Dec 27, 2023 – Jan 9, 2024
The Stories Behind the Stories in 2023; Remembering Vermonters Who Died; The Year in Food and Farming; A Film Critic’s Top Picks; The Top 10 Art Shows; The Best Local Music of 2023
Waterbury Couple Buy Rare Vermont Cannabis License
One of Vermont’s rarest kinds of cannabis licenses is changing hands. Noah Fishman and Marlena Tucker-Fishman, owners of Zenbarn Farms cannabis shop in Waterbury, are buying an “integrated” license from Curaleaf, a large Massachusetts-based cannabis company that operates in more than a dozen states. Only three integrated licenses exist in Vermont. They allow companies access…
Obituary: Rachel Eleanor Rubin, 1990-2024
Essex woman’s journey of helping people was filled with insightfulness, empathy and kindness
Obituary: Christine Nemeth Bay, 1948-2023
Schoolteacher, environmental activist and social worker had a huge impact on the lives of many families and children in Vermont
Obituary: David Reade Colburn, 1939-2023
Civil engineer who lived a life enhanced by music
Obituary: Nancy Ann Emberley, 1942-2024
Shelburne educator was a master cook, expert seamstress and marathon runner
Obituary: Lolita Anger Leggett, 1925-2024
“Mimi Lou’s” home was always open to children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and friends
Obituary: Carolyn Blough Duffy, 1943-2024
Language teacher will be fondly remembered by hundreds of former students throughout the world
Obituary: Scott James Lamphere, 1957-2023
Former machinist leaves a legacy of warmth, laughter and cherished memories
Obituary: Patricia F. Boudreau, 1931-2024
Dedicated mother and faithful member of St. Anthony’s Catholic Church had a passion for bowling and volunteering
Former Middlebury Selectboard Member Announces Bid for Governor
A former Middlebury Selectboard member became the first person to announce a run for governor this year. Esther Charlestin told a small gathering of supporters on the Statehouse steps on Friday that she moved to Vermont to find a better life for her family but now sees that future imperiled by a housing crisis and…
Obituary: Philip O. Nerber, 1940-2023
Williston man’s nearly 40-year IBM career was important to him, but his dedication and love for his family and friends was above all else
Obituary: Robert Charles Wilkens, 1930-2023
South Burlington man’s guiding purpose in life was to help others
Obituary: Dr. Anthony F. Politi, 1955-2023
Diligent physician and medical director loved the Adirondacks and was an eternal learner
Obituary: Stephen F. Lichtenstein, 1931-2023
Founding member of the Jewish Community of Greater Stowe leaves a legacy of love, kindness, wisdom and generosity
Free Will Astrology (1/3/24)
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): “I am against sex education in schools because sex is more fun when it’s dirty and sinful.” So said Capricorn author Florence King. I reject and rebel against that perverse declaration — and encourage you to disavow it, too, in 2024. In my astrological opinion, the coming months will be a…
Obituary: William Farr, 1939-2023
Marine and devoted husband and father advised businesses across Vermont
Obituary: Gordon Pyle, 1944-2023
Innate storyteller spun memories from his trips and adventures into epic tales shared with family and friends
Obituary: Mary Ann Minardo, 1941-2023
Teacher, career counselor and education consultant brightened the world with her warmth and curiosity
Obituary: Ezra Raymond Pouech, 1993-2023
Hinesburg native believed we all have a responsibility to make the world better
Obituary: John “Jack” Stuart Palmer, 1932-2023
Physical education teacher, athletic director, guidance counselor and coach was dedicated to youth sports
Obituary: Mary Frances Sparhawk Graham, 1933-2023
X-ray technologist for decades had a passion for genealogy and found joy in travel
Obituary: George E. Taft, 1942-2023
Longtime area attorney loved hunting, fishing and playing the role of Santa Claus
In Memoriam, David Bolton, 1946-2023
To those that knew David, please join his family on January 13, 1 to 3 p.m., at Burnham Hall, 52 East River Rd., Lincoln, VT, to remember him, tell stories, laugh and celebrate his life!
