Seven Days, October 21, 2020

HIDDEN AGENDA

City council chicanery in BTV

V ER MON T’S INDE P ENDE NT V O IC E OCTOBER 21-28, 2020 VOL.26 NO.4 SEVENDAYSVT.COM

PAGE 13

Trickle to

TORRENT The climate crisis brings both deluges and droughts to Vermont

BY KEVI N MCCALLU M & KE N PICARD, PAGE 2 8

FULL STREAM AHEAD

Vermont film fest goes virtual

PAGE 24

DEMOCRACY NOW

PAGE 40

An early voting photo essay

BUDGET BITES

PAGE 44

Cheap eats around Vermont

Winter is coming! (let’s be honest - a lot of us wear these year-round)

SAVE ON THE FULL SELECTION OF MEN’S, WOMEN’S, & KID’S STYLES!

A familiar voice with a new perspective — please vote for —

Democrat for State Senate

Background & Qualifications

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B U R L I N G TO N

•

COLCHESTER

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SHELBURNE

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Brand Guidelines - Logo & Icon • 3 Term South Burlington City Councilor • University of Vermont Faculty Senate President • Green Mountain Transit Board Chair & Vice Chair • Lifelong Community ST ALBANS Volunteer

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Priorities • • •

•

Affordability Helping Vermonters Environmentally Sustainable Economic Growth Opportunity for Current & Future Vermonters

Endorsements We need leaders like Thomas now more than ever.

– Jane Knodell

His legislative priorities are very timely and reflect what Vermont needs.

– Martin LaLonde

Tom Chittenden is a leader for both working people and the environment in everything he does.

– Curt McCormack

Thomas has a proven public service track record and represents the next generation of civic leaders.

– Jamie Heins

He listens to all viewpoints and forges a conciliatory path forward.

– John Killacky

Thomas is the right person to help us move forward in a positive way.

– Ernie Pomerleau

He will be a great addition to the Chittenden County Senate.

– Ann Pugh

Thomas Chittenden is a dynamic leader who knows how to build consensus.

– Alex Farrell

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WEEK IN REVIEW OCTOBER 14-21, 2020 COMPILED BY SASHA GOLDSTEIN, MATTHEW ROY & ANDREA SUOZZO

BORDER BUSTER

COURTESY OF GORDON MILLER

Chris Viens (right) and Mark Frier at a Waterbury Selectboard session last year

The feds are investigating after somebody drove a minivan from Canada into the United States via a Derby Line backyard.

Must’ve wanted some cider doughnuts.

19.36

That’s the weight in pounds of a record-setting lake trout that angler Jeffrey Sanford reeled in from Lake Champlain in August.

TOPFIVE

JET SET

CANDIDATE: SEGREGATE THE POLICE A Waterbury politician running for state office says he doesn’t want to defund the police: He wants to segregate them.

Chris Viens, chair of the Waterbury Selectboard and an independent candidate for the House of Representatives, said during a local radio interview that he thinks having minority officers respond to incidents involving other minorities might help defuse racial tensions in the state.

“As far as the defunding of the police, I’d rather see segregated police,” Viens told WDEV radio during a candidate forum on Monday. “When calls come out that are minority related, those police officers that are ... minority will address those issues.”

Viens, an excavation contractor, said that, were his plan enacted, “if there is a tragic shooting” of a person of color by another person of color, “the whole racist issue might be put to rest.”

His remarks were immediately dismissed by incumbent Rep. Tom Stevens (D-Waterbury), who called them “some of the most culturally insensitive comments I have heard this year after a long conversation about racial justice in Vermont” and “no less revolting” than the “separate but equal” doctrine used for years to justify the nation’s painful legacy of racial segregation.

“There is a racist idea behind that that is part of the systemic racism that exists in this state and in this country,” Stevens said.

In an interview with Seven Days on Tuesday, Viens

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COURTESY OF GOTCHA

A cyclist on a Greenride bike in Burlington

802nice

said his idea was not racist because he is advocating for diversifying the state’s overwhelmingly white police forces.

Deploying minority officers to situations involving other minorities might help “remove the race card” from responses and “simplify things,” he asserted.

“If there was a civil dispute in a minority neighborhood, or something like that, wouldn’t you think they’d feel more comfortable if a minority police officer showed up as opposed to a white officer, which would automatically, instinctively throw up a red flag, throw up a defense of, ‘Here we got a honky cop?’” Viens said. A Black police officer, by contrast, might be “more in tune with the disparities and the challenges that Black people have” and therefore “may be able to defuse the problem easier,” he said.

Viens wasn’t exactly sure how dispatchers would know the races of people involved in public safety incidents, but he said that if a person’s name was “Mohammed,” one could “pretty much guarantee that’s not a white person.” He said he assumed law enforcement agencies would be able to figure out how to identify the ethnicity of suspects or callers.

Viens, 60, has been on the Waterbury Selectboard for nine years. He is running for the two-seat House district that includes Waterbury, Huntington, Bolton and Buels Gore. In addition to Stevens, the two other candidates are incumbent Rep. Theresa Wood (D-Waterbury) and newcomer Republican Brock Coderre of Waterbury.

Read reporter Kevin McCallum’s complete story at sevendaysvt.com.

The 20th — and final — F-35 fighter jet arrived at the Burlington International Airport last week.

A now full, and noisy, fleet.

COLD DISCOMFORT

A COVID-19 outbreak linked to hockey and broomball leagues that played at a Montpelier ice rink has sickened at least 34 people.

Stay vigilant, folks.

MOST POPULAR ITEMS ON SEVENDAYSVT.COM

1. “Three Chittenden County Schools Among Five in Vermont With Recent COVID Cases” by Alison Novak. Three public schools in Vermont’s most populous county reported positive COVID-19 cases early last week.

2. “Burlington’s City Hall Park to Reopen This Week” by Courtney Lamdin. After more than a year of renovations, the park hosted a two-day reopening ceremony.

3. “Freeman French Freeman Architects Imagine Better Spaces for Burlington and Beyond”

by Amy Lilly. A team of architects created a series of sketches imagining ways to improve underused or neglected sites, mostly in the Burlington area.

4. “UVM Sex Educator Jenna Emerson Releases New Comedy Music Video” by Jordan Adams.

The video, filmed on Lake Champlain, envisions a whole new world free of sexual stigmas and taboos.

5. “De-Stress Signals: Coping With Anxiety in 2020” by Dan Bolles, Chelsea Edgar, Margaret Grayson, Elisa Järnefelt & Melissa Pasanen.

How are Vermonters managing stress in a year full of complications?

tweet of the week

FINE PRINT

Municipalities around Vermont reported thousands of undeliverable mail-in ballots due to incorrect addresses or other issues.

Contact your town clerk if you haven’t gotten a ballot.

@btvjim Why aren’t those #btv City Hall Park fountain jets shooting beer?

Come on.

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @SEVENDAYSVT OUR TWEEPLE: SEVENDAYSVT.COM/TWITTER

WHAT’S KIND IN VERMONT

POLL POSITION

Burlington, South Burlington and Winooski voters who want to head to the polls to cast a ballot in person are in luck, transportation-wise.

Two-wheeled trips through Greenride Bikeshare will be free all day on November 3, according to Gotcha, the South Carolinabased company that operates the alternative transportation system.

“We want everyone to be able to get access to the polls,” said Caroline Passe, the company’s director of public relations.

“There’s no cost to vote, so why not offer free transportation, too?”

With backing from local corporate

sponsors and a cadre of alternative transportation advocates, Gotcha launched its Burlington-area Greenride system in April 2018. That same year, the company unveiled its free Roll to the Polls program for the midterm elections, citing a stat that indicated 3 percent of registered voters nationwide didn’t cast a ballot in 2016 because of “transportation problems.”

To participate this Election Day, a rider must first create an account. There are currently 105 bikes at 15 hub locations, including the Burlington International Airport, downtown Winooski, Champlain College and the University Mall.

Promo code VOTE2020 will release a bike for an unlimited amount of time

from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Each comes with a lock, so you can secure it outside while you vote.

The bigger question is how many people will need to get to the polls at all.

As of Tuesday, 163,784 Vermont voters had already returned their mail-in ballots, more than half the total number of votes cast in the 2016 election.

Passe said she’s confident people will take advantage of the free rides, no matter the conditions on Election Day. “Honestly, in Burlington we’ve seen people ride in the snow,” Passe said. “It’s pretty crazy.”

For more info and bike locations, visit rolltothepolls.com.

SASHA GOLDSTEIN SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 21-28, 2020

5

Erin Dupuis

TAKING THE PLUNGE. founders/Coeditors Pamela Polston, Paula Routly publisher Paula Routly deputy publisher Cathy Resmer AssoCiAte publishers

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NEWS & POLITICS editor Matthew Roy deputy editor Sasha Goldstein Consulting editor Candace Page stAff writers Derek Brouwer, Colin Flanders,

Paul Heintz, Courtney Lamdin, Kevin McCallum

ARTS & LIFE editor Pamela Polston AssoCiAte editor Margot Harrison AssistAnt editors Dan Bolles, Elizabeth M. Seyler MusiC editor Jordan Adams CAlendAr writer Kristen Ravin speCiAlty publiCAtions MAnAger Carolyn Fox stAff writers Jordan Barry, Chelsea Edgar,

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SALES & MARKETING direCtor of sAles Colby Roberts senior ACCount exeCutive Michael Bradshaw ACCount exeCutives Robyn Birgisson,

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MArketing & events direCtor Corey Grenier sAles & MArketing CoordinAtor Katie Hodges A D M I N I S T R AT I O N business MAnAger Marcy Carton direCtor of CirCulAtion Matt Weiner CirCulAtion deputy Jeff Baron CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Luke Baynes, Justin Boland, Alex Brown, Chris Farnsworth, Rick Kisonak, Jacqueline Lawler, Amy Lilly, Bryan Parmelee, Jim Schley, Carolyn Shapiro, Julia Shipley, Molly Zapp CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS Luke Awtry, Harry Bliss, James Buck, Rob Donnelly, Luke Eastman, Caleb Kenna, Sean Metcalf, Matt Mignanelli, Marc Nadel, Tim Newcomb, Oliver Parini, Sarah Priestap, Kim Scafuro, Michael Tonn, Jeb Wallace-Brodeur C I R C U L AT I O N : 3 5 , 0 0 0 Seven Days is published by Da Capo Publishing Inc. every Wednesday. It is distributed free of charge in greater Burlington, Middlebury, Montpelier, Northeast Kingdom, Stowe, the Mad River Valley, Rutland, St. Albans, St. Johnsbury, White River Junction and Plattsburgh, N.Y.

FEEDback READER REACTION TO RECENT ARTICLES

SEEKING SANITY

Last week’s cover story, “De-Stress Signals,” and specifically the “Into the Wild” article, resonated very strongly with me. As it has been for most people, COVID-19 has been just one in a long list of anxiety producers in my life in 2020.

Recent parental death; the profound hurt and utter confusion of a failed relationship; work; the unstitching of the United States; the constant background hum of a global plague and its effect on my kid’s schooling and socializing; and the overarching unknown of it all have brought into high relief the fragility of my own mental and emotional well-being. The stress and anxiety it has caused has turned the last several months into an unwanted test case for what my body is capable of doing after regularly getting less than three hours of sleep a night.

While therapy has helped somewhat, it is the salve of friendship that has kept me sane. I have been extraordinarily lucky to have a number of old and new friends in my life who have been there for me every step of the way — listening to me; walking and running with me — all the while never holding back with their sympathy and empathy, especially after I kept going on and on (and on).

I hope that, in some way, our many interactions have helped them, just as they’ve helped me, through this crazy time. So thank you, my dear friends: You all know who you are. The world is a better place with you in it.

Charles Knight

WINOOSKI

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DISCLOSURE: Seven Days publisher and coeditor Paula Routly is the domestic partner of Vermont Senate President Pro Tempore Tim Ashe. Routly abstains from involvement in the newspaper’s Statehouse and state political coverage. Find our conflict of interest policy here: sevendaysvt.com/disclosure.

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COLORLESS COVER

I am surprised: It appears that the gang who worked on “De-Stress Signals” [October 14] has not gotten the message of inclusion. Luke Eastman’s illustrations show one person who might be considered light tan; everyone else is white. And Dan Bolles’ summary introduction whitewashes the daily, hourly experience of and resistance to the stress of systemic racism with the phrase “civil unrest.” The word “racism,” the concept of discrimination, and how to de-stress from constant microaggressions are all missing from his piece and the package that follows.

