Mar 7-13, 2018
Vermont Teens Raise Their Voices to Effect Change; White River Junction’s Engine Room on Right Track; Wild Hart Distillery Launches in Shelburne
Cover Story
We the Young People: Seven Vermont Teens Who Are Making a Difference
Exactly one month after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., Vermont students across the state plan to walk out of their classrooms to protest gun violence on March 14. The young survivors of the Valentine’s Day slayings are making significant progress on restricting access to firearms — more so than any…
Seriously: Battle of the Yogis
In this episode, Bryan organizes a yoga competition for a few of his friends. Featuring Conor Lastowka as Jim Brimly. CREDITS Written by: Bryan Parmelee and Conor Lastowka Filmed and edited by: Bryan Parmelee Artwork/photography by: James Buck, Taylor Dobbs, Bryan Parmelee, Dreamstime Backdrop mural by: Anthill Collective Music/audio by: Bryan Parmelee Related Stories
Memoriam: Benson D. Scotch
1934-2018, Montpelier Benson D. Scotch, 83, died January 29, 2018, after a brief illness. He was born March 17, 1934, in Elizabeth, N.J., to Maurice and Margaret Scotch. A celebration of his life will be held on his birthday, March 17, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Unitarian Church of Montpelier at 130…
![The Blisses Get Stuck in Vermont [SIV523]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sevendaysvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/episode523-4-scaled.webp?resize=1200%2C900&ssl=1)
The Blisses Get Stuck in Vermont [SIV523]
2/3/18: In Governor Phil Scott’s State of the State address in January, he expressed concern about our state’s aging population and shrinking work force. And during Gov. Scott’s budget address at the end of January, he pledged to grow our state’s workforce by attracting young families to the state. The governor is seeking $3.2 million…
Memoriam: Eric Charbonneau, 1963-2015
Eric H. Charbonneau January 6, 1963-March 10, 2015 It’s been three years since God called upon you. There is not a day that goes by that we don’t think about you. So many memories go through our heads. There have been so many tears we have shed. You have missed so much. We know that…
Soundbites: Coup de Gras
When March rolls around, I often think of Karl Marx’s famous statement, often paraphrased “Religion is the opiate of the masses.” That’s because two holidays with Christian origins — Mardi Gras and Saint Patrick’s Day — fall practically back-to-back, and both usually involve (require?) heavy drinking. The act of partying on these formerly holy days — not…
Theater Company Island Stage Launches in South Hero
Grand Isle resident Noni Stuart wants to dispel the notion that the commute from Burlington to the Lake Champlain Islands is long. “It’s a really short 30 minutes from anywhere in Burlington,” she says. “It’s an easy and beautiful drive, in fact.” Stuart is president of Island Stage, a new theater company based in the…
Burlington Tech Company Explains Gerrymandering With a Game
A Burlington-based tech company has created a game that aims to be fun and educational. GameTheory, which operates out of the Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies’ downtown co-working space, recently released GerryMander, a game that breaks down the complex issue of gerrymandering. “It’s the type of thing that is hard to explain with verbal or…
Karen Mittelman Takes the Lead at Vermont Arts Council
Last summer, the Vermont Arts Council announced that Karen Mittelman would replace Alex Aldrich as executive director. Most recently the director of the Division of Public Programs at the National Endowment for the Humanities, Mittelman brings to her new job nearly three decades of experience at federal institutions and other cultural posts. The New York…
Vermont’s Psychiatric Bed Crisis Befuddles Policymakers
Vermont Human Services Secretary Al Gobeille has said his top budget priority this year is creating more beds for psychiatric patients. But last week, some key state lawmakers balked at his plan to locate those beds in a prison complex. Gobeille’s proposal attempts to address a crisis in the state’s mental health system that’s left…
Movie Review: Jennifer Lawrence Doesn’t Soar in Spy Flick ‘Red Sparrow’
Red Sparrow is many things. Regrettably, a good movie isn’t one of them. It’s also not a timely movie, an innovative, genre-stretching movie, a zeitgeisty movie or a movie whose two-hour-and-20-minute running time can be considered anything but cruel and unusual. It is, paradoxically, a movie that does zero to advance the professional standing of…
Movie Review: ‘Death Wish’ Gets Pointlessly Remade With Extra Sadism
You know a movie has problems when the only scene that really holds your attention depicts someone being tortured with a scalpel and brake fluid. On the plus side, for those of us who care about such things, this remake of the 1974 vigilante thriller doesn’t have much of a gun fetish. While there are…
Album Review: Dwight & Nicole, ‘Electric Lights’
(Self-released, CD, digital download) In case you don’t know the backstory behind bluesy rock band Dwight & Nicole, here’s a quick primer: In the early 2000s, guitarist Dwight Ritcher and bassist Nicole Nelson met and fell in love as working musicians in Boston. After bouncing around for a bit, the couple landed in Burlington in…
A Fictional City Installation Explores Sense of Place
How do you know a place exists? Because you can find it on a map or google it? You see its name emblazoned on a sweatshirt, or written on a souvenir in someone’s kitchen? Perhaps you hear it referenced in conversation, or maybe you’ve met someone who grew up there. Just how a community exists…
The Engine Room is White River Junction’s New Music Hotspot
In recent years, White River Junction has enjoyed the fruits of ongoing revitalization. The former industrial hub in the Upper Valley has seen a spate of new businesses, restaurants and cultural enterprises put down roots, while long-existing entities have been reinvigorated. The unincorporated village is home to the Main Street Museum, the Center for Cartoon…
