May 15-21, 2019
Cannabis Issue: Vermont Pot Bill Stalls; Local Colleges Look to Capitalize on the Cannabis Boom; The Emily Post Institute’s Lizzie Post Talks ‘Higher Etiquette’; Patients Turn to Cannabis as an ‘Exit Drug’ From Opioids
Obituary: William “Bill” C. Diaz, 1965-2019
William “Bill” C. Diaz of Burlington, 53, died on April 21 at his home. Bill was widely known in the Burlington area and had friends from several walks of life. He was welcoming, generous, considerate, witty, respectful, charming, compassionate and outspoken, and he had a strong personality. If you knew Bill, you would know that…
Obituary: Nathan J. Williams, 1983-2019
Nathan J. Williams, age 35, passed away unexpectedly on Sunday April 28, 2019, at his apartment in Bellingham, Wash. He was born to David H. Williams and Andrea Deskie Williams on May 4, 1983, in Reading, Pa. Nathan graduated from South Burlington High School, Vt. He attended his senior year abroad in Montabaur, Germany, on…
Obituary: Susan Brody Hasazi, 1947-2019
[image-2] Susan Brody Hasazi, 72, of South Burlington and Duxbury, Vt., passed away on May 14, 2019. Her death was the result of a degenerative brain disease with which she lived and coped with dignity and grace for many years. Even as the disease took its toll on her memory and other abilities, she retained…
The Parmelee Post: Scott: Abortion Rights Decisions Should Be Left Between a Governor and His Donors
Gov. Phil Scott, who supports abortion rights, says he will need more time and space to decide if he will support abortion rights. Lawmakers and pro-choice advocates across the state are eagerly awaiting to hear whether Gov. Phil Scott will sign recently passed protections into law. As with most matters pertaining to reproductive health, the decision…
The Cannabis Catch-Up: Better Luck Next Year?
Another legislative session, another disappointment for cannabis advocates. In perhaps a not-so-shocking development, Vermont lawmakers in the House failed to act on S.54, a bill that would create a regulated market for recreational cannabis sales. As our colleague Dan Bolles put it, “Maybe next year.” If advocates see a silver lining, it’s that the legislature is…
Seriously: Statehouse Burnout
In this episode, Bryan chats with his good friend Cannabis to try and figure out what’s happening down at the Vermont Statehouse. CREDITS: Written, filmed and edited by: Bryan Parmelee Artwork/photography by: Jeff Drew, Luke Eastman, Taylor Dobbs, Bryan Parmelee, Dreamstime Logo/art direction by: Don Eggert Audio by: Bryan Parmelee Related Stories
How Do I Get My Friends to Stop Mooching My Weed?
Dear Reverend, Since pot has been legal in Vermont, I’ve been growing my own. My stuff is pretty good, and I enjoy sharing it with my friends when we’re hanging out, but a few of them are just mooching all the time. They’ve even asked me for buds to go. How do I get these…
Album Review: Count Hamilton, ‘Too Many Beards’
(Self-released, digital download) From the farthest reaches of outer space come Count Hamilton. They have braved interstellar travel for one reason and one reason alone: to talk to you about beards. You heard me. The band’s new release, Too Many Beards, is a concept album about beards. And, dare I say, it’s about time. Vermont…
The Emily Post Institute’s Lizzie Post Talks ‘Higher Etiquette’
Since Emily Post published her first book on etiquette in 1922, her name has been synonymous with manners. Etiquette in Society, in Business, in Politics, and at Home is now in its 19th edition and remains the gold standard for the best behaviors in a civilized society. Likewise, the Emily Post Institute, which the New…
Senior Living Facility in Shelburne Hosts Medical Marijuana Panel
Julie Pierson, 78, expertly knitted an afghan while she listened to a panel of experts talk about medical marijuana. About 20 of her neighbors, many aided by canes and walkers, were also assembled in the common room at the Residence at Shelburne Bay. The presentation was part of a twice-monthly lecture series at the senior…
Playing It Safe: 2019 Legislature Poised to Underwhelm
On Monday morning, a new mood could be felt in the Vermont Statehouse. Adjournment seemed imminent, and momentum was building toward departure. Principles that seemed crucial throughout the session began to feel more … disposable. Or, if you prefer, their disposal seemed inevitable in the rush to close up shop this Saturday, May 18. By…
Eat This Week, May 15 to 21, 2019: Rolling Eats
It’s time to binge on Season 7 of the ArtsRiot Truck Stop, which starts Friday, May 17, in the heart of the food zone that Burlington’s Pine Street has become. Each week, the event will bring about 20 food trucks and 1,500 people to the parking lot behind ArtsRiot, which founded and organizes the convergence…
End Game: A New Vermonter’s Guide to Late-Session Legislative Strategy and Shenanigans
The Vermont Statehouse seemed like a bastion of transparency and openness in January. Relaxed legislators chatted amiably with lobbyists, reporters and constituents. Committee room doors were wide open or, when closed, the business going on inside was clearly posted on the wall outside. Public input and participation in legislative drafting was encouraged, and regular folks,…
Montpelier’s New Garage Cultural Center Opens With Female Sculptors
