Tom Messner and Ben Frechette couldn’t quite agree on Saturday’s weather. Seated before a bank of large-screen monitors in the weather office of the NBC5 news studio in South Burlington, the two TV meteorologists went back and forth over a small detail in the weekend forecast for the Thursday evening broadcasts. Both men predicted rain.…
On December 11, 2020, heaven gained an angel when our beautiful Ginny lost her battle with PTSD. A celebration of Ginny’s life will be held on Thursday, October 21, 2021, from 5 to 8 p.m., at Essex Alliance Church in Essex Junction, Vt. (5 to 5:30 p.m. will be a reception line, 5:30 to 7…
The evening sun cast vibrant pastel shades on the edges of faraway mountains as I reclined in a folding chair near the banks of a meandering stream. I was three years sober, and I had taken the weekend off from work to perform at a benefit concert with my cousins in upstate New York. I…
First African American Burlington city councilor was an activist committed to community and justice
Lifelong Burlington resident was the first woman to drive a school bus in Vermont
Vergennes Fact-Check I’d like to reassure Seven Days readers that no one “yelled fire” or went “off the rails” in reporting on Stephen Bates, Black sheriff of Vergennes [“Chief Example,” September 29; Feedback: “Don’t Yell ‘Fire,'” October 6]. Responsible reporters and historians do not embellish facts or jump idly to conclusions. Newspaper articles are not…
After an online-only summer in 2020, Burlington’s Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival roared back to in-person operations this June. The four-week summer string conservatory for students in high school through graduate school usually takes place at the University of Vermont, which was closed to public programs because of the pandemic. So the 170 students lived…
Gov. Phil Scott’s administration has proposed a new statewide COVID-19 testing strategy to deal with cases that are forcing hundreds of asymptomatic students into lengthy quarantines. School officials say they are too overburdened to roll it out. Last week, Education Secretary Dan French detailed a “Test to Stay” program that would use daily rapid antigen…
The ongoing Vermont International Film Festival features three films it chose jointly with Middlebury College’s Film and Media Culture Department. One of those picks is Norwegian writer-director Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person in the World, for which its lead won the Best Actress award at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. Catch this very European comedy-drama…
Seven Days writers can’t possibly read, much less review, all the books that arrive in a steady stream by post, email and, in one memorable case, a colony of bats. So this monthly feature is our way of introducing you to a handful of books by Vermont authors. To do that, we contextualize each book…
When John King joined the Burlington Police Department in July 1965, he received just five days of law enforcement training. It included one day to memorize a map of Burlington, another to learn city ordinances and a third to study state criminal statutes. His paycheck for the first week: $62. By week two, King was…
Dear Reverend, Now that sex work is decriminalized in our state, I’m wondering how to safely and respectfully go about finding a sex worker. My preference would be cis women. In an ideal world, I would find someone I would have a compatible personality with and be able to talk to. But I’d also be…
Vermont Human Services Secretary Mike Smith announced in early September that his agency would investigate the problem of people being forced to wait months — and, in some cases, more than a year — to see physician specialists. A team of state officials and regulators has assembled in the weeks since, meeting regularly as it embarks…
new in theaters HALLOWEEN KILLS: In the sequel to the 2018 Halloween reboot, a vigilante mob tries to put an end to Michael Myers’ reign of terror. Jamie Lee Curtis and Judy Greer star; David Gordon Green directed. (105 min, R. Bijou, Essex, Paramount, Roxy, Star, Sunset, Welden) THE LAST DUEL: Two noblemen face off…
A thought occurred to me the other day as I headed out to catch a show. For all the changes in the music industry — specifically, the differences in how we discover and consume music — the old ways haven’t lost their power. What I mean is that, more often than not, I don’t learn…
In the European and American Gallery of the Fleming Museum of Art, a white sheet of typing paper is affixed to the wall in place of an 18th-century painting by Thomas Hudson. It seems a paltry and surely temporary replacement for the 5-by-4-foot oil on canvas — perhaps the gallery version of a “Back in…