I hope that you have not taken the outraged public backlash to “Battery

WEEK IN REVIEW

TIM NEWCOMB

Power” [September 23] — which abundance of un- and underutilized purported to be about a major, long- land in Burlington is notable, not to running anti-racism demonstration, mention an eyesore. along with causes and effects, but I’m not advocating for high-risers, instead was about the hurt feelings of but we should craft land-use policies a white reporter — as a demand that to promote sustainable growth and you not cover issues of d e n s i t y (w h i c h racism. You should not drives affordabilbe content to retreat ity) while preservin order to nurse your ing neighborhoods’ bruised feelings. unique personBTW, freedom of alities. After all, the press is promised sprawl exacerbates as a safeguard against climate change by government interferinducing longer ence or censorship. commutes, among Let’s not use it to a range of other bludgeon members of costs on society. the public who react D e ve l o p m e n t i s peri l! GRIE F! negatively (even complicated, but DEST RUCT ION! DIST RESS ! burning copies of transforming empty the offending free space into more publication, which I productive uses — don’t condone) to poor be it community portrayals of their lives. As a former gardens, parks, housing or a mixed-use journalist and editor, I take it seriously. project — that foster modern urban I value Seven Days’ perspective and design is a win-win for our city and the contribution to the discussion. But I’m entire planet. disappointed that in your October 14 Dmitri Repnikov cover article, you’ve served up a bland, BURLINGTON nearly all-white meal.

A

VERMONT’S INDEPENDENT VOICE OCTOBER 14-21, 2020 VOL.26 NO.3 SEVENDAYSVT.COM

B

Coping with sky-high anxiety in PAGE 32

A

FOLD BACK SO “A” MEETS “B”

Euan Bear

BAKERSFIELD

RESPONSIBLE DEVELOPMENT

[Re “Bold Designs,” October 14]: It was refreshing to get a glimpse into the vision of a future Burlington.

These proposals should be welcomed and discussed instead of scrutinized or perceived as “pie in the sky.” The

2020

B

INSIDE MORAN

Amy Lilly’s fun run through imagined but potential city projects by teams of Freeman French Freeman architects ended with a caveat on the Moran FRAME project [“Bold Designs,” October 14].

If you are not a spectator of the current technical takedown of the Moran building to steel frames these days, you are really missing something.

Amid the machine din of trucks, excavators and jackhammers, and the recreational clatter of skateboards being put through their paces at the A_Dog skate park, emerges not just the building’s frame but also the super concreted pedestals in the belly of the beast.

The Moran structure is unique beyond sight of the steel frame, which stands apart from the honeycombed “floating” foundation and which cradled the mess of three exterior steam boilers on the north side.

Each of the now-emerging concrete pedestals bore the weight of an exceptionally heavy steam turbine electric generator set combo and a main condenser slung underneath. Besides supporting precisely designed equipment, the pedestals were made huge to also dampen the slightest vibration attributed to the core of a spinning mass of shafts.

The first artistic renderings of the FRAME concept missed the internal elevations of the troika of pedestal platforms leading the height of the structure on the south side. Their complicated three-dimensional geometries will further accent the structural steel frame and offer entertaining contrasts to the basins, wavy flumes and half-pipes of the skate park.

Roger Donegan

HINESBURG

CRISIS MANAGER

[Re “Has Phil Scott Made Vermont More Affordable?” October 7]: Vermont is in the middle of one of the largest crises it has ever faced. We are extremely fortunate to have a governor who has met this challenge in the best possible manner. Gov. Phil Scott’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic should serve as a model for others.

His weekly press briefings with the state’s health commissioner, Dr. Mark Levine, provide clear, up-to-date, factual information. Other state personnel are FEEDBACK

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B

efore he bought Burlington’s most beautiful South End beach, Russ Scully admired it from his bicycle. A practitioner of myriad water sports, including surfing, he was thoroughly “intrigued” by the former Blodgett Oven property. When in 2017 he heard it was for sale, “I just about came out of my shoes.”

Scully and his wife Roxanne already owned two restaurants — the Spot and Spot on the Dock —and a retail shop, WND&WVS, which sells water sport equipment. The Lakeside parcel, which had been designated that same year as a federal “Qualified Opportunity Zone,” presented some unique advantages. Redeveloping it could bring business to Burlington and create investment opportunities for those involved.

Although he lost the initial bid, Scully ended up buying the 15-acre complex. Transforming it into Hula, a 150,000-square-foot tech hub, has cost millions more. The three buildings on campus artfully incorporate industrial red brick with feature Japanese-style wooden porticos and an embarrassment of windows. The glass offices inside the one fully completed building —“44” — are filling up. Employees have access to an atrium, a lounge area with tall tables, couches and plants. It’s a reminder of why we all used to like to go to work.

Mascoma Bank saw the potential of the place from the start, Scully said, and has stuck it out through the process. He credits Hula’s CEO Rob Lair with doing the research that led the team to pick the right financial institution. Lair recognized that “we were going to need some advice, particularly with the Quality Opportunity Zone parts of this equation — somebody who would help us with the ins and outs of all the financing involved,” Scully explained, noting the federal government is still finalizing the details around the distressed-area development program.

“Everybody’s learning.”

The Scullys paid for most of Hula’s construction up front. More than 100 workers have been laboring for months on the project. “Then, once you have all of that capital sitting in this investment, you basically go out and find a bank,” Scully explained. “What we’re doing is essentially asking Mascoma to re-finance a building we already bought.”

The deal was inked during the pandemic.

“We were assuming all of the risk up until that point,” he said.

The pressure seems to agree with Scully, who looks a decade younger than his 51 years. When he’s not on the job site, the New Jersey native is likely paddle boarding or kite surfing — amenities available to anyone who works at Hula. The beach, and Scully’s Hawaii-inspired Burlington Surf Club, is right there.

It’s all part of the plan to create an economic incubator where entrepreneurs can gather and learn from each other, and their startups can grow; Scully imagines companies moving from building to building as they require more space.

“We needed to do something in order to stay competitive with all these other small cities,” he said of Burlington. “We needed a catalyst.”

We chose

Mascoma.

Russ Scully and Rob Lair HULA

888.627.2662 mascomabank.com * All credit requests subject to commercial underwriting standards established by Mascoma Bank.

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contents OCTOBER 21-28, 2020 VOL.26 NO.4

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Retail Therapy Side Dishes Soundbites Album Reviews Movie Review Ask the Reverend

Food + Drink Music + Nightlife Movies Classes Classifieds + Puzzles 72 Fun Stuff 76 Personals

FOOD

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STUCK IN VERMONT

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The climate crisis brings both deluges and droughts to Vermont B Y KE VI N MCCA L L UM & KEN P ICARD, PAG E 28 COVER IMAGE JAMES BUCK • LOCATION BLANCHARD BEACH, BURLINGTON • COVER DESIGN REV. DIANE SULLIVAN

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NEWS & POLITICS 11

ARTS NEWS 24

FEATURES 28

From the Publisher

Pressing Matters

Mailing It In

It’ll Do Darkroom Opens

Bumpy Ride

Resident Racist

Black staff say Burlington nursing home failed to protect them from abuse

Second Offense

Burlington councilors met with no public notice, in yet another violation of law

Vermont International Film Festival returns with focus on journalism

Confluences

A photographer chronicles Vermont’s early voters Can anyone do anything about bike theft?

Get a bird’s-eye view of St. Albans’ fall foliage with Eva and drone photographer Armand Messier. He captures aerial shots of the local tractor parade, sunsets and seasonal flooding through his business, Northern Vermont Aerial Photography.

We have

SUPPORTED BY:

Find a new job in the classifieds section on page 65 and online at sevendaysvt.com/jobs.

Book review: The Meeting Place, Dede Cummings

Battling Harassment

New policies target sexual misconduct in the Vermont National Guard.

Will they work?

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Tech Tonics

This was going to be the year Seven Days reinvented the Vermont Tech Jam, the career and tech fair we’ve been producing since 2008. The plan was to move it from the Champlain Valley Exposition in Essex Junction to Hula in the Lakeside neighborhood of Burlington’s South End. The sleek new waterfront complex was a hard-hat zone last January, when we suited up to get a closer look at the soon-to-be plentiful office and event space.

Even in the chaos of construction, we could see it was the perfect venue.

21 We’ve tried for years to find the right spot to host the Tech Jam, seeking LL 20 A F G N a building with enough space and bandwidth to accommodate 80 or so local COMI tech companies and their sensors, drones and robots. Ideally the structure itself would be interesting — an example of vision and reinvention.

Practically speaking, it also should have plenty of parking and be located within walking distance of a large student population — a tall and somewhat contradictory order.

The first Tech Jam, in January 2008, occupied every inch of Burlington’s Main Street Landing Performing Arts Center. Subsequent ones were held at MyWebGrocer’s restored Champlain Mill, the IDX Student Life Center at Champlain College, the erstwhile Sheraton Conference Center, Memorial Auditorium and the Champlain Valley Expo.

In 2011, we got lucky with the empty Church Street storefront formerly occupied by Borders. By the next year, though, it was full of sneakers, courtesy of City Sports.

The plan for this year — this very weekend, to be exact — was to hold the job fair and social events at Hula. On Saturday, other tech-centric venues in the neighborhood would open their doors, give tours, organize demos and panel discussions, and engage Tech Jam-goers of all ages. The Burlington Electric Department, Generator maker space and Champlain College Emergent Media Center were all on board.

It was shaping up to be a Tech Hop … when the pandemic hit.

Obviously, we can’t hold the event, which connects job seekers with some of Vermont’s most exciting companies. And it’s too bad, because some of those tech businesses are booming. We’ve featured a few in Hire Up! — a series of virtual info sessions that Seven Days organizes, moderates and promotes.

Other fall happenings are adapting, too. The Vermont International Film Festival, which usually hosts 10 days of in-person cinematic screenings, starts this Friday, October 23, and runs through Sunday, November 1. This year’s festival will happen virtually.

And there’s a theme: the reporter. All of the selections address the role of news making in a democracy and how the media has changed over the past 50 years.

The fest offers an informative and entertaining mix, from the 1999 documentary The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords to the satirical ’70s feature film Network, which seems disturbingly prescient today.

In her preview on page 24, Margot Harrison explains, “ticket holders have a three-day window in which to view each film,” leading up to five scheduled livestreamed discussion panels. I’m participating in one with Bob Trapp, cofounder, editor and publisher of the award-winning weekly Rio Grande Interested in becoming a Super Reader?

Sun and the subject of a documentary that tries to keep Look for the “Give Now” buttons at the top of up with him. The film’s director, Ben Daitz, and my sevendaysvt.com. Or send a check with your friend, New Yorker staff writer Sue Halpern, are also address and contact info to: part of the October 30 Zoom conversation.

SEVEN DAYS, C/O SUPER READERS Instead of Tech Jamming this weekend, make some P.O. BOX 1164 popcorn, buy a festival pass and enjoy the shows. We BURLINGTON, VT 05402-1164 hope to see you in person again next fall.

For more information on making a financial contribution to Seven Days, please contact Corey Grenier:

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VOICEMAIL: 802-865-1020, EXT. 36 EMAIL: SUPERREADERS@SEVENDAYSVT.COM

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 21-28, 2020

11

MORE INSIDE

news

TRIAL CENTERS ON PRISON SHOWERS PAGE 15

BUSINESS

Vermont Announces $76 Million in New Round of Business Grants

NEW POLICIES FOR NATIONAL GUARD PAGE 18

Resident Racist

B Y A N DR EA SU OZ Z O

Black staff say Burlington nursing home failed to protect them from abuse

E

mployees of one of Vermont’s largest nursing homes, Elderwood at Burlington, say they have faced repeated racial attacks, both verbal and physical, on the job. Managers, they say, have ignored their complaints and failed to protect them from a particularly hostile and violent patient.

“I have never experienced the type of racism that I am experiencing at Elderwood at Burlington,” said one registered nurse, who is Black. “We’re told at Elderwood that residents have the right to say what they want to say. They have a right to call us ‘niggers.’ They have a right to degrade us. And they have a right to threaten physical harm.”

The nurse is one of five employees who described Elderwood, formerly known as Starr Farm Nursing Center, as a toxic workplace with little regard for its majority Black workforce; two former employees shared similar experiences.

