Burlington biomechanical engineer and UVM prof helped start Vermont Fencing Alliance
Vermont is in the middle of a hemp boom. Hundreds of farmers of all sizes and skills registered with the state about 9,000 acres for hemp in 2019. Most joined the green rush to capitalize on the popularity of cannabidiol-infused everything. Yet all that glitters is not gold. Those who didn’t line up buyers before…
On Saturday, October 26, 2019, Sean Bento will be 41 years old in Heaven. Happy birthday to you, my loving, handsome Seano, my Obiwan. I love you and miss you more than anyone can understand or any words can express. Forever 37. October 26, 1978, to August 8, 2016. — Sean’s Mom
Fall foliage is in full swing and while other people went leaf peeping, we went dumpling dipping at Hong’s Chinese Dumplings in Burlington. For 17 years, Hong Yu ran a dumpling cart on Church Street which often attracted long lines of customers. Two years ago, a GoFundMe campaign raised more than $10,000 from more than 300…
One of my taxi’s satellite radio channels is MSNBC, which broadcasts, in real time, an audio-only version of the TV channel. It was 9 p.m., and I was listening to “The Rachel Maddow Show” en route to a pickup. I love Rachel Maddow. No, I mean it — if she’d have me, I would marry…
This film, like its subject, has no shortage of serious problems. Who its intended audience is supposed to be eludes me. Few under 50, I suspect, have any idea who Judy Garland was — beyond, perhaps, her role as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. And those old enough to recall her years as a…
Vermont artists Sumru Tekin, Kate Donnelly and Thatiana Oliveira have launched a new collaborative venture called Single Channel VT. Its mission is to present a quarterly series of artist-curated screenings and discussions that explore the history and practitioners of time-based media. That is, works involving video, film, slide, audio and computer-based technologies. “Our goal here…
Stop me if you’ve heard this one: A seasoned pro who’s weary of “the life” decides to call it a career after one last job. The plan quickly goes awry, forcing the hero to return to his old ways to make things right. The plot device that launched a thousand crime movies is the starting…
It’s time again for the Vermont International Film Festival, which kicks off on October 16, to bring an exciting slice of international cinema to Burlington. But Chittenden County isn’t the only place to catch cool screenings this month, thanks to the ongoing programming of the Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival on the one hand, and a…
The cover of this issue, illustrated by Matt Douglas, features a Jetsons-inspired talk show called “Tech Tonight.” Seated behind the desk is the host — the Vermont Tech Jam mascot, an androgynous spaceperson who has represented the annual career expo since it began in 2008. The “guest” is a smart speaker, one of those personal…
Brooke Dooley was fed up with the porch pirates. In only a few months last year, thieves had pilfered packages three times from the front step of her apartment in Burlington’s Old North End. When the culprits struck days before Christmas — making off with a box of gifts for her niece and nephew —…
She was warned. “Stay on the trail,” said the man carrying a shovel and passing her on the path. “Stay on the trail, you’ll be fine.” A sign along the way reminded her. The whispers of the forest cautioned her. But she didn’t listen, and the ground swallowed her. “Listen,” by Brent Campbell and E3…
Vermonters love their state but not their cellphone service. The hilly topography, low population density and demands that data-sucking smartphones put on wireless networks have led to slow connection speeds, spotty coverage and dead zones in rural Vermont. So it might come as a surprise that a growing number of residents are actively working to…
When Capital City Concerts offered one of Johann Sebastian Bach’s cantatas — the Magnificat — last fall to soothe the politics-weary, audiences packed both St. Augustine’s Catholic Church in Montpelier and Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Burlington for the performances. And their attention never flagged. “No one even moved between movements, people were so…
It’s rare to hear the head of a nonprofit admit that, in fact, the organization should not work. But Chris Thompson, the outgoing executive director of Generator, will tell you that even as he stands in Burlington’s 11,500-square-foot maker space: Such facilities often fail. When Thompson and a group of other locals launched Generator in…
Real estate agent Dave Kleh gives his clients a gift whenever he closes a sale: a CD of his original music. Most Chittenden County homebuyers probably wouldn’t suspect that the Keller Williams Realty representative is a prolific singer-songwriter and self-producer, but he is. In fact, he’s become one of the most reliable voices in local…
