May 13-19, 2020
Vermonters Envision the State’s Post-Pandemic Future; a Waterbury Centenarian Recalls Another Pandemic — in 1918; Roughly a Third of Vermonters Need Food Assistance
Cover Story
After the Fire: Envisioning Vermont’s Post-Pandemic Future
The cascading coronavirus crises come at us so quickly these days that it can be challenging to keep up with the current news cycle, let alone consider the next. Our collective attention is rightly focused on the spread of COVID-19, which has contributed to the deaths of 53 Vermonters and infected more than 925. It’s…
Obituary: William Marquess, 1954-2020
Longtime St. Mike’s teacher fostered a love of language in his students
In Memoriam: Marian Santos, 1945-2019
The Celebration of Life for Marian Santos originally scheduled for Saturday, May 30, 2020, at the University of Vermont Alumni House in Burlington has been postponed until further notice. This celebration will be rescheduled once it is safe to gather together, and an announcement will be made at that time. Her family looks forward to…
Madaila, ‘West’
(self-released, digital) Mark Daly, front person of the newly resurrected psych-pop band Madaila, recently announced the band’s new EP, West. The seven-song collection is the first of four imminent releases, the others being South, East and North. Each is said to recast Madaila as if the band were born in the geographical region of the…
Dust & Antwon Levee, ‘Bruise Music’
(self-released, digital download, CD) Dust & Antwon Levee are perhaps the most promising rap act to emerge from the growing Plattsburgh hip-hop scene. (Dust is the MC; Levee is the producer.) The duo’s sound is timeless — which is to say, both extremely retro and hyper-modern. The recently released LP Bruise Music is their cleanest,…
Free Will Astrology (5/13/20)
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Of all the signs, Tauruses are among the least likely to be egomaniacs. Most of you aren’t inclined to indulge in fits of braggadocio or outbreaks of narcissism. (I just heard one of my favorite virtuoso Taurus singers say she wasn’t a very good singer!) That’s why one of my secret…
Virtual Ventures 4: Digital Talks, Time Capsule Stories, Karibu Fashion
This is the fourth and final week of our online offerings series, though we’ll continue to report on compelling digital doings, here and on the Seven Days Live Culture blog, as long as the pandemic partners us with our laptops. Even as Vermont reopens a sliver of real life each week, social distancing is still…
Page 32: Five Newish Books by Vermonters
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 passel of opossums. 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…
Herd Community: Burlingtonians Worry About the Return of College Students
June 1, the traditional moving day for thousands of University of Vermont students, means headaches for the city of Burlington even in the best of times. Most student apartment leases begin and end on that day, and a legion of young renters pack up their lives to move to new quarters. Cars and rental trucks…
Booze Blues: Liquor Sales Are Up, but Vermont’s Alcohol Industry Is Struggling
When Gov. Phil Scott’s finance commissioner briefed lawmakers last week on a plan to balance Vermont’s beleaguered state budget, the news was mostly sobering. But there was a chaser. “For better or for worse,” Commissioner Adam Greshin said, Vermonters appear to be boozing it up while hunkering down during the coronavirus pandemic — leading to…
My Boyfriend Called Me His Ex’s Name in Bed
Dear Reverend, After about a month of dating, my boyfriend called me his ex’s name in bed. He apologized profusely and said he hadn’t had feelings for anyone like me since her, so that’s why he thought his brain got confused. Then it happened a week later, and he said it was because he was…
For Vermont’s Elders, the Hardest Phase of the Pandemic Is Still to Come
The pandemic can seem very distant from the long dirt road in Cavendish where James J. Hasson lives. But it is shaping every day of the 94-year-old man’s life. Hasson has lived in this tucked-away wedge of southern Vermont since 1947, in a white clapboard house that abuts the Knapp Brook Wildlife Management Area, bounded…
Retail Therapy: Seven Visual Art Items and Where to Buy Them in Vermont
In a recent phone conversation with Seven Days, Liz Walsh, owner of Montpelier art shop the Drawing Board, posed a question for Vermonters: “When this is all over, what do you want your community to look like?” Walsh is one of the state’s many small-business owners impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, having closed her doors…
Humor: Unemployed and Unrequited, a Love Story
This is a basic love story. We’ve all been through it. I want them, they’re ambivalent. I call, they never answer. I play hard to get, they act like I don’t exist. I finally break down and write them 147 emails, they never reply. You know, LOVE! Our story all started when Vermont schools closed…
Vermont Centenarian Florilla Ames Recalls 1918 Pandemic
On a warm Sunday afternoon in early May, I found myself shouting at a 109-year-old woman from a folding chair on her lawn in Waterbury Center. To sum up the experience in the manner of a haiku: Social distancing / loud, erratic gusts of wind / quite hard of hearing. But Florilla Ames, seated like…
With Curbside Pickup Allowed, Libraries Sort Out Next Steps
When the Platt Memorial Library in Shoreham closed its doors due to the novel coronavirus on March 18, librarian Abby Adams knew she wanted to keep Shoreham’s 1,250 residents stocked up with books. How? By delivering them directly. “Library services were really important to encouraging people to stay home,” Adams said. “If we could bring…
Letters to the Editor (5/12/20)
Good Read Last week’s “Green Mountain Quaranzine” was just delightful. Nice job! Ralph Culver South Burlington The ‘Next Right Thing’? [Re Off Message: “Vermont Pondering How to Move Homeless Out of Motels,” April 29]: Moving homeless people into motel rooms during the pandemic was right. Now Rep. Tom Stevens asks: “What’s the next right thing?”…
Why Are Dead Vermonters Getting Stimulus Checks?
After Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law on March 27, the Internal Revenue Service started infusing the U.S. economy with $2.2 trillion. That included “economic impact payments,” aka stimulus checks, sent to Americans. Under the CARES Act, single adults who earned $75,000 or less…
Soundbites: J Bengoy to Release New Album
In Any Event… Howdy, music fans. It’s been a hot minute since I’ve written Soundbites, and I’m glad to be here. Much has changed in the Seven Days music section due to the state-mandated suspension of live music, comedy and other events that would normally spawn much fodder for this column. But even though we’re…
Obituary: Dr. Thomas C. Gibson, 1921-2020
Past president of the Vermont Heart Association was a caring physician and trusted friend
How Vermont Communities Are Feeding Their Neighbors
Bakers are giving away bread. Volunteers are cooking for rural families and seniors. University students are staffing an on-campus food pantry. A recent survey conducted by the University of Vermont and the Center for a Livable Future at Johns Hopkins University found a 33 percent increase in food insecurity in Vermont since the coronavirus outbreak.…
Roughly One-Third of Vermonters Need Food Assistance During the Pandemic
On a dreary Friday morning in early May, a dozen or so members of the Vermont National Guard assembled in a South Hero parking lot to hand out cases of government food. The soldiers relayed the boxes from pallet to car — Volvo wagon, Honda Pilot, Subaru Outback — with underhand tosses. They wished the…
