April 20 • 2016
Politicians Pass the Buck on EB-5 Debacle; Can Vermont’s Farm-to-Table Restaurants Survive?; Muslim Girls Slam Stereotypes at Poetry Competition
Cover Story
How Can Farm-to-Table Restaurants Survive?
It’s October in Dorset. Against a steep ridge in the hills above town, Eben Proft kills pheasants at Someday Farm. He plucks their feathers but leaves their bodies intact, entrails and all. From here, some of the birds journey 20-odd miles to SoLo Farm & Table in South Londonderry. Others travel north to Winooski, where…
Empire State-ment: Clinton Trounces Sanders in Crucial NY Primary
Brooklyn-born Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) suffered a crushing defeat Tuesday in the Empire State’s make-or-break presidential primary, falling to rival Democrat Hillary Clinton 58 to 42 percent. After two weeks of hand-to-hand combat in New York’s unforgiving media market, the senator from Vermont found himself even further behind Clinton in the race for delegates, with…
Free Will Astrology (4/20/16)
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): The ancient Greek geographer Pausanias told a story about how the famous poet Pindar got his start. One summer day, young Pindar decided to walk from his home in Thebes to a city 20 miles away. During his trek, he got tired and lay down to take a nap by the…
Cartoonist Veterans Project Releases Comics Anthology
It’s sheer coincidence that both the Center for Cartoon Studies and Vermont’s only VA Medical Center call White River Junction home. At first glance, veterans and young cartoonists might seem to have little in common. Yet a new comics anthology published this week indicates they’re not so disconnected after all. To produce the collection, titled…
Letters to the Editor (4/20/16)
He’s a Hero I am writing to voice my opinion about Tom Murphy’s battle against bullying [“The Good Fight,” March 30]. It’s wonderful that he is willing to help with such a big problem in America. Some people may feel that he is merely doing this for publicity or money, but I believe that is…
Chill, Don’t Drill
“This seems like a safe town,” observed my customer. He was a middle-aged guy dressed high-end casual. His sneakers, for example, looked appropriate for the deck of a yacht. That kind of casual. “What would you say?” he asked his cabdriver. It was college-tour time, when high school seniors visit potential schools. Picture loose squadrons…
![Tir Asleen Burlington Dagorhir [SIV440]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sevendaysvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/episode440.webp?resize=1200%2C900&ssl=1)
Tir Asleen Burlington Dagorhir [SIV440]
4/16/16: Chainmail, elf ears and foam weapons of all shapes and sizes were on display Saturday at Oakledge Park in Burlington. The season opener of Tir Asleen Burlington Dagorhir (pronounced “dagger here”) brought together players from all over New England, New York and Pennsylvania. Dagorhir is a full contact medieval foam fighting club that was…
Jesse Royal on Roots Reggae and Growing Up With the Marleys
Jamaica’s Jesse Royal is an increasingly prominent figure in the recent roots-reggae revival, a movement that also includes Chronixx, Kabaka Pyramid and Protoje, among many others. Seen as a rejection of the superficial sounds and themes of dancehall, the revival harks back to origins of reggae as protest and struggle music in the 1960s and…
36 Hours in Newport
Originally published July 10, 2013. The state’s northernmost city, better known for its economic struggles than its leisurely pursuits, has been generating mostly positive news of late. Chief promoter of this land of plenty is Bill Stenger, president and CEO of Jay Peak Resort. He’s been utilizing the federal EB-5 program — which gives green…
Artist Profile: Sculptor Mark Eliot Schwabe
Perhaps you’ve seen him around Burlington: a stocky guy with neatly trimmed beard, often wearing a black top hat and suspenders over a button-down shirt and too-short black pants. Handmade metal art objects decorate his quirky attire: gleaming cuff links in bronze and steel; and an inch-long bronze and pewter pin resembling a steam-powered blimp…
Stylist Amanda Moshovetis Talks Curly
Name: Amanda Moshovetis Town: Williston Job: Owner, Curly Girl Salon Sitting in her cozy salon, Amanda Moshovetis sounds as much like a psychologist as a hair expert. She has to coax curly clients out of their fear and skepticism. She has to convince them that she knows how to handle mane waves, is well versed…