They declined to be identified, citing fears of professional retribution.

Seven Days obtained patient records corroborating their accounts and demonstrating that staff had repeatedly alerted their supervisors to the abuse they faced.

According to legal experts, Elderwood could be in violation of state and federal civil rights laws if it was aware of the alleged racial harassment and failed to protect its employees.

Five of those who spoke with Seven Days are travel nurses who come to Vermont for weeks or months at a time to fill key health care positions — a particularly acute need as the coronavirus pandemic continues to overwhelm long-term-care facilities. Though all five hail from the South and have worked throughout the country, they say they have never encountered such working conditions.

“As long as I’ve been living, I have never been subjected to that type of racism,” said a second current employee, who is Black.

“Growing up in Mississippi I didn’t experience this.”

One former employee, who has traveled to Vermont for work four times, said 12

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 21-28, 2020

SEAN METCALF

B Y PAUL HEI N TZ

she chose not to renew her contract with Elderwood in September because she could no longer tolerate the abuse.

“It’s very degrading. It’s very dehumanizing. It makes you feel powerless and helpless. I’ll never allow myself to be in that type of situation for that long again,” said the former employee, who is also Black. “I can tell you that this experience completely changed my view of Burlington and Vermont forever. Forever.”

The 150-bed New North End facility was known as Starr Farm until January 2019, when it was acquired by Elderwood — a regional nursing home chain owned by New York City-based Post Acute Partners.

Administrators at the Burlington facility did not respond to multiple interview

requests, but a corporate spokesperson said in a written statement that managers had been “working to address the concerns expressed by our staff and they take those concerns very seriously.”

The spokesperson, Charles Hayes, added, “Elderwood does not tolerate harassment of any kind and prides itself on promoting a culture of diversity and inclusion.”

According to the employees, that’s not the case. They described racist encounters with several patients but said that one 83-year-old white man in particular has tormented them since he moved into the facility in March. Not only have managers

HEALTH CARE

RESIDENT RACIST

» P.14

Vermont has launched a new program that will distribute $76 million in grants to businesses affected by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Economic Development Commissioner Joan Goldstein outlined details of the program at a press conference on Tuesday. The legislature allocated the money from Vermont’s $1.25 billion in federal CARES Act funding.

The cash is part of a second round of state business grants; a first round distributed $152 million starting in July.

The application is now open for businesses that collect state sales and use or rooms and meals taxes — which includes restaurants, hotels and others in the hospitality industry. Those businesses can apply to the program on the Department of Taxes website through October 30.

Other businesses and nonprofits will apply through the Agency of Commerce and Community Development, which has not yet launched its application.

The state will assess each application and allocate the funds based on need once the application window has closed.

Businesses can receive up to $300,000, depending on estimated losses.

The previous round had eligibility requirements that excluded some sole proprietors and newer businesses that did not have a full year of revenue in 2019. The state’s program was also first-come, first-served, meaning businesses that applied late missed out on funding, even if they were eligible.

The new program will evaluate business losses by comparing revenues between March and September of 2019 to revenues during the same period this year.

Unlike the previous round of funding, though, new businesses that don’t have a full prior year of revenue to show are eligible to apply. Those businesses can submit up to seven months of revenue figures, through February of this year.

Businesses that opened since March — during the pandemic — are ineligible for the grants.

At Tuesday’s press conference, Gov. Phil Scott said the funding is important to making sure that businesses are able to survive the pandemic.

“We’ve talked a lot about Vermont’s success in suppressing this virus, and that’s important, because keeping people safe is our top priority,” he said.

“But we can’t forget that this continues to take a toll on our businesses, especially in the hospitality sector.”

Contact: andrea@sevendaysvt.com

Second Offense Burlington councilors met with no public notice, in yet another violation of law

BY C OURT NEY L AMDIN

M

embers of a Burlington City Council subcommittee admitted on Monday that they violated Vermont’s open meeting law last month — the second infraction by councilors in recent weeks.

The three-person Community Development and Neighborhood Revitalization Committee, which focuses on quality-oflife issues, met a month ago to discuss a proposal that would require landlords to have a “just cause” to evict tenants.

Currently, landlords can evict renters for owing back rent or breaking provisions of

ERROR THAT OCCURRED. CO U N C IL OR BRI A N PIN E

their lease, but also for no cause at all. The proposal would require changing the city’s charter and promises a spirited debate in Burlington, where more than 60 percent of households are in rental property.

Committee members agreed at a midSeptember meeting to hire an assistant to research just-cause evictions. But the session, which lasted less than 30 minutes on Zoom, was never publicly warned.

City staff didn’t post the agenda online, at city hall or in two other public locations, as the law requires to properly “warn” a meeting.

Further, the committee actually had been meeting illegally in the days leading up to that single, unwarned meeting. The three councilors had discussed hiring the research assistant over email, which one of them later publicly characterized as a violation of the law.

After the session came to light, the committee held a redo meeting on Monday morning, in public. They voted again to authorize the hiring.

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THIS WAS AN INADVERTENT

“We need to be focused on ensuring that we follow through on what the public needs and expects in terms of open discussion and debate of the issues,” Councilor Brian Pine (P-Ward 3), the committee chair, said at Monday’s meeting. “This was an inadvertent error that occurred.”

This latest infraction illustrates a troubling trend. City councilors violated the open meeting law on September 8, when they invited racial justice protesters into an executive session to discuss police personnel. In response to a complaint from Seven Days, the council admitted on September 14 to violating the law and agreed to undergo training.

The committee violation was on September 16 — two days after the admission but before councilors took the October 5 training, which was conducted by media law experts who advised them to err on the side of transparency in their dealings.

But the process surrounding justcause evictions has been anything but transparent. This month, Councilor Joan Shannon (D-South District) came under fire for inviting landlords, but not tenants, to testify at meetings about the eviction proposal. Renters and fellow councilors have called for Shannon to recuse herself from deliberations, but the councilor isn’t budging.

For people on both sides of the debate, the councilors’ behind-the-scenes dealings have overshadowed any meaningful discussion on the actual proposal. “[Instead of ] trying to solve these problems with the bad landlords and the bad tenants, they have created an adversarial relationship going forward,” said Larry Miller, a Burlington resident and landlord.

“I don’t think that’s going to solve anything for anyone.”

Burlington voters first considered a just-cause eviction ordinance in 1988.

Proponents, including then-mayor Bernie Sanders and now-Councilor Pine, argued that banning arbitrary evictions would provide stable housing for all Burlington residents. Opponents said the rule would infringe on their property rights. The ballot item failed at the polls that November, the Burlington Free Press reported.

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news Resident Racist « P.12 tolerated his behavior, the employees said, they have failed to tell him it’s wrong.

Instead, according to a third current employee, supervisors “let him know they’re glad he’s part of Elderwood.

They’re never telling him it’s not OK.” The employee, who is Black, said, “I know you can’t change him as an individual because that’s in him, but you can be part of the solution, not the problem.”

The resident’s records, some of which were obtained by Seven Days, document a series of troubling events that took place over at least a four-month period.

In June, according to one entry, he punched a Black male nurse in the chest “while calling him racial names.” After consulting with an on-call supervisor and a facility doctor, the staff sent the resident to the University of Vermont Medical Center for a psychological evaluation. As soon as he returned, the records show, he continued to physically assault and chase staff members around Elderwood’s rehabilitation unit, telling them to “go back to Africa.”

“Resident continues with inappropriate behaviors as well as racial slurs at the colored staff, calling them coons and no good fat asses, myself included,” a nurse wrote. Around the same time, the resident blocked an entrance to the facility’s dining hall and told patients and staff that he would “knock their lights out.”

When a nurse attempted to intervene, she wrote, he “started ramming into my legs with his walkers, saying, ‘hows that feel?’”

In one August episode, according to the records, the resident attacked a nurse after she attempted to prevent him from running into another resident with his wheelchair. “If it’s one thing I can’t stand it’s a nigger,” he said, according to the nurse’s notes, repeating the word 10 to 15 times. “He then physically threatened me and ran over my right foot with his wheelchair and attempted to strike me.

When other staff attempted to redirect him, he shouted, ‘Don’t touch me; all you want to do is help the nigger.’”

According to a fourth current employee, who witnessed the event, “I’ve never heard the N-word so many times.” That employee, who is white, said in an interview, “In the moment, I was surprised that no one was stepping in. I couldn’t believe there was no response pattern in place.”

Days later, according to the second current employee, an assistant administrator called a meeting with nurses and supervisors to discuss the incident. “She said that the resident had the right to say those things,” the employee told Seven 14

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 21-28, 2020

Days. “I’m not upset because this man did this. What upset me is that Elderwood failed to protect me and the other people of color. They failed to protect us.”

After the meeting, the resident’s behavior continued to escalate. In September, according to a nurse’s note included in his records, he prevented a staff member from exiting a dayroom and said, “I would kill all the niggers if [I] had a gun.” When told that he did not have access to a firearm, the resident said, “I will find something else.” The note made clear that several supervisors, including the corporate liaison and director of nursing, had been notified of the event.

According to the resident’s records, his many diagnoses include “unspecified dementia with behavioral disturbance.” Several of the staff members expressed skepticism that the condition was responsible for his conduct, arguing that he appeared cognizant of his past actions. They said management’s only response was to require more training on dementia.

Hayes, the corporate spokesperson, said he could not address the situation in detail, citing privacy laws. But he said in a second written statement that the facility’s clinical staff “began working with the resident as soon as concerns were raised to try and address negative behaviors and comments.” “[T]hose efforts may not have been adequately communicated back to the affected staff,” Hayes continued. “[H] owever as we were able, we reassigned any staff member who made a request if they felt uncomfortable working with the resident.” He added that the facility had provided additional training “to help staff develop and strengthen communication skills with residents who suffer with cognitive impairments.”

Regardless of the resident’s diagnosis, legal experts say, Elderwood has a duty to protect its staff from abuse.

“Under both Vermont law and federal law, employers are responsible for the actions of nonemployees who harass their employees, where they know about the harassment and they fail to take immediate and appropriate action to stop the harassment,” said Julio Thompson, director of the civil rights unit of the Vermont Attorney General’s Office.

Thompson’s staff and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission are charged with investigating civil rights complaints and taking

enforcement action. Citing confidentiality rules, Thompson could not say whether the Attorney General’s Office had received complaints about Elderwood.

The situation is not without precedent in Vermont. In 2018, the state’s Human Rights Commission found that the Department of Mental Health had failed to protect Black employees SE A

NM

ET

CA

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I CAN TELL YOU THAT THIS EXPERIENCE COMPLETELY CHANGED MY VIEW OF BURLINGTON AND VERMONT FOREVER.

FOREVER. A NUR S E

from racial harassment perpetrated by colleagues and patients at the state’s psychiatric hospital. In a settlement agreement with the commission, the state agreed to improve its policies and conduct more training; a separate settlement between the plaintiff and the state was not made public.

Bor Yang, the attorney who investigated the case and is now the executive director of the Human Rights Commission, said that an employer is no less responsible for an employee’s welfare

just because the perpetrator has a psychiatric disability.

“If someone comes into a store and starts using the N-word against an employee, what do you do?” added Robert Appel, a civil rights attorney who represented the plaintiff in the psychiatric hospital case. “You say, ‘You’re not welcome here.’”

According to Sean Londergan, the state’s long-term-care ombudsman, nursing home patients are not in any way entitled to voice hateful remarks. He said the facility would be within its rights to ask the resident to leave if it could not otherwise solve the problem. “The resident doesn’t have some right to say whatever they want and the staff just has to suck it up,” Londergan said.

Monica Hutt, commissioner of the Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living, said she found the allegations against Elderwood “horrifying,” though she said her department only has jurisdiction over the health and safety of residents — not staff.

She said she was particularly concerned that the alleged victims are travel nurses, given Vermont’s reliance on out-of-state help to staff long-term-care facilities during the pandemic. “They’re just like gold right now,” she said. “I’m really distressed that anyone would come to Vermont and feel unwelcome.”

Several of the Elderwood employees said they were unlikely to return to Vermont, and two said they had warned the agencies that placed them in the facility about the conditions they encountered.

“We come here and leave our families hundreds of miles away,” the second current employee said. “We come in to help a facility. We get treated the worst.

