The Money Issue 2009
The Money Issue: Behind the Sounds at Vermont Public Radio; Jon Stewart at UVM; Same-Sex Marriage in the House
Everything’s kosher down at Burlington Electric
You could say Burlington Electric Department excels in public relations — or maybe it answers to a higher power. Either way, the utility did the right thing this week when it delayed some scheduled repairs that would have inconvenienced scores of its Jewish customers observing this week’s Passover holiday. On Monday, Sue Schein, a conservative…
Vermont Businesses Urge Veto Override
A group of Vermont business owners have entered the fray over whether lawmakers should overturn an expected veto of the marriage equality legislation passed overwhelmingly recently by the Vermont House & Senate. The House approved the measure Friday by a final vote of 94-52, while the Senate passed its version a week earlier by a…
Do You Know Where Your Campus Newspaper Is?
So I was walking through the Alliot Student Center on Friday morning when I noticed something awry in the west doorway to the building. This area is where most free publications are dropped off — Seven Days, a variety of free magazines, and the bulk of the copies of The Defender. Well, this past Friday,…
Monday Marriage Update
Today the Vermont Senate is expected to pass the final version of the same-sex marriage bill — they have to reconcile the bill they passed with the one passed last week by the House. If everything shakes out as planned, the bill will go to the governor for approval at the end of the day…
Hockey notes from the 7D “Sports Desk”
At 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, the University of Vermont’s men’s hockey team faces off against Boston University in the first game of the NCAA “Frozen Four.” (Basketball fans: That’s a colder, slipperier version of your “final four” national tourney.) To help stir up interest in the game, UVM’s web news editor, Amanda Kenyon Waite, has…
Iowa is Going to Beat Us? Seriously?
The Iowa Supreme Court has ordered the state to recognize same-sex marriages. This morning, the court upheld a lower court’s 2007 ruling calling the state’s gay marriage ban unconstitutional. That means gay Iowans will be able to marry soon — sounds like maybe by the end of the month. But wait, what about civil unions?…
Open Source Radio: Behind the Sounds at Vermont Public Radio
Ed. Note: This is the third in Nate Herzog’s series of posts about Vermont companies and their creative solutions to technical challenges. Click here to see them all. I was especially excited to investigate the technology behind Vermont Public Radio. VPR is my audio feed during my morning commute and it’s the only radio station…
Same-Sex Marriage Bill — Final Vote This Morning
The House passed the same-sex marriage bill 95-52 late last night, and will vote on it for a final time this morning at 9:30 a.m. Shay Totten is headed to Montpelier to cover the proceedings. Click here to read his updates on Twitter. Here are some links to coverage of yesterday’s emotional debate: House Passes…
Same-Sex Marriage Debate Goes Late
9:30 p.m. UPDATE: The house voted tonight to pass the same-sex marriage bill, 95-52, but supporters needed 100 votes to override the governor’s threatened veto. Legislators have to vote again tomorrow before the bill heads to the guv’s desk. Here’s my post from earlier: It’s 7:45 p.m. as I write this, and the Vermont House…
Pitcher Inn Tasting Menu & Wine Pairings
Last weekend I was lucky enough to have the tasting dinner at The Pitcher Inn in Warren. The article didn’t give me room to list every course, so I thought I’d do it here… N.V. Gaston Chiquet “Brut Tradition” Mahogany Clam with Asian slaw and Black-Bean Sauce 2002 Domaine Foreau Vouvray MoelleuxSeared Foie Gras with…
Same-Sex Marriage in the House: LIVE VIDEO
Well, not from us. WPTZ channel 5 is live streaming here, starting at 3 p.m. Follow Shay Totten’s updates on Twitter.
The Night of the Living Robo-Calls
The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) based out of New Jersey has rolled out what appears to be a statewide robo-call effort urging Vermonters to call their local reps and urge them to support Gov. Jim Douglas’ veto of the same-sex marriage bill. I didn’t record the call because I answered the phone and just…
St. Michael’s Student Gov’t Shenanigans UPDATE
Bad day to be a member of the St. Michael’s Student Association E-board yesterday. The Defender/Echo published a pair of stories that did not reflect so well on the S.A. E-board: one on how a recent vote on a constitutional amendment proved controversial and may be void, and another revealing that the S.A. President and…
Alien Lands on Conant!