The Garage Cultural Center, Montpelier’s newest arts-and-culture venue, opened with a bang last Friday. Three hundred people were expected at its inaugural event, a sculpture show called “UNbound! 4 Women Sculptors Let Loose!” Five hundred showed, according to Jodi Kelly, the visionary behind the space. Some of the community buzz arose from seeing a handsome…
Vermont Colleges Look to Capitalize on the Cannabis Boom
The class called Medical Cannabis, an elective offered at the University of Vermont, meets in a low-ceilinged auditorium on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 4:25 p.m. Karen Lounsbury, a professor of pharmacology who co-teaches the course, has already heard every possible joke about this time slot. Her typical dry response: “We give the students five minutes…
Letters to the Editor (5/15/19)
Too Much Milk The article “Milking It” [March 13] was interesting on several levels. I know what the life of a dairy farm encompasses, but I am not familiar with the volume of animals that the Vorsteveld brothers deal with daily. The part of the article that surprised me was the statement by John Wilson,…
After Weed Legalization, Burlington Police Search Cars Less Often
Driving through Burlington? Don’t worry about hiding your bud. City cops have all but stopped searching cars since possession of a small amount of weed became legal last July. In the six months before legalization, Burlington cops searched cars 24 times. But they’ve conducted just four searches since July 1, 2018, and none so far…
South End Arts & Business Association Hires New Director
It seems only right that someone who’s been an artrepreneur on Burlington’s Pine Street for the past 15 years should rise up to helm the South End Arts and Business Association. And that’s exactly what has happened. Last week, Christy Mitchell, founder-director of the S.P.A.C.E. Gallery in the Soda Plant, was named executive director of…
Meet Champlain Valley Dispensary’s Edibles Expert, Amy Bacon
Amy Bacon cradles a large square slab of gelled strawberry purée and sets it on a machine called a guitar cutter. The cutter has a base of tines that hold the slab in place. Bacon pulls down a lever, and rows of taut wires slice through the slab, creating a musical hum when they vibrate…
Hackie: Anything With Fins
On the way to Marshfield, my customer, Kevin Branley, was riding shotgun. He had come to Burlington for an appointment with his rheumatologist. I’m aware that people can develop illnesses at any age, but Kevin seemed slightly too young to be interacting with rheumatologists. “Ya know how to get to my address?” he asked. “Oh,…
Movie Review: ‘Wild Nights With Emily’ Takes a Sitcom Approach to Poet Emily Dickinson
This may be the weirdest literary biopic ever made. So I sought the assistance of Dan Chiasson in processing its oddities and the liberties taken by its creators. A bard with six books under his belt, an English professor at Wellesley College and poetry critic for the New Yorker, he knows more about the subject…
‘Beetlejuice’ Comes Home; New Prize for Vermont Filmmakers
Back in the days when big Hollywood crews still came to Vermont, Tim Burton used the hamlet of East Corinth as the setting for Beetlejuice (1988). While plans for a sequel to the beloved horror comedy appear to have been scuttled, a special screening this July 20 aims to revive its bucolic creepiness at Box…
Movie Review: Gender-Swapped Remake ‘The Hustle’ Can’t Con Laughs From the Audience
You know a remake is bad when it tempts you to doubt the merits of the original. Redoing the con-artist caper Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988) with female leads is a good idea, and casting Anne Hathaway as the snob and Rebel Wilson as the slob sounds like an even better one. Yet somehow The Hustle,…
Soundbites: The Vermont Blues Society Returns
Return of the Hack It’s been just shy of two and a half years since I filed what I thought would be my last Soundbites column for this esteemed paper. Not that I’m counting — OK, I might be counting — but that’s roughly 120 issues in which my byline has not appeared atop the…
The Cannabis Issue
Like downtrodden fans of the New York Mets, those expecting Vermont to legalize the commercialization of cannabis in 2019 find themselves echoing a sad old refrain: “Maybe next year.” Though the proposed tax-and-regulate bill is up in smoke for now, pot remains a burning topic. Just ask advocate Larisa Bolivar, the keynote speaker at the…
Patients Turn to Cannabis as an ‘Exit Drug’ From Chronic Opioid Use and Addiction
Carolyn Evans was in her forties the first time she tried rolling a joint. It didn’t go well. “I was all thumbs,” she recalled with a laugh. But the 48-year-old former dental hygienist from Jacksonville, Vt., wasn’t doing it to get high. A patient at Southern Vermont Wellness, a medical cannabis dispensary in Brattleboro, Evans…
Vermont Rapper/Comedian Omega Jade Finds Catharsis in Humor and Hip-Hop
Omega Jade was in her element, holding court at Burlington’s Light Club Lamp Shop and reminiscing on the long path that brought her to the Green Mountains. “My first impression of Vermont? Extreme culture shock,” she said. Born in Arizona and raised in San Diego, the rapper and comedian likely meant that in more ways…
What’s Next for Vermont’s Ailing Medical Marijuana Dispensaries?