As long as we’re in the building covering all their [double shifts], we’re good. But anytime something goes wrong, we’re the first to be blamed. And they don’t care at all about one of us. They don’t care.”

The first employee said that, when she arrived in Burlington two months ago, she was heartened to see Black Lives Matter activists occupying Battery Park.

“On my way to work I would pass by the protest, and I thought, This is really cool to see,” she said. “And then I get to this facility and see that, no, Black lives don’t matter.” m Contact: paul@sevendaysvt.com

VOTE KUMULIA "KASE"

CORRECTIONS

At Trial, Inmate Alleges Unsanitary Conditions in Women’s Prison Showers

BY PAUL H E I N TZ COURTESY OF HILLARY REALE/PRISONERS’ RIGHTS OFFICE

An inmate at Vermont’s only prison for women testified on Tuesday in Chittenden Superior Court that the facility’s showers reek of human waste and are infested with sewer flies and maggots. The inmate, Mandy Conte, said that ceiling leaks, a malfunctioning drain and a faulty ventilation system have led to the growth of mold and mildew in the shower stalls, which are used by 30 to 40 prisoners.

“It smells like a sewer,” she told the court in video testimony. “It’s strong. You can smell it as soon as you walk into the bathroom.”

Conte, who has been incarcerated at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility since February 2019, began filing grievances about the House 2 showers that June. She sued the Department of Corrections in September 2019, arguing that the state had failed to meet its obligation to maintain safe and sanitary conditions.

Judge Samuel Hoar, who presided over the bench trial, did not immediately hand down a ruling on Tuesday, instead requesting follow-up briefs from the parties.

Inmates have complained for years about conditions at Chittenden Regional.

In a February 2012 report, community leaders associated with the Vermont Commission on Women and other area nonprofits wrote that there were “recurring worms and sewer flies in the shower drains” of the facility. Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George, who has advocated that the prison be closed, wrote on Twitter last week, “Two weeks ago there were leaches coming out of the shower drains.”

Conte wrote to Seven Days about the problem and sent along what she said was a maggot she found on the shower floor, as well as mold she extracted from a vent. In the letter, she expressed frustration with the slow pace of her proceeding, writing that the state’s “continued tactics to delay are simply preventing us from having a safe, clean place to shower without risk of infection, illness or harm.”

In court papers, Conte said she had developed a foot infection while incarcerated and suggested that it could have been caused by conditions in the shower room.

Conte was among the prisoners who spoke with Seven Days last year about allegations of sexual misconduct, drug use and retaliation at Chittenden Regional.

A story published by the newspaper in December 2019 led to the resignation of then-corrections commissioner Mike Touchette and prompted the state to order an outside investigation of the facility, which is ongoing.

At Tuesday’s trial, Prisoners’ Rights Office investigator Hillary Reale testified

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A moldy shower drain at the women’s prison

that she had encountered grim conditions when she visited the House 2 showers in December 2019 and February 2020. She said the drains were dirty and clogged and the showers smelled like urine. She said she saw four or five sewer flies in the showers during her February visit.

Witnesses for the state said they had done their best to keep the aging facility sanitary. Steffen Flibotte, who manages an inmate work crew for the Department of Corrections, said his staff clean and bleach the showers multiple times a day.

Joshua Reese, a district facilities supervisor with the Department of Buildings and General Services, said his workers had sought over the years to plug roof leaks and unplug shower drains. He said his department provided the prison with biocide to pour down the drain in order to destroy organic matter consumed by sewer flies.

Normally, Reese added, his department steam-cleans the pipes once or twice a year to kill the flies, but that has not taken place recently due to facilities restrictions put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The state presented photos and video of the showers taken in July that appeared to depict sanitary conditions.

But Conte testified that the problems have endured — even after she twice volunteered to repaint the shower’s walls and ceilings.

Just this week, Reese testified, his department had begun work to repair the shower floor. In a phone interview after the trial concluded, Conte suggested that the timing may not be coincidental. “This is purely a tactic to try to win the case,” she said. m Contact: paul@sevendaysvt.com

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news The most recent campaign began in summer 2019, in response to Mayor Miro Weinberger’s housing summit that June.

The daylong event focused on the city’s housing crisis, including how Burlington’s 1.5 percent rental vacancy rate drives rent increases. Nearly 60 percent of renters in Burlington funnel more than 30 percent of their paycheck into rent payments; onethird spend more than half of their income on rent, according to 2018 data from the Vermont Housing Finance Agency.

Members of the Burlington Tenants Union, a group of nearly 400 renters, weren’t totally satisfied with the mayor’s summit. They approached the community development committee with a list of housing reform demands, including a ban on no-cause evictions.

Evictions are notoriously difficult to track because only a portion end up in court — about 1,700 a year statewide, according to a 2019 report by Vermont Legal Aid. Short of studying each file at county courthouses, there’s no telling how many were for no cause.

“No landlord should have the right to kick a tenant out for no reason,” said Christie Delphia, an organizer with the tenants union.

Delphia, 54, who lives on Riverside Avenue, said her landlord tried to evict her without cause in the summer of 2019. She thinks he was trying to retaliate against her for complaining about the condition of her apartment, where she’s lived with her 75-year-old mother for two years. The eviction is pending in court, and the apartment still needs repairs, she said.

“This place is literally falling apart,” Delphia said. “I’m sitting here watching the shim fall out of the windows that are on my front porch.”

Delphia was a regular at community development committee meetings, where the just-cause eviction proposal was first vetted. So was Miller, who owns three rental properties. At one meeting, Miller gave an impassioned, 15-minute speech about his concerns with the proposal.

Instead of a just-cause ordinance, Miller would rather see the city form a committee of landlords and tenants that could intervene in rental disputes and prevent evictions.

“At the same time, I can’t just sit back and do nothing while people are trying to take away a tool that we really need,” he said in an interview, referring to no-cause evictions.

Despite Miller’s and other landlords’ objections, the committee adopted the proposal in early August and sent it to the full council for review. Councilors agreed to have the Charter Change Committee 16

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 21-28, 2020

LUKE AWTRY

Second Offense « P.13

Christie Delphia

consider the proposal for possible inclusion on the March 2021 ballot.

Miller began attending those meetings, too, and was confused when Councilor Shannon, the committee chair, mentioned that her colleagues on the community development committee had hired a researcher to prepare a fact sheet about just-cause evictions. The researcher’s 14-page report, which compares other states’ definitions of “just cause” and includes recommendations for Burlington’s future ordinance, was posted on the city website last week.

Miller wondered how that committee had hired anyone when, as far as he could tell, it hadn’t met since August. He didn’t get an explanation until October 8, when Pine admitted that its members had voted to hire the researcher at the midSeptember session that was never publicly noticed. In a follow-up interview with Seven Days, Pine blamed an “administrative breakdown” for the error.

“Staff always handles setting up the Zoom and public warning,” he said, noting that the city staffer was new to working with his committee. “I’ll take some responsibility as the committee chair for not checking to see if the meeting [was warned].”

Pine said he only found out that it hadn’t been when City Attorney Eileen Blackwood asked him why the minutes weren’t posted on the city website. The agenda, draft minutes and a recording of the meeting were posted to the city website only after Seven Days filed a records request for those documents last week.

Miller wants to give Pine the benefit of the doubt. He has since watched the meeting on YouTube and noticed that Pine — along with fellow Councilors Zoraya Hightower (P-Ward 1) and Sarah Carpenter (D-Ward 4) — appeared surprised that

no one from the public logged on to speak.

Other meetings had drawn an audience, he said.

“It sounds genuine, but at the same time, they also kind of mentioned that they had discussed [the researcher] prior to that meeting in some way,” Miller said.

He’s right. Hightower and Pine told Seven Days last week that all three councilors had emailed about the research assistant in August and even finalized her scope of work via the electronic communications. Hightower said she questioned at one point whether the email conversation was kosher, but the secret deliberations continued until August 31, when Blackwood told them that a quorum of elected officials can’t make decisions via email.

Pine acknowledged that it seems counterintuitive to research just-cause evictions after sending the measure to the charter committee. But he said his committee members had agreed that the city should first ban no-cause evictions and solidify the details in an ordinance later. Once they realized that people were misinformed about how just-cause evictions work in other places, however, they agreed that the research couldn’t wait and discussed making a hire over email.

“Sometimes we overlook these issues,” Pine said. “We … do the best we can, and if we make mistakes, we own up to them, and that’s part of the process.”

Councilor Shannon wasn’t so forgiving. “How does that happen? Sarah and Zoraya — I get that,” she said, referring to the council newcomers. “Brian? He’s worked his entire life for the city.” Pine was an employee of the city’s Community Economic Development Office for 18 years, starting in the mid-1990s.

Pine was just as willing to throw stones at his colleague. In September, Shannon emailed code enforcement director Bill

Ward and asked him to contact every landlord listed on a city database about the just-cause eviction proposal. The emails were first made public by community organizer Charles Winkleman and later verified by Seven Days. Shannon — who owns rental properties herself — said she didn’t make an equal effort to notify tenants because their views had already been well represented and because the city does not have a comparable list of renters.

“Maybe there’s an argument that we should have informed more people, but I don’t think the argument should be that we should have informed less people,” she said.

Pine thinks Shannon’s logic is bunk: “To solicit the feedback of one constituency by saying that we’ve already heard from the other — that’s not the way we should be proceeding,” he said.

Delphia, the Riverside Avenue renter, emailed city councilors earlier this month to ask whether Shannon could be removed from the Charter Change Committee.

Delphia argued that Shannon’s position as a landlord creates a conflict of interest and that the councilor is the biggest obstacle to passing a just-cause eviction ordinance.

“She’s doing everything she can to squash this,” Delphia told Seven Days. “She knows if she pushes this past November, we have a very good chance of losing it, period.”

City Council President Max Tracy (P-Ward 2) agrees that Shannon’s landlords-only invite crossed the line.

He suggested that the councilor could have found other ways to notify tenants, by asking the city’s own public engagement specialists to help with outreach, for instance. Last week, he emailed Shannon and asked her to recuse herself from deliberations. The fact that she is a landlord “further complicates the situation,” Tracy wrote.

Shannon said she’s no more conflicted than any of the councilors who are renters — including her fellow charter committee members, Councilors Perri Freeman (P-Central District) and Jane Stromberg (P-Ward 8). Shannon declined to step back, instead promising to publicly disclose her landlord status at the next meeting that evictions are on the agenda.

Hightower said councilors commonly drum up support for their pet projects but said tenants are right to question Shannon’s tactics. She also acknowledged that landlords are right to be concerned about her own committee’s conduct. The missteps haven’t exactly forged a sense of trust on either side, she said.

“It was going to be an emotional topic no matter what,” Hightower said. “This hasn’t helped.” m Contact: courtney@sevendaysvt.com

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news

Battling Harassment

New policies target sexual misconduct in the Vermont National Guard. Will they work?

B Y JA S PER CR AV EN FILE: JEB WALLACE-BRODEUR

T

he Vermont National Guard has long accommodated a notorious culture of sexual misconduct.

But this year, under new leadership, it has commenced an outside audit of that culture and adopted a comprehensive slate of measures meant to protect its members from harassment and assault.

These protocols are designed to make hiring and promotions more equitable and misconduct investigations more just. Fresh protections against gender discrimination are on the books, as are new reporting mandates for sexually offensive incidents. Witnesses to misconduct can now be held accountable if they do nothing.

And, in the coming weeks, the Guard will bring aboard a military police official with investigatory powers, known as a provost marshal, who can get involved when a crime is suspected to have occurred.

This flurry of initiatives is unprecedented in the history of the Vermont National Guard. Today, members of the Green Mountain Boys — that’s the Guard’s time-honored nickname, though women have served for decades — enjoy, on paper, more protection than their counterparts in many other states.

Yet it’s too early to tell whether these reforms will result in meaningful, real-world improvements inside the fence. After all, policies and procedures have in the past been easily ignored or exploited to protect favored sons. Furthermore, the Guard’s previous leader, adjutant general Steven Cray, pledged similar reforms early in his tenure only to step away from his position last year, accused of mishandling misconduct.

“There are a tremendous number of open questions within the Guard,” said Rep. Laura Sibilia (I-Dover), a military mom and founding leader of the new Vermont National Guard Legislative Caucus. “But I have found [Adj. Gen.] Greg Knight to be incredibly responsive.

I have pressed him on many issues, and every time he’s had a plan — and a plan to be accountable for his plan.”

