Jul 24-30, 2024
Can Vermont’s Endangered Local Newspapers Be Saved?; Vermont Farmers Experience a Second Devastating Summer of Flooding; Vermont’s Olympic Rowers Head to Paris; Vermont’s Sculpture on the Highway Project Gets a Facelift
Cover Story
Vermont’s Local News Publishers Are Endangered. Can They Be Saved?
Help us pay for in-depth stories like this one by becoming a Seven Days Super Reader. Angelo Lynn, the longtime owner of the Addison Independent, received a call from a fellow newspaper publisher last year asking whether his revenue had recently fallen off a cliff. Lynn knew his weekly paper, which covers 23 towns in Addison County,…
Obituary: Katy Tymon, 1984-2024
BFA graduate remembered as an adventurous, free-spirited people person
Obituary: John Franklin Durant Jr., 1941-2024
History teacher inspired his students to be better citizens by being open to other perspectives and listening to each other
Obituary: Gregory Dunigan, 1971-2024
Albans man embraced life and all it offered and loved spending time with his family and twin daughters
Record Rainfall in the Northeast Kingdom Brings Yet Another Round of Flooding
Updated at 7:17 p.m. A slow-moving thunderstorm late Monday and early Tuesday dropped more than eight inches of rain on St. Johnsbury over just six hours, a record soaking that led to yet another round of flooding in Vermont. The previous record for a single day of rainfall in St. Johnsbury was set in 1913,…
Obituary: Frances M. Bessette, 1948-2024
Burlington native loved children and was involved with childcare for many years
Obituary: Clare Helene Jacobs, 1928-2024
Richmond woman enjoyed a lifetime activity of collecting and researching antiques and made a practice of learning something new every day
Obituary: Zelda Athena Jones
Though her time on Earth was short, she left an indelible mark on the hearts of those who knew her
Obituary: Janice Whitney, 1950-2024
Owner of Bristol gift shop and 30-year employee of the UVM Medical Center loved her gardens and time with family and friends
On the Beat: 20 Years of the Ramble; Higher Ground Stays Put
It’s that time of year again when Burlington’s Old North End leans into its quirky, sometimes outright weird grandeur for the Ramble. Now entering its 20th year, the neighborhood gathering/festival/block party is unlike any other. Featuring community plant swaps, pop-up markets and art galleries, yoga, a roller disco, a “yarn jam,” movie screenings, and, of…
Mavstar, ‘Verona’
(Self-released, CD, digital) Armed with confidence and conviction on his fourth studio album, a leading local rapper asserts his grit and proclaims a commitment to his craft while wielding his most pointed lyricism to date. Verona, released this month, is the first full-length offering since summer 2020 from the Burlington-born musician Marek Lorenc, who records…
Vallory Falls, ‘To Save You’
(Self-released, digital) There’s a kind of bravery to revisiting teenage passions. Certainly, warnings about indulging in nostalgia and living in the past are salient — one need only look to the past decade or so of Hollywood remakes, relaunches and rebrands to know what it looks like when a snake eats its own tail. There…
Vermont’s Olympic Rowers Head to Paris
Rowing isn’t for the weak-kneed or those who prefer to sleep late. A typical training day starts at sunrise, when rowers arrive at the boathouse and gently lower their racing boats, called rowing shells, into the pond, lake or river. In ideal conditions, the water is still as glass, making it easier to stroke the…
Vermont’s Singular Sculpture on the Highway Project Gets a Facelift
Next to the welcome center at the Williston southbound rest area along Interstate 89 stands a curiosity: “Cuarto Torres,” or “Four Towers,” a concrete sculpture made in 1971 by Colombian artist Eduardo Ramirez. Tall enough to be seen from the highway, the abstract geometric construction consists of four groups of four tall, slender, square piers.…
Rob Hitzig Chases the Rainbow at Axel’s Gallery in Waterbury
Rob Hitzig has an equal opportunity palette. “I have a few biases I’ve been trying to work on,” he said in a recent interview, “but I want to use all the colors.” A good chunk of the spectrum is visible in “Chasing a Feeling,” his solo show at Axel’s Gallery in Waterbury. The Montpelier artist’s…
Some Residents Flooded Out of Plainfield Think Goddard’s Campus Should Become Home
For most of the 50 years that Kathie Alyce has lived in her farmhouse along the Nasmith Brook in Marshfield, she’s had 20 feet of lawn between her stone chimney and the granite-lined brook that flows along her property. In the July 2023 flood, the gentle brook became a torrent that carved off about 10…
Free Will Astrology (7/24/24)
LEO (Jul. 23-Aug. 22): Some bamboo species grow very quickly — as much as 36 inches per day. I suspect your capacity to burgeon and blossom will display a similar vigor in the coming weeks. You may be surprised at how dramatic your development is. I’m hoping, of course, that you will be acutely focused…
Two Films With Vermont Connections: ‘As Easy As Closing Your Eyes’ and ‘Pomp & Circumstance’
Summer blockbuster season reigns supreme, but this week I checked out two films made or conceived close to home. Back in 2012, I wrote about Falling Overnight, an indie drama cowritten by and starring Shelburne native Parker Croft. Since then, the part-time Vermont resident has acted on shows such as “Big Little Lies” and directed…
Paralympians Gear Up for Paris With Some Help From the Kelly Brush Foundation
The Summer Olympics start on Friday, and athletes from around the world are either in or en route to Paris. Getting ready for their own games in August are the Paralympians, for whom “gearing up” is much more involved. The specialized, often custom equipment used by disabled athletes is extremely expensive, and few have sponsors…
Now Playing in Theaters: July 24-30
new in theaters DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE: Two superheroes — one unkillable, one un-shut-up-able — team up in the latest Marvel flick, starring Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman and Emma Corrin. Shawn Levy (Free Guy) directed. (127 min, R. Bijou, Capitol, Essex, Majestic, Marquis, Paramount, Roxy, Star, Welden) THE FABULOUS FOUR: Three old friends (Susan Sarandon, Megan…
Letters to the Editor (7/24/24)
So Much Soccer Despite the corrections and clarifications made to your June 26 cover story, “Green Dream,” regarding the Vermont Green FC, I thank you for the article. It is great to see the game growing in Vermont! For fans of the Vermont Green, please remember that the University of Vermont men’s and women’s teams…
I’m Worried About Hurting Lovers With My Acrylic Nails
Dear Reverend, I used to be a nail-biter, but to get over the habit, I started getting manicures with acrylic nails. I usually go with a shorter, oval shape, but I really love the long, stiletto styles and I’d like to try them out. However, I have both male and female lovers, and I’m worried…
An Inmate’s Pleas About Her Dangerous Cellmate Were Dismissed. Then She Was Attacked.
