Oct 21-27, 2009
The Vermont Innovation Issue: The Biotek Business Regenerated Itself; Which Vermont Companies are Getting Defense Dollars; The Scoop on Green Mountain Coffee
Why Do People Hate Safety? Or, How I Got Heckled on Friday Night
Recently, I’ve been asking myself the question in this post’s title. Why do people hate safety? What is so offensive about trying to be safe and not die a bloody, mangled mess? Perhaps I should explain what I’m talking about. Photo on the right is what happens when you hate safety. For the past couple…
Burlington City Council Set to Debate Telecom Fixes
Updated at 11:45 a.m., Monday After a weeks-long sturm und drang over the use of $17 million in city cash to keep Burlington Telecom afloat for more than two years, the city council Monday night will debate at least two resolutions designed to shore up the finances, and public trust, of the fledgling utility. One,…
Demonstrators Press Sanders, Leahy, Welch on Congo Crisis
Does your computer look like this? Probably not. But that hides the fact that so much blood in spilled on account of a precious mineral used to make computers, cellphones, game consoles and other gadgets we all use. The mineral coltan is mined is the Democratic Republican of Congo and has fueled a brutal war…
Councilors and Citizens Call for Burlington CAO to be Put on Leave
More Burlington city councilors are asking Mayor Bob Kiss to put Chief Administrative Officer Jonathan Leopold on leave while an audit is conducted of Burlington Telecom’s finances. As of today, six of the council’s 14 members are calling on Kiss to place Leopold on some form of leave — either paid or unpaid — due…
Quick Guide to Burlington Telecom Controversy
Tonight, the public will finally be asked to sound off on the ongoing controversy regarding Burlington Telecom and its use of $17 million in city funds to keep it afloat. The City Council called the special meeting, which will begin at 7 p.m. inside City Hall’s Contois Auditorium. Here is a quick recap of the…
Greek Tragedy: Q&A with Filmmaker Fritz Miller
Today’s “State of the Arts” column features a short piece I wrote about “The Legend of Jimmy the Greek,” a documentary directed by Charlotte-based filmmaker Fritz Mitchell, which premieres at the FlynnSpace this Tuesday along with “Muhammad and Larry” by legendary documentary filmmaker Albert Maysles — see 7D film critic Rick Kisonak’s review here. The…
The Innovation Issue
Every so often, Seven Days produces special issues — i.e. the Animal Issue, the Money Issue, the Hunting Issue, etc. This week’s theme is “The Innovation Issue.” It’s in conjunction with the Vermont 3.0 Innovation Jam that we’re sponsoring on Monday at the Sheraton. This week you can read about local defense contractors, an iPhone…
News Quirks
Curses, Foiled Again Police charged Dennis Lottig, 30, with stealing four security cameras from a bank drive-through in St. Albans, W. Va. The evidence against him, the Daily Mail reported, was videotapes of him stealing the cameras, taken by the cameras. Sheriff’s deputies charged Jonathan G. Parker, 19, with breaking into a home in Berkeley…
Free Will Astrology
Here’s the weekly astrological forecast for October 21 – 28, 2009. What’s your sign, baby? They’re all here… ARIES (March 21-April 19): “The clouds are the most fertile part of the sky,” writes Guy Murchie in his book The Seven Mysteries of Life. Microbes with short life cycles live there in abundance, “eating, breathing, excreting,…
Misspelling Disaster
Andrew Bird talks songwriting, the deceptive qualities of language and, um, whistle rockin’
Letters to the Editor
The Pits I’d like to correct a mischaracterization of our neighborhood in Seven Days. In the October 14 article about the Fenn gravel mine application [“Opponents Say They Were Sandbagged by a Proposed Gravel Pit Hearing in Middlebury”], Fred Dunnington, our town planner, calls this “a neighborhood of gravel pits.” I’m shocked that our town…
Kiss Administration Grilled by Council on Telecom Finances
Burlington taxpayers could be on the hook for any unpaid money owed to the city’s general fund if Burlington Telecom were to be sold for less than what it owes outside investors. That admission came from Chief Administrative Officer Jonathan Leopold under tough questioning from Councilor Ed Adrian (D-Ward 1) at last night’s special city…
Process This
South Burlington’s Logic Supply sells big computing power in small – and green – packages
![Emergent Media Center [148]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sevendaysvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/episode148.webp?resize=400%2C300&ssl=1)
Emergent Media Center [148]
10/17/09: Champlain College’s Emergent Media Center in Winooski is preparing students for the “real world” and helping to solve world problems at the same time. Vermont 3.0 is Monday, Oct 26 at the Sheraton in South Burlington, see you there!!! Music: Chuch, Juarez, “Hold Me Down” Location: Champlain Mill, Winooski, VT
All That Glitters. . .
Art Review: Catherine Hall, “Glimmer and Glow: Luminous New Paintings.” 215 College Gallery, Burlington. Through November 1.
Ahead of the Game
When it comes to maverick gaming, Tiger Style Studios proves “there’s an app for that”
A Taste for “Venture”
Vermont’s food-business incubator makes a controversial move, from Fairfax to Hardwick
Councilor Wants City CAO Placed on Leave
Democratic City Councilor Ed Adrian is calling on Mayor Bob Kiss to place his top administrator on unpaid leave while a full investigation is conducted into how the city loaned $17 million to Burlington Telecom. The $17 million loan from the city to BT was first reported in “Fair Game” several weeks ago, and its…
Welching on Net Neutrality
U.S. Rep. Peter Welch, along with 71 other Democrats, are taking some heat for a letter (Download DemLettertoFCCChairmanGenachowski – pdf) they recently sent to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski. The one-page letter, according to “net neutrality” supporters, echoes talking points from large telecommunications companies who are opposed to Internet neutrality. In the letter, the…
Best Bites: Two Brothers Tavern
86 Main Street, Middlebury 388-0002 As many readers already know, I don’t drink alcohol. In fact, it’s a very rare delicacy that can woo me away from my all-day, every day pounding of tap water. But the Italian sodas at Two Brothers Tavern provide one such siren song — on my last trip, I ordered the…
Mayor to Propose Burlington Telecom Fixes
In a letter to Burlington city councilors in advance of tonight’s special meeting about the fate of Burlington Telecom, Mayor Bob Kiss said he supports a full, independent audit of the utility’s finances, among other steps, to reinstate residents’ confidence in the fledgling venture. The audit request comes on the heels of an extensive war…