“We got to work this morning and heard this huge, screeching crash and looked out the window, and right outside the shop an alien had apparently just landed!” So went Steve Conant’s story when I called him about the female “alien” clinging to the side of his building. I saw her when I walked to…
Congolese Playwright to Speak at Champlain College
Continuing our jump into theater, Champlain College’s first City of Refuge Visiting Writer and internationally acclaimed writer and intellectual, Pierre Mujomba, will be at the Alumni Auditorium to speak of his life on April 7th. Mujomba’s speech, “A Writer in Exile: Reflections on Censorship and Freedom,” draws from his views on censorship, and the hardships…
Champlain Theater at The Flynn
Champlain College playwright and director of Champlain Theater, Joanne Farrell, will be showcasing the College’s acting chops with a presentation of “The Beauty Queen of Leanne” this week at the Flynn. The Irish drama, written by Martin McDonagh, takes a hard look at mental illness, loneliness, and betrayal. Knowing Joanne Farrell, I’m sure this work…
Same-Sex Marriage Surveys are All the Rage
In this week’s “Fair Game” we made mention of a phone poll regarding same-sex marriage being conducted by the Vermont Republican Party throughout the state. The party has polled voters in 16 legislative districts, and plans to conduct several more before tomorrow’s House debate and vote on the same-sex marriage bill. There continues to be…
On the Money
On balance, Vermont’s economy is better off than other states’. A few reasons why…
News Quirks
Curses, Foiled Again After authorities investigating a store robbery in Chula Vista, Calif., identified Romeo Montillano, 40, as their suspect, they learned he was in Las Vegas, unaware he was wanted. They were able to arrest him, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported, because he returned to take an examination to become a police officer. Police…
Letters to the Editor
CHASING (WHITE) TAIL In his big-game article [“Antler Archive,” March 11], Mike Ives failed to mention that whitetail deer are not native to Vermont. The Fish and Wildlife Department’s efforts to increase the state’s whitetail deer population are nothing more than further subsidies to an already subsidized species. The whitetail deer is famous for being…
Free Will Astrology
Here’s the weekly astrological forecast for April 1 – 8, 2009. What’s your sign, baby? They’re all here… ARIES (March 21-April 19): There’s plain old everyday lightning, which travels about five miles, and then there are superbolts — strokes of lightning that are a hundred times stronger than a normal flash and that can travel…
Cosmic Connection
Art Review: Lucinda Mason, “Macro-Micro, Immeasurable Space and Higgs Boson Particles,” Supreme Court Lobby, Montpelier. Through May 1.
Bean Sprouts
Soundbites: Bean Sprouts, Japhy Rydes Again!, Bloody Hell, Opening Up, Bite Torrent
Epicure for a Day
Warren’s luxurious Pitcher Inn might make visitors think, “What recession?”
Hit the Slopes, Then Grab a Guinness at McGrath’s Irish Pub in Killington
When bars advertise they’ve got “rock,” they’re usually talking about music. At McGrath’s Pub, in an inn on Pico Mountain, they mean it literally: The dining room and pub are built around a massive boulder. In addition to nature’s contribution to the decor, the bustling bar area is packed with Irish memorabilia, from gaudy Guinness…
![COTS New Emergency Shelter [SIV122]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sevendaysvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/episode122.webp?resize=400%2C300&ssl=1)
COTS New Emergency Shelter [SIV122]
3/21/09: COTS, The Committee on Temporary Shelter, has been unable to house the growing population of homeless Vermont residents. Champlain College is in the process of transforming the former Eagle’s Club into student housing. In the interim, they have donated the space to COTS as a temporary shelter which will house 10 families and 16…
What the Doctor Ordered
Fletcher Allen’s cafeterias serve up good food – for the body and wallet
Fission fatigue: No nukes activist Helen Caldicott to visit VT
Seven Days just learned that one of the most renowned antinuclear activists is speaking in Vermont next week. Over the last 40 years, Dr. Helen Caldicott, whom Seven Days profiled in November 2005, has hobnobbed with some of the most powerful leaders in the world as part of her ongoing struggle to rid the planet of…
Vermont Senate Considers “E-Waste” Legislation
It’s been a trashy month for the news media. First the New York Times reported on March 11 that China, the “world’s largest” garbage importer, is refusing trash from American and European “waste dealers.” Then the New Yorker magazine published “Trash Queen,” about a Chinese paper-making tycoon whose fortunes have fallen in recent months because…
Jon Stewart at UVM
I had the immense pleasure of seeing Jon Stewart speak at Patrick Gymnasium at the University of Vermont on Saturday, March 28. It was a mixture of stand-up, commentary, and interaction with the audience. Here are some highlights: He made several good-natured jabs at liberal Burlington, including the observations that “the entire town seems to…
Hey, Paul Krugman, Where Are You?
Here’s a video in honor of this week’s Money Issue of Seven Days, which hits the racks tomorrow. It’s from prolific singer-songwriter Jonathan Mann, who posts a new music video to YouTube every day. Every day. Which might explain why his choruses aren’t catchier. Today’s song is about Jerry Springer. There was one a week…
