Jun 26 – Jul 2, 2019
Sen. Bernie Sanders’ Relationship to Gun Laws? It’s Complicated; a Vermont Pinup Girl Poses for Lyme Awareness; a High School Senior’s ‘Knotty’ Art Project Is Censored
Cover Story
Stickin’ to His Guns? The NRA Helped Elect Bernie Sanders to Congress. Now He’s Telling a Different Story.
Four hours after a former city worker gunned down 12 people at the Virginia Beach Municipal Center last month, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) took to Twitter to call for gun control. “The days of the NRA controlling Congress and writing our gun laws must end,” he wrote, referring to the National Rifle Association. “Congress must…
Seriously: A Berning Dispute
In this episode, Bryan and Sen. Bernie Sanders discuss a recent Seven Days cover story. Featuring Tim Bridge as Sen. Bernie Sanders. CREDITS Written by: Bryan Parmelee and Tim Bridge Filmed and edited by: Bryan Parmelee Artwork/photography courtesy of: Laura Patterson, CQ Roll Call, AP Photo, Rev. Diane Sullivan, Anson Stevens-Bollen, Paul Heintz, Todd Lockwood,…
Obituary: Holly Sorenson Buck, 1955-2019
Holly Sorenson Buck walked into Rich Wollensak’s Waterbury, Vt., dental office, told him of her hygienist experience, noted that they had 5-year olds in school together and basically said: “I want to work here, and you need to hire me.” That was 1995, and so blossomed a wonderful relationship, both professionally and as families, which…
Mothers’ Helpers: Volunteers Lighten the Load During the ‘Fourth Trimester’
“Mothering has been the richest experience of my life,” writes Anne Lamott. Her memoir of solo parenting an infant, Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son’s First Year, resonates with readers not because it paints a sentimental picture of motherhood, but because Lamott’s humorous and heartfelt musings capture the joys and difficulties that accompany being…
The Art of… Creating a Snack Board — on a Budget
I have a somewhat embarrassing — though surprisingly common — affinity for looking at beautiful photographs of yummy things to eat. That means I follow a lot of food bloggers on Instagram. It was on one of those accounts — Weelicious — where I first saw a photo of a snack board. For those who…
The Cannabis Catch-Up: Massachusetts Moves Toward Allowing Weed Delivery, Cafés
Imagine living in a state that has legalized cannabis sales and is considering allowing home weed deliveries and cafés where you could sit and smoke with your buds. It’s a land known as Massachusetts, aka Vermont’s neighbor to the south. The state’s Cannabis Control Commission on Tuesday approved both cafés and delivery operations, though such…
Obituary: Samuel J. Dube, 1991-2019
Samuel J. Dube, 27, passed away peacefully with his family at his side on Father’s Day, June 16, 2019, at the home of his loving caregiver Nadia Marin. Sam was born in Berlin, Vt., on October 11, 1991. He was the son of Elden Dube of Montpelier, Vt., and Rebecca Johnston of Essex Junction, Vt.…
Undervalued: Early Childhood Educators Provide Critical Service but Struggle to Make Ends Meet
When Noelle Cleveland enrolled at San José State University in California in 2008, she knew she wanted to work with young children one day. She thought she might become an elementary school teacher. But as part of her coursework, she volunteered in a preschool and, as she tells it, “instantly fell in love.” Cleveland, now…
Obituary: Allen Martin, 1937-2019
Allen Martin, age 81, died peacefully surrounded by the enduring love of his wife, Bonnie, on June 19, 2019, in Windsor, Vt., after a long, distinguished and productive life. Allen was born in Manchester, Conn., on August 12, 1937, the eldest child of Richard Martin and Ruth Palmer Smith Martin, both of whom predeceased him.…
Strangled Darlings’ New Album Chronicles Three Years on the Road
Touring is an essential part of a professional musician’s life. It’s not only imperative for making connections within the industry and with fans, but it can also be the most profitable part of the job. Most working musicians have to balance time on the road with time back home, either for careers or family obligations.…
Erin Cassels-Brown, ‘Dreamin’ on Overdrive’
(self-released, CD, digital) Just over two years ago, Erin Cassels-Brown released his debut EP, Northern Lights, Vol. 1. The Winooski-based singer-songwriter’s tunes dwelled mostly in a rustic indie-folk place, occasionally revving up to more rockin’ alt-country vibes. Although it wasn’t known at the time, the final track, a kick-up-your-heels ripper called “Bad Bad News,” hinted…