Backstory: Eating in Montréal, Food Writer Melissa Pasanen Relied on a ‘Cowboy’ Guide
This “backstory” is a part of a collection of articles that describes some of the obstacles that Seven Days reporters faced while pursuing Vermont news, events and people in 2023. When Seven Days decided to produce a Québec Issue this year, I was looking forward to heading north to eat a day’s worth of meals…
Town of Swanton Request for Proposals (RFP) for Grant Writing Services
Overview The Town of Swanton is accepting proposals for grant writing services for the proposed multi-generational community center project. Scope of Work The contracted work is to include grant research and proposals/applications for grants relevant to building and operating a multi-generational community center and also possible future projects. The Town of Swanton is seeking a…
Backstory: A Forgiving Source Gave ‘Seven Days’ a Second Chance
This “backstory” is a part of a collection of articles that describes some of the obstacles that Seven Days reporters faced while pursuing Vermont news, events and people in 2023. Lenora Travis first called Seven Days because she wanted somebody to write about the VFW. The club had made a deal to sell its headquarters…
Backstory: Managing Story Deadlines and Childbirth Requires ‘the Most Careful Planning’
This “backstory” is a part of a collection of articles that describes some of the obstacles that Seven Days reporters faced while pursuing Vermont news, events and people in 2023. I was eight months pregnant when stories were assigned for Seven Days’ first Québec issue — and in the hospital, in labor, a month later…
Warning
Policy Adoption Champlain Valley School District The Board of School Directors gives public notice of its intent to adopt local district policies dealing with the following at its meeting scheduled on January 23, 2024: B3 – Board Member Conflict of Interest D16 – Employee Conflict of Interest Copies of the above policies may be obtained…
Remembering Burlington’s Bruce McKenzie: ‘He Just Never Stopped Drumming’
This “Life Stories” profile is part of a collection of articles remembering Vermonters who died in 2023. To those who knew him longest, Bruce McKenzie had always been a drummer. The youngest of 11 kids, Bruce was born six months after his father, Harold, drowned in Burlington Bay; he was raised by his mother, Lennie,…
Getting Meta: A Film Critic Recaps the Year in Film and Criticism
Do movie critics still have a purpose? That’s the question that kept intruding as I compiled my year-end roundup of the films I saw in 2023. When anyone can praise or eviscerate a movie online, does being a publication’s official critic mean anything? The question came up in connection with the Writers Guild of America…
Notice of Self-Storage Lien Sale
Chimney Corners Self Storage 76 Gonyeau Road, Milton VT 05403 Notice is hereby given that the contents of the self-storage units listed below will be sold at public auction by sealed bid. This sale is being held to collect unpaid storage unit occupancy fees, charges, and expenses of the sale. The entire contents of each…
Backstory: This Year’s ‘Funniest Fact-Check’ Set the Record Straight on Tit vs. Teat
This “backstory” is a part of a collection of articles that describes some of the obstacles that Seven Days reporters faced while pursuing Vermont news, events and people in 2023. Seven Days’ special Dairy Issue was devoted entirely to examining the viability of Vermont’s signature agricultural industry. Here the elephant in the room is the…
Remembering Burlington’s Glenn Taulton: ‘He’d Always Have a Tune to Sing’
This “Life Stories” profile is part of a collection of articles remembering Vermonters who died in 2023. In the public housing complex in Clairton, Pa., where Glenn Taulton grew up, he wasn’t allowed to practice his tuba at home. The apartment was small, and Glenn’s father didn’t want his kids to be musicians. “Anything but…
From the Publisher: One Year at a Time
The year we just lived through was another tough one for media outlets across the country. A widely cited November 2023 report found that the news sector had shed 2,681 jobs year to date — a number that already exceeds total annual losses from both 2022 and 2021. The labor contractions extend across all platforms:…
Vermont New Year’s Eve Celebrations to Inspire a Brighter 2024
There’s something essentially human about marking milestones — looking back, taking stock and moving forward with the expectation that what’s ahead will be better than what’s behind. As early 18th-century poet and satirist Alexander Pope famously wrote, “Hope springs eternal.” That’s all well and good, Alex, but we’re staring down 2024 here, and you never…
Backstory: On July 10, Leaving Montpelier Was Easier Said Than Done
This “backstory” is a part of a collection of articles that describes some of the obstacles that Seven Days reporters faced while pursuing Vermont news, events and people in 2023. When I left my home in Waterbury Center to report on Vermont’s fast-rising floodwaters, I fully expected to return to my family that evening. The…
Remembering Maple Corner’s Eleanor Kokar Ott: ‘She Was Completely Curious and Open to Everything’
This “Life Stories” profile is part of a collection of articles remembering Vermonters who died in 2023. Eleanor Ott had a genius for bringing people together. In the book-lined dining room of her 19th-century farmhouse in Maple Corner, she ran an eclectic backwoods salon, hosting women’s discussion groups and rune feasts to fête the solstices.…
Soundbites: The Year That Was
Ashes to ashes, funk to funky, it’s time to look back at the year in Vermont music. It’s been a strange one, but considering how weird the preceding two years were, maybe we should just call 2023 as close to normal as we’re going to get anymore? First and foremost, we said a lot of…
Backstory: The ‘Saddest Update’ on an Opioid-Addicted Source
This “backstory” is a part of a collection of articles that describes some of the obstacles that Seven Days reporters faced while pursuing Vermont news, events and people in 2023. I felt myself rooting for Kelly almost immediately. I was writing about Vermont’s drug crisis, and Kelly had agreed to be interviewed as long as…
Letters to the Editor (12/27/23)
Out of Energy? [Re Last 7: “McNeil Steams Ahead,” November 22]: Since my name appeared in the recap about Burlington’s District Energy System and the McNeil Generating Station, I feel compelled to expand on the topic. In the same issue, the “Wind Resistance” story reports the difficulty of obtaining permits in Vermont for wind power.…
I Am a 72-Year-Old Single Man With a Lot of Love to Give. Where Do I Start?
