Nov 4-10, 2009
Will a New Vermont Law protect a Williston Couple From a Powerful Religious Sect? Judge Sessions Talks Sentencing; A Fitness Class Goes Samurai; Cupcake Craze Hits Vermont
Council Debate on Telecom Continues
Tonight’s Burlington City Council meeting will feature three resolutions addressing (what else?) Burlington Telecom. Also, this week will mark first meetings of two ad hoc committees created by the city council to delve deeper into the problems at Burlington Telecom. One will craft an audit of BT’s finances and operations, while the other will examine…
Democrats “Debate” Vermont’s Environmental Future
The first public forum between the five Democratic candidates for governor did little to distinguish the candidates from each other on environmental issues, but it’s clear each would take a much different approach than outgoing Gov. Jim Douglas. I was there for the whole two hours and live-blogged via Twitter. You can see some of…
Fun and Swine Flu in the Same Sentence? Check out “Beat the Swine ’09”
Want to feel like superwoman, or a Good Samaritan, or a science geek, or all three at once? Download the new “Beat the Swine ’09” iPhone application, which allows you to ‘swine-bust’ all kinds of viral invaders. I’ve been playing this game since Tuesday and I’m totally hooked. “Beat the Swine ‘09” is addictive, cheap…
Big Environmental Confab This Saturday — Five Democratic Gov Candidates Attending
UPDATE: Doug Racine will be out of the country and will not be attending the conference. He’ll be sending volunteer advisor Pat Parenteau, former Commissioner of the Dept. of Environmental Conservation, on his behalf. For all the ink spilled on the 2010 governor’s race — who’s in, who’s out, which spin doctors are running which…
State’s Attorney: No Charges Filed Against Sen. Ed Flanagan
No criminal charges will be filed against Democratic State Sen. Ed Flanagan, who this summer was caught allegedly masturbating inside a private men’s locker room at the Greater Burlington YMCA. Acting Addison County State’s Attorney Chris Perkett told Seven Days this afternoon that he would not file charges against the two-term Democratic state senator. Flanagan…
Fiber from the Chaff
As the saga of Burlington Telecom continues to unfold, a growing number of observers are offering their take on the ever-popular topic. From the pages of the Burlington High School newspaper to the airwaves of Vermont Public Radio, the topic is capturing the public’s imagination. Given the confluence of issues in play, such interest makes…
Children’s Museum Pulls Out of Moran Plant Project
The Green Mountain Children’s Museum announced this morning that it will not be one of three anchor tenants in the Moran Plant redevelopment project on the city’s waterfront. The multi-million-dollar redevelopment of the former coal-fired electric generating plant has been years in the making. In September, a key financial deal was struck with the legislature…
From Log Cabin in Vermont, Couple Fights Reclusive Religious Sect
What would you do if your upbringing inside a fundamentalist Christian community left you scarred and confused — and estranged from family members still inside the sect? For Tim Twinam, a software developer living in Williston, Vermont, the answer was: Launch a website dedicated to re-connecting lost members driven apart from family and friends by…
The Jazz Guys: They Rock, You Decide
A couple of a weeks ago, Burlington’s crown princes of pop, The Jazz Guys, took the local interwebs community by storm with a great cover and video of “Single Ladies,” the recent chart scorcher by pop diva Beyoncé. If you haven’t seen it yet — or simply wish to relive the glory — here it…
Game of Chance
Game of Chance, Today Is Your Birthday, Laser Tag, What’s Goin’ Down?, BiteTorrent
Free Will Astrology
Here’s the weekly astrological forecast for November 4 – 11, 2009. What’s your sign, baby? They’re all here… ARIES (March 21-April 19): There was a time when wetlands were considered dismal and unproductive. At best they were thought to be a waste of space, and at worst stinky breeding grounds for insect pests. For over…
News Quirks
Curses, Foiled Again A man told police he was eating hot dogs in a park in Worcester, Mass., when another man approached, lifted up his shirt to show what appeared to be a handgun, grabbed one of the hot dogs, and began eating it. “In doing so,” police Officer Joseph Francese noted in his report,…
Letters to the Editor
Separation Anxiety [In his October 21 “Fair Game” column, Shay Totten wrote]: “Hats off to Louis Porter at the Vermont Press Bureau for his eyebrow-raising item in Sunday’s ‘Capitol Beat’ column. Porter reported that Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin (D-Windham) has separated from his wife of 20 years.” Why is this news? I guess…
The Art of Teaching Adolescents
The founder of Ripton’s North Branch School remembers its growing pains
Might v. Site
Will a new Vermont law protect a Williston couple from a powerful religious sect?
![VT Horror Fest [SIV150]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sevendaysvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/episode150.webp?resize=400%2C300&ssl=1)
VT Horror Fest [SIV150]
10/30/09: The 2nd Annual Vermont Horror Fest frightened a sold out crowd Friday at the Outer Space Cafe. Two local directors, Mike Turner and Owen Mulligan and a recent Hollywood transplant, Rob Schmidt, entertained the crowd with their terrifying films. VT author and folklorist Joseph Citro told ghost stories to get the crowd in the…
Fermenting Community
Flack Family Farm makes ‘kraut with a little help from some friends
Going With the Grain
Art Review: “Wheat, An American Series,” photographs by Neal Rantoul. PHOTOSTOP Gallery, White River Junction. Through November 21.
Barfberries: The Story of the World’s Stankiest Tree
Many are the reasons why fall is not my favorite time of year: *My wicked summer tan fades to nothing*Pre-winter fat begins to encase my body*My favorite holiday — my birthday — is six months away Granted, fall is when baseball blessedly falls off the sporting map and gives way to superior sports like football,…
Lawmakers: State Unemployment Fund Needs Work
A new proposal by the Douglas administration to fix the state’s battered unemployment insurance trust fund is expected to draw heat from opponents during a public hearing tomorrow. Throughout the summer, a special legislative committee has been gainfully employed looking at ways to shore up a fund that House Speaker Shap Smith said “is in…
Best Bites: Wayside Restaurant & Bakery
1873 Route 302, Berlin Back in 2006, before I worked for Seven Days, I wrote a comment for the Wayside on the 7 Nights website entitled, “Calvin Coolidge’s Ghost Eats Here.” I stand by the statement. If the shade of the former president were looking to satisfy an earthly hunger, he would find the food,…
