‘Too Much Credit’

Thank you, Seven Days and Kevin McCallum, for “Rogue Rage” [August 19]. However, your article erroneously gives me a bit too much credit.

Contrary to what you implied, I was not the first person to come across this “next-level” trail or to bring it to the state’s attention: Mike Snyder, commissioner of the Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation at the time, was aware of it in October 2020, as your timeline states.

Nor was I the one who, in June 2021, first alerted Stowe Trails Partnership or the Stowe Selectboard to the trail, as reported. That was another neighbor. Nor was I the one who named Aaron Rice as a builder.

It was only in July 2021, after the trail had already begun to be demolished, that I wrote to the state about it, noting the need to focus on prevention over punishment.

As the former editor of Bicycling Magazine and, later, Vermont Sports, I have written many articles about mountain biking and chronicled its growth. I have cheered when trail groups have received grants and praised the Ride With Gratitude campaign, prompted by the ugly actions of some riders.

But rogue trail building — basically a land grab — is also ugly. It, too, needs to be addressed if the sport expects to be taken seriously.

If leaders in the community spent as much honest effort condemning rogue trail building as they have excusing or supporting it, that would be the progression mountain biking needs to grow up.

Sad About Seafood

[Re “Ray’s Seafood Market in Essex to Close After 75 Years,” August 10]: I’ve had many emotional reactions to Seven Days news over decades of readership: anger, empathy, incredulousness, curiosity and others. The news, though, that Ray’s Seafood Market is closing just made me sad.

It is the place to go for a reasonable fried fish dinner — and my son’s favorite-since-little clam basket. It provides a great, possibly little-known, community service by honoring vouchers from Age Well for nutritious senior meals. Plus, it holds a special spot in my heart as the place said son and I went for cephalopods to showcase in an early elementary science fair project that was a huge hit!

Just a good, solid, local old-time fish spot that I will miss. I wish everyone involved the best. Thanks for a taste of the shore here in the mountains and lots of great memories.

More Montréal

[Re “Critique’s Choice: A Delicious Itinerary From a Former Montréal Restaurant Critic Includes the Museum Exhibit She Hatched,” August 12]: Thanks for the ongoing insider’s guides to Montréal treasures. Readers may also want to watch Chewdaism: A Taste of Jewish Montréal. This highly entertaining and fast-moving documentary visits a lot of the places featured in the McCord Stewart Museum exhibit and ends with a festive dinner at a Moroccan Jewish home. Weaving the food and cultural history together leaves the viewer with a new sense of the city and a full food itinerary for the next visit.

The hourlong film streams at yidlifecrisis.com/chewdaism.

License to Drive

[Re “Power Surge: A Spike in the Use of E-Bikes and Faster E-Motos by Children Is Causing Communities to Worry — and Strategize,” July 22]: I live on the Burlington bikeway in Colchester, just across the bridge on the bike path.

I have seen many people who are clearly not able to drive a vehicle, much less an e-bike, riding down my street. I have witnessed at least two accidents on my street, one of which required an ambulance to be dispatched.

The issue of battery-powered devices on the bike path and in general needs attention. I saw three teenagers in the middle of the road riding e-bikes down Lakeshore Drive, standing on the seat of the bike and popping wheelies. When does it stop?

In case you forget: Driving a motor vehicle in any state requires a license and insurance on you and the device you are riding. For most kids, that means getting a job to support your mobility. Driving is a privilege and not a right and requires testing to prove you are capable of driving.

Lose the battery and the motor!

A Safer Option?

[Re “Power Surge,” July 22]: I have been noticing the uptick of teens on electric-motor bikes in my town and read the recent article about this with interest. Then today, while walking my dog in the woods around Winooski, I had what could have been a negative interaction with a teen boy on an electric-motor bike.

I initially responded angrily out of fear for my dog, but he responded back politely and we had a positive exchange. He said: “Where are we supposed to go? This is safer than the roads.” And he was right! They are being given or purchasing these bikes, then don’t really have a safe and local option for where to ride them.

I feel like we could be more understanding toward teen boys in general, and this would be a good area to quickly find a solution before people get hurt.

Cleves & Walden

[Re Feedback: “Publisher Erred,” August 12; “Drawing Comparisons: A Biographer Claims That Vermont Cartoonist Tillie Walden Borrowed Too Much in Her New Graphic Novel, Charity & Sylvia. Others Disagree,” July 22]: As a reader of both Rachel Hope Cleves’ biography Charity & Sylvia and Tillie Walden’s graphic biography Charity & Sylvia, I disagree with Abby Emerson regarding the cover art and title.

A recent Vermont Humanities podcast explains that the silhouettes of both women are a focal artifact of the Henry Sheldon Museum archive of the two, and, furthermore, they themselves adorned the silhouettes in a frame of their interlocking hair shaped in a heart. The museum now uses that as part of its own exhibit on the lives of the Weybridge couple.

