Apr 30 – May 6, 2014
The Vermont Statehouse Is Crawling With Lobbyists, What Does That Mean for Our Democracy?; Vermonters Face Waste Regulations; Seven Bands to Watch at Waking Windows 4; Restaurant Week Reviews
Cover Story
The Vermont Statehouse is Crawling With Lobbyists; What Does That Mean For Our Democracy?
Most days, it’s tough to make it 15 feet in the nation’s smallest statehouse without bumping into one of its most curious denizens: the Vermont lobbyist. They are everywhere you look: crammed into committee rooms, holding court in the cafeteria and chatting up lawmakers at the capitol urinals. And yet, their outsize role in Vermont’s…
Obituary: Isabelle (Barbara) Hall Fiske Calhoun, 1919-2014, Rochester
Isabelle (Barbara) Fiske Calhoun, 94, painter, cartoonist, and cocreator of Quarry Hill Creative Center (Community), died April 28, 2014, at Brookside Nursing Home in White River Junction. She was born in Tucson, Arizona, on September 9, 1919, daughter of an old Southern family, patriots during the Revolutionary War. A great-uncle, Charles S. Venable, was Robert…
Obituary: Michael J. Thomas
Michael J. Thomas, 60, a resident of Swanton and the Franklin County area for most of his lifetime, passed away unexpectedly Tuesday, May 1, 2014 at his home following an illness of many years. Michael was born in St. Albans June 17, 1953 the son of William Thomas Sr. and the late Mary Ouimette Thomas.…
Obituary: Paul A. Airoldi
Paul A. Airoldi, 44, a lifelong resident of this community, passed away unexpectedly Wednesday, April 30, 2014. Born in St. Albans January 9, 1970, Paul was the son of the late Herve Airoldi, Sr. and Lise LeBlanc Airoldi. He went to elementary school in Highgate, was a 1988 graduate of Missisquoi Valley Union High School…
Nat Baldwin Talks Bass, Basketball and His New Album, In the Hollows
On his new record, Nat Baldwin wanted to find consistency. Written while the Dirty Projectors bassist was training for a marathon at his home in Kittery, Maine, In the Hollows is a product of his twin passions: art and athletics. Baldwin would train in the morning, immerse himself in the novels of Nabokov, Ben Marcus…
The Other Woman
Everybody makes mistakes. Take Nick Cassavetes. It’s not his fault that John Cassavetes, the father of independent filmmaking, was his father, too. Given that he didn’t inherit an iota of Dad’s talent, however, it probably wasn’t the greatest idea to go into the family business. At the same time, Cassavetes seems to have made more…
Bow Thayer and Perfect Trainwreck, Eden: Live at the Chandler
(Self-released, CD, digital download) It’s sort of hard to fathom why Eden: Live at the Chandler by Bow Thayer and Perfect Trainwreck exists on its own. Recorded at the Chandler Music Hall in Randolph in January 2013 and released in late April 2014, the live album captures the band playing its then-unreleased 2013 record Eden…
Seven Bands to Watch at Waking Windows 4
Now in its fourth year, Waking Windows has become one of Vermont’s premier music festivals and quite possibly the state’s coolest. Curated by the taste makers at Angioplasty Media and MSR Presents, this year’s lineup features showcases helmed by the likes of experimental microlabel NNA Tapes, hardcore punk label Get Stoked! Records and indie collective…
Cam Will, Winter Left Its Lights On
(Self-released, vinyl, digital download) Cameron Boyd doesn’t have a backstory typical of most local musicians. The New Jersey native was a child actor whose primary claim to fame was a recurring role on the HBO drama The Sopranos, in addition to work in commercials, film and even a stint on Broadway. Fortunately, Boyd’s story doesn’t…
Alleged Winooski Heroin Dealer Says Cops Exaggerated Her Role
Yes, she sells heroin. Deirdre Hey doesn’t deny it, has no plans to stop and is willing — even eager — to explain why. Sitting at her kitchen table in the Winooski apartment police have raided twice in recent weeks, she wanted to make one thing clear: Investigators have exaggerated her influence, said the 47-year-old grandmother, by…
Obituary: Paul McRae Routly, 1926-2014, Rockville, MD
Paul McRae Routly — husband, astrophysicist, teacher, father, friend and life of the party — passed away on Friday, May 2, after 88 years on the third planet from the sun. Congestive heart failure defeated him — but not without a fight: At 59, he survived a massive stroke that left him permanently disabled; less…
