Aug 24-30, 2011
College Professors Answer the Dreaded Back-to-School Question; Pete’s Greens Puts the Donations to Work; Mountain-Bike Shooters Compete; Vermont Chefs Remake the School Lunch
Cover Story
What Your Professor Did Over Summer Vacation
College profs answer the dreaded back-to-school question
After Irene: How You Can Help Vermont
Many people have been asking how they can help Vermonters who have suffered the most from the historic flooding Tropical Storm Irene caused on Sunday. Here are some resources with information on donation and volunteer efforts. Before we get to the rest of the list: If you’re looking to volunteer somewhere, or if you need…
Intervale Farmers Race to Save Crops After Irene [VIDEO]
Just after sunrise, less than 24 hours after Tropical Storm Irene barreled down on Vermont, Intervale farmers were out in the fields racing to save their crops. With plastic totes and wooden bins in hand, the farmers and a number of volunteers harvested what was left to harvest before the water from the nearby river…
Irene’s Impact on Vermont: A Crowdsourced Map of Storm Photos and Videos (Updated 9/1)
UPDATE (9:45 pm): Parts of Vermont were simply devastated by Tropical Storm Irene today. Torrential rains have led to flooding in the state’s rivers and streams. Historic covered bridges have been washed away. The National Weather Service expects floodwaters to crest in Montpelier overnight, and says it could be worse than the floods that inundated…
Which Vermont Towns Had Highest (and Lowest) Unemployment?
Think Vermonters have been insulated from the U.S. unemployment crisis? Think again. Public Assets Institute, the data-savvy Montpelier think tank, is out with a cool new interactive map that charts Vermont’s 2010 unemployment rates town by town. And the figures are sobering. While Vermont can boast a statewide unemployment rate of 6.2 percent (far below…
Sanders Proposes Legislation to Make Rich Pay More Into Social Security
Sanders wants to shore up Social Security by lifting the income limit.
Movies You Missed 1: Road to Nowhere
There are many great things about living in Vermont, but movies aren’t always one of them. Sure, we’ve got great theaters — the Roxy, Palace, Savoy and Catamount Arts. But I can’t tell you how many times people have asked me something like “When is The Messenger/Blue Valentine/Attack the Block coming to Burlington?” And the…
Town of Colchester Hosts Open House at Former Camp Holy Cross
On Tuesday night, August 23, my wife, Stacy and I, along with our daughter and several of our neighbors, strolled over to the Malletts Bay property formerly known as Camp Holy Cross. The town of Colchester was hosting the first of two open houses for local residents interested in eyeballing the property, which went on…
Plaintiffs Lose Round in Burlington Telecom Lawsuit
Here’s the latest on the citizen lawsuit aimed at recouping $17 million in taxpayer money from Burlington Telecom. Superior Court Judge Helen Toor has ruled that Burlington Telecom was permitted to use general fund money — i.e. city taxpayer dollars — to pay a consultant hired to restructure the debt-laden municipal telecom. The ruling deals…
VT Ski Movie Needs a Logo
Vermonters Len Britton and Bradford Broyles (pictured) are using an online contest to find a logo for their planned ski movie. This is the movie project we reported on back in March — not one of those “ski movies” that’s basically just cool skiing footage, but a “comedy-drama” type of thing that happens to be…
![International Balloon Festival of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu [236]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sevendaysvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/episode236.webp?resize=400%2C300&ssl=1)
International Balloon Festival of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu [236]
8/20/11: Eva and Brooke get unstuck from Vermont to attend the International Balloon Festival of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu in Quebec, Canada. Alongside their fearless Brazilian pilot Marcos and his Pepe the Skunk balloon (AKA Stinky), the Vermonters fly high in the sky with over 125 hot air balloons as the sun sets on this 9 day festival.…
Talking with Thom
Sanders outpolls Obama for president among Vermont voters. Howard Dean gets crushed.
News Quirks
Curses, Foiled Again Police were able to identify two people who snatched a purse from an 82-year-old woman in New Castle, Pa., because the victim’s 89-year-old friend banged the getaway car with her cane as it pulled away. Police Chief Thomas Sansone said officers found the car by matching the dent to the cane and…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): I predict that in the coming weeks, you will be able to extract an unexpected perk or benefit from one of your less glamorous responsibilities. I also predict that you will decide not to ram headfirst into an obstacle and try to batter it until it crumbles. Instead, you’ll dream up…
Cafeteria Care
At two Vermont schools, top chefs are serving up a different kind of school lunch
Looking Good
Art Review: “Women’s Work: The Visual Art of Vermont’s Women” at T.W. Wood Gallery
Letters to the Editor
McKibben Responds Thanks to Wally Roberts both for his service to the civil-rights movement, and for his letter last week [Feedback: “Wrong About Civil Rights,” August 17]. When I said the civil-rights movement knew it would eventually win, I meant no discredit to the courage of its soldiers (in fact, as I pointed out, they…
Vermonters Freak Out Over Earthquake
Comic by XKCD.com So, I don’t know if you’ve heard, but there was an earthquake today. A 5.8 magnitude earthquake centered in Virginia was felt all over the East Coast and into parts of the Midwest. It was kind of a big deal in Washington, D.C., actually. The Smithsonian Castle sustained a bit of damage,…
In Memoriam: Paul Robar, Owner of Benways Transportation (1955-2011)
A giant of the Burlington taxi community has passed away. Paul L. Robar of Colchester, who built Benways Transportation into the largest taxi company in Chittenden County, died last Thursday, August 18. He was 55 years old. Robar purchased Benways Transportation in 1973; he was also the owner of Morf Transit and Apollo Limousine. He…
