I n spring 2000, former University of Vermont neuroscience professor Reid Lyon visited the Statehouse with advice on how best to teach the state’s children to read. Lyon, then a leader at the National Institutes of Health, had recently directed a group of scientists, academics and educators — known as the National Reading Panel —…
Danforth Pewter, a Middlebury company that makes metal figurines and other housewares, has purchased a Fair Haven pottery company and plans to expand into ceramics. CEO Bram Kleppner said he and his staff had been looking for another craft company to acquire for a while. Although Danforth’s main business is in pewter ornaments, the design…
Updated October 8, 2023 with new information from state police. The woman killed by a gunshot to the head as she walked on a rail trail in Castleton on Thursday has been identified as Honoree Fleming, a biochemist and retired dean of education from what is now Vermont State University-Castleton. Fleming, 77, who also taught…
(Dedstrange, cassette, digital) Pons make a great case for bands. You might not think the concept of “the band” is in such danger of disappearing that an argument needs to be made for it. But look around. Solo artists dominate the music landscape. Most bands playing arenas are legacy acts such as Phish and Duran…
The first signs of the beast popped up a few miles outside Whitehall, N.Y. He was lurking by the corner of a convenience store, his massive, hairy arms hanging low and his bloodred eyes blazing. Not four minutes later, I spied him again, this time standing proudly under the sun in the middle of a…
When Lyman Orton named his art exhibition “For the Love of Vermont,” it wasn’t a shallow sentiment. He declares his devotion freely and frequently, even in a phone interview. Perhaps that’s no surprise for a seventh-generation Vermonter and second-generation proprietor of the renowned Vermont Country Store. But it might have been a revelation to some…
A new gallery in Brandon is an alluring venue even without the artwork. Conant Square Gallery is tucked next to the bridge over the Neshobe River and just feet from Route 7 as it squiggles through town. Originally a gristmill in the 1860s, the handsome red-brick building later housed an auto shop, then an antique…
LIBRA (Sep. 23-Oct. 22): Take a few deep, slow breaths. Let your mind be a blue sky where a few high clouds float. Hum your favorite melody. Relax as if you have all the time in the world to be whoever you want to be. Fantasize that you have slipped into a phase of your…
Allan “Buzz” Ferver, a 66-year-old with a fetching grin and an Abe Lincoln-style beard, stood at his kitchen island holding a clear plastic bag. Inside was a pale, nondescript meal, a few shades creamier in color than white flour. He spooned some into a mug, added boiling water and stirred. As the water swirled around…
Thea Lewis is best known for leading ghost tours of Burlington and writing books about the supernatural, from Haunted Inns and Ghostly Getaways of Vermont to the children’s book There’s a Witch in My Sock Drawer! But history can sometimes be scarier than legend. So Lewis has been expanding upon her paranormal portfolio to tackle…
Dear Reverend, My girlfriend’s best friend is a gay guy. Whenever the three of us hang out together, he often makes sexual remarks about me. He touches me a lot and has gone so far as trying to kiss me a couple of times. I’ve told my girlfriend that it makes me uncomfortable, but she…
Parts of the American pandemic experience already feel like a collective hallucination. Among them is the GameStop short squeeze of January 2021, which is arguably more of a feel-good story than the rest of that grim era we’re still processing — and hence perfect movie fodder. The new comedy Dumb Money is based on a…
Eugene Blake sat by the front window of the King Street Laundry in Burlington. He wore a Houston Astros baseball cap, though he said he doesn’t particularly care for the team. His backpack and bedroll lay underfoot while his clothes tumbled in a dryer. He was chatting with Carole Ricciuti, an employee of the nonprofit…
new in theaters THE EXORCIST: BELIEVER: Ellen Burstyn returns in this sequel to the classic possession horror flick, in which two teens vanish into the woods and return disturbingly altered. With Jennifer Nettles and Leslie Odom Jr. David Gordon Green (Halloween Ends) directed. (121 min, R. Essex, Majestic, Palace, Roxy, Star, Sunset) currently playing BARBIE…
Ted Miles begins most days behind Burlington’s derelict Memorial Auditorium, wielding a steel trash grabber and a grimy plastic container that he fills with used syringes. He then heads north, toward the abandoned former YMCA building, where a fence was recently installed to keep homeless people out. On he goes, through back alleys and hidden…
