Nov 18-24, 2015
Urban Moonshine Seeks New Remedy to Satisfy FDA; Growing Beard-Beautifying Business; More Good Brews News for Beerhounds
Cover Story
Bitters Dispute: Federal Regs Force Changes at Urban Moonshine
Six years ago, Jovial King was a stay-at-home mother peddling kitchen-brewed bitters and tonics to sometimes-skeptical patrons at the Shelburne Farmers Market. She has since grown her hobby business into a million-dollar operation that runs out of a cramped laboratory on Burlington’s South Champlain Street. Beakers and Buddha statues can both be found at Urban…
Obituary: Richard Leon Ticehurst, 1946-2015, Colchester
Richard Leon Ticehurst, 69, of Colchester passed away on Wednesday, November 18, 2015, due to complications of liver and kidney failure. He was surrounded by his wife, children and grandchildren at home. Richard was born on August 18, 1946, in Burlington, Vermont, to the son of the late Alfred Ticehurst and surving mother Theresa (Rocheleau) Ticehurst. He served in…
Work: Meet David Kehoe, Chimney Sweep
Name: David Kehoe Town: Burlington Job: Artful Chimney Services David Kehoe peers through a plate-size hole in the basement of a Winooski house and shakes his head. Using an angled mirror mounted on a telescoping rod, he peers up the brick chimney and immediately spots crumbling insulation tiles. The chimney, built in the 1940s, wasn’t…
I Don’t Think I Like Sex
Dear Athena, I don’t think I like sex. I can orgasm by myself, but not when I was with my last hookup or any girlfriend I’ve ever had. I don’t find it all that appealing, and I feel like there is no hope. I think I should give up on it and be with someone…
![Weed in the Green Mountains [SIV420]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sevendaysvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/episode420.webp?resize=1200%2C900&ssl=1)
Weed in the Green Mountains [SIV420]
11/13/15: Vermont was the first state to ban slavery, legalize gay marriage through legislation and mandate labeling of genetically modified food. Will Vermont also be the first state in the Northeast to legalize marijuana for recreational use and the first to do so through legislative action? A RAND research study reports that 60,000-100,000 Vermonters enjoy…
South Burlington Residents Raise Conflict-of-Interest Concern — Again
As South Burlington leaders pursue their dream to build a $300-million downtown in Vermont’s most suburban community, some residents are asking whether it’s appropriate for construction and real-estate executives to serve on city bodies that shape the rules for how the land will be developed. South Burlington already has an ethics policy for its public…
Beard Beautifiers in Vermont — a New Growth Industry?
If it seems like every dude and his brother have a beard at the moment, that’s because they probably do. Beards have exploded in popularity in recent years, as evidenced by the reams of trend-analysis pieces published on the subject in major media outlets, and by every male barista at your local coffee shop. Explanations…
Sanders en Guerre: Paris Follows Bernie to Des Moines
A couple of hours before he flew from Burlington to Iowa last Friday, Tad Devine outlined a simple strategy for his boss, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), to win the second Democratic presidential debate. “If we can get people focused on income and wealth inequality in America,” Sanders’ senior adviser said, “his chances of connecting with…
Talking Art With aKNITomy’s Emily Stoneking
Though her wares hark back to junior high biology class, the banner on Emily Stoneking’s Etsy shop makes it clear: “I’m not a scientist, but I play one on the internet.” The 38-year-old Burlington artist has been knitting for more than a decade, and has achieved a measure of success with aKNITomy, her line of…
Free Will Astrology (11/18/15)
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Some athletes think it’s unwise to have sex before a big game. They believe it diminishes the raw physical power they need to excel. For them, abstinence is crucial for victory. But scientific studies contradict this theory. There’s evidence that boinking increases testosterone levels for both men and women. Martial artist…
Soundbites: The Lynguistic Civilians Give Back