Sibilia formally nominated Knight to lead the Guard in February 2019, after he made explicit promises to improve conditions for women. Knight has a workingclass background, having enlisted first as a soldier and made his way up into the officer class. He’s also known as an affable man and a bona fide people person, which

MILITARY

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Former state rep Dylan Giambatista with current Adj. Gen. Greg Knight in January 2019

made him a strong fit in his previous Guard assignments: deputy chief of staff for personnel and human resources officer.

Knight is a white man and a former Burlington police officer who acknowledges his own blind spots. “I’m well aware of my perspective in this world,” he told Seven Days. “I know that I can’t know everything, nor can I fix everything, alone.”

Some long-ignored voices inside the Guard are now helping Knight build his vision for the future. He and his team have consulted with local experts on race and gender issues, including the Interracial Processing Project, a consulting firm that brings diverse perspectives to white-led organizations, and HOPE Works, which supports survivors of sexual assault.

Inspired by a program inside the latter organization, the Guard formed an advisory council of current and former members who’ve experienced sexual assault in the ranks.

Gov. Phil Scott, the Guard’s de facto commander in chief, believes that Knight genuinely “wants to right the ship.” Scott has long backed the Guard, even in the wake of a series of stories by this reporter published in VTDigger.org in late 2018 that detailed significant sexual misconduct and a culture of impunity.

After the dust from that scandal settled and Knight took over, Scott quietly pushed the new adjutant general to review and reform key policies and procedures.

The governor also began meeting more

frequently with Guard officials and provided his cellphone number to Knight.

“When there’s an issue, Knight reaches out in real time,” Scott told Seven Days.

“That way I’m not caught flat-footed.”

The first public whiff that something was wrong inside the Vermont National Guard emerged in January 2013. That’s when a letter from an anonymous female Guard member circulated throughout the Statehouse alleging that retired brigadier general Jonathan Farnham, then a candidate for adjutant general — a position the legislature fills by election — had failed to address her alleged 2007 sexual assault by a senior male officer.

After Seven Days revealed the letter’s existence, Farnham contended that the allegation was false but dropped out of the race, citing it as a “distraction” he did not want to deal with. Regardless, lawmakers mandated annual public disclosure of sexual misconduct cases in the Guard.

Over the next five years, more than 30 reports of alleged sexual assault were logged. Still, many of the lawmakers who had approved their disclosure paid them little attention. “The legislature didn’t always read the annual reports or take them too seriously,” Scott recently reflected. “I can say that’s true; I’m a former state senator.”

Sibilia hopes her new caucus will increase awareness of how the Guard operates. “We want to expand the opportunities for legislators to connect with the

Guard, hear what is happening and hold Knight accountable,” she said.

During Cray’s tenure, he repeatedly pledged to state lawmakers that the Guard was making significant strides in combating sexual harassment and assault, as well as destigmatizing those who come forward to complain. But the series of VTDigger stories documented numerous alleged failures made on his watch, including the decision to let a Vermont Army National Guard chaplain who allegedly pressured a subordinate into a sexual relationship quietly retire with full benefits and the rank of colonel. Shortly thereafter, Cray announced his retirement but defended his tenure.

Knight is blunter than Cray, willing to temper his statements heralding progress with the bleaker overall picture. For instance, while Knight is promoting more women into leadership roles, including a female fighter pilot who will soon fly the F-35, he remains concerned that just 15 percent of the 3,250-member force today is female. As a result, men dominate the senior officer ranks.

Knight also admitted to Seven Days that sexual assault numbers haven’t meaningfully budged on his watch, with six cases of abusive sexual contact reported so far this year. Knight said some of the allegations date back to previous years, a potentially positive indication of newfound trust in the Guard’s handling of reports. But in an internal, organization-wide memo obtained

by Seven Days, he expressed deep frustration that case numbers have deviated little in recent years.

“Why does it keep happening?” he wrote. “It is incredibly damaging to victims, caustic to our organization and degrades readiness. It must stop.”

Doris Sumner, who retired in 2019 after a long Guard career that included 13 years as the organization’s equal employment and diversity manager, believes the misconduct will keep occurring unless systemic changes are made that go well beyond what Knight has put in place.

Sumner oversaw many discrimination and retaliation cases in her Guard work. She also served as an informal den mother to mistreated members.

In her mind, any policy, no matter how aspirational, can be exploited or ignored without accompanying independent oversight.

BATTLING HARASSMENT

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respondents were women, even though certain responses were broken down by That’s why, earlier this year, Sumner gender. lobbied hard for the Vermont legislaThe data show that red flags remain. ture to pass H.401, a bill that would have While 90 percent of female respondents established a chief diversity officer who in the Vermont Air National Guard, for would collect misconduct cases and be instance, reported feeling “appropriately accountable not to the Guard but to the engaged in unit operations and effectiveDue to social distancing guidelines, we are moving to assigned drop off times and NOT first governor. Nearly two dozen current ness,” just 67 percent of all Guard responcome first serve. Contact us by phone or through the chat option on our website to make an and former Guard members supported dents said they knew how to properly appointment to drop off your car. We will also be taking remote payments over the phone to the legislation, including Erynn report misconduct. reduce contact. Just go to your car and the paperwork will be inside.

Hazlett Whitney, who recently left the On the Army side, survey data indiGuard and is now running a long-shot cate, discrimination remains an urgent * Get up to a qualifying tires g u b e r n a t o r i a l c a m p a i g n a s a n issue. And while Knight pledged more Discoverer® EnduraMax™ $70 independent. than a year ago to punish Guard members Discoverer® AT3 4S™ “The issues in the Vermont National who witnessed bad behavior and failed Discoverer® AT3 LT ™ Guard are beyond complex and require to report it, a Guard spokesperson said Discoverer® AT3 XLT ™ experienced professionals, in and out of no one has yet been reprimanded for the system, in order to continue the orga- inaction.

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FEED back « P.7

on hand to answer questions for which they can provide expertise. Everybody is treated with respect and, if there is a question they cannot immediately answer, they say so and promise to get the answer.

Gov. Scott is negotiating a very difficult situation, balancing caution with the need to have some economic activity. The proof of how well he is doing is shown by our best-in-thenation status in these difficult times.

Competence matters. Gov. Scott, by his actions during the COVID-19 crisis, has made the case for his continued leadership during these challenging times and deserves reelection.

large percentage of the $70 million the governor diverted to property tax relief went into the pockets of the wealthier Vermonters, making their lives more “affordable.” Middle-income Vermonters did not benefit much from Gov. Scott’s “affordability” actions.

Gov. Scott’s actions to veto the minimum wage, veto family leave and oppose universal primary care hurt “real affordability” and expand the wealth gap that our state suffers.

This false “affordability” of Gov. Scott is not what I want.

Bob Zeliff

BRIDPORT

SO MANY SUBSTANCES

Derek Brouwer’s article, “Relapse in Recovery” [September 16], is excellent in capturing the scope and breadth of John Freitag a humbling, pernicious issue. Indeed, he describes the harm-reduction treatSOUTH STRAFFORD ment and recovery climate without sacrificing clarity or conciseness, and FALSE ‘AFFORDABILITY’ by offering nuance potentially chal[Re “Has Phil Scott Made Vermont lenging the “enabling” properties of More Affordable?” October 7]: In a this system. And he could not have recent debate, I heard Gov. Phil Scott chosen more dedicated and caring brag about increasprofessionals than ing “affordability” Tracie Hauck and RAMPING by reducing taxes by Jackie Corbally to DOWN? $70 million. Sounds underscore some great, but what does of the concomitant it really mean? Who realities.

Has Phil Scott benefits?

How many re mo t on rm Ve made The veto cut of the deceased $50 million that were medicationwas earmarked to assisted treatment pay down the state patients? How employee pension many met the funds deficit. He clinical criteria for avoided helping that cannabis addicproblem, kicking it tion to the moodFRENCH ACCENT OUT WITH THE ART INSIDE! down the road for altering chemical THC-9? Society future taxpayers.

After the veto, the and even the local state’s contribution to property taxes government, treatment, recovery, was changed by many hands and issues. Department for Children and Families, Presumably, the $50 million from the and corrections communities seem to pension funds ended up here. have normalized this drug. How about So, who benefits from lower property alcohol addiction, the chameleon drug taxes? The median household income for that “plays” with the opioid receptor Vermont is around $56,000. Only a small sites? And cocaine addiction? Yes, it percentage of Vermonters who earn this is currently everywhere. I wonder or less can afford to own property, so a how many might be alive if all their property tax cut does not make these lives substance-use issues were consistently more “affordable.” and comprehensively addressed?

It is reasonable to assume that the I wonder whatever happened to wealthier you are, the higher the value abstinence? of your home. It is also reasonable to Craig S. Smith assume that the nonresidential investBROOKFIELD ment property is largely owned, again, by the wealthiest. So, following that logic, Smith is clinical director of it is reasonable to assume that a very Bradford Psychiatric Associates.

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VERMONT’S INDEPENDENT VOICE SEPTEMBER 23-30, 2020 VOL.25 NO.52 SEVENDAYSVT .COM

Your writer’s article about the Burlington protesters’ silence was spot-on [“Battery Power,” September 23]. If they will not speak, her observations become the best report that can be made. Kudos to you for engaging the reporter, her assignment, her work, and your courage to print and support this information offered to the public.

I am drawn only recently to your rather progressive paper by the premature embalming of the 200-yearold Burlington Free Press.

OCTOBER 2020

FEELING FEELING

BLUE? BLUE?

How Black Lives Matter proteste rs occupied a park, captivated a city — and got some of what they wanted

BY CHELSEA EDGAR, PAGE 26

CLIMATE CHANGES

PAGE 12

Scott’s erratic record on warming

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MEATING DEMAND

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Can Vermont producers keep up?

UNDERHILL

LET THEM VOTE

[Re “Split Ticket,” October 14]: I moved to Winooski from Connecticut pursuing a job post-Great Recession. When I got here, I looked around and thought to myself: Now this is white-bread! Where are all the brothers and sisters? But as I settled in, I watched a parade of Black and brown children walking up Main Street or getting off the bus on their way to school, sometimes accompanied by their fathers — more often, their mothers. And, of course, their white counterparts walked along with them.

Living in Winooski is like living at the United Nations, I tell my tristate friends. I am proud to be a Winooski resident precisely because it is so diverse a community. I used to bicycle to work year-round and was asked how I got used to the cold in winter. I said, “Stay out in it.” If you want to get used to people of different colors from different cultures, live with them.

All residents living in Winooski of ordinarily eligible voting age should be allowed to vote locally. It will not adversely impact state or federal elections, and it will give them the voice they need to positively affect the welfare of the city of Winooski. And mark my words, their votes will be the most conservative, most inclusive, most caring and most pro-business you will find anywhere in the republic.

Robert Sieviec

WINOOSKI

TAX PLAN

[Re “Has Phil Scott Made Vermont More Affordable?” October 7]: With Democrats holding a supermajority in Montpelier, your cover story should have been:

“Can Democrats Make Vermont More Affordable?”

Yes, Democrats can! If you can afford more taxes and believe more are the answer!

Let’s highlight some great “near achievements” that went sour from Vermont Dems in Montpelier, costing us hundreds of millions of dollars!

We had Howard Dean and his commuter rail to nowhere!

Gov. Peter Shumlin and a failed master plan for Vermont to have its own health care for all.

Now, the Global Warming Solutions Act that is set up perfectly to keep increasing taxes and limiting personal choice, along with keeping business growth and jobs away from Vermont.

The GWSA is set up so well, it guarantees Montpelier will tax you until the Dems get it right, or you can file a lawsuit against them!

Crude math calculations tabulate that Vermont’s emissions effect on the climate and environment is six one-hundredths of 1 percent, compared to China’s. Can we build a wall into the stratosphere to protect and save our state?

No, but we can tax ourselves there!

Gov. Phil Scott has the veto pen.

The GWSA, for starters, will greatly limit your personal travel and restrict how you heat your home. The committee of 24 to oversee the GWSA will dictate how to live your life.

Yes, do our part to save the planet, but in Vermont it’s more about political power and control.

How you vote will determine our affordability!

Robert Devost

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Pressing Matters Vermont International Film Festival returns with focus on journalism B Y M AR GO T HA R R I SON

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ries of “fake news” fill the political sphere. Social media companies reckon with a misinformation epidemic. Newsrooms confront their own biases. Clearly, 2020 is a pivotal year for journalism, and this year’s VERMONT INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL is taking a long, hard look at the profession.

