Apr 26 – May 2, 2017
Taking Stock of Burlington’s ‘Development Mayor,’ Miro Weinberger; Gibberfish Aims to Protect Activists Online; Vermont Librarian Doubles as Arabic Translator
Cover Story
Better Burg? Burlington’s ‘Development Mayor’ Makes His Case for a Third Term
Miro Weinberger may be the first mayor in Burlington history to have a stand-up desk in his office at city hall. The Queen City’s 42nd leader uses a standard sit-down desk, too, inherited from his predecessor, Bob Kiss. Weinberger said he opts for the taller workstation, which he bought from a Bellows Falls antique dealer,…
The Parmelee Post: School Mascot Weirded Out by How Much He Still Means to Man Who Graduated Four Decades Ago
Something was noticeably amiss at the South Bennington Bears’ varsity baseball game Thursday night. According to multiple accounts, the usually spry school mascot “Bobby the Battling Bear” seemed withdrawn and distant throughout Bennington’s 5-3 victory over the Wyndham Windfarms. Following a series of formal complaints, Tim Scrumbly, the South Bennington High School senior who portrays…
![Spring Amphibian Migration [SIV487]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sevendaysvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/episode487-2.webp?resize=1200%2C900&ssl=1)
Spring Amphibian Migration [SIV487]
4/19/17: Every spring, amphibians emerge from their winter woodland homes and make their way down to the marshes and ponds to breed. March through April you can see these frogs and salamanders crossing Vermont roadways en masse, risking their lives to spawn. Eva met up with a group of herp enthusiasts in Huntington to explore…
McKenzie Releases New Non-GMO Products
Balancing tradition and change is nothing new for McKenzie Natural Artisan Deli, Vermont’s 110-year-old meat-and-cheese biz. Still headquartered in Burlington, it has been owned by Massachusetts-based Kayem Foods Incorporated since 1999. While McKenzie’s conventional Country Classics products remain part of its bread and butter, the company is now putting its bucks into building a line…
Gibberfish Aims to Protect Activists Online
Brian O’Donnell says he’s never organized political rallies, attended protests or joined social justice movements. As he puts it, “It’s not really my style.” But in recent months, the 38-year-old information technology professional and Burlington resident realized that his cybersecurity skills might be useful to activists who are trying to make the world a better…
Major Jackson Heads Up Obama Tribute, in Poetry
As the tenure of the first black president of the United States came to a close, Vermont poet Major Jackson felt compelled to commemorate the significant event. Jackson is a professor at the University of Vermont and poetry editor of the prestigious Harvard Review. True to his calling, he set about composing a poem. But,…
Let’s Grow Kids’ ‘Dream Team’ Lobbies for Early Education Dollars
Trisha Scharf had never met her state representative until she traveled to the Statehouse on Good Friday and introduced herself to Rep. Linda Myers (R-Essex). “I’m here to give you my story,” the Essex resident told Myers as they sat at a Statehouse cafeteria table. Scharf was armed with a folder full of petitions that…
Art Review: Pam Brown, Castleton Downtown Gallery
In recent months, Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale has garnered renewed fame and attention, not least because of Hulu’s forthcoming series adaptation. One aspect of the story likely to be lost to television is Atwood’s razor-sharp turns of phrase, which make (very) dark jokes of standard idioms in service to her feminist warning.…
Vermont Fantasy Novel ‘The Black Witch’ Sparks Internet Fury
Goodreads is a website that democratizes literature. Anyone anywhere can review a book, no degree or byline necessary. Currently, Montpelier author Laurie Forest’s debut novel, The Black Witch, has a rating of 1.9 out of five stars on the site, averaged from 1,036 ratings and more than 400 reviews. Many of the reviewers openly acknowledge…
Theater Review: ‘The Call,’ Vermont Stage
Though a play’s circumstances are only a springboard for conflict between characters, sometimes the setting captures the audience’s interest as much as the people do. Tanya Barfield’s 2013 play The Call explores becoming a parent through adoption, rooting a personal choice in a cultural context. Adoption today presents questions of economic privilege and cross-cultural identification,…
Free Will Astrology (4/26/17)
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): “One of the advantages of being disorderly,” said author A.A. Milne, “is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries.” I wouldn’t normally offer this idea as advice to a methodical dynamo like you. But my interpretation of the astrological omens compels me to override my personal theories about what you need. I…
Album Review: HatePH34R, ‘Thorazine Dreams’
(Self-released, CD, digital download) New Hampshire artist HatePH34R — pronounced “Hate Fear”— brings something seldom heard in these parts with his debut EP, Thorazine Dreams: rap metal. If you’re thinking of Rage Against the Machine or Limp Bizkit, this is a very different animal. HatePH34R, also known as Barre expat Jesse Gardner, is a former…
Listless in the Legislature: Why Has the 2017 Session Been So Sleepy?
