Mar 17-23, 2021
Vermont’s Aging Transmission Network Can’t Keep Pace With Green Power Projects; As Burlington High School Returns Downtown, Alumni Recall an Earlier Era; Slammed by COVID-19, Women’s Pant Maker SheFly Is Back and Raring to Go
Cover Story
Grid Block: Vermont’s Aging Transmission Network Can’t Keep Pace With Green Power Projects
John Ovitt has a sticky problem. The Franklin Foods cream cheese plant he runs in Enosburg Falls makes more wastewater than the tiny village treatment plant can handle. Eric Fitch has an innovative solution. The founder and CEO of New Hampshire-based renewable power company PurposeEnergy could transform that foul cheese water into a valued commodity: renewable…
Obituary: Ruth Henry, 1923-2021
Georgia-born woman joined the Civil Air Patrol in World War II
Obituary: Eileen Schilling, 1958-2021
Mother, educator and gardener nurtured family and community in Charlotte
Obituary: Andree Maitland Dean
New York woman was “a force of nature” devoted to the art world and Democratic presidential campaigns
Free Will Astrology (3/17/21)
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): No one had ever proven that there was such a thing as electromagnetic waves until Piscean physicist Heinrich Hertz (1857-1894) did so in 1886. He was the innovator who first transmitted and received controlled radio waves. Alas, he didn’t think his breakthrough was useful. In 1890, he confessed, “I do not…
I’m Baffled by My Inability to Find a Woman With the Characteristics and Personality That I Appreciate Over Time
Dear Reverend, I’ve been around the block a few times and was married once for many years. But I’m still baffled by my inability to find a woman with the characteristics and personality that I appreciate over time. I read a book that describes an analytical method of training yourself to identify traits that are…
Middlebury Professor Michole Biancosino Talks About Figuring Out Virtual Theater
When the pandemic shut down in-person theater, Michole Biancosino realized pretty quickly the theater world would have to adapt. The Middlebury College assistant professor is also the cofounder of New York-based Project Y Theatre with a fellow Middlebury graduate, Andrew W. Smith. This summer, she’ll launch a Vermont-based project: Tiny Barn Theatre. “I thought, We…
Art Review: ‘Pivotal Moments: Select Works by Diane Gabriel,’ BCA Center
On the second floor of the BCA Center in Burlington, the exhibit “Pivotal Moments” is modest in size but eloquent in scope; it’s a testament to the wide-ranging interests and exquisite skills of Vermont artist Diane Gabriel. Sadly, the show is posthumous; Gabriel died unexpectedly in 2017 at age 70. Viewing her prints, photographs and…
‘The Dissident’ Tells the Ripped-From-the-Headlines Story of Jamal Khashoggi’s Murder
Our streaming entertainment options are overwhelming — and not always easy to sort through. This week, the Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival and Vermont International Film Foundation present a new installment of their Split/Screen virtual cinema program, this one curated by MNFF. (Find more info and tickets at middfilmfest.org.) I watched The Dissident, a ripped-from-the-headlines documentary…
Soundbites: Traditions, Mashups and ‘Marrow’
Here’s a little media note for ya: Robert Resnik, longtime host of Vermont Public Radio’s folk and traditional music show “All the Traditions,” is finally back at the mic after a nine-month absence. Resnik had been away from his post and quarantining hard due to some personal health factors that made him high risk for…
Author and Painter Richard Alther on Life, Death and His New Novel, ‘Bedside Matters’
If you ask someone how they hope to die, most people will … well, they’ll look at you in fear, confusion and/or shock and probably scurry away. Those who stick around long enough to answer might say something like, “In my sleep, blissfully unaware.” “That’s the nirvana,” Richard Alther said in an interview. “Avoid death…
Sarah King, ‘The Hour’
(Self-released, CD, digital, vinyl) When it comes to playing music, Sarah King is a lifer. The gritty Americana singer, songwriter and musician moved from Maine to the Deep South to pursue her career. She became an active livestreamer when the pandemic decimated live music events. In her bio, she even cites her commitment to music…
From the Deputy Publisher: Backpack Journalists
When photojournalist Cat Cutillo showed up to cover the opening of Burlington High School’s new downtown campus, she never imagined her images would appear on BuzzFeed and on the websites for People magazine and the UK-based Daily Mail. Cutillo, a regular contributor to Seven Days’ parenting magazine, Kids VT, was excited about the assignment when…
John Morgan Kimock, ‘Hikikomori’
(Astrology Days Records, limited-edition CD, digital download) John Morgan Kimock was onstage before he was old enough for school. His father, Steve Kimock, is an underground legend, a guitarist’s guitarist like Robert Fripp or Allan Holdsworth. Steve’s career has spanned countless genres, and, over the years, his son has joined him on drums for some…
Bottom Line: Slammed by COVID-19, Women’s Pant Maker SheFly Is Back and Raring to Go
Georgia Grace Edwards spends lots of time talking about dropping trou. The 25-year-old Middlebury College grad is cofounder of Burlington-based startup SheFly, which set out to solve a problem that’s long plagued half the world’s population: peeing outdoors as a woman. The problem has nothing to do with the female anatomy and everything to do…
Book Review: ‘American Wake,’ Kerrin McCadden
The phrase “American wake” is used for the mourning party held when family members leave Ireland, emigrating in aspiration or desperation for better chances across the ocean. There is no certainty of seeing one another again. American Wake is also the name of Vermont poet Kerrin McCadden’s newest book, and the title poem begins this…
With a UVM Program Threatened by Cuts, Does Historic Preservation Have a Future in Vermont?