Taco Pop-Up Tortilla Closes Down
About a month ago, we wrote about Tortilla, a pop-up taco shop in Stowe. While the tacos weren’t authentic per se, they were well done. We’re sad to report that Tortilla’s owners, Audrey Hollingsworth, 23, and Anthony Krill, 30, have decided to close up shop for now. Their tacos will no longer pop up at…
State Struggles to Offer Big Opportunities at Small Schools
Austin Pellegrino, a junior at Whitcomb High School in Bethel, thinks he wants to be a graphic artist. But the friendly teen said his small school doesn’t offer any classes that would help him explore that field. Lydia Morris, also in eleventh grade at Whitcomb, wants to take Advanced Placement English next year — but…
Salvation Farms’ Programs Turn Surplus Into Plenty
Fourteen percent of Vermonters go hungry on a regular basis; one in four routinely visits a food shelf or meal-service site. Meanwhile, thousands of pounds of edible fruits and vegetables are plowed back into the fields on Vermont farms each year. Morrisville-based Salvation Farms wants to change that. Founded and directed by Theresa Snow, the…
The Archives Arcade + Alcohol = Game Changer
When you enter the Archives, downtown Burlington’s new classic-game arcade, the first console you see is Tapper. The 1983 game, in which a garter-sleeved bartender must keep up with his patrons’ increasingly frenzied demands for mugs of beer, is an apt and savvy choice for a gateway game here. It brings together the Archives’ two…
A Man’s Fatal Overdose Prompts His Family to Go Public
Sean Stem hadn’t lived long in the Winooski apartment where he died. Police found needles along with his body on March 29, according to Stem’s family, and came to the conclusion that he overdosed. The longtime Burlington-area resident was 26 years old. Sean was one of more than 120 Vermonters felled by opiate overdoses since…
Female Muslim Slam Poets Challenge Stereotypes
Balkisa Abdikadir is rarely at a loss for words. The 15-year-old sophomore talks at top speed, and often excitedly. But last Wednesday evening at the Young Writers Project office in Burlington, Balkisa simply stared at the poem she had written, titled “Home.” “When you crave something, what’s another word for it?” she asked. “‘Hunger,’ ‘long,’…
Musician Bobby Gosh Talks Marijuana in New Memoir
At 80, Brookfield resident Bobby Gosh can look back on a long, rich lifetime as a musician. He began studying classical piano at age 6; 10 years later, he was touring nationally with the hit singer Kitty Kallen. He’s written hundreds of songs for notables in the music biz, including Billy Joel and Barbra Streisand,…
UVM’s Cannabis Class Fires Up Interest in Science
Monique McHenry begins her Tuesday afternoon cannabis class, held on the fourth floor of the University of Vermont’s Waterman Building, with a question. “Let me have a show of hands. Has anyone in here studied plants or taken a plant biology course?” Only a few arms go up. The showing is better when McHenry asks…
A Dialogue With Dots in Bill McDowell Artist Book
In Robert Louis Stevenson’s adventure novel Treasure Island, a pirate is given the “black spot” — a black dot on paper — to symbolize a guilty verdict, which most likely means his death sentence. The simple mark is imbued with horror. In his new book Ground: A Reprise of Photographs From the Farm Security Administration,…
Fearless Gardening at Rocky Dale
Delicate white snowdrops and purple dwarf irises bloom in the April sunshine. The scent of green things pushing out of the warming earth fills the air. The first whiff of spring is intoxicating on a recent visit to Rocky Dale Gardens, a display garden and plant nursery in Bristol. The 1856 farmstead property tucked against…
Burlington Writers Workshop Celebrates New Anthology
On Friday, April 29, the BCA Center will open its doors to artists who specialize in the written word. The Burlington Writers Workshop is throwing a launch party for The Best of the Burlington Writers Workshop 2016, its annual compilation of poetry, short fiction and nonfiction by member writers. The event celebrates not only the…
Soundbites: Hip-Hop Hat Trick; Grand Point North Lineup Announced
It’s a good week to be a hip-hop fan in Burlington. Especially if you’re a hip-hop fan in Burlington who frequents a certain iconic nightclub with gravy fries and a spinning sign. This week Nectar’s and Club Metronome will jointly host a trio of intriguing hip-hop shows. The first comes on Wednesday, April 20 —…