Artificial Intelligence was once the stuff of science fiction. Now it’s here, and every publication from the Washington Post to Wired to the Wall Street Journal is full of articles and videos exploring it. Depending on whom you listen to, AI will be a job killer or a job creator; a tool to boost productivity…
When South Burlington leaders recently began to consider building an indoor recreational center, they wanted to know what features residents most coveted. Turf? A movement studio? A maker space? Fortunately, there’s an app for that. Since June, the city has been partnering with Consensus, a Toronto-based tech firm, on a new smartphone application that allows…
Dead Men Rocking If you haven’t yet caught a show at the Double E Performance Center at the Essex Experience, you need to get on that. Last Friday, Miriam Bernardo and co. rocked the T-Rex Theater during the singer’s much-anticipated Songs From the Well album release show. In terms of sound quality — not to…
Log On Last week’s cover story, “Carbon Quandary,” presents a look at biomass energy that unfortunately misses the nuances of the practice and how it fits positively into our future. The role that biomass, and forest management in general, play with respect to our varied environmental crises is complex. Sequestration and storage of carbon is…
(Self-released, digital) Funk-rock ensemble DIGGS, with their high-energy shows and dynamic lineup of instrumentalists and vocalists, were a Queen City powerhouse — emphasis on were. During its recently ended 18-month run, the band flirted with becoming one of the next big things ’round these parts. Led by charismatic MC Ash Diggs, the genre-blurring crew delved…
“Scary Barre” isn’t so scary anymore. The city built on granite has shed its mocking moniker for a new one: the nicest place in Vermont, according to Reader’s Digest. Nicest as in most neighborly. Rachel Nelson, who nominated the 10,000-person city, noted in her submission that the “craziest thing” about Barre is that “there’s no…
(What Doth Life, digital) Sixty-nine. That’s how many releases Windsor-based collective What Doth Life has released in 10 years of existence. Sixty-nine albums! Let’s just sit back for a moment and appreciate that statistic alone for what it is. No other local label, collective, consortium, imprint or league of super-friends can even come close to…
To learn character design from Jax Jocson, apparently, you have to get out your crayons. The California-based concept artist sat at a table in the dining hall at the Camp Abnaki grounds in North Hero last weekend, surrounded by Crayola boxes and plastic bags full of dissected paper Pokémon figures. Jocson and her adult pupils…
Dear Reverend, A friend of mine constantly posts rather provocative and sometimes explicit photos of themselves on Instagram. I like to think I’m an open-minded person, but sometimes I feel they go too far, and it makes me a little uncomfortable. Should I say something to my friend about it? Visually Vexed (female, 29) Dear…
The keg in the conference room is a hint, as are the beer taps decorating the walls. All suggest that Vermont Information Processing is a tech company focused on the beverage industry. From a campus at the Water Tower Hill office park in Colchester, VIP creates software and processes data to help customers manage inventory,…
Vermont has long been a hotbed of entrepreneurs who influenced their industries — from Ben & Jerry’s founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield to Burton Snowboards’ Jake Burton Carpenter. The state’s technology sector is having an equally outsize impact in fields such as robotics, aviation and sports, attracting national and even global attention. See speakers…
In an old calf barn in Charlotte, where young bovines that would grow to be 1,500 pounds were once raised, a smaller animal is now in production: shrimp. The shellfish at Sweet Sound Aquaculture, Vermont’s first shrimp farm, will max out at about an ounce apiece. Once harvested, they are delivered to nearby restaurants, adding…
Water is the basis of beer. At about 90 percent of every lager, stout or IPA, it’s the canvas for flavor and the medium that binds together grain and hops into something drinkable. On the other end of the brewing process, it’s also what keeps things clean — and it’s the bulk of the waste.…
House of Fermentology, a beer blendery in Burlington’s South End, is moving from a garage bay off Pine Street to the burgeoning food and farming scene at Nordic Farms in Charlotte. In its new location, HOF will have more and better space for aging, blending and conditioning beer, said Todd Haire, who founded HOF with…
The chefs who started the Carte Blanche food cart last year are the new chefs at ArtsRiot, the restaurant and music club at 400 Pine Street in Burlington. Mojo Hancy-Davis and Chris Donnelly will run the kitchen, according to a press release from ArtsRiot co-owner PJ McHenry. The pair has replaced George Lambertson, an ArtsRiot…
