Jul 1-7, 2015
The Plight of a Mentally Ill Man Reveals the Holes in Vermont’s Social Safety Net; Layoffs at Four Vermont Newspapers; When Sanders Met a Pothole Protester; Craftsbury’s Freidnly Festival
Cover Story
Missing Mohamed: An Ill Man’s Plight Shows Gaps in Mental Health System
Police were trying to reason with a man on the bridge between Winooski and Burlington on November 4, 2013. Despite the 26-degree temperature, Mohamed Said had threatened to leap into the dark rushing waters of the Winooski River swirling 25 feet below. A Winooski officer was talking to him, and Burlington police were arriving, too.…
Obituary: Ronald Robert Senna,
Ronald Robert Senna, 64, passed away Sunday June 28, 2015 at UVM Medical Center of Burlington. Ronald was born in Burlington on March 5, 1951, the son of late Clement and Jeanette (Touchette) Senna. He is proceeded by his son Casey Senna, and sister, Diane Dyer. He is survived by his son, Joshua Senna, his…
2015 Independence Day Celebrations
Events by Date Thursday, July 2 » Friday, July 3 » Saturday, July 4 » Sunday, July 5 » Events by Town Bakersfield Spirits run high at a community celebration complete with a parade, chicken barbecue, air show, cow-plop contest and fireworks at dusk. July 4, noon, Town Green. Info, 827-6145. Barre Thrill seekers watch…
Obituary: Eileen Ryan Krause, 1954-2015
Eileen Ryan Krause was born August 11, 1954, and made the world a wilder, funnier, more beautiful place until her passing March 2, 2015. Eileen was born in Burlington, Vermont, and later lived in New York, Arizona, and Missouri. She cherished the adventures and friends she made along the way; and no matter where she…
Smooth Sailing — so Far — for Private Burlington Marina Proposal
Tom De Moya navigated his 24-foot Yamaha motorboat out of the crowded slips at the Burlington waterfront and pointed it toward the broad, blue expanse of Lake Champlain. It was a glorious sunny day, and he was headed out for a short midday ride with a friend. The web analyst at Dealer.com goes out on…
News Quirks (7/1/15)
Curses, Foiled Again Jamie L. Gordon, 30, told police she was “struck in the head with a bowling ball” by a robber, who took $2,100 from the safe at the bowling alley where she worked in Decatur, Ill. When the manager arrived and gave permission to view the surveillance video, officer James Weddle observed Gordon…
Letters to the Editor (7/1/15)
Good for… Canada? The Vermont Public Service Board is currently deciding whether a proposed international electricity transmission line and natural gas pipeline are for the public good [Off Message: “Protest Disrupts Pipeline Work,” June 18]. The public good entails private sacrifice, such as rights-of-way for interstate highways and land clearance for flood-control reservoirs, both locally…
Ted 2
In the 2012 Ted, professional provocateur and comic envelope pusher Seth MacFarlane threw everything but the kitchen sink into the story of a Boston man-child and his best bud — a pothead plushie brought to life by a boyhood wish. You know how it goes with sequels: Because of the first film’s unexpected success, Universal…
Soundbites: The Best VT Albums of 2015 … So Far (Part 2)
We’re midway through 2015 and already there have been more excellent Vermont records released than will fit in our annual year-end top-10 list. So last week in this column, we ran through a bunch of ’em. This week, we get to the rest of 2015’s cream of the crop … so far. One caveat: As…
Max
Last weekend will go down in Hollywood history as the one that brought us films about a foul-mouthed teddy bear attempting to reproduce and a heroic Marine dog with post-traumatic stress disorder. While Ted 2 plays its anthropomorphized protagonist for laughs, Max encourages us to shed tears over the nobility of Max the Malinois, a…
WTF: Why Do Vermonters Like Black Raspberry Creemees?
In a recent Facebook conversation, esteemed local drummer and former Seven Days circulation manager Steve Hadeka posed a question: How did black raspberry join the holy duo of chocolate and vanilla in the pantheon of Vermonters’ favorite creemee flavors? “Why have I never once seen a strawberry creemee?” Hadeka mused in his post. “Black raz…
Color Blind: Outside Vermont, Can Sanders Talk Race, Immigration?
