Dec 16-22, 2009
Ben Campbell is Making the Best Local Music You’ve Never Heard; Crucial Couriers Bring it Home; A 3 Percent Pay Cut for VT Employees? Missa Aloisi’s Plum Job at the Moran Plant
A Chat with the VT Native Behind ‘The Messenger’
The Messenger is one of those award-season movies everybody’s talking about. And starting January 8, Vermonters who didn’t catch it at last fall’s Vermont International Film Festival will finally get a chance to see it at the Palace 9. In advance of that, I had a phone chat with Lawrence Inglee, the film’s producer —…
Couple Make History in Essex County
It’s not every day that I receive a press release from the town of Guildhall, the shire town of rural Essex County in the Northeast Kingdom. With fewer than 300 people, Guildhall is a small town in arguably one of Vermont’s more conservative counties. That’s why I was surprised to receive what can only be…
Vermont’s Senators Tout Potential Gains via Health Care Reform Bill
Vermont’s Senators Patrick Leahy (D) and Bernie Sanders (I) touted various elements of the federal health care reform bill that emerged Saturday, ranging from an additional $250 million in Medicaid funding to a measure allowing states to potentially enact single-payer health care systems on their own. This latter element is something Sanders and several other…
Blue Ribbon Committee to Convene on Burlington Telecom
Members of the Blue Ribbon Committee on Burlington Telecom have been named, and the seven-member panel will meet for the first time Monday night to begin its work evaluating the utility’s financing options as well as its viability. The committee — appointed by City Council President Bill Keogh — will meet at 7 p.m. in…
City Disputes Claims in Burlington Telecom Lawsuit
A lawsuit filed by two former Republican city councilors was greeted this week with a sharp rebuke from the mayor’s office. The suit, which “Fair Game” reported this week and last, was officially served on the city Monday and became a public record. The plaintiffs are Fred Osier and Eugene Shaver. The lawsuit (available below)…
“Getting By” Going Bye-Bye
This week, I’m working on the final “Getting By” column, and I need your help! Read on. We launched “Getting By,” a column devoted to exploring how Vermonters are surviving the recession, last December. Over the past 12 months, we’ve asked Vermonters to share money-saving strategies, we asked a mechanic to tell us how to…
Savoy Theater Has New Owner
Back in July, Rick Winston and Andrea Serota announced they were seeking a buyer for the Savoy, their nearly three-decade-old arthouse cinema in Montpelier. Yesterday, the new owner closed on the property, says Winston. He is Terrence Youk, a filmmaker who owns Brook Hollow Productions in Montpelier, an “independent producer of documentaries, educational films and…
See Precious at the Roxy this Friday and benefit Women Helping Battered Women
Everyone in the entertainment business is talking about Precious. Not only are Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry signed on as executive producers, but the film features acting cameos by BET legend Mo’Nique, singers Mariah Carey and Lenny Kravitz, and actress Paula Patton. It’s receiving raucous media hype from academics and reviewers in The New York Times,…
The 20/20 Challenge: Smuggs (Week #2)
One Snowboarder’s Quest to Hit 20 Vermont Resorts in 20 Weeks
‘Twas the Week Before Christmas
Soundbites: ‘Twas the Week Before Christmas, BiteTorrent, Dept. of Corrections
News Quirks
Curses, Foiled Again Police captured Juventino Sanchez Jr., 57, who they said tried to break into a bank in Topeka, Kan., but got stuck in a rooftop exhaust vent and had to hang upside-down for as long as four hours. The Topeka Capital-Journal reported that police learned of his predicament when his daughter called to…
Letters to the Editor
Norwich President Responds I read with great interest the story “Corps Confessions” in the December 2 issue of Seven Days in which reporter Andy Bromage surveyed 144 ROTC scholarship students at Norwich University on issues of national security. The story has generated a mixed response on campus; some people think the article was a result…
Contract Labors
A Middlebury professor and author briefs Secretary Clinton on “private” matters
Crucial Convenience
Burlington’s newest bike messengers enable the lazy with door-to-door delivery
Free Will Astrology
Here’s the weekly astrological forecast for December 16 – 23, 2009. What’s your sign, baby? They’re all here… ARIES (March 21-April 19): I don’t understand why the astronomers responsible for naming newfound objects are so devoid of flair. Here’s a prime example: They found a blazar, or blazing quasi-stellar object, in a faraway galaxy. It’s…
The Art of Remembering
Art Review: “Live, Dance, Paint,” paintings by Gypsy Holocaust survivor Ceija Stojka, at West Branch Gallery in Stowe. Through January 3.
![A Victorian Holiday in St Jay [SIV156]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sevendaysvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/episode156.webp?resize=400%2C300&ssl=1)
A Victorian Holiday in St Jay [SIV156]
12/12/09: Last Saturday, downtown St Johnsbury celebrated A Victorian Holiday with sleigh rides, a visit from Santa, carolers and a food drive. Hear from residents why St Jay and the Northeast Kingdom are so unique. Music: Carrigan, Young Men Never Die, “Valladolid”
Gourmet Gift Guide
Seven Days’ food writers share their picks for the season’s coolest culinary presents
Best Bites: Ben & Bill’s Deli
595 Shelburne Road, Burlington 657-3673 When I was a kid, Jewish delis scared me a little. Looking into the case, I was nose-to-nose with the piles of chub and their cured, dead eyes. The old-world smells seemed somehow unclean. This is why they hate us, I thought. Since Ben & Bill’s opened in the Burlington…