![[Jeremy Brotz], ‘Knowing Time’](https://i0.wp.com/www.sevendaysvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/musicreview2-1-9ab836cd221032f3-1-e1754069764453.webp?resize=300%2C300&ssl=1)
[Jeremy Brotz], ‘Knowing Time’
(Self-released, digital download) Taking a chance on a new endeavor takes guts and can lead to (sometimes harsh) criticism. Take “Beverly Hills, 90210” actor Brian Austin Green’s stab at a rap career. His 1996 album One Stop Carnival was so poorly received that in 2010 — 14 years after its release — it wound up…
I Just Can’t Bring Myself to Swallow
Dear Reverend, My lover has been asking me to swallow his sperm, but I just don’t want to. He’s a great lover who makes me orgasm multiple times, but I just can’t bring myself to do this one little thing. Is something wrong with me, and is our relationship doomed? Spitty Kitty (female, 32) Dear…
‘Echo in the Canyon’ Celebrates a Seminal Era in Music History
People who grew up in the ’60s know that music used to be better. People who grew up with boy bands and Auto-Tune can quibble, but the debate is an easy one to settle: Watch Echo in the Canyon. Case closed. Directed by Andrew Slater and hosted by Jakob Dylan, the documentary offers an affectionate…
Soundbites: Thoughts on Rezoning in the South End
Sounding Off This column primarily functions as a way to highlight local music news and interesting events, and usually there’s plenty of stuff to write about. Occasionally, though, the column can provide an arena for your humble Seven Days music editor to express his personal views. Sure, a lot is going on this week, too,…
Eat This Week, June 26 to July 2, 2019: Sips and Tunes
Beer and music are paired on Monday evenings at Lawson’s Finest Liquids in Waitsfield. The featured brew on July 1 will be Scrag Mountain Pils, a pilsner infused with lime and sea salt that is a “tribute to the source of Waitsfield’s town water,” according to the Lawson’s website. Bluegrass group Fiddle Witch will supply…
Art Review: Misoo and Wendy Copp at GreenTARA Space
The current exhibition at GreenTARA Space in North Hero is a two-artist show of assemblages by Wendy Copp and paintings by Misoo. Titled “Identities: Cultural Creations,” the pairing has a certain complementarity: Copp’s work is funny and magical with undercurrents of gravitas, while Misoo’s is serious and mythical with flashes of humor. The multivalent identity…
Playtime Gets Serious in Pixar’s ‘Toy Story 4’
In a world where things and people merge, what happens when you outlive your usefulness? The question that workers worldwide have been asking themselves is somehow also the question at the heart of Toy Story 4. Arriving nine years after its predecessor, the latest in Disney-Pixar’s hit animated series is a bright-colored, speedy entertainment for…
A Vermonty Pinup Calendar Benefits Lyme Nonprofit
As an advocate, Julie Gagnon Prior has had to give a lot of hugs. She didn’t hug much before she got sick, she said, but now hugs are her greeting of choice — fierce, warm squeezes that she administers with all her might. That might be the first thing you notice when you meet Prior,…
Priced for Scale: $8.5 Million Listing Could Limit Options for Burlington Cathedral
Devin Colman isn’t the first to describe Burlington’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception as an oasis in an urban landscape. Its 2.2-acre plot is boxed in by the downtown transit center, the stalled CityPlace Burlington project, and busy Cherry and Pearl streets. On any given sunny day, people lounge in the dappled light on the…
A High School Senior’s ‘Knotty’ Artwork Is Censored
In October 2018, Lea-Or “Tooti” Zarfati-Eirmann decided that her final project in her advanced-placement art class would involve shibari, the ancient Japanese art of decorative knot tying. When her mother asked why, the then-graduating senior at Mill River Union High School in North Clarendon explained, “because it’s a great metaphor for the way society is…
Champ Gets a New Electrified Ride for Lake Monsters Games
Champ, the Vermont Lake Monsters’ googly-eyed mascot, has ditched his gas-guzzling game-day transport for a greener machine. For 25 years, the mythic minor-league baseball cheerleader has tooled around Centennial Field in Burlington between innings with one flipper on the throttle of a four-wheeler while he slapped high-fives with the other. But those joyrides were leaving…