Wanda Hines wasn’t in the crowd at Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (D-Vt.) official campaign kickoff, during which a series of local celebs — all white — talked up the former Burlington mayor turned presidential candidate. The African American activist skipped the festive event on the waterfront. There was no sign of Saint Michael’s College prof Traci…
I’m So Lonely It’s Making Me Depressed
Dear Athena, I’m so lonely it’s making me depressed, and I’m generally a very happy person. All I want to do is find someone, even if it’s just a friend, to hang out and share adventures with. My fear is that I come off as so self-sufficient and content with my life that I’m missing out on chances…
Stoner Celebs Light Up Vermont Product
What do hip-hop artist/actor Snoop Dogg and actor/comedian Tommy Chong have in common — beyond their well-known adoration for smoking weed? Both have officially endorsed a new, stoner-friendly product invented by South Burlington entrepreneur Aaron Fastman: an iPhone case with a lighter attached. Earlier this year, Fastman inked endorsement deals with Chong and Snoop for…
Work: Jason Messier, Messier House Moving & Construction
Name: Jason Messier Town: East Montpelier Job: Messier House Moving & Construction If you’ve ever seen a Vermont house, barn or camp raised off its foundation, there’s a good chance Jason Messier and his family moved it. Messier House Moving & Construction is the state’s largest house mover, having jacked up thousands of houses in…
Bye Lines: Layoffs Strike Southern Vermont Newspapers
When Norman Runnion left the Brattleboro Reformer in 1990, it was still the kind of ambitious, authoritative daily newspaper one could find in small towns across America. The paper boasted a two-man bureau in Bellows Falls, a robust newsroom in Brattleboro and correspondents scattered throughout Windham County’s rural reaches. All told, some 15 people cranked…
Art Review: ‘Dust,’ Museum of Everyday Life
Something unnamed and lifelike resides behind a black curtain in the Museum of Everyday Life. No sign explains the display at the rear of this museum outside Glover, and only curiosity encourages visitors to part the curtains and partake in a contemplative pause. Three large glass cloches stand on black pedestals with fans on a…
Shelburne Tap House Replaces Tavern
Ask any food-industry expert why restaurants typically fail, and you’ll hear the same reasons cited over and over. Too many new eateries lack experienced kitchen staff, strong bookkeeping skills, good customer service, and a sense of what the locals like to eat and drink. If those are the key factors, husband-and-wife team Ed Lambert and…
Ruth’s Table Opens in Woodstock
This Thursday, July 2, Ruth Schimmelpfennig will open Ruth’s Table in the Woodstock space most recently occupied by the Daily Grind Coffee & Sweets, at 61 Central Street. Schimmelpfennig says her new restaurant will offer food in a similar vein to that of the Barnard Inn Restaurant, which she purchased with then-husband Will Dodson in…
The Frost Place Inspires Present-day Poets
A hundred years ago, a relatively unknown poet named Robert Frost bought a farm in Franconia, N.H., and settled in with his wife and four children. The family lived on the farm for five years and summered there for 20. Frost later served as Vermont’s first poet laureate and had a long-standing affiliation with Middlebury…
Tilt Classic Arcade and Ale House Restructures
In South Burlington, Tilt Classic Arcade and Ale House will celebrate its first birthday on Wednesday, July 1. On that same night, the popular farm-to-table bar and arcade will embark on its transformation from a private company to a employee- and member-owned cooperative. According to Tilt operating partner Thom Dodge (who helped open the Hinesburgh…
Tintype Photographers Shoot Burlington
They all gathered at the Light Club Lamp Shop on North Winooski Avenue in Burlington to wait for their big moment: a tattooed couple dressed in black. A white-bearded man in a black vest and top hat. A teenage girl with long brown hair carrying a bag with a tiny kitten tucked inside. Though they…
UVM Researcher Develops AFib Treatment
In 2011, Tom Evslin of Stowe learned he needed a stent to open a blocked coronary artery. The entrepreneur, whose latest venture is natural gas transporter NG Advantage, considered going out of state for the procedure. “I checked around,” Evslin says. He found out that cardiac care at the University of Vermont Medical Center ranks…
Craftsbury Chamber Players Celebrate 50th
Trying to phone Frances and Mary Rowell, the musician-sisters who form the core of Craftsbury Chamber Players, is a revealing process. There is no cell coverage at Mary’s Craftsbury house, where Fran, the cellist, is staying for the summer. Fran emails that she can drive down the road to the home of their father, Morris…
