Nov 2-8, 2016
Candidates for Vermont Governor: From Different Worlds?; World-Renowned Optics at Chroma Technology; Diet Diva Frances Moore Lappé Talks Food and Politics
Cover Story
Gubernatorial Hopefuls Minter and Scott Come From Different Worlds — Sorta
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Sue Minter was in her element at last month’s annual conference of Renewable Energy Vermont in South Burlington. As the guest speaker at a Friday morning session, she got a boost from wind-power proponent Sen. Chris Bray (D-Addison). “The choice we are facing at the ballot box in November will have a…
Results for Vermont’s Top 2016 Races
For the 2016 General Election, we’re bringing you live Vermont results for the Governor’s race, the Lt. Governor’s race and the U.S. Presidential race. Explore the results, then hop on over to our liveblog for results and analysis. Unofficial results are from the Vermont Secretary of State. Data refreshes every three minutes. Precincts Updated Jump…
PK Coffee Pops Up at Simon Pearce
This Friday, November 11, Stowe-based PK Coffee will begin a pop-up residency at Simon Pearce in Quechee. From 8 a.m. to noon, Thursday through Sunday, for the next 12 weeks, PK baristas will pull espresso and ladle lattes at the glassblower’s New Bar near the main entry. The new caffeine stop will also serve hot…
Obituary: Leon Richard “Dick” Paquette, 1939-2016
Leon Richard (Dick) Paquette passed peacefully with his wife and family by his side on November 3, 2016, after a courageous battle with cancer. He was born on March 21,1939 in Burlington,VT. He graduated from Cathedral High School, went on to get a business degree from Champlain College. He married the love of his life…
Obituary: John Vergin, 1921-2016
John Leonard Vergin, 95, died Thursday, November 3, 2016, at his residence in Burlington following a brief illness. He was predeceased by his wife Barbara (Ohrt) Vergin and daughter Joan Vergin. He leaves behind his granddaughter, Skylar Brookwood. John was born on October 9, 1921 in Kamsack, Saskatchewan, Canada. He attended the University of Saskatoon,…
The Parmelee Post: State to Launch Vermont Wealth Connect Democracy Exchange System
This election season has been the most devastating thing to happen to brain cells since the invention of lead paint. That’s why the State of Vermont is already taking steps to make sure the next election cycle runs more efficiently for those who can afford to influence it. Dubbed “Vermont Wealth Connect,” the new online…
Obituary: KK Wilder
KK Wilder died peacefully on October 31 at the VNA Respite House in Colchester. She was 74 years old. She was predeceased by two brothers, John and Gene. KK lived with many physical challenges which she faced with courage and grace, without self-pity or complaint. She was a role model and mentor to many, and…
![A ‘Witch-In’ Targets Trump [SIV465]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sevendaysvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/episode465.webp?resize=1200%2C900&ssl=1)
A ‘Witch-In’ Targets Trump [SIV465]
10/29/16: A small group of witchy women from Feminists Against Trump — an offshoot of the Vermont Feminist Collaborative — gathered at the top of Church Street on Saturday afternoon in Burlington. Two local college professors organized the event to protest Donald Trump’s language about women and to reclaim the negative perception of a “witch”…
Burlington’s Boloco to Be Replaced by b.good
After nearly nine years in business, the Burlington Boloco closed on October 16. Located on Church Street, the chain burrito joint offered options such as Buffalo burritos made with antibiotic-free chicken, and Jimmy Carter milkshakes with peanut butter and banana. It’s one of five Boloco locations recently sold to another chain, b.good. The restaurant’s tagline…
The Red Newts, LIVE! Bootleg #2
(Self-released, CD, digital download) For the past three years, Burlington’s the Red Newts have ranked among the area’s busier bar bands, haunting juke-joint stages around the state. Theirs is a rambunctious, rambling take on blues, rock and country that makes an ideal soundtrack for bellying up with friends in low places. But does that boozy,…
Craft Soda savouré Expands Its Reach
In 2015, Jess Messer moved savouré soda, jam and pickle, her craft soda company, to 26 Main Street in Bristol. Since then, she’s garnered acclaim for her upgraded takes on soft-drink classics, turning out flavors like pear-lemongrass-mint, peach-nasturtium, blackberry-sage and, for Halloween, a pitch-black brew spiked with lemon balm, ginger and activated charcoal. This winter,…
Letters to Editor (11/2/16)