Yvonne Frederiksen was scared, and she let prison officials know. Her cellmate, Veronica Lewis, was notorious: She’d been shuffled between prisons and psychiatric hospitals after she shot and nearly killed her gun range instructor in 2015. Lewis’ case had been the subject of political and legal debate about how the state should treat people who…
Book Review: ‘Nicked,’ M.T. Anderson
Readers who know St. Nicholas primarily as a figure of yuletide folklore may be surprised to see a book named for him released in July. But don’t expect a Christmas tale from Nicked. The debut adult novel from Vermont author M.T. Anderson, a winner of the National Book Award for his young adult fiction, is…
Vermont Farmers Experience a Second Devastating Summer of Flooding
Vermont farmers counted on bouncing back this year from the 2023 summer floods that cost them nearly $45 million in damages. Mother Nature had other plans. In Richmond, the remnants of Hurricane Beryl dumped nearly six inches of rain on some parts of town earlier this month. Water overtopped the banks of the Winooski River…
From the Publisher: Hard-Pressed
As a publisher, I kept my distance from this week’s cover story. That’s because I’m in it. The assignment was awkward, as well, for the two staffers who wrote “Breaking News,” which takes the pulse of Vermont’s local news outlets. For the same reason a surgeon would avoid operating on a relative, reporters aren’t often…
Newly Formed Montpelier Performing Arts Hub to Purchase Gary Library
Kianna Bromley knew that creating a performing arts venue from the ground up in Montpelier would be a “long shot.” She took it anyway. In March, the Capital City resident started a nonprofit and soon launched a $750,000 fundraising campaign to buy Gary Library on the Vermont College of Fine Arts campus and undertake a…
Theater Review: ‘The Prom,’ Lost Nation Theater
Each new generation of parents and prom chaperones must know, as they discourage inappropriate behavior on that most venerated of American teen nights, that they’re on the wrong side of hormonal history. Still, adults persist in their worry that school dances will be gateways to adult situations. It’s as if we learned nothing from Footloose!…
Soundbites: The Butterfields Take Flight
The first minute of the Butterfields’ new music video, “Alberta Bound,” gives the viewer an intimate snapshot of the husband-and-wife folk duo’s life at home. The sounds of distant cars and birdsong can be heard over a shot of verdant green grass, just before the camera moves inside the couple’s house. A shot lingers on…
Vermont Comedy Club Chef Mo AlDoukhi Cracks Eggs and Jokes
Chef Mo AlDoukhi Position: Head chef and kitchen manager Age: 23 Cuisine type: A mix of Middle Eastern-influenced breakfast and lunch items and “drunk-people food” Experience: Started cooking in his mom’s restaurant in Lebanon at age 9. While attending high school in the Netherlands, he spent school breaks working at restaurants in France, the UK…
Haymaker Bun’s New Burlington Café Packs a Punch
When I think of haymakers, I picture farmers on tractors, cutting careful tracks through their fields — especially this time of year, when white-wrapped bales dot Vermont’s rolling hills. I had no clue the phrase also refers to a powerful boxing-ring blow. But when I bit into a breakfast sandwich on one of Haymaker Bun’s…
Charlotte’s Former Nordic Farm Has New Owners
The 583-acre former dairy farm in Charlotte historically known as Nordic Farm will once again bear that name under new owners Ben Dobson and Kaspar Meier. The business partners purchased the conserved farm in early July from the family of the late Will Raap, founder of Gardener’s Supply and the Intervale Center. Dobson and Meier…
Jr’s Williston Closes; Jr’s Winooski Remains Open Under Different Owners
Classic Italian American eateries Junior’s Winooski and Jr’s Williston, both originally owned by Bogdan Andreescu, have now gone their separate ways. As of July 16, Jr’s Williston has closed “until further notice,” according to a sign tacked on its door. The Sidebar, an adjacent sports bar Andreescu opened a year after Jr’s Williston launched in…
The Magnificent 7: Must See, Must Do, July 24-30
Ain’t It Grand Thursday 25-Sunday 28 Vermont’s own Grace Potter returns to the Burlington waterfront for her first Grand Point North Concert Series since the pandemic. Four days of performances include headliners the Head and the Heart, the Flaming Lips, and Potter herself. The Waitsfield rocker has announced that all proceeds will support Vermont flood…
