Dec 7-12, 2016
Long Before Syrian Crisis, Rutland Woman Hosted ‘Refugees’ From Bronx; Gov Wannabe Sue Minter Contemplates Loss and Next Moves; UVM Researchers: Saffron Could Be Prized Vermont Crop
Cover Story
Super ‘Second’ Mom: Rutland Woman Hosts New York City Teens
Within the next few weeks, Rutland expects to receive its first Syrian refugees. The reaction to their imminent arrival has been mixed: Hundreds have volunteered to help them, while others say the newcomers will receive funding and attention that would be better spent on Rutland’s own needy residents. Cam Whittemore has seen a similar story…
The Parmelee Post’s Definitive Guide to Spotting Fake News
Dreamstime | Bryan Parmelee We here at the Parmelee Post have decided to take a brief break from the Pulitzer-worthy investigative reporting you’ve grown to expect, and to instead address a growing concern within our community and the nation at large. It has recently been brought to our attention that certain “journalists” have been deliberately…
![Jay’s Christmas Party [SIV470]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sevendaysvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/episode470-3.webp?resize=1200%2C900&ssl=1)
Jay’s Christmas Party [SIV470]
12/3/16: 600 children attended two Christmas parties at the Community Bible Church in South Burlington last Saturday. Children received presents, met Santa Claus and enjoyed a Nativity scene. The 5th Annual Jay’s Christmas Party is held in honor of Jeannette “Jay” Lefebvre, who worked for the Pomerleau family for 40 years as a housecleaner, cook…
Free Will Astrology (12/7/16)
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): “The awesome splendor of the universe is much easier to deal with if you think of it as a series of small chunks,” wrote novelist Terry Pratchett. That’s true enough, but I’ll add a caveat: Now and then the trickle of small chunks of awesome splendor gives way to a surge…
Nocturnal Animals
“Enjoy the absurdity of our world,” advises Michael Sheen as a gay socialite in a glittering lavender blazer. “Our world is a lot less painful than the real world.” He’s a guest at a party thrown by gallery curator Susan Morrow (Amy Adams), and he’s just given us Nocturnal Animals in a nutshell. Fashion mogul…
My Girlfriend’s a Virgin But I Want to Have Sex
Dear Athena, I have a girlfriend, and we’ve been together for one year. I’m 18. We sleep together naked but don’t have sex. We do everything else. She is a virgin. I don’t want to do what she doesn’t want to, but I really want to have sex, and I want to try anal sex,…
Loving
It’s hard to imagine a lower-key contender for year-end awards attention than Loving. The subject is a landmark in civil rights: the 1967 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Loving v. Virginia, which struck down state laws prohibiting interracial marriage. Yet the movie features no dramatic scenes of courtroom rhetoric and no swelling music of triumph.…
Author Fay Webern Recalls Life on NYC’s Lower East Side
Tacked to the community bulletin board at Montpelier’s Pioneer Apartments is a poster advertising a book called The Button Thief of East 14th Street. Just down the hall, the same flier is taped to the front door of apartment 103 — the home of Fay Webern, the button thief herself. Subtitled Scenes From a Life…
COPOUTS, This Is to Her Life
(Self-released, CD, digital download) There’s an art to accepting and immersing your music within the confines of a genre. With careful refinement, even rote recitation can become a celebration of the best kind — you can make even a well-worn path your own. On their new album This Is to Her Life, central Vermont’s COPOUTS…
Green State Gardener Plants Stake in Cannabis Market
A curtain hangs behind the wood-paneled counter at Green State Gardener, concealing a simple office with a few chairs, a plastic table, laptops and harsh fluorescent lights. In this unassuming room, Dylan and Kelsy Raap and Chris Walsh are preparing to help cultivate the budding medical cannabis and hemp industry. Green State’s retail location on…
Little Slugger, Perfect Days
(Self-released, CD, digital download) When we think of “the good old days,” it usually evokes a time when responsibilities are low, freedom is high and the window is brief. Burlington’s Little Slugger pine for various versions of the good old days on their newest release, the superb Perfect Days. The band is a bright star…
What’s That Weird Sailboat in Burlington Harbor?
