The Winter Reading Issue — 2019
Winter Reading Issue: ‘A Bit of Harmless Mischief’: Fiction by Erik Esckilsen; Cartoonist Glynnis Fawkes’ Two-Book Year; Vermont Indie Booksellers’ Picks of 2019; Visiting Montréal’s Zine Scene
Obituary: William Downs McDowell, 1987-2019
Franklin County father of two was a decorated veteran
Obituary: Charles Armstrong Parker, 1954-2019
Founder of Starksboro’s Traditional Building Trades loved historic preservation, nature
Zine Scene: Exploring Montréal’s Indie Artistry
While the classic lie, “The internet is forever,” might help discourage young people from sending nude selfies, it’s still a lie. The modern internet is littered with broken links and abandoned URLs, the ghosts of forgotten blogs, and entire news sites that have been swallowed by the ever-rising tide of new content. When archivists digitize…
Guthrie Galileo, ‘3103’
(Self-released, digital) Guthrie Galileo is the biggest Usher fan in Vermont. Not only does the Burlington R&B singer-songwriter and impresario host an annual Valentine’s Day concert of all-Usher songs, but he just released an album composed entirely of Usher covers called 3103. Real name Guthrie Stoltzfus, the 26-year-old artist is primarily known for cultivating the…
Dino Bravo, ‘Blind by Midnight’
(Self-released, digital) Dino Bravo are, first and foremost, a party waiting to happen. The Burlington-based rock band has won a loyal following with lunatic live shows and self-deprecating humor. After honing its catalog in front of crowds for close to a decade, the quartet released a debut LP, Blind by Midnight. It is an all-killer,…
Space Nation Asgardia Is Recruiting Vermonters to Leave Earth Behind
A former member of British Parliament wants Vermonters to join him — in space. Lembit Öpik is recruiting new followers and residents for Asgardia, a self-proclaimed space nation that’s got its sights set on leaving Earth behind. The group has already launched a small satellite to mark its territory. And it boasts a million followers…
Vermont Inmate Claims Fellow Prisoner Was Denied Care Before Death
For hours before he died in a northern Vermont prison this month, Kenneth Johnson struggled to breathe and begged for medical attention, according to a fellow inmate who was with Johnson that night. “He kept banging on the window for the nurse to do something about it — and they didn’t,” said the other inmate,…
Vermont Booksellers’ Reading Picks of 2019
When you’re buying a book, which would you rather ask for advice: an algorithm or a human being who spends most of their waking hours around books? If you live in Vermont, you have options, because the state’s independent bookstores are hanging tough. One of them, the Vermont Book Shop in Middlebury, just celebrated its…
How Can I Convince My Mom to Stop Buying Us Christmas Presents?
Dear Reverend, Even though we’re all grown-ass adults, my fixed-income mother insists on getting my siblings and me Christmas gifts each year. We’ve repeatedly told her to focus on the grandkids and leave us out, but she continues to buy us gifts that she can’t afford and we don’t need. I like receiving presents as…
The Winter Reading Issue — 2019
Beach reads are great, but Vermonters get most of their reading done in the winter. Give us a good book and cozy nook, and we’ll give you a time-tested remedy for seasonal affective disorder. Frankly, it would take at least all winter to work through the best books of 2019 according to the state’s indie…
Free Will Astrology (12/18/19)
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): In 1933, Sagittarian artist Diego Rivera was commissioned to paint a huge mural in one of the famous Rockefeller buildings in New York City. His patrons didn’t realize he was planning to include a controversial portrait of former Soviet Communist leader Vladimir Lenin. When the deed was done, they ordered him…
Tip of the Iceberg: More Trouble at the Vermont Department of Corrections
In the two weeks since Seven Days published an investigation into alleged wrongdoing at Vermont’s only prison for women, the newspaper has received dozens of tips about the state Department of Corrections. Some tipsters have reconfirmed or elaborated on the findings of the original investigation: that DOC employees preyed upon current and former inmates; female…
Why Have Two Historic Vergennes Buildings Sat Empty for Decades?
