Oct 24-30, 2018
Dartmouth’s Callie Brownson Is a Pioneer for Women in Football; Lawrence Zupan Looks to Upset Sen. Bernie Sanders; Healthy Living Reads the Fine Print for You
Cover Story
Dartmouth Coach Callie Brownson Is a Pioneer for Women in Football
Dartmouth College quarterback Derek Kyler drops back in the pocket and surveys the chaos unfolding before him. The receivers to his right are locked down in coverage. Ditto the tight end crossing the middle of the field. But to the sophomore QB’s left, Drew Hunnicutt has shaken free of his defender and is streaking toward…
Naked and Unafraid: Vermont Women Strip Down to ‘Grab Them by the Ballot’
A diverse group of 10 Vermont women gathered over the weekend to create an edgy get-out-the-vote campaign urging participation in the upcoming election. Unhappy with the direction of the country, the women of varied shapes, sizes, ages and backgrounds bared it all for an intimate, empowering photo session in Burlington, said organizer Dawn Robertson. “How…
Seriously: The Ghost Hunter
In this episode, a ghost hunter talks about the consumption habits of the dead, health care purgatory and the most horrifying thing he’s witnessed on a hunt. Featuring Jenna Pacitto as “Ghost #1” CREDITS Written, filmed and edited by: Bryan Parmelee Artwork/photography courtesy of: Stefan Hard, Paul Heintz, Bryan Parmelee, Dreamstime Logo/art direction by: Don…
Birth Announcement: Maggie Lynn Vanguilder
On October 23, 2018, at Porter Medical Center, Dana Gero and William Vanguilder welcomed a girl, Maggie Lynn Vanguilder.
Birth Announcement: Jayce Allen Thomson
On October 16, 2018, at Porter Medical Center, Deanna and Ken Thomson welcomed a boy, Jayce Allen Thomson.
Birth Announcement: Alia Grace Jaring
On September 5, 2018, at Porter Medical Center, Katelyn (Stone) and Reece Jaring welcomed a girl, Alia Grace Jaring.
Birth Announcement: Tacoma Charles Disorda
On September 11, 2018, at Porter Medical Center, Robert Disorda and Charlena Breon welcomed a boy, Tacoma Charles Disorda.
Birth Announcement: Weston James LaFlam
On September 22, 2018, at Porter Medical Center, Janel (Campbell) and Ben LaFlam welcomed a boy, Weston James LaFlam.
Birth Announcement: Giovanna Noelle Neary
On September 25, 2018, at Porter Medical Center, Justine (Hanrahan) and Eden Ryder Neary welcomed a girl, Giovanna Noelle Neary.
Birth Announcement: Archibald Raymond Demshuk
On October 1, 2018, at Porter Medical Center, Rebecca Mitchell and Andrew Demshuk welcomed a boy, Archibald Raymond Demshuk.
The Cannabis Catch-Up: Support for Pot Legalization Reaches a New High
A new Gallup poll found that two in three Americans — 66 percent — support cannabis legalization. Such strong support is no surprise here in Vermont, but to see it on a nationwide scale is staggering. Consider that in the year 2000, the number was closer to 30 percent. Since then, nine states have legalized…
Obituary: Mark Edward Joseph Mueller, 1964-2018
b 19 Sep 1964, Manassas, Va. d 6 Feb 2018, Port Richey, Fla. “I was born to play music,” Mark was fond of saying. He devoted a big part of his life to his music. Forming the band Equus, he became a legend in the environs of Colchester, Vt., during his teen years and went…
Four Cafés Coming to Downtown Burlington
A quartet of cafés will open in coming weeks at 194 St. Paul Street in Burlington, on the first floor of an apartment building that houses Champlain College students. The four businesses will offer morning coffee to nighttime noodles, said Linda Wheeler, the college’s senior director of auxiliary services. They include Perky Planet, a coffee…
Movie Review: ‘Free Solo’ Offers a Fascinating Look Inside a Mountain Climber’s Brain
Mountains. I’ve never understood what the fuss is about. Sure, the Adirondacks are lavender and lovely across Lake Champlain, and nice enough to contemplate from a deck chair while sipping a summer drink at a waterfront Burlington bar. But why on Earth would anyone feel the need to put down their drink, get up from…
Album Review: Seth Yacovone Band, ‘Welcome’
(Self-released, digital, vinyl) Seth Yacovone has been shredding the blues in these Green Mountains since the 1990s. At this point, he is both an artist and an institution. The former child prodigy has evolved from a human jukebox to a songwriter in his own right, and he has gigged tirelessly along the way. Today, Yacovone…
Quick Lit Book Reviews: ‘Small Spaces’ by Katherine Arden and ‘Forbidden Places’ by F. Brett Cox
As the nights lengthen and Halloween approaches, some of us like to curl up by the fireside with a spooky book. Vermont authors are no slouches when it comes to evoking ghosties and ghoulies — or the more existential terrors that stalk us “in the night, in the dark,” as Bennington’s own Shirley Jackson put…
Eat This Week, October 24 to 30, 2018: Buffet Bounty
