Aug 2, 2017 – Aug 7, 2018
Winooski’s New City Manager Takes on the Blooming ‘Onion’; A Green-Energy Entrepreneur Bets on Commuter Rail; Festival of Fools Juggles Magic, Music and Mayhem
Cover Story
New Winooski City Manager Jessie Baker Aims to Nurture a Layered, Dynamic Burg
Jessie Baker strolled down Main Street, past people at outdoor café tables savoring lattes and eggs Benedict. With just a few strands of gray in her light brown hair, Winooski’s new, 39-year-old city manager could almost pass for one of the many college students who have moved into the tiny burg nicknamed “Burlington’s Brooklyn.” The…
Seven Days Wins Three First-Place Awards in National Media Competition
Seven Days, Vermont’s free, independent newsweekly, won three first-place awards at the annual Association of Alternative Newsmedia conference last month in Washington, D.C. The AAN Awards recognize the most artful, compelling and courageous journalism produced each year by the alternative newsmedia. AAN member publications vary in size and circulation, and are based in cities across…
Obituary: Ryan Campbell
Ryan Campbell, 36, passed on in December, 2016 while on his land in Huntington, Vermont. Ryan was born in Concord, NH on November 27, 1980. He and his younger brother Colin were raised in Rumney, NH as children and continued life growing up in Chittenden County, Vermont living in Richmond and Jericho. Ryan graduated from…
Seriously: I Did it All For the ‘Nooski, No Lanes No Gains
In this episode host Bryan Parmelee shares his thoughts on what makes Winooski so special and attempts to navigate Burlington’s latest bike lane drama. CREDITS Written, filmed and edited by: Bryan Parmelee Artwork/photography courtesy of: Matthew Thorsen, James Buck, Luke Eastman, Jeff Drew, Winooski Community Partnership, Bryan Parmelee, dreamstime.org, archives.org Logo/art direction by: Don Eggert…
Trailer: The 500th Stuck in Vermont
Get ready for the ride of your life! Stuck in Vermont is celebrating 10 years of videos with this colorful musical escapade airing Friday, August 18 on this website. Join the Facebook event to see behind-the-scenes photos and to get a reminder when the episode drops.
Obituary: John J. Malcovsky, 1948-2017
Burlington/Winooski VT John was born in Westfield MA to the late John and Katherine (Zales) Malcovsky. He graduated class of 1966 from Westfield High School and 1970 from St. Michael’s College. He was a teacher and coach at Grand Isle and Winooski Schools. He was an avid collector of toy trains, milk bottles, pinball machines…
The Parmelee Post: Burlington Workers Remove Unsanctioned Pool Noodle From Lake Champlain
Workers from the Burlington Parks, Recreation & Waterfront Department acted swiftly and decisively Saturday to remove an unsanctioned floatation device from Lake Champlain. Citing navigational hazards, a crane operator safely recovered a pool noodle from the lake that had mysteriously appeared over the weekend. “I like to have fun on the lake just as much…
![A Decade of Stuck in Vermont [SIV499]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sevendaysvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/episode499-scaled.webp?resize=1200%2C900&ssl=1)
A Decade of Stuck in Vermont [SIV499]
7/30/17: For the past 10.5 years, Eva Sollberger has had the pleasure of traveling around the state interviewing Vermonters about what makes our state so unique. This week Eva takes a colorful look back at some of her favorite moments over the last 499 episodes. Be on the look out in two weeks for the…
Album Review: Bison, ‘Get In’
(Self-released, digital download) A brand-new pair of Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars stands out with its midnight-black canvas body, untarnished toe cap and pristine white laces. It’s when the sneakers get a little dirty, though, that they really take on their style. On Burlington band Bison’s new release Get In, the trio offers up a…
Zenbarn’s Greener Drink Series Offers CBD Booze
For the past two weeks, Seven Days has reported on the availability of cannabidiol-infused foods at Vermont restaurants, including Burlington’s Monarch & the Milkweed and Stowe’s Green Goddess Café. Now we’ve learned that you can also get your CBD fix — with a splash of booze — at Zenbarn’s Greener Drinks event series. On Wednesday evenings…
Competition to Install Solar Flares Up, Giving Homeowners Options
When Dan Goossen decided to install solar panels on his St. Paul Street home in Burlington late last year, he got estimates from three companies. After sorting through the details, he chose Waterbury-based SunCommon, which offered him the most power output per panel. Jane Dwinell called several companies before she and her husband, Sky Yardley,…
Streetgreens Food Truck Is a Family Affair
Orders were lined up at Streetgreens, a food truck that was dishing out summer suppers on a perfect night at Veterans Memorial Park in South Burlington. Inside the truck, members of the Bohmann family focused on their jobs: Will Bohmann hunched over his prep counter, folding veggie wraps. At the sliding window, his 14-year-old daughter,…