Given its personal importance to both Charity and Sylvia, it makes sense that Cleves, Walden and the Sheldon, too, would use it. But while Cleves’ has only the black silhouettes and the museum uses the original, Walden, in contrast, imagines the profiled faces of the two, as well as their bodies. And they are framed by symbols that represent their lives in Weybridge.

This is an excellent choice by Vermont Humanities for this year’s Vermont Reads, and I recommend Seven Days readers enjoy both Cleves’ and Walden’s books, as well as the Sheldon exhibit.

No Housing Shortage

[Re “Housing Crunch: Short-Term Rentals Are Eating Into the Housing Stock of Some Vermont Towns. Without State Regulations, Communities Are Trying to Figure It Out on Their Own,” July 22]: Independent and well-read Vermonters have a long history of uncovering the truth and exposing hucksters pulling a fast one. We have seen this most recently with the state’s overwhelming rejection of the fake news and lies coming out of Washington, D.C. We see that same spirit of defiance at our selectboard, city council, development review board and planning commission meetings.

Vermonters now need to apply their well-established tradition of scrutiny and skepticism to the fake news being marketed by the cabal of the quick, for-profit housing industries that are flooding our local media with ads, presentations and commentaries promoting unrealistic population growth numbers and anticipated housing needs.

The truth? Vermont has over 65,000 unoccupied homes, some owned by Vermonters, but many by out-of-state investors and large investment companies. Vermont ranks second nationally for the highest percentage of unoccupied homes (19.4 percent).

These homes are often rented as Airbnbs or other short-term rentals, or they remain vacant until they can be flipped for profit when the market shows a sale to be advantageous. Worse still, newer homes are being built priced to the open market, which satisfies investors even more and leaves hardworking Vermonters out in the cold trying to buy a moderately priced home.

Now is the time for Vermonters to step up and confront the fake housing shortage promoted by Let’s Build Homes, the Vermont Futures Project and other supportive organizations. The homes are here, but too many are unregulated and in the wrong hands.

Barking Up the Wrong Tree

An opinion you ran [Feedback: “Let Sleeping Bears Lie,” August 19; Legals: Proposed State Rules, July 29] contained several false statements. The new bear hunting rule does not extend opportunities to hunt them with hounds at all. It does, however, extend opportunities for other hunters because we have an overabundance of bears, and hunters are the tool that can mitigate it. I don’t know the author, and I suspect they are a fine individual, but they are entirely misinformed on this topic. There will be no hunting of bears in dens, especially with hounds. That battle cry is a red herring.

While there is no law currently preventing the shooting of sows with cubs, the Vermont Bear Hound Association supported a prohibition on knowingly shooting sows with cubs. That is also part of this change, and it would be good for folks to support these adjustments.

I would urge your readers to look into issues before taking alarmist narratives and running with them. We are never at our best when we allow ourselves to be guided into an emotional response without examining the details.

Beloved by Us

[Re All the Best: “Best Dive Bar,” August 5]: I take offense to the first adjective of this write-up. Having worked in the local bar scene for 21 years (Sneakers Bistro, Monkey House, Three Needs, Misery Loves Co. and T. Rugg’s Tavern), I have served, and refused to serve, hundreds of thousands of imbibers. Not one person — not one! — has ever called me “beloved.” Not even my loving wife! WTF?! Why the fiction? Has anyone from Seven Days ever sat on the other side of the bar while I’m behind the stick? Am I that good at my job that they have no recollection if they have?

P.S. “Best Dive Bar”? You said it yourself: Cleanest bathrooms in town should put us in the “Best Janitors” category. With love, Dunnsky.

Mr. Brunelle Fan

[Re All the Best, August 5]: Like many, I enjoy Tom Tomorrow’s “This Modern World.” I also enjoy “Mr. Brunelle Explains It All” and saw Robert Waldo Brunelle Jr. received honorable mention in two categories of the Seven Daysies, and he is local. Speaking of local, I am not sure L.J. Kopf is available, but he was a cartoonist in Seven Days’ predecessor, the Vanguard Press. Last I knew, he lived in Richmond. His cartoons were memorable.

Corrections

Last week’s cover story, “Rogue Rage,” misidentified Lisa Lynn as having reported Aaron Rice to state authorities for the trail building. State documents do not identify who gave authorities his name.

Last week’s art feature, “The World Builder,” misspelled the mural titled “Moringa the Medicine Woman.” Due to a transcription error, the story also slightly misquoted artist Will Kasso Condry. He said: “Black people seed culture, pollinators seed life, and both are in danger.”

Also last week, “Winooski Man Charged in Fatal Downtown Burlington Stabbing” erroneously reported who had charged the suspect, Hassan O. Haji. State’s Attorney Sarah George’s office filed a second-degree murder charge in court.

This article appears in August 26 • 2026.