Champlain College President Makes a Quick Exit
The last Champlain College president to step down, David Finney, gave the Burlington school plenty of notice in 2013 — 14 months, in fact. Likewise, University of Vermont president Thomas Sullivan announced his retirement a year before it will become effective next week. So the June 12 announcement by Finney’s successor, Champlain College president Donald…
Free Will Astrology (6/26/19)
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Here are your fortune cookie-style horoscopes for the months ahead. July: Acquire a new personal symbol that thrills your mind and mobilizes your soul. August: Reconfigure the way you deal with money. Get smarter about your finances. September: It’s time to expedite your learning. But streetwise education is more useful than…
Theater Review: ‘The Fantasticks,’ Weston Playhouse
In the late 1950s, when musicals were big and getting bigger, lyricist Tom Jones and composer Harvey Schmidt wrote the smallest musical they could. The Fantasticks tells a complex story of love and shattered illusions, and does it with deceptively simple characters and enduringly beautiful music. The Weston Playhouse production infuses the show with contemporary…
Icon Designer Jory Raphael Publishes Book of Visual Puns
Jory Raphael isn’t offended when people don’t recognize his artworks as personal creations. That’s because his specialty is creating icons that appear on websites, smartphones and traffic signs, and they’re designed to be instantly recognizable, stylistically consistent and unobtrusive. Vermonters may well have seen Raphael’s work without knowing it. Years ago, the 39-year-old Panton native…
How Veronica Lewis Went From Jail to a Mental Hospital — and Back Again
The guards at Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington knew that Veronica Lewis could be violent. In the first three months she was imprisoned on an attempted murder charge for shooting a firearms instructor in the face, the 31-year-old lashed out numerous times. Claire Gilligan had not witnessed that aggressive behavior firsthand when she…
Bookstock Festival Offers First Literary Inspiration Award
Since it opened for business in 2013, Green Writers Press has worked to inspire writers and readers in Vermont and beyond to think differently, not just about publishing but about the world at large. The small Brattleboro imprint has made a name for itself by championing environmentally friendly publishing practices, mirroring its stated mission “to…
Hackie: Green Mountain Giants
On my first pass up the mountain, I missed my destination and had to pull over to ask a lady working in her garden. In my defense, few homes in the neighborhood had addresses on their mailboxes, and my GPS had lost contact with the mother ship, or however that works. It was early morning,…
Letters to the Editor (6/26/19)
‘Go’ Time While reading the “Piss Poor” article [“Piss Poor: Burlington Mulls Proposals for More Public Bathrooms,” May 22], I was reminded of the Greg Kotis play Urinetown: The Musical, where it has become a privilege to pee. Urinetown is a drought-ridden place that has sunk to the level of charging its citizens to use…
First Bite at Bliss Bee, Fast Casual Eatery from Founder of Farmhouse Group
When I visited Bliss Bee in Williston, a list of Vermont suppliers graced the wall, including the Northeast Kingdom dairy responsible for the creemee mix. Couples drank wine and Vermont beers with their burgers. Kids slurped chocolate milk paired with jumbo all-beef hot dogs as long as their forearms. This family-oriented eatery is owned by…
Vermont Brewmasters Experiment With Yeasts and Foraged Ingredients
Vermont’s first beer of the spring began in a Northeast Kingdom forest. On a drizzly June afternoon, Vasilios Gletsos, Wunderkammer Bier’s brewmaster, gathered tips and branches of juniper, pine, spruce, cedar and fir for his Waking Insects beer. That’s the fourth in an annual series of brews based on a Norwegian juniper beer. Gletsos’ children,…
Restoration Barbecue Sets Up a Smoker in Brandon
The new owners of a grocery store in Brandon will add barbecue to the business one Saturday a month when they launch Restoration Barbecue in early August. Todd Lagendyk and his wife, Maribeth, will take ownership of Forest Dale Grocery & Deli at 15 Furnace Road on July 1, Todd said. Their first barbecue service…