Friends, family members and city officials surrounded Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger last Thursday as he announced that he will not seek reelection in March. Among them was at least one person who is considering a run to replace him: veteran City Councilor Joan Shannon (D-South District). In an interview on Monday, she said she’s heard…
If Vermonters haven’t seen Paul Orgel in concert, a rare opportunity comes this Sunday, October 8. The pianist has performed everywhere from the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., to major venues in China, but these days his public appearances center on his annual recital at the University of Vermont. Orgel, 68, has been an affiliate…
Reporter Carolyn Shapiro spent more than six weeks chasing down last week’s Seven Days story, “Trouble Brewing,” about Citizen Cider. She thought at first that it would be a straightforward business piece about the Burlington company’s launch of a new light beer. But things got complicated when she learned that a worker had objected to…
One of Burlington’s most valuable properties, a 14,000-square-foot mansion in the middle of the Burlington Country Club, was listed for sale last week for $15 million — nearly three times its assessed value. Atop the Hill Section, tucked behind concentric rings of forest and country club fairways, the estate is insulated from the challenges of…
Pro Plant Thanks for a slice of Vermont’s favorite pastime, nitpicking public projects on the virtues of electrical power supply in “Pipe Dream?” [September 27]. I respect debate and regulatory procedures, but Seven Days gaslighted us with the cover’s nighttime file photo of the McNeil Generating Station by Matthew Thorsen (1968-2019). The editor’s choice of…
Kate’s Way was wet and spongy underfoot as Michelle Acciavatti hiked the mulch-covered footpath to a natural clearing in the woods. Beneath a canopy of birch, spruce and towering white pines sprouted a bloom of small white surveyor’s flags, a temporary placeholder on a carpet of ferns, fallen leaves and decomposing logs. One day soon,…
A few weeks ago, I wrote a rather morbid report on the current state of the touring industry (“On the Road Again? Musicians Grapple With a Touring Industry in Flux,” September 13). Since then, a host of musicians, both local and distant, have reached out to share their thoughts, opinions and experiences. Maybe one of…
In case none of your killjoy friends has reminded you yet, summer is over. Narrow Shoulders has dispelled any possible doubt by releasing the definitively titled “Summer’s End.” The project of Charlotte-based artist and producer Zach Pollakoff, Narrow Shoulders is adept at combining electronic and ambient sounds into gorgeous, often sprawling pieces of music. His…
Swanton woman was a lifelong resident of the area
Lost in the history of the civil rights movement are the stories of women who traveled to the newly desegregated South to campaign for equal rights. Sadly, they’re nearly lost in Vermont Stage’s production of Cadillac Crew as well, which resists using theater’s strengths to tell a story and settles for presenting a tribute. The…
I’ve been up before dawn regularly at two points in my life: a three-year stretch when I worked a 7 a.m. barista shift; and the past three months, when I’ve watched the sunrise most days with my newborn. In both instances, I relied on convenient, ready-to-drink cold-brewed coffee. While you brew with hot water to…
Photographer JuanCarlos González had been interested in agriculture since growing up in Maunabo, Puerto Rico, where his grandmother ran a small farmstand. As the grandson of a rural farmer and the son of a woman who was one of 11 children, the majority of whom were women, he said it “was always in my mind…
While Peg & Ter’s is on hiatus following the departure of its co-chefs, Adventure Dinner will use the Shelburne restaurant from late October through December to offer public dining on Thursday and Friday nights and ticketed Saturday events. Founded in early 2020 by Sas Stewart and currently based in a Colchester kitchen, Adventure Dinner hosts…
Seven years after opening their first mobile café in Essex Junction’s Five Corners, Nomad Coffee owners Nicole Grinstead and Andrew Sepic are selling their shops. Nomad’s head baker, Chris Johnson — who has built a following for his croissants and kouign amanns over the past two years — will buy the biz at the end…
Long Live the King Friday 6 Mike Oxready and Vermont Humanities host Drag King Night at the Telegraph Club, the Northeast Kingdom’s hottest drag show/dance party/book club, at the Catamount ArtPort in St. Johnsbury. The evening features a set list of suave, strapping performers such as King Cocktail and Sid Vixen, alongside trivia and other…
James Sturm grew up “mesmerized” by Marvel Comics, so getting to write and lay out a Fantastic Four miniseries for Marvel 20 years ago “was a dream come true,” he said. Unstable Molecules: The True Story of Comics’ Greatest Foursome won an Eisner Award, the Oscars of the comic book industry. Now Sturm harnesses his own…
