Dec 28, 2016 – Jan 3, 2017
Beyond Bernie: Revisiting News Stories of 2016; The Good, Bad and Most Annoying in Film; Artists Gear Up to Be Activists
Cover Story
Who’s On the Cover?
For Seven Days’ year-end cover, illustrator Jeff Drew assembled a memorial to 34 notable celebrities who passed away this year. Careful readers will notice that this version of the cover features two late-comers, er, late-goers? Actor Carrie Fisher (#33) and singer George Michael (#34) passed just this week after the issue had already gone to press. Jeff…
The Parmelee Post: RNC Asks Scott to Prove Party Loyalty, Egg Poor Person
The inauguration of Phil Scott as Vermont’s 82nd governor was met with a standing ovation, plenty of optimistic cheers, and a highly unusual request from party colleagues in Washington, D.C. In a statement released Thursday, the Republican National Committee formally requested that Gov. Scott provide video evidence of himself throwing eggs at a poor person…
![Helping HANDS on Christmas [SIV473]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sevendaysvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/episode473.webp?resize=1200%2C900&ssl=1)
Helping HANDS on Christmas [SIV473]
12/25/16: For 12 years the non-profit, HANDS – Helping and Nurturing Diverse Seniors, has been delivering meals and gifts to more than 300 seniors in Chittenden County on Christmas Day. Founded by Megan Humphrey and run by hundreds of volunteers, HANDS teams up with Age Well, Burlington School Food Project, Temple Sinai and partners with…
Free Will Astrology (1/4/17)
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): I thought of you when I read a tweet by a person who calls himself Vexing Voidsquid. “I feel imbued with a mysterious positive energy,” he wrote, “as if thousands of supplicants are worshipping golden statues of me somewhere.” Given the astrological omens, I think it’s quite possible you will have similar…
Death of a Malibu
Montréal traffic was a horror show. In my taxi’s front seat sat Leslie Rochette, the customer I had picked up in Stowe. Leslie was set to fly from Trudeau International Airport to Zurich to spend the holidays with her daughter’s family in Switzerland. She was an extrovert and readily shared tales of her life. Stowe…
Bests and Worsts in 2016 Movies
Rick Kisonak: If there’s one thing we all can agree on, I suspect, it’s that 2016 has been a seriously bizarro year. The election. Need I say more? And, speaking of surreal: The movie industry will make more money in 2016 than ever, even though ticket sales across the country continued their five-year-long free fall.…
Backstory: Story With the Longest Legs
[“Right in Rutland: Will Mayor Chris Louras Fall on His Sword for 100 Syrians?” June 8] Rutland Mayor Chris Louras was in political hot water when Seven Days profiled him in June. The Republican-turned-independent had quietly made arrangements to resettle 100 Syrian refugees in the city — without informing some key players. A number of aldermen…
The Local Scene On the Best Music of 2016
When you want to know what music you should listen to, it’s wise to turn to the folks who make the music you love and see what they’re into. So, we asked some denizens of Vermont’s music community to share their picks for the best local and nonlocal music of 2016. And since this year…
Backstory: Story I Wish I Didn’t Have to Keep Writing
[“Police Killing of Mentally Ill Man Raises Questions — Again,” March 30] In hindsight, the deadly March confrontation between Burlington police officers and 76-year-old Ralph “Phil” Grenon seemed almost inevitable. Grenon, who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, had been ruled mentally incompetent to stand trial on criminal charges in 2009. In the months before his death,…
Soundbites: 2017 Predictions; A Fond Farewell
The close of a year is a natural time for reflection. It is also a time to look ahead. So, as has become Soundbites tradition, let’s gaze into the crystal disco ball and get a feel for what’s in store for the Vermont music scene in 2017. Important note: These predictions, while they may be…
Our Favorite Art Exhibitions of 2016
Vermont has no shortage of artists or art exhibits — in fact, it’s only slight hyperbole to say that original work is on display wherever there are walls throughout the state. Granted, we can’t see every exhibit. But collectively, the arts writers of Seven Days bear witness to a great deal of creative output over…
Backstory: Fakest-Sounding News That Wasn’t
[“Wealthy Mormon Buys Up Vermont Land for Massive Settlement,” April 5] Utah engineer David Hall wants to build a 20,000-person settlement on 5,000 acres in four tiny, rural towns in Vermont. His inspiration: an 1833 blueprint drawn up by the Mormon church founder Joseph Smith. Hall had chosen these towns because they surround Smith’s birthplace.…
The Year in Cheers and Jeers from Seven Days Commenters
