Aug 1-7, 2012
Better Than a Courtroom Drama: Vermont’s Primary Race for Attorney General; Segways for the Bike Path; A Compromising Sculpture; How Digital Threatens Drive-ins
Cover Story
In Email Exchange, AG Candidates Call on Each Other to Debate More, Stop Hatin’ & Release Poll
There’s really nothing more passive aggressive in politics than the old campaign-to-campaign email exchange — cc’ing the media, of course. That tactic emerged in the Democratic race for attorney general Thursday as incumbent Bill Sorrell and challenger T.J. Donovan traded barbed requests through the press. It started in the morning with an email from Donovan…
Best natural foods market
City Market (Burlington) & Hunger Mountain Co-op (Montpelier)
Best pizza (restaurant)
American Flatbread Burlington Hearth (Burlington) & Positive Pie 2 (Montpelier)
Best Mexican restaurant
El Gato Cantina (Burlington) & The Mad Taco (Montpelier)
Best Asian restaurant
A Single Pebble (Burlington) & Royal Orchid Thai Restaurant (Montpelier)
Best restaurant if they’re paying
A Single Pebble (Burlington) & Hen of the Wood at the Grist Mill (Waterbury)
Best restaurant if you’re paying
American Flatbread (Burlington) & Sarducci's (Montpelier)
2012 Vermont Tech Jam Awards
The Vermont Technology Alliance is now accepting nominations for the second annual Vermont Tech Jam awards; the deadline for entries is Friday, September 20, at 5 p.m. Please choose a category for your nomination: Innovation Award The award will be presented to the individual or business with the most innovative new product, application of technology, or…
Protestors Block Crane Path at Lowell Wind Project (VIDEO)
Updated below — Six protesters arrested for blocking road. After gathering at 5 a.m. this morning, a group of 20 or so “mountain occupiers” hiked to the ridge of Lowell Mountain to block construction of wind turbines. Their plan: Camp out in the crane path — a crucial thoroughfare for construction at Green Mountain Power’s…
Movies You Missed 50: The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister
This week in movies you missed: What if a Jane Austen character were a lesbian? What You Missed It’s 1815. Anne Lister (Maxine Peake, of the UK show “Shameless”) is the heiress to a great Yorkshire estate, where she lives with her aged aunt and uncle. Like all eligible single ladies in Regency England, she…
Donovan Discloses Polling Questions — At Least to Reporters
Seeking to put behind him allegations that his campaign engaged in push polling, Chittenden County State’s Attorney T.J. Donovan on Friday provided reporters with a fleeting glimpse of the poll in question. Donovan’s campaign set restrictions on how the press could report on the poll. Reporters were allowed to view the poll’s questions during a…
Chief Schirling Says Pic ‘Clearly’ Shows Protester Reached for Cop’s Baton, Photographer Disputes Chief’s Version
Updated below: Chief Schirling retracts statement, apologizes for mistake. Does this photograph show a protester from Sunday’s clash with Burlington police grabbing a cop’s baton? Burlington Police Chief Michael Schirling said on Vermont Public Radio’s “Vermont Edition” today that the photo — snapped by Dylan Kelley and posted online at Seven Days — “clearly” shows…
ACLU Asks Police to Disclose How They’re Using Data Gathered From VT Drivers
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Vermont has called on local law enforcement agencies to disclose how they’re using, sharing and storing data gathered automatically from passing motorists on Vermont’s highways. This week, the ACLU of Vermont joined affiliates in 34 other states in requesting information on police use of automated license plate readers,…
Slamming Shumlin on FEMA Funding, Brock Makes Irene a Campaign Issue
If you thought Tropical Storm Irene wouldn’t become a political football this campaign season, think again. At a hastily-called press conference Wednesday morning on the flood-damaged campus of the Waterbury State Office Complex, Sen. Randy Brock (pictured) took a direct shot at the crowning achievement of Gov. Peter Shumlin’s first term: his administration’s response to…
2012 Guide to Readers’ Picks
Something smelled fishy about this year’s Daysies results. After counting the nearly 7000 ballots, we noticed some strange new winners. Don’t get us wrong — there’s nothing we love more than doling out new Daysies, but these were suspicious. We’d never heard of Liquid: Hair for Men in Burlington, which had ostensibly snagged the Daysie…
After Sunday’s Tumult, Activists and Authorities Agree on Need for ‘Conversation’
The confrontation that occurred on Sunday between some protesters and authorities is now giving way to expressions of cooperation by both sides. Jonathan Leavitt (pictured at left in photo), who says he received 19 bruises from police pellets fired during Sunday’s demonstration on College Street, called for a public dialogue with police and city officials.…
Mayor Weinberger Holds Photo Op, But Not a Question Op
Updated below with apology from mayoral assistant Mike Kanarick. On Monday, Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger’s office alerted the local press to a “photo opportunity” that would take place on the back steps of City Hall at 9:40 a.m. the following morning. The occasion was the prelude to the mayor’s first formal meeting with both Fletcher…
‘Occupy’ Photographer Gets Close-Up of Burlington Pepper-Spraying
Vermont photographer Dylan Kelley was in the middle of the action Sunday when police dressed in riot gear fired pepper spray and “stingball pellets” into a crowd of protesters at the conference of New England governors and eastern Canadian premiers. His pictures are some of the most arresting images to emerge from a melee that…
Survival of the Fittest
An East Calais outdoors school revives the art of Stone Age subsistence
News Quirks
Curses, Foiled Again At least five people in Arizona face charges for operating an illegal horse track, where up to 300 people would pay $10 to attend the three-horse, 200-yard races. Illegal betting was rampant, according to Mark Brnovich, director of the Arizona Gaming Department. The track at Pantoji operated in full view of Interstate…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): The astrological omens suggest that you now have a lot in common with the legendary Most Interesting Man in the World — adventurous, unpredictable, interesting, lucky, one-of-a-kind. To create your horoscope, I have therefore borrowed a few selected details from his ad campaign’s descriptions of him. Here we go: In the…
WTF: The Abraham Lincoln sculpture at the Bennington Museum: What’s wrong with this picture?
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot: We just had to ask…
![The Shoe Lady [277]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sevendaysvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/episode277.webp?resize=400%2C300&ssl=1)
The Shoe Lady [277]
7/28/12: John’s Shoe Shop North in Richmond is closing its doors after 22 years of being in business. Owner Cindy Feloney is a third generation shoe expert and her grandfather John Plesniarski opened the first John’s Shoe Shop in Burlington in 1919. Mayfred and Judy Plesniarski, Feloney’s parents, ran the second John’s Shoe Shop in…
Wreck Detective
Work: Trooper Owen Ballinger, Vermont State Police Crash Reconstruction Team
Letters to the Editor
Once a Subscriber We were Burlington Free Press subscribers for many years, but a year or two ago, I noticed declining news coverage in the paper [“Not-So-Free Press, July 11]. By last winter, we were getting better local, state, national and international news coverage from many other local sources. I want a newspaper to cover…
An Anti-Climactic Protest Bids Govs and Canadian Premiers Adieu from Burlington
Corrected below regarding the Burlington police presence. What one Occupy agitator had billed earlier in the day as “an awesome action” turned out to be an anti-climactic fizzle on Monday evening. About 30 demonstrators briefly jeered a convoy of New England governors and Canadian premiers exiting the U.S. Coast Guard station on the Burlington waterfront following…