Running from October 23 to November 1, this year’s VTIFF is all virtual, with a program of 12 films arranged in six pairs and a Q&A accompanying each pair. Ticket holders have a three-day window in which to view each film, with the livestreamed discussion falling within that window.

Local film fans may recall that journalism was the theme of VTIFF’s Global Roots Film Festival scheduled for April 2020. Once the pandemic ruled out in-person screenings, that fest was canceled, and VTIFF began offering a robust selection of virtual cinema offerings.

VTIFF’s flagship festival normally takes place each October in Burlington, offering a wealth of screenings and discussions. “Once we knew for sure that it would be virtual,” executive director ORLY YADIN said in a phone

call, “we started rethinking that festival, because virtual is very different in terms of audience engagement.”

Given that the festival ends just two days before a national election that feels like a referendum on the press and democracy itself, Yadin and the other VTIFF programmers decided to “transfer that [ journalism] theme and make it the focus of the festival,” she said.

To the 11 films already chosen for Global Roots, they added the 2020 documentary A Thousand Cuts, which chronicles the risky mission of journalist Maria Ressa to hold Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte accountable for alleged human rights abuses. Yadin called the doc “very interesting ... in terms of the very, very current issues it raises about cyber journalism and the use of social media by journalists.”

While some of the films are topical, others offer a slice of journalism history or an iconic pop-culture portrait of the press — for instance, Network and Good Night, and Good Luck. Rather than pairing similar films, Yadin said, VTIFF sought to generate dialogues between fiction and fact, past and present, and different approaches to the topic.

Take the pairing that opens the fest: The Front Page (1931) and This Is Not a Movie (2019). The former, an early sound film full of overlapping dialogue, puts viewers in the lightning-fast world of news reporting in Depression-era Chicago. The latter, a documentary portrait of Middle East correspondent Robert Fisk, demonstrates the virtues of slowing down and investigating in depth, according to Yadin. The two movies have “nothing to do with each other,” she said, “but if you watch them, you’ll see how they play against each other.”

Similarly, the period drama Park Row (1952) and the documentary The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords (1999) explore different ways of deciding what is “newsworthy.” The doc, which Yadin called “fascinating,” is about the alternative newspapers that Black journalists founded in every major U.S. city, starting in the 19th century, to tell the stories that white-run media ignored.

Moderating the discussions will be Saint Michael’s College prof and former Associated Press correspondent TRACI GRIFFITH, Vermont PBS and Vermont Public Radio veteran FRAN STODDARD, and Champlain College professor VAN DORA WILLIAMS, a former PBS producer. Besides some of the filmmakers and their subjects, Q&A panelists will include CHRISTINA ASQUITH of the Fuller Project for International Reporting, PAULA ROUTLY of Seven Days, ANNE GALLOWAY of VTDigger.org and others.

For those new to the concept of virtual cinema, Yadin offers assurances that, yes, you can stream the films through devices such as Roku and Apple TV, once you’ve paired them with VTIFF’s app. Pandemic or no, “This virtual thing is here to stay,” she said. “We might as well make it the best possible experience.”

Contact: margot@sevendaysvt.com

INFO Vermont International Film Festival, Friday, October 23, to Sunday, November 1. $12 per single film; $60 per general pass. Details and full program at vtiff.org.

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FALL EXHIBITIONS

COURTESY OF MITCHELL O’NEILL

OCTOBER 23, 2020 – JANUARY 30, 2021

Participating Artists

Jeremy Ayers, Becci Davis, Lillie Harris, Akiko Jackson, Brielle Rovito, EveNSteve, Dan Siegel, Sarah Camille Wilson EveNSteve, The Home Of My Choice, 2020 (detail of 9 panels)

Radiant Thought, 2020 (concept image)

GA LLERY HO U RS W E D- S AT : 1 2 - 5 P M | S U N- T U ES : C L O S ED 2020 EXHIBITION YEAR PRESENTED BY

It’ll Do Darkroom

ART

It’ll Do Darkroom Opens A Burlington resident opened a free public darkroom in early October, aiming to make film photography and darkroom developing more accessible.

MITCHELL O’NEILL took his first darkroom class in 2017 at BURLINGTON CITY ARTS. He found the developing process “magical,” he said. He’d been shooting film for a long time, but developing it added a new, hands-on layer to the experience.

“The biggest reason why I switched to shooting film is that I use so much technology every day,” he said. Using an analog camera is an interesting contrast, he noted. “That lack of technology is really what I like about it.”

O’Neill, who works for the tech company Share Yourself, wanted to use the BCA darkroom regularly, but the $60 monthly fee for nonmembers ($54 for members) wasn’t feasible for him. Though Champlain College and the University of Vermont also have darkrooms, only students can use them — and even students may find the hours limiting.

So O’Neill came up with a plan that would actually cost him more in the short term but would provide a studio space accessible to more people.

Seven months and $4,000 later, he opened IT’LL DO DARKROOM. His friends spent hours helping him set it up, and his collection of enlargers, timers and chemical trays found a rent-free home in the basement of a house in the Old North End owned by STU MCGOWAN, a local

landlord and entrepreneur who is also O’Neill’s boss.

Darkrooms don’t require a lot of physical space, but avoiding rent has been a huge boon for O’Neill. “I’ve seen people use an enlarger in their own bathroom,” he said.

“You could do it with very little space, but luckily I’m fortunate enough to have a pretty big space.”

O’Neill said the darkroom has had 27 bookings since the beginning of October.

He provides the chemicals for free but asks that photographers bring their own paper.

He spends nearly every evening in the darkroom, letting people in and out and providing tips on using the equipment — or learning from those with more experience.

O’Neill even lends out cameras and gives lessons to people who’ve never shot film. He’s building the It’ll Do Darkroom presence on Instagram by sharing the work of photographers who use the space.

“I really want the social media aspect to help jump-start some people’s artistic goals,” he said. Next, he wants to turn It’ll Do Darkroom into a nonprofit and open other free-to-use art spaces in Burlington for mediums such as painting and printmaking.

The darkroom is named after his grandfather’s boat, It’ll Do, which O’Neill rode in as a child. “It was really this dingy old boat, but it got the job done,” he said. His darkroom is similar: “I don’t have the fanciest equipment, compared to every other darkroom in Burlington,” but O’Neill says it’ll do.

BCA Exhibitions are funded in part by a grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Vermont Arts Council

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Conf luences Book review: The Meeting Place, Dede Cummings

BY BE N JAM I N AL E S H I RE

B

rattleboro author and publisher DEDE CUMMINGS’ second collection of poetry, A Meeting Place, was released in March by Irish publisher Salmon Poetry. The title, as the opening poem makes clear, refers to the Algonquian word Wantastiquet, for the place where the West River meets the Connecticut River. Thinking of the book itself in terms of confluence makes for a pleasant entry point, and Cummings delivers. What follows is a mix of memories and present-day meditations, often personal and always benefiting from a keen poetic eye for observation, along with the occasional lyrical flourish.

After the title poem, the collection continues with a series depicting childhood and adolescence: a first kiss, the tension and tenderness of sisterhood, neighborhood and family dynamics.

Often, Cummings employs an almost epistolary manner of direct address, which deepens the intimacy of these personal memories.

In “Writing to Reach You,” for example, the speaker addresses her father:

BOOKS

You stopped to chat with the waiters at Haven Brothers Diner asking for your hot dog after hours, calling it a “Saugie Dog” in the Rhode Island parlance you told us not to use, growing up on the East Side, where the accents were the Waspy nasal kind.

What makes Cummings’ book stand out from the many collections of personalnarrative, memory-based free verse is how the poems land. Often, after painting a series of linked anecdotes, she gives the last line a twist that makes the reader see what came before in a new light.

In “Writing to Reach You,” the almost rhapsodic cascade of images detailing how the father greeted everyone by name ends with these lines: “It was only after we could speak that you took an interest; / drove us to Willow Dell Beach in the old Woody station wagon / and threw us into the waves, forcing us to sink or swim.”

CUMMINGS DOESN’T SHY AWAY

FROM ALLUDING TO THE STRIFE OF OUR PRESENT DAY. The last statement withholds judgment, yet it speaks volumes about the complex relationships between children and their parents and gives readers a way to relate to a poem that otherwise would have stayed at the level of description.

The book is not political, but Cummings doesn’t shy away from alluding to the strife of our present day. In fact, the collection’s first words are “The day the US withdraws / from the Paris Climate Agreement, / a day of angry wind at my home”— a downright refreshing way to open a book of poetry. Cummings then shows us “the firmament of cumulus clouds / forming a barricade.” It’s a perfect image to illustrate the existential threat of eco-collapse, as if the natural world is showing us what we must do.

Moments like this are few and far between, but they elevate The Meeting

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in 2020 and the suburban fear that accompanies them.

The speaker then turns her focus to a spider that drops in front of her, frantic as It was there, by the water, that I well, climbing a thread “like an athlete / had my first kiss gasping for air, for the finish line / for an stumbling through the briars, unseen pedestal to rest upon.” The image stubbing my toe, conveys the collective exhaustion that has falling into the wet leaves by only intensified over the past four years. the water’s edge.

Cummings has worked in publishing for decades: at Little, Brown in Boston, Today, years later, I opened up and then launching her own book design the boathouse, business, DCDESIGN, in Brattleboro. She walked up to the balcony founded GREEN WRITERS PRESS in 2013 with overlooking the water — a mission to use literature to foster a a portico that looks like Juliet sustainable environment. According to belongs there, the press’ website, “What the localvore leaning out, bird-like and movement did for the food industry, we beckoning. want to do for publishing.”

The Green Writers Press office runs But, getting back to that first on solar energy (as does Cummings’ kiss: hand-built house in Brattleboro), and The pond was where the kids the press prints on Forest Stewardship went Council-certified paper using soy-based in summer to swim naked, inks. A portion of book sales is donated to grope in the darkness, groups such as 350.org and the Southern peel off our clothes and lie in Poverty Law Center. decaying leaves.

Cummings’ concern with activism It was there, that I, too, first and social justice comes to the surface learned throughout The Meeting Place, that the pond’s smell would woven into her personal never leave me. anecdotes and family histories. “I’m one of the watchers, that’s Place from just another me,” Cummings free-verse memoir to writes in the long one that transcends prose poem “I Am personal memories Afraid.” While and reckons with the the poem lists an world around us. array of things “Give Me Your that cause anxiety Tired, Your Poor,” — drowning, falling, named for Emma snakes, sexual assault Lazarus’ sonnet Dede Cummings — ultimately, the speaker inscribed on the Statue of D AR COU R TE SY ODW declares her independence Liberty, is another poem that O W F F OF JE from those fears. stands out. Cummings subtitles it She “got good at swallowing fear like “after the election of Number 45.” It’s a nice touch, considering that in 2019, Pres- a gulp of hot chocolate that isn’t quite ident Donald Trump’s acting director of cooled enough,” Cummings writes, “but the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration you get it down good and fast, get beyond Services told NPR that Lazarus’ poem the fear and you don’t look back, because if refers not to all “huddled masses yearn- you do, that gulp will swallow you whole.”

What this poem’s speaker initially ing to breathe free” but solely to those “who can stand on their own two feet and describes as a “need for self-preservation” ends up being forged into true courage, who will not become a public charge.”

In Cummings’ poem, “the squirrels hinting at the mature altruism of the poet and chipmunks / are frantic too, scaring herself. It’s this confluence of the personal the cardinal pair who perch / and wait and the political that makes The Meeting quietly, stoically in the wings.” Though Place an enjoyable read. m this clearly anthropomorphizes the panic that half the country experienced after INFO the 2016 election, it can also be read as a The Meeting Place by Dede Cummings, prescient allegory for the mass uprisings Salmon Poetry, 102 pages. $14.95.

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JAMES BUCK

Trickle to

TORRENT The climate crisis brings both deluges and droughts to Vermont B Y KEV I N MCCALLU M & KEN PICARD Looking north toward Burlington along Lake Champlain

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 21-28, 2020

Middlesex flooding in 2019

JAMES BUCK

28

FILE: JEB WALLACE-BRODEUR

O

n Halloween of 2019, an unexpectedly powerful storm system ripped through Vermont and northern New York, dumping up to five inches of rain, washing out roads and causing widespread power outages. According to the National Weather Service, record-breaking precipitation drove 10 rivers to surge to flood stage.