On the southwest side of Vergennes, at the intersection of Main and Canal streets, stand two white, industrial-looking buildings from the 19th century that have been vacant for decades. One need not be a developer to see that they’re prime real estate opportunities in Vermont’s smallest city. Located along heavily traveled Route 22A and overlooking…
Jazz Singer Thea Wren Leans Into Pop-Soul on New EP, ‘In Between’
Cynthia Braren once worked as a singing telegram. She says she was “literally jumping out of cakes” at age 15, singing tailor-made ditties to “middle-aged men on their birthdays.” If pressed, she can still sing some of the silly tunes she wrote back then. Current cultural standards aside, she looks back on those days fondly.…
Vermont Songwriter Kristina Stykos Releases Debut Poetry Book
Kristina Stykos is an acclaimed singer-songwriter and a versatile multi-instrumentalist whose last album, River of Light, released on her Thunder Ridge Records label, was a 2018 highlight. She’s a sought-after record producer whose off-the-grid Pepperbox Studio is highly in demand. She’s also an entertaining radio host and an ace landscaper. With the release next week…
Art Review: ‘Let It Bee,’ Garage Cultural Center
Jodi Kelly had been thinking about the pollinator crisis for several months when she decided to curate an exhibit to promote the protection of bees. It fit the purpose of the Garage Cultural Center, which she and her husband, Dan Kelly, opened in Montpelier in May. “It’s a space where the community can come together…
Carbon Cents: Vermont Considers How to Make Cash by Letting Forests Grow
In the summer of 2018, the Nature Conservancy announced it had found a way for polluters in California to fund forest conservation in Vermont. The environmental group had acquired the 5,500-acre Burnt Mountain property in northern Vermont and was planning to sell carbon offsets tied to the tract’s millions of trees. The idea was that…
The Skinny Pancake Just Got Bigger — With Its 11th Restaurant
The Skinny Pancake, the crêperie that started as a food cart, will open its 11th branch in the spring in Stowe, co-owner Benjy Adler told Seven Days. The newest Skinny will be at 454 Mountain Road, the former site of McCarthy’s Restaurant, which closed in the fall after 45 years in business. “It’s pretty cool,”…
Soundbites: Holiday Haps
End Times Welcome to the beginning of the end — of Soundbites in 2019. The last weeks of the year are always a bit tricky. Next week’s column (spoiler alert) is dedicated to recapping some of the year’s most interesting and memorable newsy bits, and therefore doesn’t leave space to talk about New Year’s Eve.…
Letters to the Editor (12/18/19)
Home, Sweet Modular Molly Walsh’s article about Vermod homes [“The Cost of ‘Affordable,'” December 11] compels me to put in a word in favor of the company, especially owner Steve Davis. Five years ago, I bought a Vermod home, where I live today. It is a joy, despite a few issues along the way. In…
Quick Lit: ‘Marley,’ by Jon Clinch
It’s time to bust out those copies of A Christmas Carol — or at least to watch one of the bastardized versions of Charles Dickens’ classic that clog the Hallmark holiday lineup. Or, this year, you could get a darker kind of almost-Dickens fix. Southern Vermont author Jon Clinch gave Huckleberry Finn’s dad a backstory…
Fiction: A Bit of Harmless Mischief
My office is a busy place during final exam week, when students imagine, wrongly, they can negotiate making up the work they’ve failed to do all semester. Still, I was surprised to see a third-year student named Rebecca Page standing in my office doorway on Friday, the very last day of the fall semester. “Becca,”…
Eldercare Is Becoming Big Business in Vermont. Seniors Don’t Always Come First
On paper, Spring Village at Essex was a local endeavor. The developer of the planned eldercare home was South Burlington-based BlackRock Construction. Local business leaders vouched for the company’s integrity when it sought a state license for the home in 2016. But BlackRock had no say over the quality of care provided to the seniors who…
Cartoonist Glynnis Fawkes Marks a Two-Book Year
In a letter in 1837, poet laureate of England Robert Southey declared, “Literature cannot be the business of a woman’s life. The more she is engaged in her proper duties, the less leisure she will have for it, even as an accomplishment & a recreation.” The recipient of that letter was 20-year-old Charlotte Brontë, a…
With His Third Feature, ‘Waves’, Director Trey Edward Shults Doesn’t Make Any
Trey Edward Shults is two for three since making it to the majors. The filmmaker’s 2015 debut, Krisha, offered a powerful contemplation of family dynamics and addiction issues. It Comes at Night (2017) dealt with family dynamics in a dystopian context. The film was inspired by conversations Shults had with his father on his deathbed.…
It’s Not Game Over for the Serviceable Sequel ‘Jumanji: The Next Level’
Any movie that features Awkwafina impersonating a cantankerous Danny DeVito can’t be all bad. The young comedian with the crusty old voice is a perfect match for the veteran. And the body-swapping conceit of the Jumanji 2.0 movies gives her a chance to do her best old coot, her mouth tugging into a sour upside-down…
Can Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger Survive a Social Media Scandal?
Updated on December 18, 2019. Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger had a spectacularly bad Monday. In a span of hours, he employed three different chiefs of police. The first, Brandon del Pozo, resigned after acknowledging that he created an anonymous social media account and used it to troll a critic. The second, Jan Wright, admitted she’d…
Montpelier’s Down Home Kitchen Will Close End of Year
Down Home Kitchen, the Southern-style restaurant at 100 Main Street in Montpelier, will close at the end of the year, owner Mary Alice Proffitt told Seven Days. Proffitt, 39, opened the restaurant in September 2015 in the corner building that previously housed Rivendell Books & Games. Known for its big breakfasts and communal dining table,…
Liza Semler Offers Health-Minded Sweets With Nude Food
Liza Semler concocts desserts without refined sugar, dairy products, eggs, gluten, grains, additives or preservatives. And she doesn’t bake any of them. So, a traditional sweets lover might wonder, how could they possibly taste good? They do. More than that, they taste rich and luscious, even decadent. Yet they’re actually — though Semler doesn’t like…
Foam Brewers to Open Deep City Restaurant in March
In April 2016, when Foam Brewers launched its brewery near the Burlington waterfront, a pale ale called Deep City was one of the first eight brews on tap. In March, Foam will open a restaurant called Deep City in its building at 112 Lake Street, co-owner Jon Farmer told Seven Days. The phrase is what…