Short Takes on Film: ‘The Den’; “Makin’ Friends With Ryan Miller”
Native Vermonter Zachary Donohue is getting buzz among fright fans for his new horror flick The Den, released theatrically by IFC Midnight in March and currently available on video on demand. “A Rear Window for the Internet generation, The Den is a horror film that manages to find a clever new way to employ the…
Letters to the Editor (4/30/14)
Mind Your Own Business [Re Feedback: “The Fag Rag,” March 12 and “Ad Is Appalling,” April 2]: I cannot understand why people like Brian King write to the paper with their shorts all in a knot over what people solicit in the personals. It’s like a classified advertisement for an automobile, for Chrissakes; if you…
Vermont Folklife Center and Filmmaker Mira Niagolova Portray ‘New Neighbors’
Vermont isn’t quite a melting pot, but its cultural and ethnic profile has significantly broadened in recent decades, particularly in the Burlington area. The efforts of the Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program have ensured that the state is no longer just a reflection of its license plates: green and white. Many of the refugees, or so-called…
Going Locavore at Waking Windows 4
After months of anticipation, we’re finally on the verge of what I’ve referred to more than a few times as the coolest music festival in Vermont, Waking Windows 4. I, for one, am relieved. For starters, this year’s lineup is rigoddamndiculous and I’m anxious for the fun to start. For another thing, I’ve been pimping…
Obituary: Margaret Theresa (McKenna) Fraga, 1915-2014, South Burlington
Margaret Theresa (McKenna) Fraga passed away May 3, 2014, at Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington. Vt. She was born June 6, 1915, in New Bedford, Mass., to Charles and Elizabeth (Quirk) McKenna. She was one of 11 brothers and sisters. Margaret married Louis Fraga in 1945 in St Lawrence Church in New Bedford. She was a member of…
Belted Cow Closes; McGillicuddy’s and Café CMAC Open
“We had to make hard decisions to decide if we can go into May,” says John Delpha, chef and co-owner of the Belted Cow Bistro in Essex Junction. “We can’t.” Delpha and wife and co-owner Caitlin Bilodeau will close their restaurant after a final casual dinner service on April 30. Though the Belted Cow has…
Too Cool for School Consolidation? A Final Fight as the Legislature Wraps Up
With a week and a half to go before adjournment, the Vermont legislature is doing what it normally does this time of year: all the work it meant to do months ago. Like students facing down finals, lawmakers are racing to find consensus on the bills they feel must pass — and abandoning those beyond…
Free Will Astrology (4/30/14)
ARIES (March 21-April 19): “Dear Astrologer: We Aries people have an intense fire burning inside us. It’s an honor and a privilege. We’re lucky to be animated with such a generous share of the big energy that gives life to all of nature. But sometimes the fire gets too wild and strong for us. We…
UVM’s Complex Systems Symposium Lives Up To Its Name
We’re living in a data-rich world. Many of the devices and tools we use daily collect information about us — think smartphones, Fitbits and web browsers. And we’re sharing our data with each other at an unprecedented rate. Twitter users alone generate more than 50 million tweets per day. This information explosion — aka Big…
Greenwich Mean Time
“You know where I live, right?” Tom asked, plopping into the shotgun seat. “Sure do,” I replied. “At the Brickyard.” Tom was a guy I’d driven home perhaps once a month over the past year. Though I’m certain I’ve given him a card, he has never once called for a ride; rather, he just manages…
News Quirks (4/30/14)
Curses, Foiled Again Authorities in Orange County, Calif., identified Franc Cano, 27, and Steven Dean Gordon, 45, as suspected serial killers because the two paroled sex offenders were wearing GPS trackers that placed them at the scene of four murders. “That was one of the investigative tools we used to put the case together,” Anaheim…
Wayne E. Beam
The entire family of Wayne Beam would like to thank everyone for their support during our recent loss, especially the Tinker family, Minor Funeral Home, Reverand Jeff Cornwell at the United Church of Milton, Transition II, and everyone from Higher Ground.