Since Vermont legalized growing and possessing cannabis in July 2018, the number of registered medical marijuana patients has dropped off sharply. Now the dispensaries that pioneered growing and selling medical pot in the state say their futures rely on selling recreational weed in a legalized marketplace. The medical program lost approximately 500 patients, from a…
Off Center for the Dramatic Arts Finds a Home: Next Door
Last June, Burlington’s Off Center for the Dramatic Arts got the news that no scrappy arts organization — or anyone, really — wants to hear: Its lease would not be renewed. Founded in 2010 in an Old North End building at the corner of Archibald Street and North Winooski Avenue, OC would have to find…
Advocate Larisa Bolivar Thinks Cannabiz Could Become America’s ‘Model Business’
In 2001, Larisa Bolivar moved from a corporate job near Washington, D.C., to Colorado as a self-described “medical marijuana refugee.” She was using weed to help her address a diagnosed case of posttraumatic stress disorder. Since then, Bolivar has been working, in business and in politics, to help others access the same benefits she’s found.…
Free Will Astrology (5/15/19)
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): I think it’s time for a sacred celebration: a blowout extravaganza filled with reverence and revelry, singing and dancing, sensual delights and spiritual blessings. What is the occasion? After all these eons, your lost love has finally returned. And who exactly is your lost love? You! You are your own lost…
Album Review: Chance McNiff, ‘Baby9ir1’
(Self-released, digital download) On Chance McNiff’s previous albums, the Brattleboro artist has shown himself to be a man of few words. With 2013’s Sequoiahedron and 2017’s thoughts count and Seasons ¢hange, McNiff has taken listeners on aural journeys through experimental electronic soundscapes free of lyrics. He flip-flops on his most recent LP, Baby9irl, which he…
Birth Announcement: Amani Rose Trail
On May 13, 2019, at Porter Medical Center, Danielle Bruce & Travon Trail welcomed a daughter, Amani Rose Trail.
Vermont’s First Sex-Trafficking Trial Ends in Conviction
Woman after woman took the stand to describe how Brian Folks pulled them into his Burlington drug- and sex-trafficking ring. Some said he used charm. One, his primary drug runner, got a tattoo of his name. The more common narrative, however, was that he used heroin and crack, upon which they were dependent, to coerce…
American and Thai on the Menu at Victoria’s Café
Kae Alexander and her husband, Bill, noticed a strange but fairly regular occurrence at her Vermont Thai Restaurant, which she formerly ran in Milton. Couples would come in and “the wife” would enjoy the Thai curries, noodle dishes and soups Kae prepared, while “the husband was waiting to get a burger after,” said Bill. That…
A Burlington Chef Caters Cannabis Cuisine
Chef Bobby Position: Freelance cannabis chef who also has standard catering gigs this summer Location: Burlington Age: 30 Instagram: @hauteandheady Cuisine type: Varied, including themed dinners of Italian, French Canadian and new American cuisine Culinary training: Ran the snack bar at his boarding school; worked for a local caterer and a food truck. Also a…
Jake’s ONE Market to Open in the Fall
In the next month, construction will begin in Burlington’s Old North End to transform a former auto-parts shop into a grocery store. The business at 242 North Winooski Avenue will be called Jake’s ONE Market, according to its owner-operator, James Kerrigan. “We hope to open in the fall of 2019,” said Kerrigan, who owns a…
Charlotte’s Nordic Farms Hosts a Shrimping Operation
Over the past year, Nordic Farms in Charlotte has transformed itself from a traditional dairy into the home of varied agriculture enterprises under the stewardship of new co-owner Andrew Peterson of Peterson Quality Malt. Now the operation includes an endeavor new to Vermont: shrimp farming. John Brawley, a marine ecologist and former oyster farmer, is…