Bikram Yogis in South Burlington Prepare for Competition
Nica Thomas stands in front of a small audience and a long mirror and begins her routine. She stretches fluidly from side to side, forward and backward. Seemingly boneless, she bends and twists her spine, balances on her hands and pretzels one leg around her neck, the other around an arm. Nica is 8 years…
Eat This Week, March 7 to 13, 2018: Whet Your Whistle
However that saying goes about March weather’s lions and lambs, it’s still winter. Warm up with rye libations and plates of grilled heirloom carrot “tartare,” blue cheese bread pudding and heritage pork steamed buns gleaming with hoisin lacquer. For dessert? Chocolate and ginger — and a whiskey nightcap, of course. WhistlePig Whiskey Dinner: Thursday, March…
Rising Burlington Property Values Knock Assessments Out of Whack
Queen City property values are so undervalued for tax purposes that the State of Vermont is likely to order a citywide property reappraisal — a move that could result in higher tax bills for homeowners. The local tax roll lists Burlington’s property at 79.4 percent of its actual value, according to state calculations — making…
Album Review: Northern Flyer, ‘Northern Flyer’
(Shandor Music, CD, digital download) Bluegrass bands in Vermont pass around members about as often as square dancers swap partners. Notable exceptions exist — Banjo Dan mostly led the same Mid-nite Plowboys for some 40 years, for example. Still, the small but robust community of acoustic pickers throughout the Green Mountains tends to do-si-do through…
Plate’s Sean Patrick Morrison Serves Up California in Vermont
Chef Sean Patrick Morrison Position: Chef at Plate Location: Stowe Age: 34 Restaurant age: Four years Cuisine type: California cuisine, new American Education: New England Culinary Institute, graduated 2004 Past experience: Intern, No. 9 Park, Boston; chef de cuisine, Lumière, Newton, Mass.; sous chef, Michael’s on the Hill, Waterbury Center; instructor, New England Culinary Institute…
Firing Line: Gun Bills on Fast Track in Vermont
The Vermont legislature adjourned for Town Meeting week on the cusp of passing major legislation on guns. Lawmakers will return on Monday with multiple bills atop their agenda; some may be sent to Gov. Phil Scott by the end of next week. And there may be further legislation in the works. Positions continue to evolve,…
Free Will Astrology (3/7/18)
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): According to my assessment of the astrological omens, you’re in a favorable phase to gain more power over your fears. You can reduce your susceptibility to chronic anxieties. You can draw on the help and insight necessary to dissipate insidious doubts that are rooted in habit but not based on objective…
Hackie: Marvin and Waylon Come North
All of the other ferry passengers had the good sense to remain in their heated vehicles, but something drew me out. Informing Marvin, my customer, that I’d be right back, I pulled my woolen hat down over my ears and ventured forth. The night sky was moonless, and the wind cried Mary as I made…
Ask Athena: My Girlfriend Wants Oral but I Feel Self-Conscious
Dear Athena, My girlfriend wants me to go down on her, but I feel self-conscious about doing it. I know she wants me to, since I never have. What if the smell bothers me? And she goes down on me, so I feel bad. Am I a bad boyfriend? What should I do? Signed, Bad…
Theater Review: ‘Disgraced,’ Northern Stage
There’s no such thing as an American whose identity can’t be shoved into a category. In Disgraced, playwright Ayad Akhtar gathers two Pakistani Americans, an African American, a Jewish American, and a WASP whose immigrant heritage no longer sticks out. The Northern Stage production maps the minefield of cultural assimilation with an emphasis on what’s…
Page 32: Short Takes on Five New Vermont Books
Seven Days writers can’t possibly read, much less review, all the books that arrive in a steady stream by post, email and, in one memorable case, a skulk of foxes. So this monthly feature is our way of introducing you to a handful of books by Vermont authors. To do that, we contextualize each book…
How Solid Is the Case Against the Accused School-Shooting Plotter?
Jack Sawyer could have passed for a typical teenager as he walked into Rutland Superior Court last Friday — if not for the chains around his ankles and wrists. His wavy brown hair needed a trim. A hint of nascent, unkempt sideburns sprouted on either side of his thin face. His gait was awkward, as…
Letters to the Editor (3/7/18)
Tasteless Headline Your penchant for the witty pun headline backfired in the February 21 802Much titled “No Food for Thought.” It was a shameful, too-clever-by-half attempt that essentially denigrated a sincere act of self-sacrifice. Unless you provide the backstory that it was John Mejia’s joke, you owe him and your readers an apology for your…
From Public Health to Spirits: Longtime Colleagues Open Wild Hart Distillery
Craig Stevens and Naomi Clemmons have worked for more than two decades in public health. While the field is rewarding, the longtime friends and colleagues say, it’s not known for its fun quotient. Their latest enterprise, Wild Hart Distillery, is a different animal. “Although we’re both very passionate about public health, we always dreamed of…
Hooker Mountain Farm Distillery Launches Booze CSA
Some farms sell vegetables through community-supported agriculture programs. Other farms supply CSA customers with monthly drops of pastured pork, beef or poultry. In some areas, you can sign up for regular, prepaid bread or baked-goods shares. Now, if Washington County is convenient for you, skip the trip to the liquor store and get your hooch…
Shinjuku Station Brings Japanese Eats to Old North End
The Old North End has a new restaurant with the March 1 opening of Shinjuku Station Café at 260 North Street in Burlington. The wife-and-husband team of Mao and Peter Hartwell own the Japanese eatery. Peter Hartwell ran the sushi concession at City Market, Onion River Co-op for 12 years; Mao joined him six years…
