Jan 27 – Feb 2, 2021
UVM Scholars Say Cuts to the Humanities Would Imperil the University’s Mission; Gov. Phil Scott Seeks to Rewrite Act 250 — Without the Legislature; The Impacts of COVID-19 on Restaurant Workers
Cover Story
Major Fallout: UVM Scholars Argue That Cuts to the Humanities Would Imperil the University’s Mission
On December 15, Jamie Williamson learned that the coming spring semester, the 30th of his career on the English department faculty at the University of Vermont, would be his last. Fifteen years ago, Williamson, now 61, achieved the rank of senior lecturer, a title that generally confers the aura, if not the promise, of job…
The Magnificent 7: Must See, Must Do, February 4 to 10
1. Piece by Piece Sculpture, photography, painting and installation are all in Northern Vermont artist Matt Neckers’ wheelhouse. For his current exhibition at the Red Mill Gallery at Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, Neckers mounted hundreds of pieces of moveable, magnetic art on sheets of painted steel. “Cataclysm: Familiar Robots & Their Animal Kindred” also…
Obituary: Donald E. Dickson Jr., 1942‑2021
Burlingtonian was active in state government, nonprofit agencies and outdoor clubs
Obituary: Donna Barbara Beach, 1962‑2021
Cook, reader and gardener is remembered for her honesty and sense of humor
Obituary: Edith S. Fitzgerald, 1920‑2021
100-year-old woman maintained an unrelenting zest for life
Letters to the Editor (1/27/21)
Y Missing? [Re “Raising the Barbell,” January 20]: Your article on health clubs responding to the pandemic left out the Greater Burlington YMCA, a wonderfully diverse and financially and physically accessible facility. The Y opened a brand-new facility on January 1, 2020. After closing for the pandemic lockdown in March 2020, it reopened following all…
Dancers Christal Brown and Lida Winfield Collaborate on New Video, ‘Same but Different’
Christal Brown and Lida Winfield are friends and colleagues, and they’re curious about each other: How are they similar? How are they different? Professionally, both are accomplished independent dance artists and faculty in the Middlebury College dance program. But Brown is also chief visioning officer of Steps & Stages Coaching, Facilitation, Consulting and the leader…
Bottom Line: Vermont Tech Firm THINKMD Spreads its COVID-19 Screening Tool Worldwide
In 2014, University of Vermont pediatrician Dr. Barry Finette cofounded the tech startup THINKMD with the goal of preventing millions of children in low- and middle-income countries from dying each year from treatable conditions such as pneumonia, malaria and dehydration. Working with tech entrepreneurs and software developers in Vermont, as well as international aid groups…
Why Rob Roper Won’t Stop Talking About Voter Fraud in Vermont
Two weeks after president Donald Trump’s lies about a rigged election culminated in a deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, Vermont’s own pied piper of voter fraud, Ethan Allen Institute president Rob Roper, was still at it, trying to foment fears of rampant election crimes in the Green Mountains. “Town clerks shed light on election…
From the Publisher: Snow Going
I grew up in the Washington, D.C., area, where the mere forecast of snow reliably caused mass panic. Before moving to Vermont, my exposure to winter sports consisted of skating around and around a very crowded indoor ice rink. I might have been the only student at Middlebury College who never skied at the Snow…
A State-Funded Program Recruits Caregivers to Eldercare Homes in COVID-19 Crisis
A single positive test put Riverbend Residential Care Home on a knife’s edge. Jennifer Doyle operates the small, homelike eldercare facility in Chelsea that her parents owned before her. A self-described “drill sergeant” about COVID-19 precautions, Doyle nearly made it through 2020 without a case, until the last batch of twice-weekly test results came back…
How Do I Talk to My Anti-Vaxxer Uncle About Vaccinating My Grandfather?
