Jul 29 – Aug 4, 2009
The Adirondack Issue: The Park vs. the People; Two-Wheeling in the ‘Dacks; Public Radio Tuned North; Flanagan Suspended for Locker-Room Faux Pas; Jen Hartswick’s New Band
Venture Vermont — Groton State Forest
My family made more progress toward our free Vermont State Parks passes over the weekend. We’re doing the Venture Vermont Outdoor Challenge. Click on the link to read more about it. We visited Groton State Forest on Saturday and racked up a bunch of points at New Discovery State Park, Kettle Pond and Seyon Lodge.…
YMCA Management Knew About Other Incidents Involving Flanagan
More questions have surfaced about how the YMCA handled concerns about Democrat Sen. Ed Flanagan, a Chittenden County state senator and candidate for lieutenant governor. Last week, a Y patron filed a formal complaint alleging Flanagan was masturbating in the facility’s Men’s Wellness Center. Flanagan, who suffered a traumatic brain injury in a 2005 car crash,…
Trying My Patience
Ah…Gilbert and Sullivan. Such enchanting entertainment — perfect for a summer’s evening. I was so looking forward to Wednesday night’s performance of Patience, or Bunthorne’s Bride, the 1881 G&S operetta served up this year as part of the Vermont Mozart Festival. Conductor William Metcalfe wields a skillful baton. Another biblical night of rain wasn’t going to…
Suds Summit ’09: A Bust for Local Brewers
Yesterday, the POTUS, his vice prez., the Harvard prof and his arresting officer sat down to chat over some tasty brews on a patio near the White House Rose Garden. The Obama beer bash was billed as a “teachable moment” where Prof. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., the esteemed Ivy League academic, and Sgt. Joseph Crowley,…
Shopping Queens and Sidewalk Scenes
When I told one of my colleagues earlier today that I planned on writing a blog post about Church Street in the summer, her response was somewhat less enthusiastic than I expected. She was wholly unimpressed with the topic. “Oh, I’m riveted already,” she said drolly, as she watched me shove leftover party cake in…
The First “Real” Summer Weekend?
It’s kinda late for the first “real” summer weekend, but Vermont’s Agency of Natural Resources thinks this will be it, according to the press release I just received. Apparently, Jason Gibbs, commissioner of the Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation, really wants us all to go outside this weekend. I’m pasting the (tongue-in-cheek?) press release…
YMCA Sends Email to Reassure Members
I belong to the YMCA — I work out (infrequently!) at the Y in Winooski. Late last night, I got an email from YMCA President/CEO Mary Burns, assuring me that the Y takes complaints of inappropriate behavior “very seriously”. I can only assume the message is responding to the charges leveled against Senator Ed Flanagan,…
Sen. Ed Flanagan: “I’m very sorry”
State Sen. Ed Flanagan said Wednesday he was “very sorry” if he offended anyone while unclothed inside the men’s wellness center at the Greater Burlington YMCA. As related in a story first reported by “Fair Game” in today’s Seven Days, last Friday a YMCA patron complained to Y officials that Flanagan was masturbating in plain…
Senator Flanagan Suspended From YMCA for Alleged Lewd Behavior
State Senator Ed Flanagan is back in the news again today. From today’s “Fair Game,” by Shay Totten: Back in May, Seven Days published a controversial cover story about Democratic Chittenden County Senator Ed Flanagan. In the article, entitled “Continuing Ed,” staff writer Ken Picard chronicled Flanagan’s peculiar behavior under the Golden Dome — from…
Free Will Astrology
Here’s the weekly astrological forecast for July 29 – August 5, 2009. What’s your sign, baby? They’re all here… ARIES (March 21-April 19): Are you a gelatinous pool of longing yet? Are you a perfumed garden of madly blooming purple explosions? Are you throbbing and gooey and half-nauseous with that delicious sickness some people called…
Letters to the Editor
DAYSIE DIS I found it sad that — according to the Seven Daysies categories, at least — theater is not an art form. This omission is particularly puzzling given that at least two Vermont theaters — and I am proud to be affiliated with both — have been rated among the best not only in…
How the Adirondack Chair Became a Classic
It was a betrayal between friends that produced the first Adirondack chairs. Local lore has it that Thomas Lee of Boston was vacationing in the Adirondacks in 1903 when he set about trying to construct a comfortable outdoor chair that would accommodate his mother, said to be a woman of great girth. Lee spent the…
In and Out
“Exposed! 2009,” sculptures sited outdoors and in the gallery, featuring works in multiple media by regional artists. Helen Day Art Center, Stowe. Through October 10.
A North Country Public Radio Reporter Talks About Life Inside the Blue Line
It was a raw, overcast Friday in early April when Brian Mann, Adirondack bureau chief for North Country Public Radio, got the call: NPR needed a reporter to cover a mass shooting at an immigrant center in downtown Binghamton, New York. Binghamton — for anyone in need of a geography lesson — is nowhere near…
Cyclists Recommend Routes on the Other Side of Lake Champlain
There are 46 famous “High Peaks” in Adirondack Park, and the trails to their summits, are well trodden — when they have trails, that is. Less congested are the roads that wind between the mountains, through dense forests and along pristine rivers and lakes. Towns? Few and far between. Two-lane highways penetrate New York’s 6.1-million-acre…
Lake Lit
A new book tells old stories, in pictures and prose, of the Champlain watershed
News Quirks
Curses, Foiled Again Liquor store clerk Joseph Wescott, 59, told police in Roswell, Ga., that a man entered the store and tried to stab him in the chest. The knife hit the cellphone in Wescott’s shirt pocket but did not injure Wescott, who pulled a gun and shot the would-be robber in the abdomen. He…
![Michael Jackson Tribute Night [SIV139]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sevendaysvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/episode139.webp?resize=400%2C300&ssl=1)
Michael Jackson Tribute Night [SIV139]
7/24/09: Michael Jackson fans packed a sold out house Friday to show Who’s Bad in a karaoke contest and dance party. Event hosted by Seven Days. Location: Higher Ground, South Burlington Vermont
Harpoon Championships of New England Barbecue
There is a day I nervously look forward to all year. It’s not Christmas, my birthday or my anniversary — it’s the day that I get to drive 101 miles to Windsor to eat some ribs. Not excited yet? You should be. Every July, Harpoon hosts all the best competitive barbecue teams in New England…
Howard Dean to Host MSNBC Show
Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who is traveling the country to champion health-care reform, is taking to the national cable news airwaves for two nights this week. Dean will be the guest host tonight, and tomorrow night, on the popular MSNBC show “Countdown with Keith Olbermann.” The show airs at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m.…
