The speakers just kept coming. On June 8, some 250 people Zoomed in to a Burlington Board of Finance meeting. The next night, 100 more flooded a virtual gathering of the city’s citizen police commission. One after another, they laid out their demands: Cut the number of officers in the Burlington Police Department, invest in…
U.S. Navy veteran traveled the world before raising six children with his loving wife
Dear Reverend, I had to run into a gas station the other day to grab something. As I was getting out of my car, I realized that I didn’t have a mask with me. I figured it was OK because it would be a quick in and out. A masked man in the store gave…
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): “A finished person is a boring person,” writes author Anna Quindlan. I agree! Luckily, you are quite unfinished and thus not at all boring — especially these days. More than ever before, you seem willing to treat yourself as an art project that’s worthy of your creative ingenuity — as a…
When lawmakers learned that Vermont was receiving $1.25 billion through the federal Coronavirus Relief Fund, many hoped they could steer a hefty chunk toward finally expanding broadband internet access to people who need it more than ever. After all, advocates argue, if the government is going to require people to work and learn from home,…
On a Role Kudos to Chelsea Edgar on a well-written article regarding Vermont’s mutual aid efforts [“How Can We Help You?” June 10]. I’m writing to underscore that government and grassroots entities are not mutually exclusive. Their efforts can be amplified through collaboration, and many residents can and do simultaneously hold positions in both. Although…
On a recent Monday at World Famous Monkey House Customs, Adam Vindigni was etching a skull, partly obscured by two large roses, into Sage Ruffle’s left arm. The Stowe tattoo and piercing shop is normally closed on Mondays, but since it reopened on June 2, after a mandatory three-month hiatus, Vindigni has been coming in…
Scrag Mountain Music founders Evan Premo, a composer and double bassist, and Mary Bonhag, a soprano, are offering 35 minutes of pure escape on their website. Technically, the free recording they’ve posted there is meant for children’s ears: It’s Thumbelina, the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale set to music by Premo. But, really, who couldn’t…
(What Doth Life, digital) Has interest in music made during the quarantine diminished? Are people burnt out on the novelty of being stuck in their houses with nothing to do but create? Though it may be a little bit late to the party, Windsor collective What Doth Life’s Quarancomp 2020 just arrived this month, and…
A southern Vermont tattoo shop is offering a second chance to those having second thoughts. Mountainside Tattoo & Piercing in Bellows Falls will cover up or remove anyone’s racist or hateful tattoos, all for free. The shop announced the offer in a June 5 Facebook post. “It’s ok to have a change of mind about…
(Self-released, CD, digital) I lived in a small town in West Virginia for about two years. During that time, I was fortunate to hear live folk, roots, bluegrass and traditional American music by the likes of Cabinet, the Steel Wheels and the Kind Thieves at the local music venue and hostel. So abundant were the…
For Jude Smith Rachele, 2020 has been one hell of a year to be in the business of cultural change. Rachele (pronounced “RaKELLY”) is cofounder and CEO of Abundant Sun. The Burlington-based global consulting firm, which describes itself as a “cultural transformation agency,” helps the managers of government agencies, corporations and nonprofits reform their workplaces…
This week our destination was the Taconic Mountains Ramble, a newish state park in Hubbardton that’s just a hop from the oldish Hubbardton Battlefield. The journey would introduce us to intriguing characters, sandwiches, history and farm animals. From Burlington, my road-trip gal pal and I headed down Route 7, navigating the commercial strip that is…
I’m riveted by personal stories of Vermont’s rural past, perhaps because, as a city boy, it’s so foreign to me. And it’s part and parcel of my lifelong love affair with my adopted state. Leonard “Lenny” Kailash was sharing his family history with me from the back seat of my taxi. Now in his seventies,…
Sally Roberts is no stranger to being afraid for her children. Along with her daughter, Ella, 15, and son, Caleb, 14, Roberts has been on a journey toward the proper diagnosis of their health issues for years. Ella is what her mom calls “a walking jellyfish,” with joints that dislocate easily and cause daily pain.…
Higher Learning Despite data indicating that the coronavirus pandemic shows no signs of abating, the reopening of society continues — including the return of live music events in Vermont. Just last week, South Burlington club Higher Ground announced a new drive-in event series at the Champlain Valley Exposition that would allow people to consume entertainment…
Like many primary care providers, Stowe Family Practice was barely hanging on before the coronavirus arrived. When it did, the office lost half the appointments that typically pay its bills and saw a 400 percent increase in phone inquiries, which don’t generate much income. Support staff were furloughed, doctors took pay cuts, and the practice’s…
The season for dining outside in the Green Mountain State is short, lovely and popular in normal times. During a pandemic, al fresco dining is especially desirable — even mandatory in some locations. Here are two outdoor eating excursions to try. Red Hen Baking 961 Route 2, Middlesex, 223-5200 A series of signs leads people…
Eating a popsicle on a hot summer day is a surefire way to relive childhood: think Rocket Pops that turn your tongue blue, or brain freeze from too much Good Humor. Each icy treat means a race to lick the drips and catch the last bite on the wooden stick before it falls onto the…
