall. Missing from both sets of blueprints, however, is one thing Winooski…
I Feel So Lame Being Single
Dear Athena, I’ve been single forever. I finally tried online dating, and I can’t find anyone. I’m desperate to meet someone, and I feel like I should have by now. I thought the online thing would solve the problem. I feel so lame being single, and I wish I had someone. Signed, Lonely Loser Dear…
Trailer Theft at Broken Arrow Café; New Crowler Bar at Big Fatty’s BBQ
Broken Arrow Café owners Eben and Tessa Hill are hoping for the safe return of a 6-by-10-foot utility trailer that was stolen from their Route 2 parking area near Apple Island Resort in South Hero last week. “Someone just drove away with it,” Tessa tells Seven Days. The vehicle can be identified by orange lettering…
Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising
This past weekend, I went on a Rose Byrne-a-thon. My viewing of the actress’ two latest comedies was definitely a good news/bad news experience, a reminder of just how vital a role writing plays in the filmmaking process. The good news is that Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising is great. And I don’t mean great fun.…
Binger, Skeptics
(Self-released, digital download) Like a questionable bowl of jungle juice, Binger’s 2014 album, Roots in the Rabbit Hole, had a lot of flavors. Elements of jam, psychedelic rock, hip-hop and funk all competed for attention. The album had its murky moments but showed promise. Now the Burlington-based trio is back with a new album that…
The Meddler
The Meddler isn’t so much a bad movie as a lighter-than-air, instantly forgettable one. It tells a story that’s essentially a cliché stretched to feature length. Anyone who saw writer-director Lorene Scafaria’s 2012 big-screen debut, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, will feel she has reneged on her early promise. Most egregiously,…
Stefani Capizzi, What You’ve Heard
(Self-released, CD) Music has been a central component of Stefani Capizzi’s life since childhood. Her grandfather was a touring jazz musician, and her father is a guitarist. The Vermont songwriter began penning her own songs as a teenager. Then life happened. As an adult, Capizzi set music aside while she raised a family. But in…
![The Battle of Shelburne Crossroads [SIV444]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sevendaysvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/episode444.webp?resize=1200%2C900&ssl=1)
The Battle of Shelburne Crossroads [SIV444]
5/21/16: Last weekend the explosive sounds of a cannon, muskets and charging cavalry horses rang out from a meadow at the crossroads of Harbor and Bay Roads in Shelburne. For three days the Champlain Valley Historical Reenactors hosted the Vermont Civil War Weekend and Encampment to teach spectators about the nation’s history. Eva put on…
Page 32: Seven Short Book Reviews
Seven Days’ writers can’t possibly read, much less review, the reams of books that arrive by post, email and, in one memorable case, a squadron of hyperintelligent jellyfish. So this monthly feature, “Page 32,” is our way of introducing you to seven books by Vermont authors. To do that, we’ll contextualize each book just a…
Opera Company of Middlebury’s Medieval Macbeth
For pure hair-raising horror, there’s not much to beat Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Except, perhaps, for Verdi’s version of it. The Italian composer had a lifelong love of the Englishman’s plays, making three into operas. While Otello enjoys perennial popularity, and Falstaff was the last opera Verdi wrote, Macbeth was his first attempt to pay homage to…
All Together Now? Conventions Reveal Parties’ Divides
Like families gathered at Thanksgiving ignoring Uncle Ned’s drinking problem, the Vermont Democratic and Republican parties tried this weekend to dance around their deepest dysfunctions. Hillary Clinton? Never mind that she is the party’s likely presidential nominee; her name was barely mentioned in the course of the five-hour Democratic State Convention Sunday at the Barre…
Letters to the Editor (5/25/16)
Mall Matters Great piece [Off Message: “Burlington Council Excited — Yet Anxious — About Mall Project,” April 26]. I have been following this project because, clearly, that space has needed a guiding hand and some TLC for a long time! Burlington is an amazing town, and Church Street is its heart. What happens there matters. I know…
Folk Musicians Dana and Susan Robinson Bring it Home
It’s often said that you can’t go home again. This isn’t the case, however, for Dana and Susan Robinson. Once Vermont residents, they struck out individually for broader horizons, then established a shared national career as a folk music duo. Now they’re back home, with a lovely new record, The Angel’s Share, and a plan…
Vermont Tech’s First Class of Pro Pilots
It was a bluebird day for flying as Matthew Fuller piloted a single-engine Cessna 172 along the taxiway at Burlington International Airport. The 35-year-old Vergennes native was just weeks away from completing his bachelor of science degree in Vermont Technical College’s Professional Pilot Technology program. In addition to technical skills, he’s also mastered the terse…
Dedalus Wine Finds New Home in Burlington
Dedalus Wine, the Burlington shop known statewide for stocking a wide-ranging and thoughtful selection of wines, will soon leave its current quarters at 180 Battery Street. By early fall, the store will migrate to 388 Pine Street, the space that formerly housed Burlington Furniture Company. The new Dedalus will carry an expanded selection of wines…
Free Will Astrology (5/25/16)
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): “Whatever you’re meant to do, do it now,” said novelist Doris Lessing. ” The conditions are always impossible.” I hope you take her advice to heart, Gemini. In my astrological opinion, there is no good excuse for you to postpone your gratification or to procrastinate about moving to the next stage of a big…
He’s Back: Peter Clavelle on Bernie, the Mall and Life in Albania
Former Burlington mayor Peter Clavelle spent much of the past five years living in a ninth-floor apartment a short walk from cafés, restaurants and the opera house in downtown Tirana, Albania. But beyond those amenities, the capital city was pocked with ugly, randomly sited buildings, many of which lacked sewer hookups or other basic services.…
Reddit Brings a UVM Evolutionary Robotics Class to the World
What comes to mind when you think of the social-news site reddit? Perhaps the topic-specific boards devoted to cat GIFs? Bernie Bros raving about their favorite presidential candidate? Gaming? Whatever you’re thinking, chances are good it’s not evolutionary robotics. But reddit is where Bijay Koirala, 25, stumbled on an evolutionary robotics class called Ludobots in…
Canteen Creemee Company Opens in Waitsfield
Hosts from time immemorial have worried that no one will show up to their shindigs. On the flip side, what if you try to have a soft opening and everybody comes? According to Charlie Menard, executive chef of the Inn at Round Barn Farm, that’s exactly what happened last Thursday when the inn’s team opened…
Sampling Seven Food Trucks of Summer 2016
Mobile eateries used to be where we stopped for a quick gyro, pretzel or creemee. But in recent years, food trucks have become mainstays of the summer food scene. In 2013, Burlington’s ArtsRiot launched its Friday-night Truck Stop gatherings, which rallied a dozen or so wheeled purveyors serving barbecue, burgers, tacos, Puerto Rican pinchos and…