Theater Review: The Quarry
For actors and audience alike, a play’s premiere can be an invitation to strike out into new terrain. In offering the world premiere of Greg Pierce’s The Quarry, Vermont Stage Company has taken chances with a brand-new work while relying on the solid talents of a four-member cast — three of whom depict multiple characters.…
Art Review: Judith Vivell
It’s a brave contemporary artist who sets out to render large-scale likenesses of exotic and glamorous birds. The work will inevitably be compared with that of John James Audubon (1785-1851), whose life-size drawings and watercolors of 497 species, reproduced as prints in The Birds of America, endure as an unparalleled achievement of art and ornithology.…
I Really Like This Girl But the Sexual Chemistry Is Off
Dear Athena, I’m sort of new to dating. I just came out of the closet a few years ago, and I haven’t really had a serious relationship — until now. This girl I’m with is really cool and sexy and fun to be around. We’ve been hanging out more and more and I really like…
Randal Pierce Scores Brother’s Play The Quarry
One of the first observations that Vermont Stage Company audiences surely make when the lights come up on The Quarry is that there’s a guy onstage seated at a quilt-wrapped piano. That’s Randal Pierce, and his job is to play interludes and accompaniments to the scenes unfolding onstage. Pierce, 31, is the brother of playwright…
Mandatory Composting: Coming Soon to a Trash Can Near You
Hold on to your apple cores, Vermonters: Starting this summer, the state is making big changes in the way it manages food waste. Two years ago, lawmakers passed Act 148, also called the Universal Recycling law, and Vermont became the first state to enact an all-out ban on food scraps in landfills. The new rules,…
Pilobolus is ‘Still Moving,’ 40 Years Later
In 1971, a group of athletes with no prior dance experience launched the now-acclaimed modern dance company Pilobolus on the grassy, manicured fields of Dartmouth College. Inspired by a single class taught by dancer Alison Chase (who, a few years later, became one of Pilobolus’ members along with Robby Barnett, Martha Clarke, Lee Harris, Moses…
Obituary: Marjorie I. (Griffith) Wood, 1925-2014, Milton
Marjorie Wood of Milton, VT passed away on Thursday May 1, 2014 in St. Albans, VT. Marge was born in Olean, NY in 1925, The daughter of Gerald Griffith and Marjorie McDivitt. She graduated from American International College and Boston University earning a Master’s Degree in Social Work. Marge had a long career as a…
The Quiet Ones
Rarely has a movie been less aptly titled than The Quiet Ones, a horror flick where roughly 85 percent of the scares consist of loud crashes, smashes, bangs and thuds. Cranking the sound levels abruptly from zero to 11 certainly makes moviegoers jump in their seats, but there’s a difference between being flustered and being…
Pascolo Ristorante Opens on Church Street
The Farmhouse Group’s fifth restaurant, Pascolo Ristorante, opens at 83 Church Street on Friday, May 2. It’s no big news that the basement restaurant will continue the company’s practice of showcasing local foods, this time in an Italian style. But what else can diners expect? Managing partner Jed Davis recently told Seven Days, “It’s going…
Seven Days Eats Vermont, and Writes About It
Vermont Restaurant Week celebrates its fifth year of prix-fixe partying this week. But don’t gift us with wood. The Seven Days staff celebrated in good taste with a tour of participating restaurants all over the state. Seven of us tied on the feedbag and trekked to one of 97 VTRW eateries to try special dishes…
