Oct 14-20, 2015
A Rabbi Reflects on a Controversial Career; A Guide to the Vermont International Film Festival; Bernie Sanders in Nicaragua
Cover Story
Retiring Rabbi Joshua Chasan Reflects on a Controversy-Courting Career
Night fell as the lonesome moan of a cello filled the sanctuary of Burlington’s Ohavi Zedek Synagogue with the haunting refrain of “Kol Nidre.” The…
Obituary: Helen Dudley Brownell, 1923-2015, Burlington
Helen Dudley Brownell, 91, passed away October 20, 2015. She was born December 26, 1923, to the late John and Clara (Valliere) Dudley. During World…
Fattie B On His New Memoir
Kyle Thompson, better known to Vermonters as Fattie B, stays busy. Very busy. As an artist, rapper, DJ and, as local hip-hop’s elder statesman, an…
O’Maddi’s Deli & Cafe Brings Dinner Service to Northfield
When the Knotty Shamrock shut down in August, it was Northfield’s third restaurant to close this year. JT’s Fries & Pies shuttered midsummer after less…
Capital City Concerts Prepares for Apocalyptic Performance
It’s not often the apocalypse comes to Vermont, but come it will when Capital City Concerts opens its season with two performances of Olivier Messiaen’s…
Department of (Memorable) Corrections
We at Seven Days work hard to ensure that the information in these pages is accurate. Everything we print has been edited, copyedited and fact…
Awaiting Sex-Assault Trial, Norm McAllister Says He’s the ‘Victim’
State Sen. Norm McAllister leaned against a railing on the decaying front porch of his Highgate home, surveyed his 400-acre farm and acknowledged the obvious:…
One Architect Aims to Save Bove’s
Patrons of Bove’s Café have lined up outside plenty of nights since news broke that the retro restaurant would close at the end of the…
I’m Falling in Love With Someone Who Has a Child
Dear Athena, I think I’m falling in love with someone, but he has a child. I don’t mind children, and maybe I’d like to have…
Sanders Siempre: What Bernie Learned in Nicaragua
That he was mayor of Burlington, Vermont, didn’t stop Bernie Sanders from accepting an invitation to visit Nicaragua in July 1985. Sanders arrived at Managua’s…
Billy Sharff, Carry Me Home
(Self-released, digital download) Singer-songwriter Billy Sharff has a knack for balancing acts. As vocalist, fiddler and guitarist of the Upper Valley roots band Pariah Beat,…
Art Review: ‘In Grain: Contemporary Work in Wood’ at Fleming Museum
Wood is a familiar material, something everyone grows up handling. So, in a museum setting, it’s a fantastic medium for bringing disparate types together —…
Soundbites: For Evelyn, Forever Ago
For Evelyn, Forever Ago I’ve been sitting on For Evelyn, the latest record from Burlington songwriter Wren Kitz, for a while now. For too long,…
The New Economistas, Making Money Out of Air: Songs for a New Economy
(Self-released, CD, digital download) This just in: Not everyone is happy with the current state of the American economy. For the sake of argument, let’s…
Little City
Glancing over at my customer, Trudy McLaren, as she calmly worked on her needlepoint, I thought, This used to be known as one of the…
Free Will Astrology (10/14/2015)
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Here’s actor Bill Murray’s advice about relationships: “If you have someone that you think is the One, don’t just say, ‘OK,…
Theater Review: ‘Our Town,’ Northern Stage
Hang a spotlight to represent the moon, and focus it on a young girl’s face. Add the soft and distant sound of a church choir….
Folklorist Jane Beck Wrote the Book on Freed Slaves in Vermont
Jane Beck has spent most of her 74 years telling other people’s stories. The founder of the Vermont Folklife Center has recorded the oral histories…
Cash Dash: No Money’s Off-Limits for Gov Candidates
Vermont’s five declared gubernatorial candidates have been taking great pains to distinguish themselves from the unpopular incumbent they’re hoping to succeed. But when it comes…
Getting on Track at a Little Bellas Mountain-Biking Clinic for Women
It was not yet 9:30 a.m. on a sparkling autumn Sunday in Craftsbury Common — an hour when most women in my demographic are indulging…
Woodstock Digital Media Festival Probes Public Uses of New Tech
In our daily lives, formerly “analog” activities such as hailing a cab, making a phone call and buying groceries are now conducted atop a digital…
![Jeremy Lee MacKenzie’s “Hidden Blueprints” [SIV416]](https://sevendaysvt-test.newspackstaging.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/episode416-3-1200x900.webp)
Jeremy Lee MacKenzie’s “Hidden Blueprints” [SIV416]
10/10/15: Artist and filmmaker Jeremy Lee MacKenzie spoke to a crowd gathered at the Amy E. Tarrant Gallery at the Flynn Center for the Performing…
School Daze: Consolidation Confounds Craftsbury
Last Thursday morning, a horse-drawn buggy passed in front of Craftsbury Academy — a white-clapboard, cupola-topped building that sits across the street from the town…
Gore Society Screenings Bring Horror Back to Halloween
Halloween, as most of the country celebrates it, shed its connections to deathly matters long ago — unless you count the cardiac trauma caused by…
Letters to the Editor (10/14/15)
Smear Job on Sorrell [Fair Game: “Bye-Bye Billy,” September 30] is a fine example of yellow journalism. “It’s clear nobody knows what the law is,”…
Theater Review: ‘Tribes,’ Vermont Stage
Being accepted isn’t the same as being understood. The six characters in Tribes who are striving for both use a torrent of words, but that’s…
The Simulacrum Project Brings Artistic Mashups and Mayhem to the South End
Described on its website as “an experiment in rapid performance development,” the Simulacrum Project is certainly nothing if not an experiment. Since September, an eclectic…
At Westview Meadows at Montpelier, a Chef Serves Elders Gourmet Grub
At a BYOB hot spot in Montpelier, the bacon, ham and pastrami are all cured and smoked in-house. Whole local animals are butchered on-site. Chef…
