Nov 28 – Dec 4, 2018
Who Shot Mr. Cheeseface? Unraveling a 40-year-old Mystery; Visa Program Helps Noncitizen Crime Victims; One Year After Building Second Store, City Market Exceeds Sales Goals
Cover Story
Who Shot Mr. Cheeseface? The Vermont Demise of a Famous Mutt
The cover of the January 1973 issue of National Lampoon, the groundbreaking humor magazine’s Death issue, depicts a handsome black-and-white dog against a blue background. To the right, the meaty hand of an unseen assailant holds a handgun to the side of the dog’s head at point-blank range. The collarless mutt’s body language, especially the…
Seven Days Hires Three Staff Writers
Vermont’s independent newsweekly, Seven Days, has hired three experienced writers to join its editorial staff. Kevin McCallum, who shared in the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news, will join Seven Days’ Statehouse bureau in January. The veteran journalist spent 13 years as a business and then city hall reporter for the Press Democrat of Santa…
Seriously: The Great Unknown
In this episode, Bryan speaks with a NASA scientist about a historic landing in Burlington. Featuring Jenna Pacitto as “NASA Scientist.” CREDITS: Written, filmed and edited by: Bryan Parmelee Artwork/photography by: NASA, James Buck, Alicia Freese, Bryan Parmelee, Dreamstime Logo/art direction by: Don Eggert Audio by: NASA, Bryan Parmelee Related Stories
The Cannabis Catch-Up: Drive-Through CBD and ‘Grandma’s Miracle Sticky Buns’
We’re right in the thick of the holiday season, so cannabis companies are pitching products as “must-haves” for the loved ones on your list. This one jumped out at me: Ceres Natural Remedies, a cannabidiol company that offers CBD “capsules, oils, vapes, edibles and CBD products for pets,” is now offering drive-through service at its…
Burlington Musicians Compose and Play for Classic Silent Shorts
One of the most important components of a motion picture is its score. A well-placed violin solo can flood your eyes with tears. Ambient tones might convey a sense of mystery. And an aptly timed orchestra strike — just as the killer appears — could make you jump out of your seat. Long before the…
Movie Review: ‘Ralph Breaks the Internet’ in a Hectic, Funny Sequel to the Animated Hit
Movies and online culture have always had a testy relationship. For a long time, most films about the internet were cautionary tales or used the tech as a metaphor for something else. The message was generally some version of “Stay offline! Make real human connections!” With Ralph Breaks the Internet, Disney’s sequel to the 2012…
Burlington Presents Downtown Parking Perks for the Holidays
Children wearing reindeer ears waved jubilantly at Santa in downtown Burlington on Black Friday as their parents enjoyed their own holiday gift: free parking. Last week, the city announced that spots would be gratis for up to four hours in its parking garages at 41 Cherry and 60 College streets — from now until Christmas. In…
Visa Program Provides Lifeline for Noncitizen Crime Victims
Huma and her husband were newlyweds when he first hit her. She had never imagined that such a thing could happen, even though domestic violence is not uncommon in her native country in Central Asia. The assaults continued after her family moved to Vermont in 2008 and sought political asylum. For many years, Huma did…
Ready to Roll? Lawmakers Will Again Consider Legalizing Cannabis Sales
The smoke has barely cleared after the elections, but pot proponents are already optimistic that the new Vermont legislature will legalize the sale of marijuana — a win that would give them a second victory in as many years. Middlebury attorney and drug reform advocate Dave Silberman spent the 2018 campaign season poring over news…
Intermedia Artist Pauline Jennings Critiques Human Impact on Earth
What does it mean to encounter the wild? Some Vermonters discover bobcat tracks in the woods or brave frigid conditions while winter camping. Others view the wild as an external force to be tamed or an inner spark fueling survival. “For us, ‘wild’ became defined by having a heightened sense of risk and sensory awareness…
Bhutanese Christian Congregations Grow in Vermont
When Mani Mangar had to choose where in the U.S. he wanted to resettle, he decided on Vermont — a state about which he knew little. He had extended family in Texas, but the Bhutanese man chose the Green Mountain State to find Christian fellowship. “The Bible says it’s good to have fellowship within your…
Scarlett Letters: My Wife Is Into Holiday Gifts But We Can’t Afford It
Dear Scarlett, Christmas is coming, and I am dreading it. My wife is very into giving gifts, but we can’t afford it and it’s usually a setup. She’ll buy me an expensive gift, then expect me to do the same. If I don’t buy her something as nice as what she buys me, she gets…
Why Bernie Should Run, Pt. 2
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has insisted for months that he hasn’t decided whether to seek the presidency again in 2020. As he dashed across more than a dozen states this fall — including the primary-election bellwethers of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina — the senator said he first had to answer the threshold question…
Falafel, Anyone? The Hippie Chickpea Opens in Montpelier
A new restaurant has filled the small storefront in Montpelier most recently vacated by Banchan, a Korean restaurant that was in and out in less than six months. The Hippie Chickpea, which opened last month at 41 Elm Street, is a family-run business with tapas-style Middle Eastern fare that highlights local farm food. Chef-owner Vince…
Album Review: Ben Patton, ‘Meaning What’