Dear Reverend, My uncle is legally in charge of medical decisions for my 98-year-old grandfather. He’s also kind of an anti-vaxxer and seems skeptical about both the severity of COVID-19 itself and the safety of Grandpa getting the vaccine — even though he takes Grandpa to get his flu shot every year. Grandpa is physically…
Community Members Made 22 Days of Meals for a Northfield Nursing Home Hit by COVID-19
When nearly every patient and some of the staff at Four Seasons Care Home came down with COVID-19, Courtney Tabor felt overwhelmed. She and Ashley Hudson, co-owners of the Northfield nursing home, also contracted the virus during the November outbreak, but they kept working amid a critical staffing shortage. The cook was pulled from the…
Short Film ‘While We Wait’ Offers Glimpses Into the Lives of Dancers in the Pandemic
Like so many other events planned for 2020, The Quarry Project was felled by the pandemic. Vermont choreographer Hannah Dennison previewed her site-specific dance-theater piece for the public in August 2019, promising a fully realized performance a year later; it’s now rescheduled for August 2022. And, yes, that performance will take place in a quarry…
Page 32: Short Takes on Five Vermont Books
Seven Days writers can’t possibly read, much less review, all the books that arrive in a steady stream by post, email and, in one memorable case, a sleuth of black bears. So this monthly feature is our way of introducing you to a handful of books by Vermont authors. To do that, we contextualize each…
Shot in Vermont, ‘Silence & Darkness’ Offers Unsettling Family Drama
Our streaming entertainment options are overwhelming — and not always easy to sort through. This week, I watched a possible first in cinema history: an indie film shot in rural Vermont that is not remotely soothing, healing or pastoral. Silence & Darkness is the feature debut of New York-based director Barak Barkan, who shot it…
Free Will Astrology (1/27/21)
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): “We all want everything to be okay,” writes author David Levithan. “We don’t even wish so much for fantastic or marvelous or outstanding. We will happily settle for okay, because most of the time, okay is enough.” To that mediocre manifesto, I reply, OK. I accept that it’s true for many…
The Governor’s Gambit: Scott Seeks to Rewrite Act 250 — Without the Legislature
When Gov. Phil Scott outlined his $6.8 billion budget on Tuesday, he proposed spending $500,000 to modernize Act 250, the state’s 51-year-old land-use law. Act 250 reform efforts are nothing new. But how he first proposed those changes — with a surprise executive order issued January 14 that circumvents the legislative process — has raised the…
Sterling College Offers a Virtual Course on Surviving the Future
On January 6, a few hours before news broke that right-wing insurrectionists had taken over the U.S. Capitol, students in Sterling College’s Surviving the Future: Conversations for Our Time course met for their first webinar to discuss the end of the world as we know it. “As we know it” is a key part of…
Vermont Didgeridoo Master Pitz Quattrone Is on Jimmy Fallon’s ‘Do Not Play’ List
Once in a while, our humble lil state makes it to the big-time. Vermont music had a brief taste of the national limelight last week, and I’m not talking about Pitchfork’s Sunday review of country singer-songwriter Iris DeMent’s 1992 album Infamous Angel, a product of legendary North Ferrisburgh folk label Philo Records. But that was…
Good Citizen Stories: Passing Vermont’s Billboard Ban
If you’ve lived or traveled outside of Vermont, you’ve surely seen plenty of billboards. These giant signs appear in red states and blue states alike, towering over farm fields and assailing passersby from atop skyscrapers. Today they’re often digital and animated to catch your eye. But you won’t find any such outdoor advertisements in Vermont…
Chicky Stoltz, ‘Camp Recording #4 – Fantastic’
(Self-released, digital) Long before the pandemic necessitated isolation, artists have been holing up in the mountains to write and record music. Self-imposed solitude sparks creativity, so they say. Most folks return to their hectic lives once the work is done, but I have a feeling Chicky Stoltz is perfectly happy to remain the hermit this…
Julian Gerstin, ‘Littoral Zone’
(Self-released, CD, digital) Creating and executing a concept album is always a tightrope act. Doing so as a solo artist is effectively like working without a net. So it’s doubly impressive and delightful any time some brave soul pulls off a concept album in style. Such is the case with Littoral Zone, an oddball gem…
Obituary: Ethan Wyatt Bisbee, 1928‑2021
Longtime educator had a noble career and a happy life
Obituary: Wayne Scott Rosberg, 1954‑2020
Public broadcasting engineer resided with family in Jeffersonville for 40 years
Pressure Cooker: The Impacts of COVID-19 on Restaurant Workers
Maya Gurung-Subba and her husband, Suk Subba, had high hopes for 2020. On January 24, 2020, their small restaurant in Burlington’s New North End, Maya’s Kitchen, celebrated a year in business. They had developed a loyal following for their regional Himalayan dishes, including chicken choila with chickpeas and crispy rice, fried pork-chile momos served in…
Waitstaff on Wheels Delivers Dinner — and Jobs — in the Mad River Valley
A group of furloughed restaurant industry employees in the Mad River Valley is giving a whole new meaning to the greeting “We’ll be your servers this evening.” Rather than carrying plates to tables, they’re driving insulated bags all the way to customers’ homes for Waitstaff on Wheels. When the restaurant where Jenna Rossbach had been…
Rosie’s Confections Chocolate Shop, Market and Café Coming to Winooski
It’s been a whirlwind of a year for Rosie’s Confections, which launched as a CBD edibles company in January 2020. When Emma Rose made her initial production run, she planned to sell her infused sweets at stores around Vermont. The pandemic changed those plans. After a year of e-commerce and selling chocolates from a temperature-controlled…
Nepali-Indian Gurung Restaurant & Bar Opens in Burlington’s New North End
On January 21, married couple Sita Monger and Daddy Gurung opened a Nepali-Indian restaurant, Gurung Restaurant & Bar, at 1130 North Avenue in Burlington. The new restaurant took over the space previously occupied by Maya’s Kitchen & Bar, which announced it was closing for good on January 16. The former owners of that restaurant, Maya…