Lynguistic Civility Last week, Burlington was abuzz over a feature published on the VICE music blog Noisey about the Burlington music scene called “Phorget Phish: Burlington, Vermont’s Eclectic Scene Goes Way Beyond Jam Bands and Ice Cream.” Written by Ray Padgett, who moved to Burlington in 2014 and has freelanced for the likes of SPIN…
The Fantastic Partnerz, Tomorrow Is the Future
(Self-released, digital download) The Fantastic Partnerz are apparently a very happy bunch. The Brattleboro-based “dance pop boogie rock” sextet’s debut album, Tomorrow Is the Future, is a sunny, southern Vermont take on classic Motown and funk. Positivity is the name of the game on these 10 tunes. The hopeful title track warns of “thoughts that…
Stuck in Vermont 105: Tiny Houses
Originally published November 17, 2008. Seven years ago this week, multimedia producer Eva Sollberger filmed tiny-house builder Peter King for an episode of her video series, “Stuck in Vermont.” She and her mom trekked to Johnson to tour a few of King’s 100- to 200-square foot houses. “The tiny-house movement is getting HUGE as Americans…
Villanelles, No Drinks on Me
(Signal Kitchen, digital download) Villanelles fans have been waiting for the band’s next full-length album, Blue Heart Attack, for about four years now. In that time, the Burlington quartet has teased with the occasional single release and the even more occasional leaking of album details. As of March, the word from front man Tristan Baribeau…
Three More Breweries Rise in Chittenden County
When it comes to beer, Chittenden County is already home to an embarrassment of riches — and there’s no reason to believe that growth will slow anytime soon. In Williston, Good Water Brewery is set to open by year’s end, joining 2014 newcomer Burlington Beer as that town’s second brewery. According to owner-brewer Marty Bonneau, Good…
Bowls on Exhibit and on Loan at Tunbridge Library
What is a bowl, anyway? For Stephanie Loeffler of Chelsea, it is first and foremost a vessel of story. On Sunday, November 8, the artist and art teacher could be found at the Tunbridge Public Library, surrounded by 33 bowls on loan from 30 local community members to mark the opening of the six-week show…
Persistent Gas Pipeline Protesters Are Pushing the Limits
Fred Wolfe is a bearded, full-bellied 85-year-old great-grandfather who, until a few years ago, acted the part of Santa at the annual Strafford Post Office holiday party. On September 21, he embraced a new role: Wolfe and five other senior citizens chained themselves to the gate at a Vermont Gas construction site in Williston —…
A Tipsy Brunch in Tunbridge; Oysters at Down Home Kitchen
In other news-you-can-drink, Tunbridge’s Upper Pass beer will celebrate its official launch on Sunday, November 22, with a tipsy brunch at Tunbridge Town Hall, featuring tunes courtesy of brewery friend and local blues-rock strummer Seth Yacovone. The brunch will include fresh, local eats from In the Road food-truck chef Spencer Cone, cold brew from Upper…
Art on the Move: Burlington’s Davis Studio Heads South
Just south of Koto Japanese Steak House on Shelburne Road, a stately yellow house is set back from the busy street. Some might remember it as the former home of Country Curtains. The colonial-style building has been devoid of life for more than a year, but soon it will be filled with artists of all…
Cream Puffs, Cakes and Pies at Evelyne’s on Center
Consider the cream puff: A cloud of barely sweet, tongue-tickling froth tucked into a petite pastry shell, most are enough for a few sublime nibbles and little more. Depending on the season, Evelyn Martin will fill hers with fruited cream or — if the spirit moves her — paint their lids with chocolate or maple glaze.…
Family First: Smith’s Withdrawal Upends Gubernatorial Race
When House Speaker Shap Smith (D-Morristown) announced his gubernatorial candidacy in August, his wife of 15 years, Melissa Volansky, introduced him. After meeting the future speaker “at a local watering hole” in 1997, she told a crowd in downtown Morrisville, “he completely won me over in a very short period of time with his wit…
Letters to the Editor (11/18/15)
Howdy, Partner Thanks for shedding the light on the Parent University [“Enrolling Mom and Dad,” November 11]. I would like to bring to your attention the fact that the Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program is a very proud partner in this program, and it was not recognized in the article. Through our volunteer teachers, we provide…