Born to Be Blue
“All biopics are works of fiction,” asserted Ethan Hawke after the screening of Robert Budreau’s latest film at South by Southwest. The actor was addressing the writer-director’s decision to approach the story of Chet Baker using a blend of fact and fantasy. Born to Be Blue is billed as an “anti-biopic.” On the one hand,…
Two New Chefs in the Kitchen at Storm Café
The Storm Café in Middlebury has brought on not one, but two new chefs, and that’s just one of the recent changes at the restaurant, which bills itself as serving “innovative American cuisine.” Talmage Jestice, 37, and John D’Avignon, 35, will relieve owner John Hughes, who has been running the kitchen for the past nine…
Grant in Hand, SEABA Aims to Art Up a Crosswalk
A crosswalk in the South End is getting a makeover this summer, courtesy of a grant that the South End Arts and Business Association recently received from the Vermont Community Foundation. The so-called “Small and Inspiring” award cashes in at $1,500. SEABA will use it to commission a local artist to create a mural for…
Rumblecat, ‘Til the Neighbors Shout
(Self-released, CD, digital download) Rumblecat have been bouncing around the local scene for about three years now. They’ve maintained a fairly low profile in that time, existing primarily as a bar band plying their trade at various juke joints and watering holes around the state. Recently, however, the group has begun to gain some traction…
Kingdom Comedown: A Breach of Trust in a State That Wanted to Believe
In February 2012, a Florida immigration broker named Douglas Hulme sent a troubling email to his associates in the industry. For the previous five years, Hulme’s firm, Rapid USA Visas, had worked closely with Jay Peak Resort to bring foreign investment to Vermont’s rural Northeast Kingdom. But those days, he said, were over. “Rapid USA…
Tyler Mast & Paradise Divide, Stereo Esteria
(Self-released, digital download) The last 12 months or so have been good to fans of local jazz and its various offshoots. Releases from the likes of Audrey Bernstein and Hot Box Honey, among others, have kept local hepcats swinging and (be)bopping after some lean years for jazz releases in Vermont. Though Stereo Esteria is really…
Midnight Special
It’s a cliché to say that Midnight Special is a movie for people who care more about the journey than the destination. But since the new film from writer-director Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter, Mud) works best as a very strange road-trip movie, that cliché feels apropos. On the page, the film offers almost no new…
I’m in Love With a Girl But Don’t Want to Scare Her Off
Dear Athena, I think I’m in love with this girl I know, but I’m not sure whether or not I should tell her. We don’t really know each other that well, but we see each other regularly. The weird thing is that I feel it so strongly — more than any other relationship situation I’ve…
In a Year of Change, Lawmakers Ponder: Is It Time to Retire?
Rep. David Deen (D-West-minster) thought he’d decided that this would be his last year in the legislature. The 71-year-old has been coming to the Statehouse every winter for 28 years. “That’s a long time,” he said. Deen, an avid angler, has a bucket list of fishing spots best visited during the legislative session: Belize, the…
ArtsRiot Staffs Up and Launches Food Truck
Last winter, ArtsRiot chef George Lambertson debuted a new menu concept, the eatery’s third in as many years. And lately, Burlington’s food community has been positively abuzz about it. The bill of fare changes nightly and features dishes such as spicy beef salad — made with raw sirloin, shiitake mushrooms and avocado dressed in tangy, chile-soaked…
In Search of the Mightiest Mac and Cheese
Macaroni and cheese is without doubt one of the best comfort foods. While this week’s weather has finally warmed up a bit, the chilly early spring had me craving bowls of the carb-y goodness. Yet mac and cheese is versatile and pairs well with all of Vermont’s seasons — just look at the number of…
My Farmers Market Opens in South Ryegate
A hundred years ago, South Ryegate was a depot town, home to markets, restaurants and a strong business community. But in the last century, businesses fled the Northeast Kingdom’s southeastern terminus, and locals have been hard-pressed to find fresh food in town. That changed earlier this month when My Farmers Market opened in a former…