(Self-released, CD, digital) Ben Patton is a prodigiously talented young man. The Vermont native is one of those endlessly hyphenated types — singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, writer-illustrator, arranger-producer — all of it stubbornly self-taught. His latest — and eighth! — solo LP, Meaning What, is a peak moment in his catalog so far. The album opens with…
Hackie: For the Love of Rugby
Annalee Mason, like me, was a baby boomer. When I asked her, it turned out that she came into this world just a year after my own earthly debut. This means that she and I were close to the same age when president Kennedy was killed, when the Beatles arrived, through the disco era, at…
Art Review: Danielle Klebes Paintings at 77 Gallery in Rutland
A visit to see “Aimless Pilgrimage,” an exhibit of paintings by Danielle Klebes at 77 Gallery in Rutland, becomes a pilgrimage itself. Minus any religious connotation, it is a pilgrimage in the sense of a journey worth making. The gallery, located in the former Central Vermont Public Service building at 77 Grove Street, is now…
Eat This Week, November 28 to December 4, 2018: Drink With the Stars
For its annual meet-the-maker extravaganza, Burlington’s Dedalus Wine Shop, Market & Wine Bar heads next door to the AO Glass warehouse. With tasting glasses in hand, drinkers stroll from table to table, taking in wine origin stories and sips of hard-to-find vintages from an international array of visiting winemakers and importers. Lush displays of cheeses,…
Album Review: Inner Fire District, ‘There Will Be Singing About the Dark Times’
(Self-released, CD, digital) Like many other expat Burlington musicians, accordionist and musical visionary David C. Symons keeps coming back, literally and figuratively, to Vermont. Symons lived and played music in and around the Queen City for years before moving to New Orleans in 2012, where he repairs accordions by day and contemplates his next musical…
Car Repairs and Recycled Art: Norm LaRock Is an Auto Master
A pickup truck brought the day’s first customer to Mountain Boyz Automotive & Custom Art in South Burlington on a gray Monday morning. The shop door opened, and proprietor Norm LaRock — who’s lean, bald, tattooed and goateed — came outside and shook his hand. “Hey, Norm,” the customer said. “Think you can fix the…
Brattleboro’s I Love You! Create Queer Safe Spaces
Whose job is it to keep concertgoers safe? Obviously, whoever is in charge of the venue or performance space in question is responsible for the physical safety of its patrons. But more and more frequently, bands and artists are taking it upon themselves to foster a safe space for their fans’ emotional and psychological well-being.…
Talking Patriots With Vermont Author Glenn Stout
Journalist and author Glenn Stout claims you can safely talk about two things with strangers: weather and sports. If you’re game to make chitchat with a seatmate or hope to kick off a lively discussion around the dinner table, Stout and coauthor Richard A. Johnson have written one heck of a conversation starter: The Pats:…
Letters to the Editor (11/28/18)
Hardware Lesson [Re Off Message: “After 20 Years, Hardware Store to Open in Downtown Burlington,” November 19]: I’m happy that we will soon have a hardware store downtown, but reporter Katie Jickling was wrong when reporting that the nearest hardware store is on North Avenue when Curtis Lumber is located on Pine Street. Granted, it…
Soundbites: Give the Gift of Music
Last week, Seven Days revealed its annual gift guide, a curated selection of products from local retailers. It’s a good resource for anyone who needs to pick up a few items for the upcoming holiday season and is stumped about what to get their nephew, boss, second cousin twice removed, etc. It got me thinking…
Free Will Astrology (11/28/18)
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Blackjack is a card game popular in gambling casinos. In the eternal struggle to improve the odds of winning big money, some blackjack players work in teams. One teammate secretly counts the cards as they’re dealt and assesses what cards are likely to come up next. Another teammate gets subtle signals…
Movie Review: Stereotypes Hamper the Well-Meaning Gay-Conversion Drama ‘Boy Erased’
The one-sheet for this film perfectly encapsulates its frustrating shortcomings. Across the top, bold caps declare, “A STUNNING ACHIEVEMENT. ONE OF THE YEAR’S BEST PICTURES.” Beneath, four stars underscore the proclamation. Finally, three figures fill out the visual field. In the left foreground, a frumpified Nicole Kidman bows her head. Behind her and to the…
One Dish: Thyme Restaurant’s Classic Tarragon Chicken Salad
John Quimby opened White River Junction’s original Tip Top Café in 2001 with a counter-service menu of coffee and snacks. In 2004, he sold the business to Bruce MacLeod — now of Norwich’s Carpenter & Main — who sold it to a guy named Eric Hartling a year or so later. That’s when Eileen McGuckin…
One Year After Building Second Store, City Market Exceeds Goals
When City Market, Onion River Co-op opened a second location a year ago, longtime member Don Schramm facetiously proposed that a new position be created for the store in Burlington’s South End. He floated his idea to general manager John Tashiro. “I suggested to John that they provide therapists on the floor, because people are…
Essex Grill Reopens as Railroad & Main
If you don’t like the house you live in, knock it down and build another. That advice made sense to Essex Grill chef-owners Todd and Courtney Roman, who never felt quite at home serving food at their Five Corners space at 35 Main Street in Essex Junction. The building — a dingy converted house with…
