Vermont's Independent Voice
Browse News
Browse Arts + Life
Browse Food + Drink
Browse Cannabis
Browse Music
Browse On Screen
Browse Events
Browse Classifieds
Browse Personals
Published September 8, 2010 at 3:36 p.m.
This week's print version of the Local Matters story, "White River Junction Neighbors Exchange Hate-Crime Accusations," didn't have space to run a cartoon by Brandon Elston. The 2009 graduate of WRJ's Center for Cartoon Studies lives in an apartment above the Main Street Museum, next door to a used bike shop owned by Bob Pickering, the subject of the article. Elston is also someone who's experienced this story firsthand, and chose to illustrate it graphic terms:
Elston has been a tenant of the museum's owner, David Fairbanks Ford, for about two-and-a-half years, and says that, like Ford, he's had repeated run-ins with his neighbor. The most unsettling ones, he claims, involved Elston's friends of color, who've had racial epithets shouted at them by Pickering.
"I'm in a position now where my friends don't want to come over," Elston says. "[Pickering] even sabotaged a date I was on... We were parked out back and he chased us down and said a bunch of shit to us.
"I guess it's not violent, but it seems like there's the possibility for it to be," Elston adds.
Elston said he "cringed" when he saw the swastika graffiti painted on Pickering's store last week. "Is this going to re-inflame my on-again, off-again relationship with Bob?"
Click the comic to enlarge it.
One or more images has been removed from this article. For further information, contact
[email protected].
More By This Author
About The Author
Ken Picard
Bio:
Ken Picard has been a Seven Days staff writer since 2002. He has won numerous awards for his work, including the Vermont Press Association's 2005 Mavis Doyle award, a general excellence prize for reporters.
Ken Picard has been a Seven Days staff writer since 2002. He has won numerous awards for his work, including the Vermont Press Association's 2005 Mavis Doyle award, a general excellence prize for reporters.
Speaking of Blurt
-
Blurt Is No More. Here's Where to Find New Seven Days Content
Sep 17, 2012 -
Alice Eats: The Mill Market & Deli
Sep 11, 2012 -
Grazing at King Arthur Flour's Airy New Digs
Sep 10, 2012 -
Movies You Missed 55: Making Plans for Léna
Sep 7, 2012 -
Quiz: Ben & Jerry's Flavor or Porn Flick?
Sep 6, 2012 - More »
Comments
Comments are closed.
From 2014-2020, Seven Days allowed readers to comment on all stories posted on our website. While we've appreciated the suggestions and insights, right now Seven Days is prioritizing our core mission — producing high-quality, responsible local journalism — over moderating online debates between readers.
To criticize, correct or praise our reporting, please send us a letter to the editor or send us a tip. We’ll check it out and report the results.
Online comments may return when we have better tech tools for managing them. Thanks for reading.