Soundbites: So Far, So Good — Part 2; Fool Me Once
Two weeks ago, I announced Vermont’s first-ever Sofar Sounds concert. In case you missed it: Sofar Sounds is an ongoing, branded concert series that takes place all over the world. Sofar events have a limited capacity and take place in unconventional spaces, and the lineups are kept secret until the day of the show. Given…
Vermont Muralists Tackle More Blank Walls
Vermont’s summer weather can be unpredictable, but artists aren’t: The season reliably brings painters outdoors. While some choose to set up easels and fill them with bucolic landscapes en plein air, others take their trade to urban streets, muralizing on all kinds of surfaces. Some are large, commissioned pieces that undergo a lengthy review process;…
Free Will Astrology (8/2/17)
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Leo actor Robert DeNiro once observed that most people devote more energy to concealing their emotions and longings than to revealing them. Is that true about you? If so, the coming weeks will be a favorable time to hide less of yourself and express more. There’ll be relatively little hell to…
Thrills and Silliness From the Festival of Fools
For 10 years, the Festival of Fools has reigned as the premier street festival in the Northeast, if not the entire country. An eclectic mix of circus arts, music, comedy and burlesque, the largely free fest draws dozens of performers and, reportedly, some 10,000 visitors per day to downtown Burlington. Running this Friday through Sunday,…
Phantogram’s Sarah Barthel Talks Recurring Dreams and Inner Demons
Upstate New York electro-pop duo Phantogram generally stick to the shadows. Their compelling blend of nostalgic trip-hop beats, galvanic synths and abstruse lyrics crystallizes into icy, menacing songs that tread the line between dreamily poetic and nightmarishly ghastly. Their latest album, Three, contains lyrics such as “There’s always something that’s pulling me down” and “Stare…
Breast Practices: Vermont Communities Gear Up for ‘The Big Latch On’
The Vermont Department of Health is promoting several events for World Breastfeeding Week, including the Big Latch On, a gathering Friday and Saturday during which “nursing mothers and their infants will gather to join breastfeeders worldwide … in support of breastfeeding,” the health department said in a statement last Thursday. Six Vermont locations, among nearly…
A Tiny Museum on Wheels Rolls Into Burlington
For such a small state, Vermont has a surprising number of museums that deviate from the standard format: Shelburne Museum, the Museum of Everyday Life in Glover and Main Street Museum in White River Junction stand out. Or maybe our sparsely populated landscape lends itself to such playful approaches. Take the Vermont International Museum of…
Ask Athena: I’m Engaged to Be Married and I Don’t Want to Do It
Dear Athena, I am engaged to be married in about two months. I don’t want to do it. I know it’s wrong, and I’ve known it for a long time now, but I am afraid to get out of it. So many people have been involved in planning, and lots of money has been spent,…
Power Grab: Contracts Could Seal the Fate of Underwater Transmission Lines
Last week, a company that wants to build a major electricity transmission line through Lake Champlain submitted a proposal for one of the biggest renewable energy contracts ever put out to bid in New England. The same day, Gov. Phil Scott plugged the project. He has good reason: If the company behind the shovel-ready plan,…
Heroism 2.0: Vermonters on the Front Lines of Health Care Debate
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was acclaimed as the hero of last week’s dramatic health care showdown. He returned from cancer surgery to cast the deciding vote against the Republicans’ “skinny repeal” of the Affordable Care Act. He bucked his party. For once, the maverick lived up to his billing. McCain’s stand was made possible, of…
Backpedaling: Burlington Residents Challenge Plans for More Bike Lanes
Burlington landlord Jill Diemer was cleaning up her Old North End property in June when she picked up a scrap of paper. It was a discarded flyer that had been distributed to neighborhood homes highlighting coming changes: 10 parking spots on one-way North Union Street, where she rents out three buildings, would be eliminated to…
Richmond Community Kitchen Finds a Storefront
Two Richmond women who have been cooking frozen dinners for pickup plan to expand after Labor Day. Their new business, Richmond Community Kitchen, will open in the Blue Seal Feeds building at 99 Bridge Street. That was the site of Sonoma Station, which closed in May. For two years, Amy Gifford and Susan Whitman have…
Letters to the Editor (8/2/17)
Paper Chase I’d like to point out an inaccuracy and do a little self-promotion in regard to [“A Print News Distributor Gets Leaner — and More Creative — to Survive,” July 12], in which Mark Davis states that Seven Days employs drivers who distribute its various free publications at self-serve, drop-off spots. For at least…
Eat This Week, August 2 to 8, 2017: Dinner at the Forum