An axiom of modern journalism is, “Never read the comments.” Such sections often turn into nasty scrums of name-calling and disses. Well, we here at Seven Days do read the comments, and our contributors generally stay on topic and provide good context, perspective and arguments to stories. They also point out the occasional error —…
Vermont Artists Up the Activism
For an event with the confrontational name “Wrecking Ball: F**k 2016,” last Saturday’s “cabaret” of performances at Off Center for the Dramatic Arts in Burlington was surprisingly low-key. Conceived in Toronto in 2004 and designed to produce “professional calibre theatre that is responsive to world events,” the Wrecking Ball concept seemed tailor-made for progressive Vermont…
Backstory: Biggest Reporting Regret
[“Fraud Cases Against Jay, Burke Owners Allege ‘Ponzi-Like’ Scheme,” April 14] I’ll never forget it. Reporting a story in March 2012 — a month after I started at Seven Days — a source told me in an off-the-record conversation that a massive expansion at Jay Peak was part of what this person called “a Ponzi…
Backstory: What Seven Days Reporters Didn’t Tell You the First Time
Seven Days reporters go to great lengths to find the news in Vermont — and they may find themselves moved, inconvenienced, inspired, lost or even injured in the process. But, generally speaking, they don’t look back. So we asked them to recall stories they wrote in 2016 that, for one reason or another, warranted revisiting. Some…
Backstory: Unlikeliest Story
[“A Second Chance: A Vermont Sheriff Risks His Career by Hiring a Sex Offender,” April 27] When he learned that a “high-risk” sex offender had moved into his jurisdiction, Lamoille Sheriff Roger Marcoux Jr. was alarmed — and annoyed. Timothy Szad had served a 13-year prison sentence for sexually assaulting a young boy in Rockingham.…
Backstory: Stupidest Journalistic Injury
After a long day covering the Vermont legislature last January, I received an unexpected phone call as I hopped in my car outside the Statehouse. It was a booker for MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show.” He was frantically searching for a guest for that night’s program to discuss the Burlington Police Department’s preparations for Republican…
Backstory: Most Time Spent on Legislation That Went Nowhere
[“Smoked: Why the Pot Legalization Bill Failed,” May 11] Gov. Peter Shumlin wanted Vermont lawmakers to legalize marijuana in 2016 — before any other New England states did. He found an ally in Senate Judiciary Committee chair Dick Sears (D-Bennington), who gave his committee an end-of-January deadline and rocketed a bill through the Senate by February…
Backstory: The Biggest Race That Didn’t Happen
[“Back in Montpelier, Lawmakers Pick Up Where They Left Off,” January 5] The 2016 race for Vermont governor could have had a different outcome — and I’m not referring to whether Democratic candidate Sue Minter stood a chance against governor-elect Phil Scott. A year ago this month, House Speaker Shap Smith (D-Morristown) sat down with Seven…
Backstory: Most Expensive Stories
[“The Gun: How I Bought an AR-15 in a Five Guys Parking Lot,” June 15] [“Courting Disaster: An Erosion of Press Protections in Vermont,” June 22] I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Journalism ain’t free. Especially when I’m spending Seven Days’ hard-earned advertising dollars! This year I managed to blow plenty of…
Backstory: Strangest Press Conference
[“Montpeculiar: A Suspended Senator Gets the Last Word,” January 7] The press conference is typically a staged and staid affair. A well-briefed politician stands at a podium, delivers perfectly on-message, pre-scripted remarks and answers a few questions before a flack yanks him or her out of harm’s way. Sometimes, however, a press conference goes totally…
Backstory: What Made Me Grateful for Plumbing and Electricity
[“A Reporter Gathers With the Rainbow Family,” June 29] The Seven Days staff is chock-full of tattooed, leafy-substance-enjoying lefties and some experienced campers and hikers, and I am … none of those things. So it was to the sound of more than a few snickers that I departed the newsroom last June and headed into…
Backstory: Best Assist
[“Pilgrimage to Pomfret: Tracking Down Vermont’s Papal Connection,” February 24] Winter sunshine warmed the town of Pomfret on the February day I walked into the local library in hopes of meeting someone who knew the late Pope John Paul II’s translator and special friend, Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka, who once resided nearby. Within minutes, my prayers were…
Backstory: Most Inauspicious Start to a Story
[“Burlington’s Top Cop, Brandon del Pozo, Aims to Rewrite Policing,” July 13] Burlington Police Chief Brandon del Pozo had agreed to let me ride along with him on a Friday night. The mission: checking on foot patrol officers around the city. As we got into his black unmarked SUV, the chief clarified that the Coke…