Wrong Reason Thank you for correcting the intentionally false and dishonest advertisement from Sue Minter’s super PAC [Off Message: “Planned Parenthood Super PAC Hits Scott Over Abortion Rights,” October 19; “Planned Parenthood Super PAC Serves as Front for Democrats,” October 27; “Scott Fights Abortion Attack, but Is He Playing Into Democrats’ Hands?” October 28]. Phil…
Voters in Burlington, SoBu Face Complicated TIF Decisions
When voters in Burlington and South Burlington go to the polls next week, they’ll see a three-letter acronym on the ballot — TIF. Tax increment financing, a mechanism to fund public infrastructure related to private projects, is a little-understood economic development tool under consideration in both cities this year. Supporters contend that TIFs essentially generate free…
I Want to Get Inside My Wife’s Backside
Hey Athena, So, my wife has a breathtaking ass. I have rimmed it, but I really want to get inside. I’ve read a lot about it, but I don’t know how to sway her toward trying it sober. (We’ve only tried two times when we were drinking.) What should I do? Signed, My Wife’s Amazing…
Belly Dancers Hold Hafla to Fight Stereotypes, Benefit Refugees
Rachel Cosgrove’s fascination with Middle Eastern folk dancing began when she was 3 years old. She was with her mother at a Philadelphia restaurant that featured a belly-dancing performance. “My mom said I could not take my eyes off the dancer,” recalled Cosgrove, who started taking classes in the art form in college. Now 31,…
Damien Jurado Hits His Stride
In most circumstances, dreams don’t mean much to anyone except the person who dreamed them. Exceptions are sometimes made if a dream prominently features the person to whom the dream is described — especially if that person is doing something naughty. But it’s a rare feat to make the masses care about an individual’s nocturnal…
Book Review: The Gloaming by Melanie Finn
These are the questions confronting Pilgrim Jones, the drifting protagonist of Melanie Finn’s The Gloaming. Set in Tanzania and Switzerland, told in brief chapters that leap through time and space, this ambitious novel addresses age-old questions through the story of one woman’s abrupt alienation from her own life. It’s an immersive, atmospheric read that is…
New Agency Matches Bhutanese With Employers
In 2007, from a cyber café located just outside a refugee camp in eastern Nepal, Chandra Pokhrel made an internet phone call to his cousin in Atlanta, Ga. After nearly two decades in the refugee camp, the Bhutanese man had to choose the country in which he would like to be resettled. “She gave me…
Ballot Battle Pits Weinberger Against Activists — Again
Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger was on the job at Nunyuns Bakery & Cafe in the Old North End just after 8 a.m. on a recent Thursday. Wearing a suit but no tie, the mayor, who likes to meet informally with constituents over coffee, laid out the referendum questions on this year’s city ballot — including…
Debut for Two: Rockwell Musical and Arlington Art Center
The old grist mill in Arlington is getting a new lease on life as a center for the arts, thanks to the efforts of owner Joshua Sherman. This past weekend, the Mill mounted its inaugural production: a staged concert of Perfect Picture, a musical depicting the life of Vermont artist Norman Rockwell. The invitation-only performance…
Scott Milne’s Senate Campaign Is as Unorthodox as It Is Low-Key
Scott Milne walked through a predawn drizzle and entered the grimy garage of Markowski Excavating on one of the final days of his long-shot campaign to unseat U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.). At 6 a.m. in the Rutland County community of Florence, half the Markowski crew was already out on a job in Cavendish, an…
Your Choice: Democrats Drag Scott Into a Fight Over Abortion
Since he joined Vermont’s gubernatorial race 11 months ago, Republican Lt. Gov. Phil Scott has tried to talk about nothing other than taxes and spending. But in the crucial final weeks of the contest, he’s found himself talking about nothing other than abortion. “It’s just very frustrating to me, to be honest, because I’m pro-choice,”…
Art Review: Robert Mapplethorpe, Montréal Museum of Fine Arts
If one had to encapsulate Robert Mapplethorpe’s explosively successful but short-lived career in a single word, it might be “tension.” Now on view at the Montréal Museum of Fine Arts, the retrospective “Focus: Perfection” offers an expansive investigation of the fruitful contradictions that shaped the New York City photographer’s trajectory. The show is the first…
M//E Design’s Seat at the Maker Table