Less than a year later, 315,000 Vermonters, or half the state’s population, are living under drought conditions. Creeks and streams have dried up, along with dozens of wells and natural springs across the state. As of last week, the water in Lake Champlain had receded to within two feet of its record low: 92.4 feet, set back in 1908.

Though some rain has returned this fall, it hasn’t been wet enough to pull Vermont out of its current water deficit.

And the pouring-to-parched cycle tracks a troubling forecast for the state, according to Gillian Galford, a research associate professor who is heading the University of Vermont’s 2020 climate assessment, a study that is due out next summer. When it comes to precipitation, Vermont’s trend lines are moving steadily to the extremes.

Her team’s report will provide state policy makers with the most up-to-date picture of how the climate crisis is affecting the state. Among its greatest emerging impacts, she said, are changing patterns of precipitation — too much, not enough or, occasionally, both in the space of months.

The exposed beach in front on the Burlington Surf Club on Lake Champlain

YOU’RE GOING TO SEE SEASONAL DROUGHTS

THAT EXTEND ACROSS MULTIPLE YEARS.

C H R IS KO L I B A

“We expect to see increasing precipitation, and it’s not just increasing on average, in dribs and drabs spread out on every day of the year. It’s increasing in extreme rainfall,” Galford said. “But in between, we’re going to have these prolonged dry spells.

So that’s a big challenge for Vermont going forward.”

Indeed, annual precipitation in the state has risen by nearly seven inches in the past 50 years. Days with rainfall of an inch or more are twice as common as they were a century ago. Rain events of three inches or more are expected to happen twice every three years by the end of this century, an increase from the current rate of less than once per decade.

And that’s not all.

“We’re not going to turn into a California, but you’re going to see seasonal droughts that extend across multiple years,” said Chris Koliba, a professor in UVM’s Department of Community Development and Applied Economics and, like Galford, a fellow at the university’s Gund Institute for Environment.

The impacts on agriculture, forests, wildlife, tourism, public health and infrastructure are expected to be sweeping.

Just last week, officials asked for a federal emergency declaration, which would make Vermont eligible for aid.

Farmers in 10 of the state’s 14 counties have reported at least $27 million in crop losses from the ongoing drought. The forests around Killington were so dry this summer that a wildfire burned uncontrolled for more than a week underground as parched roots smoldered.

When the rain does come these days, it often overwhelms infrastructure intended to collect and clean it, washing runoff and partially treated wastewater into rivers and lakes. Heavy rains in 2019 triggered a landslide in the Mount Mansfield State Forest, sending acres of sediment into the Waterbury Reservoir.

Ski resorts that rely on snowmaking because Mother Nature doesn’t reliably deliver suitable cover are spending millions to develop new water sources and storage capacity to expand snowmaking ability, raising concerns about watershed health.

But if there’s an upside, Galford said, it’s that Vermont learned many lessons about building resilience from Tropical Storm Irene in 2011. By taking steps to protect riparian zones and slow the flow of runoff into rivers and streams, she said, Vermont has been “flattening the curve” on the impacts of extreme weather events.

“In Vermont, we have a lot of natural infrastructure, so we can play to our strengths and use it to manage our water supplies,” she said. “Some of those techniques that help us mitigate flooding can

PHOTOS: KEN PICARD

Davie Stoll

Steve Owen

MONTHS PER YEAR

Months per year 6 5

Since the early 1900s, the number of months in which Vermont got more than five inches of precipitation has more than doubled

4 3 2

1 0

1900

1920

1940

1960

1980

2000

2020

SOURCE: U.S. NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION CLIMATE DIVISIONAL DATABASE

also help us retain water through these dry spells.”

Time will tell what the climate crisis will mean for the Green Mountain State.

Here is a look at some of the consequences of a water cycle increasingly driven to extremes — and how some Vermonters are attempting to adapt.

Well, Well

Davie Stoll stood far back from a reporter visiting his wooded Hinesburg property, but his social distancing wasn’t motivated just by COVID-19. Stoll’s well had run dry about a week earlier, and he hadn’t bathed or done laundry since.

“When I start to smell, it’s time to do something about it,” he joked.

The solution — a water truck delivering 4,500 gallons — soon arrived. As the driver unspooled his hose, 61-year-old Stoll dragged it 400 feet through his backyard, into the woods and down a ravine to a decades-old concrete well. Removing the well cap, Stoll peered down into the nearly empty 20-foot hole, which he said had run dry only once before in 15 years.

Stoll dropped the nozzle in the well, then hollered to the driver. A gushing stream erupted. Essentially, Stoll paid $325 to pump water into the ground, in hopes that it would stay put long enough for him to use it.

“When this is all over,” he said, “it’ll be nice to take a hot shower.”

Driver Steve Owen, owner of Fresh Water Haulers in Underhill, has been getting calls like Stoll’s for months now.

In non-COVID-19 times, Owen would have spent the summer providing drinking water for outdoor festivals and filling swimming pools and hot tubs.

This year, the deliveries to homeowners whose wells ran dry more than compensated for his pandemic losses.

Since January alone, he estimated, he’s pumped 3 million gallons, most of which he buys from the Champlain Water District.

“It’s bad. We’re hauling all day, every day,” said Owen, who’s owned the company since 2003. “I’ve seen this going on for about six years now. Every year it gets a little drier.”

And not only private wells are running dry. Community water systems have tapped out their wells, taxing their infrastructure and their financial resources as they scramble for solutions.

Vermont has approximately 1,400 public water suppliers, of which about 400 are community systems that serve at least 25 year-round residents, explained Bryan Redmond, director of the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s drinking water and groundwater protection division. Those 400 systems range from tiny ones that serve a handful of mobile home residents to the Champlain Water District, the state’s largest, which pumps about 10 million gallons from Lake Champlain daily for 75,000 residents in northwestern Vermont.

This year, at least seven public systems have experienced supply problems, according to the DEC. One, in East Berkshire, started hauling water in from elsewhere in August and continued doing so through September. Another, in East Thetford, had to tap a new emergency well. To boost output from its two low-producing

wells, South Burlington’s South Village development is considering fracking, or injecting high-pressure water into the bedrock, a method akin to what’s used in oil and gas extraction. “And I’m sure that’s not the entire list,” Redmond noted.

A decade ago, Redmond wouldn’t have chalked up such problems to climate change. But after Irene caused widespread damage to public water systems, his division began rethinking how it plans for the dual challenges of floods and droughts. For example, all newly proposed public water sources must now demonstrate that they could endure at least a 180-day drought before the state will issue a permit.

But even if climate change weren’t the issue, he said, Vermont still would be facing daunting challenges from its aging water systems. In 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimated that Vermont would need to invest more than $643 million in its public water infrastructure over the next 20 years to ensure public health and economic vitality.

“That’s a staggering number,” Redmond said. “But water infrastructure is buried, so for many people, it’s out of sight and out of mind.”

Tim Mills is utility director for the Town of Bethel, whose system pumps 65 million gallons annually to about 335 users, as well as downtown businesses.

Bethel has fared OK through the drought thus far, “although we’re keeping an eye on the [White] River,” he said. “We’ve had some local residents whose wells have run dry. And I’ve never seen so many well trucks go through town.”

In 2011, Irene’s floodwaters washed out several of Bethel’s water mains, destroyed wellheads and inundated pump stations, requiring replacement motors and new control units.

What does catastrophic flooding have to do with drought preparation?

“The big thing it’s taught us is [planning for] capital repairs,” Mills explained. After Irene, Bethel adopted an asset management system that the DEC promotes. It assigns a life expectancy to every piece of equipment, the cost of replacing it and a timetable to budget the work. Though such long-term fiscal planning might seem like a no-brainer, especially for a small water utility with a $249,000 annual budget, “you’d be surprised how many people don’t grasp it,” Mills said.

Bethel also took advantage of the state’s free leak-detection service, which, Mills said, “paid off in spades.” After finding a leak, Mills spent just $6,000 to replace 760 feet of water line. That repair reduced Bethel’s water consumption by 200,000 gallons per month.

TRICKLE TO TORRENT SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 21-28, 2020

» P.30 29

PHOTOS: CALEB KENNA

Trickle to Torrent « P.29 “This system has been let go for so long that it’s not the water that costs me money,” Mills said. “It’s getting it to your house.”

“It’s been a super-popular program,” Redmond added. In 2019, the state’s leak-detection contractor surveyed 79 miles of pipe and identified 48 leaks, saving an estimated loss of 220,000 gallons of water per day — the equivalent of an Olympic-size swimming pool every three days.

As the climate crisis makes Vermont’s summers and autumns hotter and drier, cost-effective conservation efforts such as this one can go a long way toward helping smaller water systems get through extended droughts.

In a state long perceived as water rich, the people who provide it cannot afford to take cheap and ample water for granted anymore.

MANY, BUT NOT ALL, OF THE MOST PRODUCTIVE STREAMS IN THE STATE

HAVE VERY LOW NUMBERS OF TROUT.

Lewis Creek

W IL L E L D R I D G E

K. P.

Trout, Limited

When biologists from the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department hiked to the headwaters of Lewis Creek in late August, they weren’t expecting to find it teeming with young trout. They knew the hot, dry summer had dropped water levels in streams across the state to near historic lows, and sporadic late summer rains had done little to boost flows.

Such conditions raise water temperatures, reducing the dissolved oxygen levels that cold-water-loving trout — brook, brown and rainbow, in particular — need to thrive.

Still, the Fish & Wildlife staffers were hopeful that the resilient species had found refuge in some of the cool pools that remained.

To conduct counts, biologists zap sections of creek with portable battery packs to briefly stun the fish. But it was they who were shocked by what they found — or didn’t. In the same stretch where they’d counted 52 trout in 2013, this year they netted just six, said Will Eldridge, an aquatic habitat biologist.

“That is not good,” he said.

The state’s hatcheries, fed by creeks, were so low that Fish & Wildlife officials at one point considered taking the unusual step of stocking streams early — this fall instead of next spring. They were concerned that hatcheries couldn’t support the fish until then.

The ground had been so parched in places that when rains did come — often in short, intense bursts — most of that precipitation ran off, failing to recharge 30

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 21-28, 2020

Marty Illick

groundwater, which, in turn, replenishes streams. As the water levels dropped, so too did the fish populations.

“Many, but not all, of the most productive streams in the state have very low numbers of trout,” Eldridge said.

The apparent plunge in trout populations — more research is needed for confirmation — is connected to the drought, but it’s not likely the only cause, according to Eldridge.

Last year’s Halloween floodwaters may also have helped depress the trout populations. Such intense events can blast young fish right out of the headwater habitats that normally protect them.

If the pattern of intense precipitation events alternating with longer dry spells continues, as climatologists predict, some fish populations in the state could be at risk in the long term, said Louis Porter, commissioner of Fish & Wildlife.

“In the absence of measures that we can take to adapt to climate change, we may see rivers that historically held brook trout

being unable to support them without stocking,” Porter said.

If lower fish populations were to attract fewer anglers, that outcome would deliver an economic blow to the state. Sportfishing in Vermont is big business, drawing visitors from around the world to try their luck on the state’s diverse waterways. Fishing and boating create $38 million in economic activity annually in Vermont, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. That doesn’t account for the indirect benefits those visitors bring to the economy.

The state works hard to preserve and expand fish habitat, Porter said, by advocating for fish-friendly practices around hydroelectric dams, removing obsolete dams that are obstacles to fish, protecting river corridors from development through the Act 250 process and working with community groups to restore fisheries.

Using federal funds, the state is doing more such projects, according to Porter.

He pointed to the acquisition earlier this year of the flood-prone Fitzgerald farm on the Winooski River in Colchester. An effort is now under way to restore the property to wetlands, he said.

Lewis Creek’s habitat challenges are not unique, but they are noteworthy because they persist despite tireless work by one of the most active watershed restoration groups in the state.

The Lewis Creek Association has for decades tracked and worked to improve the water quality along the creek’s 80-mile run from the Green Mountains east of Starksboro through forests and farmland to where it empties into Lake Champlain in North Ferrisburgh.

“The diversity of habitat types is unbelievable,” said Marty Illick, executive director of the association. “It makes me shiver to think what richness we have here.”

The group’s volunteers have planted trees near the creek’s banks to cool its waters, installed places for fish to find refuge, and advocated for buffer zones and places where the creek can naturally meander, she said.