Backstory: Sketchiest Reporting Accommodations
[“Bern Force One: On the Road and in the Air With Sanders,” February 24] [“Inside a Las Vegas Casino Caucus,” February 24] Covering a presidential campaign is not as glamorous as it sounds, particularly when you’re doing it on the cheap. From my first foray to Iowa in September 2014, I learned that reporting on…
Backstory: Best Road Trip With a Game Warden
[“Sharp Decline in Vermont’s Moose Herd Raises Questions About Hunting,” July 20] Moose have come dangerously close to my car windshield on more than one occasion, but I don’t blame them for it. I always find it interesting to write about the strange-looking, lumbering creatures, whether it’s a confused moose bedding down in Burlington’s Hill…
Imperfect 10: Recapping the Best Local Recordings of 2016
Here’s a dirty little secret: There is no such thing as pure objectivity in arts criticism. Oh, sure, that’s the ideal, and something every decent critic, regardless of field, strives to attain. But we’re all ultimately products of our own tastes, biases and perspectives, no matter how much we try to suppress them in the…
Backstory: Best Election Gaffe
[“Environmentalist McKibben Dumps Dunne for Minter,” July 31] A week and a half before the August 9 primary election, an email showed up in my inbox. “Matt Dunne Releases Renewable Energy Siting Policy” was the headline on a press release from one of three Democrats seeking their party’s nomination for governor. Interesting, I thought. I…
Remembering Vermonters Who Died in 2016
Paij Wadley-Bailey was the kind of fearless and charismatic person who could win over an audience. Seven Days creative director Don Eggert remembers gatherings in the late 1990s where the exuberant LGBT and antiracism activist would warm up the crowd. “She loosened people up and invited them to participate,” he recalled. Leo Abair Paij Wadley-Bailey…
Backstory: Most Awkward Moment With a Public Official
[“TV T.J. Donovan: The Likely Next AG Pushes Criminal Justice Reform,” September 21] I had been on the campaign trail with Chittenden County State’s Attorney T.J. Donovan for 12 hours — through staff meetings, court hearings, interviews and a political rally — and was really hoping the “day” was wrapping up at 8 p.m. on a…
Free Will Astrology (12/28/16)
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): As I was ruminating on your astrological omens for 2017, I came across a wildly relevant passage written by Rabbi Tzvi Freeman. It conveys a message I encourage you to memorize and repeat at least once a day for the next 365 days. Here it is: “Nothing can hold you back —…
Backstory: Story I Lost the Most Sleep Over
[“No Return: Loss of a Redemption Center Complicates ‘Canner’ Lives,” October 19] When I got the assignment to cover the closing of Burlington’s biggest redemption center and its impact on local “canners,” it seemed pretty straightforward: Talk to the owners of Burlington Beverage; ask some collectors how they’re coping without it; and check in with…
My Man Wants to Pee on Me — Is It Dangerous?
Dear Athena, My man wants to pee on me. I’ve never done it before. Is it dangerous for him? What can happen? Signed, To Pee or Not to Pee Dear to Pee, Props to you guys for exploring your kinkier sides and keepin’ it fresh. Well, maybe in this case “fresh” isn’t the right word……
Backstory: Most Poignant Interview
[“Too Soon: Could the Suicide of a Burlington Artist Have Been Prevented?” October 26] The moment Serenity Bolt opened the door of her apartment, I was struck by how much she resembled her late sister Darshana, with the same swirls of luxurious dark hair and porcelain skin. She beckoned me in, offered me a seat…
Letters to the Editor (12/28/16)
242: The Plattsburgh Version I want to thank Amelia Devoid for [Live Culture: “Playtime: 242 Main — Farewell to the Boys’ Club,” December 2]. It touched on a topic that I think about and observe often with regard to loud music and popular culture but hadn’t in the context of 242 Main. The piece was…
Signing Off: Reflections of a Vermont Political Columnist
On the night of the Iowa presidential caucuses last February, I struck up a conversation in a Des Moines ballroom with a national political reporter covering Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) campaign. When I described what I do for a living, he asked me with a sympathetic smile, “Doesn’t it get boring covering politics in such…
Cheers to Foodie Feats and Frenemies of 2016
Looking back on 2016 conjures visions of fake news, resurgent white nationalists, Russian hackers and — love him or hate him — president-elect Donald Trump. All of which is to say, this year has given many Americans reasons aplenty to eat (or drink) their feelings. Here in Vermont, this dramatic and unusual turn around the sun…