What do these items have in common: a set-piece for Phish’s 2015 Magnaball festival, a device to hold staples, a high-end motorcycle frame, and beautiful stools with reclaimed-lumber seats? They were all designed — and some were manufactured — by Matt Flego and Erik Cooper of M//E Design. The name of their game is industrial…
Allan Day’s Heroic Save of a Historic Piano
Now that the historic 1892 Edward Wells House in Burlington has been restored to its former glory — never mind the parking lot marring its southern elevation — anyone can pop in and marvel at the transformation. Wells was a highly successful pharmaceutical entrepreneur who died in 1907. From 1924 to 2006, his extravagant, beautifully…
Denial
Truth, as we know, can be stranger than fiction. One piece of evidence is the fascinating, affecting courtroom drama Denial. Scripted by the eminent British playwright David Hare and directed by Mick Jackson (L.A. Story), it recounts the real-life saga of a 1996 lawsuit in which truth itself was put on trial. Rachel Weisz plays…
Free Will Astrology (11/2/16)
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Until 2007, Scotland’s official slogan was “Scotland, the Best Small Country in the World.” Deciding that wasn’t sufficiently upbeat, the government spent $187,000 on a campaign to come up with something better. “Home of Golf” and “Home of Europe’s Fastest Growing Life Sciences Community” were among the proposed phrases that were…
Soundbites: Radio Bean’s Sweet 16
They grow up so fast, don’t they? It seems like only yesterday that beloved Burlington hipster haunt Radio Bean was but a fledgling, funky hole-in-the-wall on North Winooski Avenue. In some ways, I suppose the little-coffee-shop-that-could is still exactly that. But since Lee Anderson opened the shop in November 2000, it has become so much…
Texas Blueberry
“Hey, Kenny — this is Jernigan, your cabbie.” I was speaking to my customer, Kenny Wong, from the off-ramp of the Waterbury exit. Things did not look good. Waterbury bills itself as the “crossroads of Vermont,” and, on this day — Saturday, noon, sunny, foliage season — the crossroads were gridlocked. “Listen, Kenny, I’m stuck…
Ouija: Origin of Evil
Perhaps no other object sold as a toy has had associations as fraught as those of the Ouija board. “Tool of the devil, harmless family game — or fascinating glimpse into the non-conscious mind?” asks the headline of a 2013 Smithsonian.com story that plumbs the strange history of the “talking board” — patented in 1891 and…
Squimley and the Woolens, Pork Chop Porch Shop
(Self-released, digital download) Here’s a fun game: Get super high and try to say the name of Squimley and the Woolens’ new album, Pork Chop Porch Shop, 10 times fast. Hell, try to say it three times fast when you’re stone-cold sober. Wasn’t that a hoot? The silly tongue twister is brought vibrantly to life…
A Breakfast Talk with Frances Moore Lappé
Frances Moore Lappé poured another mug of coffee. By the end of this day, she said, the world would have produced 80 grams of protein, 2,900 calories and three to four pounds of food per person. That’s only “the leftovers” — the food that remains after half of all globally produced grain is digested at…
World Renowned Optics at Chroma Technology
At the Warshaw Molecular Motors Group, a research laboratory at the University of Vermont College of Medicine, David Warshaw and his eight colleagues spend their days peering through high-powered microscopes, looking at motors that are 5,000 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair. They’re studying the tiny engines that power the human heart…
Obituary: Jonathan Diamond, 1974-2016
“To know Jon is to know life” Jonathan Seth Diamond, born June 18, 1974, died on October 31st, 2016 after living a very full life in spite of a cancer diagnosis. Beloved by his large family and friends too numerous to count, Jon touched the lives of everyone he knew with his twinkling blue eyes,…
Do Good, Feel Good: 20 Ways Families Can Give Back to Their Communities
November isn’t just for giving thanks — it’s also the beginning of the giving season, when nonprofits mail their end-of-year fundraising letters and adults write checks to support their work. Most kids don’t have checkbooks, though. So how can the younger generation support those in need? And how can parents help their children see the…
Where Do Gubernatorial Candidates Stand on Food Issues?
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Esperanza Restaurante to Meld Filipino and Salvadoran
What do crispy Filipino egg rolls and Salvadoran pasteles have in common? They’ll both be on the menu at Esperanza Restaurante when it opens at 180 Battery Street in Burlington this December. To the casual observer, the two cuisines may seem to be unlikely bedfellows. But both nations were annexed by the Spanish empire in…