On January 24, the preservation experts of seven northeastern states, including Pennsylvania and New York, convened for a webinar on historic barns, hosted by the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance. One of the three invited guest speakers was Tom Visser, professor and director of the master’s of science program in historic preservation at the University of…
Burlington High School’s Return to Downtown Prompts Alumni to Recall Earlier Era
In 1964, high school students in Burlington prepared to leave their downtown digs for a sprawling, cutting-edge campus off North Avenue on the outskirts of town. A ballooning student body had led to overcrowding and wear and tear on Edmunds High School, a stately Renaissance Revival building that opened in the spring of 1900 on…
WTF: Why Is Someone Giving Away a Free House in Shelburne?
The classified ad in Seven Days seems fairly straightforward: An old Vermont farmhouse, circa 1840, is available in Shelburne for near-immediate occupancy. It’s a one-and-a-half-story, L-shaped farmhouse with wooden siding, a stone foundation, and a newer porch and addition that could be removed by the new owner. Asking price: free for the taking, provided you…
New Haven’s Historic Train Station Has to Get Out of Amtrak’s Way — Literally
The New Haven Train Depot has long been a monument to the golden age of Vermont railroading. Just yards from Route 7, the 19th-century Italianate brick station is a visual landmark for thousands of passersby every day and serves as a reminder of the bygone era when trains used to shuttle passengers up and down…
Team Molly: Lt. Gov. Gray Hires a Political Staffer to Stay ‘Connected’
Here’s something you don’t see very often. In fact, it may be unprecedented in Vermont. One of the six statewide officeholders — governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, treasurer and auditor — has hired a paid political staffer outside of her official, state-funded office in the first months of a new term. “I…
Letters to the Editor (3/17/21)
‘Damn Good Journalism’ Chelsea Edgar is an absolutely amazing writer. Reading her [“Mother Load,” March 10], I felt this crazy swirl of things: guilty relief that my pandemic life has been relatively stable; anger about how — even in Vermont — we haven’t figured out how to make life not suck for everyone; a rush…
Vermont Car Stuck in Montréal Gets Delivered to Owner — One Year Later
A Vermonter’s car stuck for nearly a year at the Montréal-Trudeau International Airport has been repatriated. Emmanuel Capitaine was reunited with his Toyota RAV4 last week in Williston. Seven Days recounted Capitaine’s story in this column last month: He drove the car to the airport to catch a flight to Paris on March 11, 2020.…
Two Vermont Chefs Talk About Cooking Burnout and Hacks to Get Food on the Table
“I DON’T WANT TO MAKE DINNER ANYMORE.” When Cara Chigazola Tobin posted this declaration on Instagram in early February, the mother of two from Charlotte echoed what many people were feeling deep into a year of pandemic-related restrictions and stress. Chigazola Tobin also happens to be chef and co-owner of popular Honey Road restaurant in…
Dining Inside at Montpelier’s Oakes & Evelyn
Sitting down for dinner in Montpelier’s new upscale restaurant, Oakes & Evelyn, was like falling through a portal into a fabulous alternative universe, where unmasked strangers were enjoying themselves. “It feels like a secret club we’re in, doesn’t it?” said my partner, Joshua. It had been half a year since I’d eaten inside a busy…
Woodbelly Pizza Opens Montpelier Restaurant
After about a decade of mobile pizza making, Woodbelly Pizza launched a brick-and-mortar location at 79 Barre Street in Montpelier on March 4. For now, the restaurant is open Thursday through Saturday for takeout only. But Woodbelly’s worker-owner cooperative plans to expand hours and offer limited seating indoors and out as the weather warms and…
How I Murdered My Sourdough Starter and Realized I Wasn’t Ready for Dog Ownership
A year ago, in mid-March 2020, when we were all staying at home for two weeks to flatten the curve, I jumped on the sourdough bandwagon. Despite regular experiments with no-knead loaves, quick breads and other floury delights (and hosting two seasons of a podcast about bread), I’d never actually kept a sourdough starter of…
Champlain Islands Candy Lab Owners Add Pan-Latin Food Trailer
Albert Reyes-McCarver and Michael McCarver-Reyes, the married couple behind candy and coffee shop Champlain Islands Candy Lab, have added Lola’s Latin Kitchen to their food enterprises at 6 South Street in South Hero. They named the new business after Lola Rodríguez de Tío in honor of her advocacy for Puerto Rican independence from Spain starting…
Woodland Baking & Coffee to Bring New Coffee and Pastry Option to Stowe
When Woodland Baking & Coffee opens this spring at 394 Mountain Road in Stowe, both halves of its name will have equal weight. “It’s not just a bakeshop, and it’s not just a coffee shop,” owner Matt Carrell said. The menu will feature whole-grain pastries such as croissants and canelés made with various kinds of…