(self-released, digital) One of my favorite subgenres of Vermont music is the “I just got to town” record. We take in a lot of artistic vagabonds in the Green Mountains, and their inevitable responses to the new surroundings rarely disappoint. Matthew Jadin, aka Dogface, moved to Winooski from Florida in 2020. He didn’t waste much…
In this issue, you’ll find another two full pages of letters to the editor about our “Wildlife Wars” cover story from two weeks ago. To put it mildly, animal advocates who oppose certain hunting practices — such as trapping and using hounds to track game — do not see eye to eye with the people who…
(self-released, digital) As I sit back in my chair and listen to Zac Burns’ newest album, Twenty, there is a devil and an angel on my shoulders. On my left, it’s that old curmudgeon George Bernard Shaw, croaking out his famous phrase, “Youth is wasted on the young.” But before I start yelling at skateboarders…
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): “We must never be afraid to go too far, for truth lies beyond,” declared novelist Marcel Proust. I wouldn’t normally offer that counsel to you Libras. One of your strengths is your skill at maintaining healthy boundaries. You know how to set dynamic limits that are just right: neither too extreme…
Bob and Kay Cato were cycling the Burlington Greenway bike path on a recent weekday when they stopped for a rest. The retired couple, visiting from Arlington, Va., had ridden about 25 miles — out to the Colchester Causeway and back — on their electric bicycles, which they purchased in May. E-bikes, as they’re commonly…
Sheep farmer Annie Hopper had so much wool piling up in her barn that she was using it to insulate her chicken coop. Katie Sullivan had a truck, expertise and an idea. The two met at a pasture management conference in 2018. A year later, Sullivan purchased 50 pounds of wool from Hopper and started…
The story of Guadalupe unfurls over eight densely illustrated pages, heavy with ink and emotion, in the recently published The Most Costly Journey: Stories by Migrant Farmworkers in Vermont Drawn by New England Cartoonists. It starts with 26-year-old Guadalupe on a harrowing 10-day journey from her native Mexico to the United States, where her father…
Visitors to Shelburne Farms are likely familiar with some of the property’s architectural marvels, such as the five-story, castle-like Farm Barn or the stately mansion-turned-inn. But further exploration reveals another striking, if lesser-known, building: the Breeding Barn, a 44,000-square-foot structure that has only occasionally been open to the public. Shelburne Farms, an educational nonprofit, recently…
Burlington High School’s homecoming football game this year will feature plenty of queens — drag queens, that is. The school, which partners with South Burlington and Winooski High to field the Seawolves football team, will host a drag ball at halftime on Friday, October 15, during a contest against St. Johnsbury Academy. Put on by…
The very first issue of Seven Days — published on September 6, 1995 — included a story about pizza. “The Pies Have It” rated nine pizza places that delivered in Burlington, noting details such as the staff’s telephone manners — a prime concern in those days before online ordering. We’ve written about pizza a few…
Business is budding in the new Cottonwood Crossing development in Williston. Jr’s Williston opened on Monday, bringing pizza, pasta and other Italian specialties to 32 Cottonwood Drive, Suite 105. This is the second restaurant for owner Bogdan Andreescu and business partner Kyle Crete, who opened Jr’s Original at 348 Main Street in Winooski in 2018.…
Commuters who park in the large lot at 115 Lakeside Avenue in Burlington have a new on-the-go breakfast option. Since September 29, the pink-and-cream Polite Crunch Bakery teardrop trailer has been popping up on the eastern perimeter of the lot most weekdays at 6:30 a.m. Baker-owner Kelsey Hatch offers freshly baked muffins, cake doughnuts and…
Jericho man was among the first World War II refugees to arrive in the U.S.
Active community volunteer found the greatest joy in her family
Queen of Arts Saturday 16 & Sunday 17 Drag queen, artist and activist Untitled Queen presents a Drag Show in conjunction with “Untitled (Reading Rainbow),” her new exhibition at White River Junction’s Kishka Gallery & Library. Jess Ramsay and Vermont drag artist Rhedd Rhumm also perform music and spoken word during the weekend of events.…