As the Vermont Fresh Network celebrates its 21st birthday, it’s uncorking some of Vermont’s finest local spirits for its annual fundraiser. Graze baked treats, local cheeses, wines, and just-picked heirloom fruits and vegetables during the cocktail hour, then tuck in for a “farm-to-bar” dinner: You’ll pair plates from the chefs at Bistro de Margot, Bar…
Album Review: Lord Silky, ‘We Used to Be Friends’
(Knitting My Doom Records, digital download) I don’t know about you, but I have a sort of lever in my head. Some part of my subconscious activates it, and the specific purpose of the lever is to adjust my brain for shifting dynamics in music. Say, if a DJ plays some Fleet Foxes on the…
Conflict Brews Between Charlotte Hops Farm and Its Neighbors
In a former hayfield off Route 7 in Charlotte, mammoth tractors have been churning up the earth in recent days, digging drainage ditches and irrigation ponds. Property owner Peter Briggs will soon install 18-foot-tall trellises and seed the first two acres of hops, the flowery climbing plant used to flavor beer. It’s time, he said,…
Movie Review: Spy Flick ‘Atomic Blonde’ Is a Blast
Charlize Theron has made movies for more than half her earthly existence. Over 22 years, the actress has demonstrated a proficiency in multiple forms and an affinity for challenging, culturally significant projects, among them Monster (for which she earned an Oscar), North Country, In the Valley of Elah and The Burning Plain. Recently, however, the…
Reuben Jackson’s Mysterious Friend Is a Facebook Hit
Reuben Jackson is best known to Vermonters as the velour-voiced host of “Friday Night Jazz” on Vermont Public Radio. The 60-year-old native of Washington, D.C., is a jazz scholar and aficionado; he worked for 20 years as curator of the Duke Ellington Collection at the Smithsonian Institution and has critical bylines in numerous prestigious publications.…
Movie Review: ‘A Ghost Story’ Explores a Different Kind of Horror
As a horror fan, I’m always fascinated by the rare haunted-house movie told from the haunter’s perspective. Given that these films are powered by our fear of the uncontrollable unknown, the ghost’s side of the story isn’t likely to be that scary. It might be funny, like Beetlejuice; or sentimental, like Ghost. Or, like writer-director…
David Blittersdorf Bets on Vermont Commuter Rail
Despite its name, rapid transit almost never has a speedy beginning. A typical new commuter rail system starts with months or years of transportation studies. Consultants’ reports, political wrangling, and the securing of state and federal funds follow before any equipment is purchased or any infrastructure built. But Williston entrepreneur David Blittersdorf, CEO of AllEarth…
Art Review: ‘UNBOUND Vol. vii’ at ArtisTree Gallery
Described as an exhibit for art lovers and bibliophiles, “UNBOUND Vol. VII” at ArtisTree Community Arts Center & Gallery in South Pomfret also finds an audience beyond those groups. Artists Barbara Bartlett and Adrian Tans, who is also the gallery director, helped launch the annual juried exhibit seven years ago in conjunction with Woodstock’s Bookstock…
What’s Up With That Wild Yard on Shelburne Road?
Most of Burlington’s residential lawns are well kept. On any given weekend afternoon, the city’s neighborhoods are abuzz with the sounds of gas-powered mowers and weed whackers, even the signature rattle of the odd push reel. But, while most homeowners are busy keeping their grass at bay, one prominently located home in Burlington’s South End…
Vermont Cheesemakers Win Big at National Awards
Vermont cheesemakers took home 38 awards at the American Cheese Society’s annual competition in Denver last week. Only Wisconsin and California bested the Green Mountain State’s showing, with 119 and 51 award-winning cheeses, respectively. Spring Brook Farm/Farms for City Kids’ Tarentaise Reserve took top honors for Best in Show, while Jasper Hill Farm’s Harbison nabbed…
Trial by Campfire: Braving the Great Outdoors — With Kids
We’d been checked into Little River State Park campground for just 10 minutes, and already my children were covered in dirt. Four-year-old Levi rolled around on the ground, wrapped in the blanket intended for 10-month-old George, who laid stomach-down in his own patch of earth, placidly scooping pine needles into his mouth. Meanwhile, my husband…
Beyond Ben & Jerry’s: Even More Frozen Treats for Summer
It’s high summer, and between the hot and muggy weather and the current political situation, we could all use a little something chill. In the immortal words of Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love”: “You need cooling, baby, I’m not fooling.” So we went out to find you a fix. Plenty of places scoop ice cream,…
The Blue Stone to Open Third Pizza Place, in Montpelier
The Blue Stone will open its third pizza restaurant in Washington County by the end of the week — this one at 83 Main Street in Montpelier, said co-owner Vinny Petrarca. The new Blue Stone, renovated by the owners, will seat about 35 people and take over the space that was home to Coffee Corner…