ArtsRiot chefs team up with comrades from Pingala Café for a vegan Thanksgiving throwdown even a carnivore could love. Seitan roulade and porcini gravy form the centerpiece of a buffet menu featuring massaged kale, golden-beet-and-sweet-corn fritters, cider-maple-glazed root vegetables, Julia Child’s mashed potatoes, and green bean casserole. Live music and games keep the mood light.…
Album Review: Barika, ‘A Simple Light’
(Self-released, CD, digital) Seasons change, the cold winds rise, and we’re all making our winter playlists: songs to keep us moving, songs to fill up time when the sun goes down early. We need big rhythms and vibrant, kinetic melodies to get us moving a little faster. Barika have delivered those vibes in spades on…
Talking Art and Activism with Guerrilla Girls’ Donna Kaz
Long before the #MeToo movement, when members of radical women-led activist groups like Pussy Riot and FEMEN were still in diapers, the Guerrilla Girls were hard at work calling attention to sexism in the art world. Preserving their anonymity with their now-iconic gorilla masks, the Guerrilla Girls arrived on the scene in 1985. Their cheeky…
New Center for Cartoon Studies Fellow Draws on Mental Health Concerns
Cartoonist and educator Cara Bean, 42, says she’ll be “bouncing around” for the next few months as she creates a graphic nonfiction work about mental health for kids. She recently gave up her apartment in Massachusetts, put her possessions in storage and moved to Finland to be the artist-in-residence at the Oulu Comics Center. In…
Making Blue Waves: Vermonters Labor for Out-of-State Campaigns
It was a crisp, sunny mid-October Sunday, a perfect time for leaf peeping, hitting the trails or putting the garden to bed. But a group of 10 Vermonters, all women, denied themselves the pleasures of foliage season to spend the afternoon writing postcards on behalf of candidates in other states. The women were members of…
A Duxbury Carpenter Creates ‘Green’ Caskets
Over his career as a carpenter, Matt Kasvinsky has built a wide assortment of things from wood: kitchen counters, barns, decks, pergolas, cabins on stilts, even coffee tables in the shape of Vermont. His latest undertaking? Building custom-made caskets. Compared with the rest of his work, casket making doesn’t pose technical challenges, Kasvinsky readily admitted:…
How Electrifying? A Closer Look at Hallquist’s Record as the CEO of Vermont Electric Coop
In her telling, Christine Hallquist transformed an antiquated organization on the brink of bankruptcy into one of the most innovative utilities in the country. She empowered employees, modernized equipment and implemented cutting-edge programs. Hallquist, now the Democratic candidate for governor, cites her 12 years as chief executive officer at Vermont Electric Coop to make the…
Theater Review: ‘Dear Elizabeth,’ Northern Stage
A letter writer has the time to consider what to say and how to say it. What’s gained can be clear expression; what’s lost is the immediate give-and-take of conversation. Playwright Sarah Ruhl explores the essence of theatrical interaction in Dear Elizabeth, composed of excerpts from the correspondence of two of the 20th century’s most…
At Slowfire Bakery, Slow and Steady Yields Quintessentially Vermont Loaves
Scott Medellin of Slowfire Bakery guesses that Vermonters have access to more artisanal bread options per capita than residents of any other state in the nation. No one seems to track such a number, but that’s the Jeffersonville baker’s way of acknowledging that he makes a product people can get elsewhere. So why does he…
Letters to the Editor (10/24/18)
Natural Sound Barrier [Re Off Message: “After Buying Airport-Area Homes to Raze, Burlington Wants to Save Some,” October 16; Last 7: “Home Again?” October 17]: Why not replace all of those torn-down houses with evergreen trees? This would muffle the noise of the airport from the remaining houses and get better and better as time…
Vermont Vaudeville Celebrates 10 Years and 20 Shows
This weekend a Vermont institution celebrates a milestone: Greensboro-based Vermont Vaudeville, 2018 winner of the Seven Daysies award for best comedy troupe, will perform its 20th show at the Hardwick Town House. Those who’ve never seen a Vermont Vaudeville show should know that Vermont Vaudeville: 10 Years Later is an evening of mayhem, tricks and…
Fell the Bern? Lawrence Zupan’s Long-Shot Bid to Depose Sen. Sanders
Lawrence Zupan stood on the lawn of the Hildene estate in Manchester and marveled at a 16-by-18-foot rectangle of brick set into the grass. As a nearby plaque explained, it represented the cramped Kentucky cabin in which Abraham Lincoln was born. Looming over the brick outline was a Georgian Revival mansion that the 16th president’s…
WTF: Why Do Cemeteries Require Urn Vaults for Burying Cremains?