Bernie Sanders and the Pothole Bandit
.storyHead { padding: 0 170px; } h5 { margin: 0 0 1em 100px !important; } @media (max-width: 480px) { #storyBody p, .storyHead { padding: 0; } h5 { margin: 0 0 1em !important; } } It’s difficult to pinpoint the year when Burlington began racking up accolades as one of the nation’s best cities for…
Theater Review: Intimate Apparel, Dorset
The setting is lower Manhattan in 1905, and the wide stage at Dorset Playhouse abounds in details: a gas lamp hanging from the ceiling, a white porcelain wash basin and pitcher, patterned wallpaper. The action in Lynn Nottage’s Intimate Apparel (2003) takes place in five bedrooms, cleverly realized in this production by overlapping the physical…
Rowland Robinson Drawings Show Life on the 19th-Century Farm
Most Vermonters acquainted with Rokeby Museum in Ferrisburgh probably associate it with the Underground Railroad. The main display at the historic site celebrates its 19th-century status as a way station for fugitive slaves heading for Canada and freedom before and during the Civil War. But Rokeby was, first of all, a working farm during its…
Tod Pronto, It Can’t All Be Wrong
(Self-released, CD, digital download) Five years ago, Newport, Vt., native Tod Pronto went to the cradle of country —Nashville — to record a full-length album, Nashville Stereo. The country music industrial machine often churns out boilerplate albums lacking in personality, and Pronto seemingly fell into that trap. So on his recent release, It Can’t All…
Vote for your favorite pet photos
Vermont’s furry, scaly and feathery friends went head to tail in the Seven Days Animal Kingdom Photo Contest presented by BEVS. What’s Next? Follow Seven Days on Instagram Scroll through our feed and find the top five finalists. Like your favorite photo to vote. The deadline to vote is Feb 19. The photo with the…
At Heartbeet Farm, Adults With Disabilities Bloom
Annie Jackson bends down to inspect a neat row of leafy cabbages. She explains that weeds suffocate plants and must be ripped out with diligence. “You really need to go in between each plant,” says the 33-year-old as she surveys neighboring rows of carrots, onions, tomatoes, garlic and other vegetables spread over two acres. Jackson,…
The Michele Fay Band, Believe
(Self-released, CD, digital download) Through their first three albums, the Michele Fay Band have marked a steady progression. The group’s 2008 debut, Live and Local, was a sturdy effort that overcame excusable freshman foibles with agreeable, folksy charm. On their first proper studio record, Travelin’ That Road (2010), MFB sanded away those rough edges. And…
Has Clinton Dispatched Oppo Researchers to UVM’s Sanders Archive?
Librarians at the University of Vermont’s special collections say interest is spiking in the “Bernard Sanders papers” — 30 boxes of meticulously organized material documenting Sanders’ eight years as mayor of Burlington. That should come as no surprise, given the independent senator’s rapid rise in the polls in New Hampshire and Iowa, which hold the…
Free Will Astrology (7/1/15)
ARIES (March 21-April 19): To determine whether you are aligned with the cosmic flow, please answer the following questions. 1. Would you say that your current situation is more akin to treading water in a mosquito-ridden swamp or conducting a ritual of purification in a clear mountain stream? 2. Have you been wrestling with boring…
CEDO: Progressives Fear Bernie Sanders’ Creation Has Lost Its Way
In his campaign stump speeches around the country, presidential candidate Bernie Sanders rattles off accomplishments from his eight-year tenure as mayor of Burlington: the Waterfront Park, the community land trust and citywide neighborhood planning assemblies to encourage citizen involvement in government, to name a few. Many of those initiatives came out of the Community &…
Four More Local Albums You (Probably) Haven’t Heard
So many records, so little time. Seven Days gets more album submissions than we know what to do with. And, given the ease of record making these days, it’s difficult to keep up. Still, we try to get to every local release that comes across the music desk, no matter how obscure or far out.…
Obituary: Theresa Clara Perras, 1934-2015, Colchester, VT
Theresa Clara Perras passed away on June 29, 2015. She was born on May 13, 1934 in Winooski to the late Edouard and Agnes (Charpentier) Leclair. She enjoyed playing several musical instruments, singing, playing games but her biggest joy was her family. She proudly raised her six beloved children. Left to cherish her memory are…
