Apr 27 – May 3, 2011
Can Vermont Public Television Survive in a Changing Media Landscape?; Illegal Milton Junkyard Remains Open; Judith Levine on Liberation; RL Photo Finds a Sweet Spot; Villanelles Get Gritty
Vermont Delegation Responds to Killing of Osama Bin Laden
*Updated Below with Bernie Sanders’ Comment* Al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden was killed during a firefight that erupted during a 40-minute, intense helicopter raid on Sunday, and members of Vermont’s congressional delegation reacted with a sense of relief and gratitude. Pres. Barack Obama addressed the nation around 11:30 p.m. Sunday night to announce the…
New Plot Twist in Mac Parker Film Fundraising Story
The real-life saga of storyteller Malcolm “Mac” Parker continues to prove itself a better script than the original movie that prompted his legal and financial troubles. The movie, “Birth of Innocence,” is currently only a five-minute trailer online, though a longer version is apparently screened for investors. As “Fair Game” readers may recall, Parker is…
Vermont-Based Company Was First to Record Musical “Hit” of the Royal Wedding
When Stephen Sutton of Brandon (pictured) heard a choral cycle by 35-year-old composer Paul Mealor, he liked it — enough to record it on his classical label, Divine Art. When Kate Middleton heard the work’s concert premiere, she apparently liked it, too — enough to request that Mealor’s work, “Now sleeps the crimson petal,” be…
Eating the Enemy: How to Become an Invasivore
Take a good, hard look at this picture. This is the enemy — at least if you’re a river, and especially one trying to deal with several inches of rain in the space of a few days. Invasive garlic mustard, or Alliaria petiolata, causes riverbanks to erode, and aggressively crowds out other, grippier plants with…
Vermont Supreme Court: Ballots are Public Records
Score a victory for public records. The Vermont Supreme Court ruled today that election ballots are not exempt from public inspection under the state’s public records act. The 4-1 ruling ends a more than three-year legal battle between a lone voter in Fairlee and town officials, the secretary of state and the attorney general. Justice…
Pete’s Greens Lands $300,000 Loan from State
Pete’s Greens, which is in the process of rebuilding after a devastating fire in January, walked away from Montpelier today with another large chunk of change to help the farm rebuild. The $300,000 award from the Vermont Community Development Board is officially given to Craftsbury. The town, in turn, will loan the money to…
Burlington Telecom Seeks Delay in Civil Case (Again)
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. And again. And again. And … For the sixth time, Burlington Telecom is asking Superior Court Judge Helen Toor to delay a civil court case filed by two disgruntled Burlington taxpayers. Instead of Toor, BT wants the Vermont Public Service Board to weigh in on proposed…
Statehouse Hearing Uncovers More DUI Breath-Testing Problems
**Updated below with statement from Department of Health spokesman Robert Stirewalt** New troubles are surfacing around the breath-testing devices Vermont uses to prosecute drunk drivers. In a hearing at the Statehouse Wednesday, state officials revealed that a DataMaster DMT breath-testing instrument at the South Royalton state police barracks was malfunctioning over a period of several…
Democrats and Republicans Swap Complaints Over Session Solicitations
* updated below with comments by Gov. Peter Shumlin * Vermont Republicans are asking the state’s attorney general to investigate Gov. Peter Shumlin’s alleged violation of campaign election laws by sending out fund-raising solicitations to lobbyists. In response, the Vermont Democrats have now filed a similar complaint to Sorrell’s office against the former campaign of…
Whoopi Goldberg Says “Later” to Her Vermont View
It seems as though Whoopi Goldberg, everyone’s favorite besmocked talk show host, is forsaking us. She’s pulling up the stakes at her 745-acre pad in Marlboro and hightailing it outta Vermont. According to a couple of real estate blogs, Goldberg’s spread — known as the Robinson-Winchester Farm — is on the market for an easy breezy…
New Home Found for Lakeview Group Home Residents
* updated below * A mediation session ordered by a Vermont judge may settle, amicably, an ongoing dispute over a group home run by the Howard Center for Human Services. Its landlords — the Roman Catholic Diocese of Vermont and Burlington College — want to relocate the residents, but so far, that’s been difficult to…
Burlington Zoning Case Pits Solar Panels Against Slate Roofs
On the heels of the zoning dust-up over a Burlington restaurant’s wind turbine comes another case of historic presevation vs. renewable energy. This time, it’s solar panels vs. slate roof — and the solar panels won. Bob Summers and Orly Yadin asked the city for permission to replace a portion of their slate roof at…
WTF: What’s up with the @VermontBridges Twitter feed?
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot: We just had to ask…
News Quirks
Curses, Foiled Again Dorothy McGurk, 43, was receiving $850 a month in alimony by claiming she was disabled and couldn’t work. Then ex-husband Brian McGurk discovered a blog showing the New York City woman belly dancing, as well as other Internet postings in which she wrote about dancing vigorously for several hours every day. He…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): To convey my vision of how best to proceed in the coming week, I’ll offer the following metaphorical scenario: Imagine that you are not a professional chef, but you do have a modicum of cooking skills. Your task is to create a hearty, tasty soup from scratch without the benefit of…
Main Street Museum Makes a Key Connection to St. Petersburg
David Fairbanks Ford wants your keys, and he wants to take them to Russia. If that sounds strange, you don’t know Ford and his appetite for curiosities. The founder and director of the Main Street Museum in White River Junction is constantly acquiring collections of the quirky and offbeat variety — evil-eye relics, taxidermy, tiny…
Firing Up the Bandwidth
VPR’s classical hosts woo listeners across the state — well, most of it
Letters to the Editor
Off the Money You would better serve your readers in your next money issue [April 6] if you wrote articles about the creation of money, the role of the Federal Reserve and the big banks, and the fractional reserve system. These are essential to understand so that one can balance a checkbook or take on…
Vermont Yankee Employees Out of the Loop on Relicensing?
State lawmakers aren’t the only ones who have felt left in the dark by the embattled owners of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. Some VY employees apparently felt out of the loop too. The Vernon reactor’s corporate owners, Louisiana-based Entergy Corp., sued the state of Vermont in federal court in Burlington last week seeking…
![The Vacant Lots [221]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sevendaysvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/episode221.webp?resize=400%2C300&ssl=1)
The Vacant Lots [221]
4/18/11: The Vacant Lots are a garage-psych duo that formed in Burlington during the summer of 2008. Three albums later, the band’s line-up has changed (drummer Brian MacFadyen was replaced by Frank Zammiello), but their hypnotizing sound remains as they prepare to play at the the prestigious Austin Psych Festival at the end of April.…