Dear Reverend, I am a 72-year-old man who has now been divorced three times. I don’t like being alone and lonely at this age. I miss having a woman with whom I can talk, have fun, do things, go to church and just have a meaningful relationship. I don’t like dating sites, as most of…
Backstory: Before She Could Work at Seven Days, Our Summer Intern Had to Learn to Drive
This “backstory” is a part of a collection of articles that describes some of the obstacles that Seven Days reporters faced while pursuing Vermont news, events and people in 2023. It’s bad to lie in a job interview. It’s especially bad to lie during a job interview when the lie is that you meet the…
Backstory: The July Flood Was Personal for a Reporter Who Recalls Her ‘Wettest Work Week’
This “backstory” is a part of a collection of articles that describes some of the obstacles that Seven Days reporters faced while pursuing Vermont news, events and people in 2023. When the flood hit Vermont this summer, I found myself living a double life. During the day I was a breaking-news reporter, driving across the…
Floods, FOIAs and a House Speaker Vote: ‘Seven Days’ Writers Reveal How They Reported the News in 2023
One of my favorite keepsakes from a career of chasing news is a 1993 photo that topped the front page of La Opinión, the main Spanish-language newspaper in Los Angeles. The photo, taken from a helicopter, shows a hilltop mansion in Malibu about to be swallowed by a wall of wind-blown flames. At the bottom,…
Remembering Burlington’s Mary Manghis: ‘She Felt Providing Food Was the Root of Community’
When Mary Manghis started working at Onion River Co-op in Burlington’s Old North End, co-op members made up most of the shoppers scooping brown rice and rolled oats from wooden bulk bins. It was the early 1990s, the staff collective had no management hierarchy, and Mary could see the whole store from her perch at…
Remembering Richmond’s Nicole Killian: ‘She Made the World a Little Less Scary’
This “Life Stories” profile is part of a collection of articles remembering Vermonters who died in 2023. Nicole Killian was especially proud of the time she saved a woman’s toes. A patient arrived at the emergency room with frostbitten feet so severe that staff were considering amputation. But Nicole, then a nurse practitioner at Champlain…
Backstory: A Very Weird Week on Capitol Hill With Rookie Rep. Becca Balint
This “backstory” is a part of a collection of articles that describes some of the obstacles that Seven Days reporters faced while pursuing Vermont news, events and people in 2023. On January 2, I flew to Washington, D.C., to document a momentous occasion — U.S. Rep. Becca Balint’s (D-Vt.) first week in the House of…
Backstory: July Flood Hit ‘Closest to Home’ for Barre-Raised Reporter Courtney Lamdin
This “backstory” is a part of a collection of articles that describes some of the obstacles that Seven Days reporters faced while pursuing Vermont news, events and people in 2023. In July 2007, I was on summer break from college when a torrential rain hit my hometown of Barre. The north end of the city,…
The Top 10 Vermont Art Exhibitions of 2023
Compiling annual top-10 lists is a treat, because it allows us to recall the myriad art shows we enjoyed throughout the year. On the other hand, it’s achingly difficult to whittle the options to 10. Every month, our calendar is packed with exhibitions to visit all around the state. Shout-out to the artists, curators, venues…
Backstory: In a Flooded Mobile Home Park, a Reporter Finds the ‘Most Gracious’ Strangers
This “backstory” is a part of a collection of articles that describes some of the obstacles that Seven Days reporters faced while pursuing Vermont news, events and people in 2023. I thought I was alone at the Berlin Mobile Home Park when a person called out from behind me. “You can come in and take…
Life Stories: Remembering Vermonters Who Died in 2023
I n Vermont, six degrees of separation is really more like one or two. Aside from the occasional annoyances of living in such a small, close-knit community — say, running into exes at the co-op — that unique interconnectedness is part of why so many of us choose to be here. We get to know…
Remembering Milton’s Fred Fayette Jr.: ‘He Knew Just What You Needed’
This “Life Stories” profile is part of a collection of articles remembering Vermonters who died in 2023. In spring 2015, Stella Holt, then a competitive skier and graduating student athlete, made a 13-minute documentary film that chronicles the life of Fred Fayette Jr., a longtime assistant Nordic ski coach at the University of Vermont. In…
Remembering Burlington’s Janet Carscadden: ‘She Just Walked the Walk’
This “Life Stories” profile is part of a collection of articles remembering Vermonters who died in 2023. Janet Carscadden knew how to throw a party. For years during the annual South End Art Hop in Burlington, she hosted a Friday night shindig at Evolution Physical Therapy & Yoga, on Kilburn Street, bringing in music and…