Anti-Gambling Group Passes on Vermont Lottery Funds
For 16 years, the Vermont Council on Problem Gambling and the Vermont Lottery Commission had a financial partnership to help Vermonters for whom the fun of gambling had become a money-sucking addiction. Peter Espenshade intended to continue this relationship when his organization — the Vermont Association for Mental Health and Addiction Recovery — took over…
Book Review: Talking to the Dead, by Rachel Hadas
The poet Rachel Hadas, a part-time Vermonter, has taught English for 34 years on the Newark campus of Rutgers University. Her pedagogical focus has often been ancient classical poems and works influenced by them — Homer’s Odyssey and Iliad, Virgil’s Aeneid, Lucretius’ De rerum natura, Dante’s Inferno, Milton’s Lycidas. She has translated works from the…
Mr. Holmes
Hollywood’s go-to geezer may just have given the performance of his career. Since 2001, Sir Ian McKellen has been playing Gandalf in a seemingly endless succession of Lord of the Rings and Hobbit installments. That’s a long time to spend under a fake beard. After years of going through the motions in sequel after sequel,…
Theater Review: Women’s Fictions, Small Potatoes Theater Company
A new play being staged at Burlington’s Off Center for the Dramatic Arts presents time travel but is not sci-fi. It examines family dynamics and faulty memory but is not a self-indulgent memoir. It addresses female status and fragility — in relationships, creative life and society — but is not a feminist treatise … exactly.…
Playwright Seth Jarvis’ Transitions Embraces Loose Ends
Rockers Van Halen and Sammy Hagar performed the suggestive “Finish What Ya Started” way back in 1988, long before the expression was appropriated for a “Keep Calm and…” poster. Whether encouragement or admonition, it’s sound advice for anyone who has embarked on a daunting task, from a marathon to math homework. And it’s advice that…
A Winooski Cobbler Seeks a Successor
After 31 years of operating Onion River Cobbler in downtown Winooski, Steven Hopkins wants to sell the business and retire. He doesn’t have any children, and none of his friends want the gig, so last year he started spreading the word. With the help of his sister-in-law — Hopkins doesn’t “do” computers — he put…
Love the Coopers
[image-1] Let’s make one thing crystal clear: You may decide to see the Coopers. You may recognize most of the actors playing the Coopers. You may even relate to a Cooper or two. But rest assured, there isn’t the slightest chance that for a single second you will love the Coopers. This is the most…
WTF: What Do Traffic Cameras Record, and Who Uses the Data?
Traffic cameras don’t announce their presence as boldly as the stoplights they often accompany. They’re designed to blend in with their surroundings — but that doesn’t mean we don’t see them. Some American municipalities, including a few in Vermont, have placed video cameras in public locations. That has privacy activists decrying the rise of the…
After Hiatus, Greg Davis Returns to Music
This fall, local composer Greg Davis has been the sonic artist-in-residence at Champlain College in Burlington. The globally renowned experimental musician is the first to hold that distinction at the school, which doesn’t have a music program. Davis has spent the fall semester working on new compositions. That’s notable, as it follows a five-year period…
Tangletown Farm Prepares ‘Happy Gobblers’ for the Holiday
Visit West Glover’s Tangletown Farm in November, and chances are its unofficial goodwill ambassadors will greet you. Members of this posse, who spill from pastures onto a seldom-traveled road, are heavyset, talkative and gregarious. They love human companionship, as evidenced by the way they gathered around a muck-booted visiting reporter. Given their outgoing nature, it…
Switchback Brewing to Offer Six-Packs
Remember when Switchback Brewing started bottling its beers back in 2012 and everyone went crazy? Well, hold onto your seats, folks, because later this week the Burlington South End brewery will start shipping six-packs of its flagship ale and cool-weather seasonal, Dooley’s Belated Porter, to Vermont retailers, co-owner Bill Cherry tells Seven Days. The brewery…