“By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” —Genesis 3:19 This Old Testament quote may serve as a reminder of the fleeting nature of a human life, but some Vermont…
Bird Electric Scooters Land in Montpelier With Mixed Results
A new, two-wheeled form of transportation has landed in Montpelier. One hundred electric Bird scooters have been available for rent on Capital City streets since last Thursday. To catch one, users download an app, which has a map that tracks available scooters. Riders, who must be 18 or older, pay $1 to unlock the scooter…
Soundbites: Halloween Happenings and More
One of the most thrilling times of the year for local live music is Halloween. People let loose, ratchet up the creative energy and throw down some special sets. And since Halloween falls on a Wednesday this year, the spooky shows are spread over more days than they would be if the holiday landed on…
Free Will Astrology (10/24/18)
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “He believed in magic,” writes author Michael Chabon about a character in his novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. “Not in the so-called magic of candles, pentagrams and bat wings,” nor “dowsing rods, séances, weeping statues, werewolves, wonders or miracles.” Then what kind? Chabon says it’s the “impersonal magic…
Movie Review: Coming of Age Is a Political Act in ‘The Hate U Give’
It’s easy for adult critics to dismiss movies aimed at teens. The same people who greet every new offering from DC Comics and Marvel with breathless excitement suddenly get more critical when the source material is a YA novel. Full disclosure: I write YA novels, so I take them seriously. But everybody should feel that…
Scarlett Letters: My Ex Wants Me Back, But I Don’t Want Him
Dear Scarlett, My ex wants me back. We dated back in 2011, and we dated once before that, but broke up because he wasn’t trying. He thinks he’s going to get back together with me, but I don’t want him anymore. I told him not to get his hopes up because he doesn’t know what…
The Smittens Deliver on New Album ‘City Rock Dove’
If there’s one adjective that’s been used again and again to describe Burlington indie-pop band the Smittens through their 16-year run, it’s “cute.” And if you’ve ever listened to their music, seen them perform or even hung out with them, you’ll surely agree that “cute” is a perfectly accurate description. The sextet’s melodies are darling…
‘This Touched My Heart’: Readers Respond to Madelyn Linsenmeir’s Obituary
A moving obituary evokes the spirit of the deceased with telling details and speaks to the universality of loss. In a tribute to Madelyn Linsenmeir that appeared last week in Seven Days, Kate O’Neill went further: Using her late sister’s struggle as an example, she explained the tragedy of drug addiction with honesty and empathy…
Opiates, Love and Loss: A Vermont Woman’s Obituary Strikes a Global Chord
The donations came in from New Zealand, Denmark, England, Spain — not exactly fundraising hotbeds for the Turning Point Center of Chittenden County, a small addiction-recovery center in downtown Burlington. Eight dollars here, $20 there. Many came with personal notes. The donors wrote about brothers who had died of an overdose, sisters who lost custody…
About Turner: Republicans Bet Big on Lieutenant Governor Race
On Saturday afternoon, House Minority Leader Don Turner (R-Milton) brought his campaign to become Vermont’s lieutenant governor to the grounds of Sam Mazza’s Farm Market in Colchester. It was his third event of the day, which happened to be his 34th wedding anniversary. He did plan to spend the evening with his wife, he said,…
With a New Policy, Healthy Living Reads the Fine Print for You
Not all junk food is created equal. Newman O’s are OK. Oreos, culinary kin to the Newman cookie, are not. Green Mountain Tortilla Strips get the green light. Nacho Cheese Doritos in the bright red bag get the red one. That’s how these snacks stack up according to Healthy Living Market & Café. The grocery…
Lawson’s Finest Liquids Opens Waitsfield Brewery
There’s a new stop on Vermont’s IPA Highway. Two years after they began planning a custom-built facility in Waitsfield, Lawson’s Finest Liquids co-owners Sean and Karen Lawson quietly opened their new brewery, taproom and retail space at 155 Carroll Road on Monday. “We’ve been keeping a very tight wrap on things,” Sean Lawson told Seven…