Backstory: One Reporter Returned From Vacation to a Flooded Home
This “backstory” is a part of a collection of articles that describes some of the obstacles that Seven Days reporters faced while pursuing Vermont news, events and people in 2023. I was visiting my kids in Vancouver, B.C., when the Winooski River overflowed on July 10, inundating parts of Marshfield village and sending rivers of…
Remembering Shelburne’s Joan Robinson: ‘She Was Somebody Everyone Looked Up To’
This “Life Stories” profile is part of a collection of articles remembering Vermonters who died in 2023. As a young child, Jesse Clements frequently traveled from Boston to Vermont to spend time with her aunt, Joan. Their favorite shared activity was drawing. They would lose themselves in the process, surrounded by craft supplies and pencils…
Backstory: Actually, This Is a ‘Back Story’ About the Lumbar Perils of Reporting From a Roller Coaster
This “backstory” is a part of a collection of articles that describes some of the obstacles that Seven Days reporters faced while pursuing Vermont news, events and people in 2023. I ruptured a disc in my back shoveling snow at the end of 2022, and it took me months – months! – to upgrade from…
The Best Vermont Music of 2023
After some truly strange years when unprecedented challenges and just generally weird shit plagued the Vermont music scene, 2023 was a banner year for Green Mountain musicians. Some of the state’s biggest names represented, whether it was Noah Kahan snagging a Best New Artist Grammy Award nomination or Grace Potter dropping a new LP. As…
Backstory: The Takeaway From a Month in the Life of Bread and Puppet Theater
This “backstory” is a part of a collection of articles that describes some of the obstacles that Seven Days reporters faced while pursuing Vermont news, events and people in 2023. Bread and Puppet Theater seems, from the outside, as if it shouldn’t exist. Founded by Peter and Elka Schumann, the troupe has been performing outdoor…
Backstory: A Reporter Recalls a Dreaded Door Knock
This “backstory” is a part of a collection of articles that describes some of the obstacles that Seven Days reporters faced while pursuing Vermont news, events and people in 2023. It’s not uncommon for school administrators to resign under mysterious circumstances. As an education reporter, I’ve come to accept the fact that no matter how…
Northstar Self Storage will be having a public and online sale/auction for the following storage units on January 4, 2024, at 9:00 am
Northstar Self Storage will be having a public and online sale/auction on January 4, 2024 at 9am EST at 205 VT-4A West, Castleton VT 05735 (2-3, 3-10, 3-32, 3-40) and online at www.storagetreasures.com at 9:00 am in accordance with VT Title 9 Commerce and Trade Chapter 098: Storage Units 3905. Enforcement of Lien Unit #…
Free Will Astrology (12/27/23)
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Capricorn-born LeBron James is one of the greatest players in basketball history. Even more interesting from my perspective is that he is an exuberant activist and philanthropist. His list of magnificent contributions is too long to detail here. Here are a few examples: his bountiful support for charities such as After-School…
Backstory: When Treatment Fails, Privacy Rules Shield Providers
This “backstory” is a part of a collection of articles that describes some of the obstacles that Seven Days reporters faced while pursuing Vermont news, events and people in 2023. I thought the hardest part of profiling a man charged with murder would be convincing him to talk. Defendants in such cases rarely take the…
‘Seven Days’ Food Writers Share Their Favorite Bites and Sips of 2023
When you eat and drink for work, you chase the new and newsworthy — and that’s what typically fills the pages of Seven Days’ food section. But we food writers also eat plenty of off-the-clock meals at regular spots and old favorites. As we look back on everything we enjoyed over the course of the…
Reflecting on a Year of Extremes in Vermont Food and Farming
It was the worst of times, it was the best of times… Yes, we know we have that Charles Dickens quote backward, but sheesh, 2023 has been one tough year. Despite the challenges, we’ve relished plenty of good things to eat and drink, heartwarming moments and lots of laughter. The perseverance and creativity of Vermonters…
The Magnificent 14: Must See, Must Do, December 27-January 9
Your Move Opens Monday 8 Dancers and choreographers flock to the inaugural INSTINCT Experimental Dance Festival at the Main Street Landing Performing Arts Center Black Box Theater in Burlington. ANIMAL Dance presents this immersive week of workshops and showcases focused on the creative process and works in progress. Preregister for workshops; pay at the door…
