

Cover Story
‘Run, Bernie, Run’: In Iowa, Sanders Tests the Presidential Waters
The crowd went wild Saturday afternoon as Bernie Sanders ascended a makeshift plywood stage at the Sauk County Fairgrounds in Baraboo, Wisconsin. While the independent…
Obituary: Judy A. Langlois
Judy A. Langlois, age 72 years, a resident of 8 Lake Street in Swanton Village passed away late Thursday evening September 18, 2014, at the…
Obituary: Diane Irene Creller
Diane Irene Creller, age 58 years, died Friday September 19, 2014, at her South Alburgh home with loving family at her side following a long…
Obituary: Joe White, 1942-2014, Essex
Joe White, “Poppee”, 71, of Essex died on Wednesday Sept. 17, 2014 due to complications from a lifetime battle with Rheumatoid Arthritis. He was surrounded…
Anachronist, Static and Light
(State and Main Records, CD, digital download) Montpelier’s Anachronist began life as vehicle for veteran sideman Brian Clark to dabble as a front man. Though…
Poet Chase Twichell Headlines Burlington Book Festival
When it comes to poetry, Chase Twichell is versatile and thorough. In addition to publishing seven full-length poetry collections, she has taught poetry (at Goddard…
Free Will Astrology (9/17/14)
ARIES (March 21-April 19): These horoscopes I write for you aren’t primarily meant to predict the future. They are more about uncovering hidden potentials and…
Why Doesn’t Vermont Elect More Women to Higher Office?
Two days after announcing her run for a Vermont Senate seat in Windsor County, Becca Balint received a handwritten postcard in the mail that read,…
Harvest Festivals’ Final Bow
If last weekend brought cooler temps and cloudy skies, it also hastened the fall harvest, and around the state, people are feasting to celebrate the…
Poet Stephen Cramer Explores Hip-Hop in Sonnets
The local hip-hop scene has increasingly become a platform for a diverse collection of voices, often closely tied to kindred communities such as skateboarders, dancers…
Talking Empathy with Essayist Leslie Jamison
When was the last time someone recommended an essay to you in an urgent whisper, or the cyber-equivalent? Leslie Jamison, who will read on Saturday…
Climate Gathering in Middlebury Preps Activists for March
Organizers expect more than 1,000 Vermonters to join 100,000 marchers on Sunday, September 21, in what’s being billed as the biggest-ever action on climate change….
No Good Deed
Before I get into one of the most boneheaded PR moves ever made, I want to address a fact I find jaw-dropping: Idris Elba plays…
Mental Health Crisis Team Failed to Assist Cops
It was the kind of scenario that has preoccupied mental health experts and policy makers in Vermont in recent years: On Sunday, September 7, state…
Vermont Brewers Collaborate to Make … Even More Beer
Brewmaster Mike Gerhart slipped away from our table at Otter Creek Brewing’s Middlebury taproom and returned minutes later with a pitcher. “I shouldn’t be doing…
Power(less) Grab: Scott and Corren Duke It Out for Number Two
Vermont’s campaign for lieutenant governor has been billed as the hottest race of this admittedly cool election cycle. But does anybody really care who holds…
John Hammond Talks About His Half Century Singing the Blues
John Hammond was born into the music business. His father, for whom he is named, was a legendary record producer who boosted the careers of…
The Inaugural Vermont Design Week Launches in Burlington
Aside from the Architecture + Design Film Series at Burlington City Arts and the Madsonian Museum of Industrial Design in Waitsfield (architect David Sellers’ collection…
News Quirks (9/17/14)
Curses, Foiled Again Bradley Hardison, 24, managed to elude authorities for nearly nine months before they nabbed him after a local paper published his photo…
I Was Thinking of Asking My Girlfriend to Try Swinging
Dear Athena, I have been with my girlfriend for almost seven years and we have always had a good relationship. No major issues. But sometimes…
Soundbites: Eat by Northeast Music Preview, Thoughts on Grand Point North
The big news on the local music front this week is … well, it’s actually food news. Namely, the inaugural Eat by Northeast festival slated…
The Vermonster Challenge [SIV369]
9/13/14: The Third Annual Vermonster Challenge was held at The Confluence/Green Mountain CrossFit in Berlin last weekend. Competitors from almost all of the crossfit gyms…
Polly Motley in Residence at Helen Day
Art comes off the walls of the Helen Day Art Center’s East Gallery this month with an exhibit that is anything but stationary. “In No…
Letters to the Editor (9/17/14)
Everyday Error While it might be an everyday occurrence for Russ Weis to see the words “every day” misspelled as “everyday,” I’m sure he will…
In the Studio With David Macaulay
David Macaulay looks stumped. In the middle of a workday in early September, the author and illustrator of such famed works as Cathedral and The…
Molly Readies the Walking Papers
“Do you know he called twice while we were in the bar? He wanted me to pick him up some beer. I mean, what is…
BBF Local Spotlight: Poet Diana Whitney
Hot tip: Wanting It, by Brattleboro-based Diana Whitney, is a volume of poems that may make you beg for more. This debut from Brownsville’s Harbor…
Middlebury’s Exchange Street Becomes a Food and Drink Hub
If “craftiest street in Vermont” were an official title, it would inspire plenty of spirited competition. And everyone would recognize Middlebury’s Exchange Street, between Route…
Reading Ahead: the 10th Annual Burlington Book Festival
The emphasis is on local at this weekend’s Burlington Book Festival, though attendees will spy luminaries from afar, too: Don’t miss the 2014 Pulitzer Prize…
Bob Amos, Sunrise Blues
(Self-released, CD, digital download) On Sunrise Blues, his second “solo” CD release since parting ways with the popular bluegrass band Front Range, Northeast Kingdom bluegrass…
Book Review: Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands by Chris Bohjalian
“Radioactive Boars Are Roaming Around Germany” reads a September 2 headline on Smithsonian.com. While the legacy of the disaster at Chernobyl has received much in…
Obituary: Thomas Matthew Devine, 1936-2014, Winooski
Winooski, VT – Thomas M. Devine died on September 14, 2014. Tom was born on December 29, 1936 in Springfield , MA, the son of…
Tomgirl Juice Co. Opens Burlington Store
In recent years, getting Tomgirl Juice Co.’s jars of colorful liquid delivered has become one of Burlington’s top hippie-chic status symbols. But soon owner Gabrielle…
The Gryphon Takes Flight in Vermont House
After two nights of soft opening, the Gryphon officially opened its doors on Sunday, September 14. Located in the Vermont House (in the old Ramen…
Obituary: Howard Ross Chandler, Jr., 1966-2014, Rutland
Howard Ross Chandler, Jr., 47, passed away September 13, 2014 in Rutland, VT after an extended illness. He was born November 8, 1966 in Burlington,…
Obituary: Erwin Leroy Lamotte, 1949-2014, Burlington
Erwin Leroy Lamotte, 65, of Burlington passed away September 15, 2014 after a long battle with cancer. He was born on August 11, 1948 to…