If you’ve noticed a funky-looking boat moored in Burlington Harbor in recent months, you’re not alone. The rust-colored vessel is draped in plastic tarps and sports the word Sled on its side, hand-lettered in red and gold paint. Frequent waterfront visitors report rarely seeing signs of life aboard. The odd craft, anchored just south of…
Letters to the Editor (12/7/16)
Stop the Satire Please consider not publishing any more satire such as the Parmelee Post [“Jay Peak Makes Snow From Shredded Financial Documents,” December 2; “Demolition Derby to Be Held in City Market Parking Lot,” November 26; “Droves of Vermont Turkeys Immigrate to Canada,” November 18; “UVM Lab Directs Resources Into Cloning Bernie Sanders,” November…
The Awkward Brilliance of Annie Russell’s Cringe Comedy
Here’s some bad news: You are not as cool as you think you are. What’s more, you never have been and probably never will be. But there is good news: No one else is, either. And not only is that a wonderful and affirming thing to realize, it is also comedy gold. That’s the central…
Art Review: Brenda Garand, White River Gallery at BALE
Brenda Garand’s 12 new works on exhibit at the White River Gallery at BALE in South Royalton encapsulate much of what is compelling about her sculpture and drawings. The West Hartford artist identifies herself as a sculptor, and most of her extensive body of work is sculpture. However, two-thirds of the works on display are…
Page 32: Five New Books by Vermonters
Seven Days’ writers can’t possibly read, much less review, the number of books that arrive in a steady stream by post, email and, in one memorable case, a herd of testy wildebeests. So this monthly feature, “Page 32,” is our way of introducing you to five books by Vermont authors. To do that, we’ll contextualize…
A Burlington Filmmaker Celebrates Chilean Singer Victor Jara on Screen
In the politically charged 1980 Clash song “Washington Bullets,” Joe Strummer sang, “Please remember Victor Jara, in the Santiago stadium.” Burlington’s John Summa is doing just that, with a documentary film and several musical performances that celebrate the life and music of the outspoken Chilean folk singer. Jara was murdered in 1973 during the military…
Serial Shoplifters Target Burlington Stores
It was a busy day for Amanda Bean. First, she stole several hundred dollars’ worth of merchandise from a store that shares her surname — L.L.Bean. Burlington police cited her for retail theft and released her. Two hours later, Bean allegedly stole goods valued at several hundred dollars from the Skirack on Main Street. Bean…
A Sleepover With Fine Food at Ludlow Hostel
The river burbling from Lake Rescue runs south toward Okemo Mountain Resort, then arcs behind Ludlow’s Main Street. On the edge of that river stands a hostel, though you might not be able to tell from the outside. The pale yellow Victorian with deep-green shutters looks more like someone’s family home or a classic Vermont…
UVM’s Catherine Donnelly Edits First-Ever Oxford Companion to Cheese
Acetic acid helps sour Gouda, Edam and Havarti — plate these with blue cheeses, and you’re the toast of the party. In Sicily’s hills, find Fiore Sicano, aged months in cool caves near the Mediterranean. From Gruyère to halloumi, Istrian and Monterery Jack, the world’s history of cheese goes back 8,000 years. In 1477, Italian…
Remembering Karen Freudenberger, Founder of Pine Island Farm
Last week, Vermont’s New American farm community lost one of its most devoted advocates when Karen Freudenberger died. The founder of Pine Island Community Farm in Colchester suffered from a “preexisting and known heart condition,” her husband, Mark Freudenberger, tells Seven Days. She died peacefully in her sleep, he adds, but “it happened maybe 20…
Soundbites: Revisiting the Boys’ Club; Brett Hughes Makes a Record
In case you were away or maybe hibernating or something, fabled Burlington punk club 242 Main closed its doors with a blowout show last Saturday, December 3. The jam-packed, daylong punk fest at the venue brought to an end — at least for now — a 30-plus-year run as the oldest all-ages punk club in…
Airport Buyouts Prompt Departures, but Some Aren’t Going Anywhere
Kevin Pearo has watched his neighbors depart in a slow, steady exodus from North Henry Court in South Burlington. Seven homes that once lined the street are gone, leaving his yellow duplex a solitary sentinel between suburbia and a growing grassy expanse within walking distance of Burlington International Airport. “It’s like living on a five-…
Sue Minter on Her Loss, Gender and What’s Next
After delivering an election-night concession speech, Sue Minter stepped offstage at Burlington’s Hilton and exited the limelight. Now, nearly a month later, the former Democratic gubernatorial nominee is opening up about why she lost, what she might do next and what role her gender may have played in her defeat. Many political observers predicted a…
Caucus Conundrum: Will House Dems Fight Anew for Carbon Tax?
In their first Statehouse meeting since last month’s elections, House Democrats spent Saturday hearing from committee leaders about the issues they expect to arise when the legislature convenes in January. They were on just the third of 13 committee reports when Rep. Mary Sullivan (D-Burlington), speaking for the House Natural Resources and Energy Committee, made…
UVM Researchers Tout Growing Saffron in Vermont
On a recent morning, milk crates filled with saffron crocuses blanket the floor of a St. Albans hoop house, their purple petals gaping skyward like baby birds clamoring to be fed. Though these bright violet flowers are stunning to behold, it’s the wispy crimson threads, aka stigmas, at the center of each Crocus sativus bloom…
Chris Cohen On His New Album, ‘As If Apart’
Chris Cohen speaks in soft, controlled spurts. He’s refreshingly modest as he weaves his thoughts into calculated coherence. It’s almost funny to imagine someone so meek playing in a boisterous, unhinged band like Deerhoof. But for a good chunk of the mid-2000s, Cohen was their guitarist and bassist. In fact, Cohen has played in several…
Church Street Tavern Adds Second Location
After serving burgers and wings in downtown Burlington since 1995, Church Street Tavern will open a second location in South Burlington* this coming February. The new spot, called Tavern II, will replace Junior’s Rustico, which shuttered at 408 Shelburne Road earlier this fall. According to tavern co-owner Stephen Parent, who partnered with Scott Michaud to…
Great Northern to Take Over South End Kitchen Space
Come 2017, locals who miss Burlington’s South End Kitchen will find a new dining spot in its former home at 716 Pine Street. In late winter or early spring, an experienced team of locals will open the Great Northern. Its owners include Matt Wilson, who is also a partner in Zero Gravity Craft Brewery; and…