A tri-partisan group of lawmakers lingered last week at a table in the Statehouse cafeteria as the noon hour waned. Democrat Dylan Giambatista of Essex Junction, Progressive Robin Chesnut-Tangerman of Middletown Springs and Republican Kurt Wright of Burlington had finished lunch, but they were in no hurry to head into the House chamber for the…
Milton Artists’ Guild Unveils New Gallery
In 1988, Milton-area artists Lorinda Henry, Lorraine Manley and Kathleen Redman founded the Milton Artists’ Guild. Almost 30 years later, the northwestern Vermont nonprofit celebrates its first-ever semipermanent home, taking up residence for one year in a 6,270-square-foot commercial space. On Saturday, May 6, Gov. Phil Scott will do the ribbon-cutting honors at a grand-opening ceremony.…
Movie Review: ‘The Lost City of Z’ Takes Viewers on a Journey
In movies, when white men venture into the jungle, they typically end up doing mad or bad things there. From Aguirre, the Wrath of God to Fitzcarraldo to Apocalypse Now, modern films have turned stories of bold “explorers” on their heads to expose a legacy of brutal colonialism. Stylistically, James Gray’s The Lost City of…
Theater Review: ‘Judevine,’ Lost Nation Theater
David Budbill’s Judevine is drama with the harmony of a choral work; poetry built of clothing, posture and accent; spectacle found in the jumble of a junk shop’s wares; tragedy bolted to poverty and comedy born of haplessness. It’s swearing, bitching and moaning, some of it aimed right at its Vermont setting. It’s the humor…
Do No Harm: New Rules Discourage Overprescribing Opiates
More than 60 physicians gathered in a Rutland Regional Medical Center conference room last week to hear Vermont Department of Health officials describe new rules for prescribing opiates. Starting July 1, Vermont doctors and dentists can no longer put patients on the powerful painkillers, including OxyContin and Vicodin, after most minor injuries or simple procedures…
Album Review: Alexis, ‘Full Throttle’
(Self-released, digital download) Alexis Savino is a jack-of-all-trades. The multidisciplinary creator grew up in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, first pursuing creative exploits with Bread and Puppet Theater and starring in a couple of Jay Craven films. In fact, his teenage visage is prominently featured on the poster for Craven’s 1999 film In Jest. Savino’s website boasts…
Soundbites: Let Them Eat Cake
Holy crap. Has it really been a year since Foam Brewers joined the local arsenal of craft beer purveyors? Yup, indeed it has. The sleek Burlington lakefront brewery opened its doors on April 28, 2016. In celebration of that milestone, the Foam crew hosts a birthday bash of cuckoo proportions this weekend. The event is…
Whose Records? Public Information Law Can Be a Maze
The process of obtaining public records in Vermont is a maze of inconsistent standards and incomprehensible rulings. That’s the view of many journalists and advocates who seek such documents. “In our experience, it seems like some [officials] do not take their responsibility under the law seriously at all,” says Jay Diaz, attorney for the American…
Movie Review: ‘Free Fire’ Offers Carnage Without a Point
The latest from British filmmaker Ben Wheatley, it must be said, is thought-provoking. For 90 minutes, it provoked thoughts like, Hmm, I wonder why this guy’s famous, why a studio gave him $10 million to make a movie this stupid, why talented actors wanted to appear in it and what the hell Martin Scorsese was…
Why Does a Sign in Richmond Say ‘Understand Slavery’?
About two miles south of Route 2 in Richmond, along the winding dirt Kenyon Road, a hand-painted sign appears nailed to a tree beside an unfinished teepee. Its cryptic message reads: “Understand slavery.” As Vermont hasn’t permitted slavery since its days as an independent republic — the 1777 constitution specifically outlawed the practice — one…
Ask Athena: I’m a Gay Male, 24, and Still a Virgin
Dear Athena, I’m a gay male in Burlington, and I’m a virgin. I feel so behind in life, and I’m starting to become concerned that it will never happen. I’ve never had a relationship and have barely kissed anyone. Signed, 24 and Alone Dear 24, It will happen … if you want it to. Getting…
Overcoats’ Hana Elion and JJ Mitchell on Friendship, College and Their New Album, ‘Young’
Hana Elion and JJ Mitchell operate their band, Overcoats, with an integrated process that seems to go far beyond the norm. The two share an identical worldview and artistic vision that manifests in their creative process. Throughout Overcoats’ debut album, Young, their voices blend into harmonic perfection, disappearing into one another like shadows. The same…
Book Review: ‘Senator Leahy: A Life in Scenes’ by Philip Baruth
The new crime-fighting caper from Burlington writer Philip Baruth begins with great drama and mystery: A young woman opens an unusual envelope in a Washington, D.C., office building. A puff of poison powder fills the room. It lingers there, refusing to dissipate, and clings to the air “as if the particles themselves have acquired the…
A Vermont Librarian Who ‘Moonlights’ as Arabic Translator
Christian Collins appears to be living a double life. By day, he’s a mild-mannered American-born librarian at the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum. Off the clock, he’s a Canadian resident who uses his fluency in Arabic to help translate the short stories of Syrian writer Osama Alomar into English. Alomar immigrated to Chicago in 2008 and until…
Letters to the Editor (4/26/17)
Respect Our Home As the resident communication committee for Decker Towers, we are writing to address an article that describes our home as “looming, drab Decker Towers on St. Paul Street” [“Burlington Housing Authority Mum on Leadership Shuffle,” December 21, 2016]. This comment precipitates a stigma around the issues of illness, disabilities and low incomes.…
Dining Diaries From Vermont Restaurant Week
For many of us, a dinner date often means sharing a couple of small plates, perhaps then sharing an entrée, downing a glass of wine or beer, and calling it a night. The whole transaction might take about an hour. When was the last time you sat down and, at a leisurely pace, ate three…
Eat This Week, April 26 to May 2, 2017: Bloody Sunday
For some, a boozy brunch sets the groundwork for a solid Sunday Fun-day; for others, the midday meal can become a daylong activity. This weekend, Seven Days and the Essex Resort & Spa will host an eggy capstone event for Vermont Restaurant Week. Eight restaurants will convene at the Essex for a feast awash in…
Red House Sweets Opens Bakery in St. Albans
For the past 18 months, Red House Sweets baker Caroline Demers has been turning out croissants, scones, tarts and éclairs from her home kitchen in Fairfax. She sells them at Burlington’s Uncommon Grounds Coffee And Tea, among other cafés. Now, Demers is moving her bakery into a space at the back of Catalyst Coffee Bar,…