Land-use patterns — including the development of farms, homes and roads right up to riverbanks — have tended to channelize, or hem in, Lewis Creek and many other waterways in the state, she said.

This exacerbates the sluicing effect in major storms, sending water racing down the channel, eroding banks and giving the waterway no chance to spread out, release the sediment and pollutants it carries, and seep into the ground to recharge the water table.

“We need to keep the rainfall in our watershed. Period,” Illick said. “If we don’t do that, whether it’s drought or flood, we’re going to compromise the environmental health of our state.”

She worries, however, that the state isn’t moving quickly enough to help natural areas weather the stresses of a changing climate.

“It’s excruciatingly painful to see how slow our state’s leaders and local people are in understanding the situation,” she said.

K.M.

Cyanobacteria Likes It Hot

More extreme precipitation spawns more of what the Gund Institute’s Galford called “flashy,” or fast-moving, water. Rapid stormwater runoff can overwhelm sewage treatment plants, wash out roads and culverts, and sweep tons of nitrogen- and phosphorus-laden sediment into streams, rivers and lakes.

TRICKLE TO TORRENT

» P.32

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Combine those nutrients with warmer water temperatures — parts of Lake Champlain have risen, on average, by seven degrees since 1964 — and the result is an ideal environment for cyanobacteria blooms.

Cyanobacteria, also known as bluegreen algae, is more than just a yucky mess that closes beaches, drives away boaters and makes swimming undesirable. It’s also a public health hazard. In 2014, Toledo, Ohio, warned more than 450,000 residents to stop drinking tap water due to a bloom near the city’s water intake system on Lake Erie.

The Champlain Water District draws its water from Shelburne Bay. According to general manager Joe Duncan, the district’s intake pipes are located half a mile offshore and 80 feet down. At that depth, the thermocline — or steep temperature gradient between the colder water below and warmer surface layer — prevents cyanobacteria from infiltrating the water supply.

Duncan said that he considers the thermocline one of the system’s most important protective barriers; to date, cyanobacteria hasn’t shown up in the drinking water. But as Vermont’s winters get shorter and warmer, he added, “climate change has really wreaked havoc on it over time.”

People needn’t drink cyanobacteria to get sick from it; even touching it can cause allergy- or flu-like symptoms. Some preliminary research even suggests that people who live near lakes where cyanobacteria blooms can inhale its aerosolized toxins and develop neurological problems.

Cyanobacteria first gained public attention in Vermont in the 1990s when two dogs died after swimming in Lake Champlain. Humans exposed to it can develop sore throats and runny noses, as well as dizziness, numb lips and tingling in their extremities. In more severe cases, cyanobacteria can cause abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting and even liver damage.

Currently, the state doesn’t track illnesses associated with cyanobacteria, largely because it’s so difficult to pinpoint their origins, according to Vermont Department of Health toxicologist Sarah Vose. Nevertheless, cyanobacteria is becoming a wider public health concern.

“Due to climate change we are seeing, unfortunately, a greater frequency of blooms over time,” said Lori Fisher, executive director of the Lake Champlain Committee, a bistate citizens’ organization dedicated to the health of the lake.

In 2003, the committee launched a 32

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COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT SPATIAL ANALYSIS LABORATORY

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Cyanobacteria in Burlington’s Oakledge Park on September 3, 2020

DUE TO CLIMATE CHANGE WE ARE SEEING, UNFORTUNATELY,

A GREATER FREQUENCY OF BLOOMS OVER TIME. LORI FISH E R

community-based cyanobacteria-monitoring program in collaboration with state environmental and public health agencies.

From spring through fall, it recruits and trains volunteers, who routinely monitor more than 100 locations on Lake Champlain.

When monitoring began in 2003, volunteers didn’t start looking for cyanobacteria until late June and generally ended their season by Labor Day, when most beaches closed, Fisher said. Last year, its volunteers were out looking from midJune through mid-November.

Cyanobacteria is easily identifiable, Fisher noted, but the only way to know for sure whether it’s producing toxins is through laboratory analyses. Years ago, it took a week or more to notify the public, by which time, Fisher said, lake conditions often had changed.

Today, teams of Lake Champlain Committee volunteers issue warnings within hours of bloom sightings, get signs

erected on beaches, and post alerts on the state’s online Cyanobacteria Tracker Map. The committee also sends out weekly email blasts to educate the public on recreating safely on Lake Champlain and other cyanobacteria hot spots, such as Shelburne Pond and Lake Carmi.

Some Vermonters, such as Glynda McKinnon of Vergennes, won’t swim in Lake Champlain anymore because of the bacteria.

In March 2014, McKinnon began noticing that her life partner, Dave Scheuer, was slurring his words. At the time, the 62-year-old real estate developer seemed otherwise healthy. A U.S. Olympic Team skier in the 1970s, Scheuer was active and outdoorsy, McKinnon said, a “big personality” who enjoyed telling stories, riding horses and sailing on Lake Champlain.

In September 2014, following months of neurological tests, Scheuer was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig’s disease. The day of his diagnosis, he and McKinnon went boating on Lake Champlain.

It would be among Scheuer’s last trips on the lake. Scheuer’s ALS progressed rapidly until August 6, 2015, when he used Vermont’s death-with-dignity law to end his life at age 63.

After Scheuer’s death, McKinnon grew curious about research being done by Scheuer’s neurologist, Dr. Elijah Stommel, at Dartmouth-Hitchcock medical center.

His study of ALS clusters around New Hampshire’s Lake Mascoma suggested a possible correlation between cyanobacteria and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and ALS. Of particular concern is the potential for neurotoxins to become aerosolized in water droplets, which then can be inhaled.

In 2016, McKinnon attended an event at All Souls Interfaith Gathering in Shelburne, where she met the couple who’d bought Scheuer’s former lakefront home.

They mentioned that their groundskeeper, Jim Glabicky of Jay, had also been diagnosed with ALS. Like Scheuer, Glabicky was an avid skier and snowboarder who often swam in Lake Champlain after work.

Glabicky died of ALS in August 2017 at the age of 52. The potential link was impossible for McKinnon to ignore.

McKinnon later joined the board of the Lewis Creek Association. Scheuer’s death, she said, gave her environmental advocacy work new urgency.

“I describe my role as being at the end of the pipeline,” she said. “I’m not a scientist. I don’t know a ton about water issues. But at the end of the pipeline is our health.”

To date, any causal link between cyanobacteria and neurodegenerative diseases is tenuous and unproven, according to the health department’s TRICKLE TO TORRENT

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Make Sure Your Vote Counts!

GRASPING FOR MUCH NEEDED GRACE: 20 DAYS OF NONPARTISAN PRAYER Our nation and society are deeply divided.

The churches of the Vermont Conference of the United Church of Christ invite you to unite in prayer for our country.

Beginning on October 15th, during the 20 days preceding the presidential election, we urge you to join our prayer initiative as we daily petition God for wisdom, patience, courage, healing, justice and peace.

This election season is unlike any we’ve ever experienced.

Daily prayers available at: vtcucc.org/election-prayers/

To help you better understand your choices, and how to make them, Seven Days has created a Voters’ Guide in advance

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of the November 3 election.

Find a list of candidates, answers to your FAQs and step-by-step instructions on the correct way to mail in your ballot.

SEVENDAYSVT.COM/VOTE2020

MARC NADEL

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10/6/20 12:10 PM

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Trickle to Torrent « P.32 Vose. But even if the science never bears out a connection, she said, there are still many reasons to be concerned about cyanobacteria exposure.

Which are the most worrisome bodies of water for cyanobacteria? Vose said it depends how you define it.

“The most problematic location,” she said, “would be anyplace where Vermonters are not aware of the risks … and how to protect themselves.”

K. P.

Stir Fried

Erik Andrus is not your typical Vermont farmer. That was apparent as he drove his Japanese rice combine through a weedchoked rice paddy earlier this month — wearing a beret.

But this summer, Andrus, who grows a type of Japanese rice prized by gourmet chefs, shared common, parched ground with many of those who struggled to coax reluctant crops from the earth. Soon after planting seedlings in five flooded acres in Ferrisburgh in May, his miscalculation became painfully clear.

“I quickly realized we weren’t going to have the water to sustain that much acreage,” said Andrus earlier this month beside a field of crisp brown husks of dead rice plants and weeds.

To grow rice, fields must be inundated with water deep enough to suppress weeds. It’s one of the most water-intensive forms of agriculture in the world.

Having sufficient water had rarely been a problem for Andrus. The lowlying fields of his Boundbrook Farm abut a tributary of Little Otter Creek. After rains, his 1.1 million-gallon irrigation pond normally fills to the brim in short order.

But the lack of spring rain meant there was no runoff, and by June the pond was reduced to a shallow, mucky mess.

“In the 10 years we’ve been doing rice, we’ve never had a year this bad,” Andrus said.

To conserve the little water that remained, he stopped irrigating one acre.

Then another. Then a third, hoping to salvage at least two acres of rice.

“In retrospect, we should have given up on all but one,” he said.

The rice in the abandoned fields quickly dried up and died. The water wasn’t deep enough in the two remaining acres to suppress the weeds, which quickly took over. He’s harvested about a tenth of what he expected.

“It sucks. It’s just been such a shitty year,” Andrus said.

The only upside has been that his flock 34

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 21-28, 2020

Erik Andrus

THE WEATHER WE’VE HAD IN VERMONT IN THE PAST COUPLE OF YEARS, IT’S BEEN FEAST OR FAMINE —

IT NEVER STOPS RAINING OR IT NEVER RAINS AT ALL. J ON ATHA N L UC AS

of 600 domestic ducks, which he raises in the flooded fields, fattened up nicely, and he was able to sell them in Canada for a handsome profit.

He remains undaunted by his crop losses, however, and is determined to press forward: Andrus is expanding to rented land in a new location two miles away along a larger creek.

The drought has been challenging for many kinds of farmers this year, said Alyson Eastman, deputy secretary of the state Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets.

The agency warned in August that the sporadic rainfall had provided little drought relief for the region, and a disaster declaration was in the works. If approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the declaration could provide farmers who lost crops emergency loans and price supports.

A photo released by the state agriculture department this summer showed a field of hemp plants in soil so dry it had cracked open. As bad as it has been, Eastman said, the difficult season has also

brought out the resourcefulness of the state’s agricultural industry.

“It’s amazing to see how farmers are adjusting,” Eastman said.

Many have embraced soil conservation, not only to reduce runoff that can pollute waterways but also to improve soil resiliency and crop yields, Eastman said. Use of no-till planting methods and cover crops improves soil health and makes the land better able to absorb rain — and therefore more climate resilient, she said.

Such techniques allowed farmers who lost one crop to drought this year to pivot to plant others when conditions improved, something that traditionally hasn’t been possible.

Orwell dairyman Jonathan Lucas said he has been working his tail off to adopt the best field management practices.

“The weather we’ve had in Vermont in the past couple of years, it’s been feast or famine — it never stops raining or it never rains at all,” said Lucas, who’s been raising dairy cows for almost a decade.

That makes it tough to grow enough

feed for his 280 milking cows. This year, his hay crop was inconsistent, and about 90 acres of corn never got the rain it needed to take off, he said. He was forced to purchase feed from a failed neighboring farm.

After a welcome August rain, Lucas decided to try to harvest something off the property, so he planted two feed crops he’d never tried before — soy and sorghum.

The yields haven’t been much to speak of, but every little bit helps keep feed costs in check and his dairy farm afloat during a time of depressed milk prices.

“It seems we’re having to try something different every year,” Lucas said.

K.M.

Climate Controlled

On a very different farm about an hour and a half northeast of Orwell, an early October thunderstorm unleashed a downpour furious even for the Mad River Valley. Dave Hartshorn and John Farr, surrounded by a sea of delicate green produce, looked heavenward, marveling at the intensity of the sudden deluge.

“Whoa, it’s really coming down now!”

Farr declared over the percussive din of raindrops pelting their Waitsfield farm.

Instead of scrambling to salvage their TRICKLE TO TORRENT

» P.36

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SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 21-28, 2020

IF THE CLIMATE CHANGES TO THE POINT WHERE YOU CAN’T GROW CROPS OUTSIDE,

THIS IS THE ANSWER. J OHN FAR R

cilantro and parsley, before landing on the basil, watercress and summer crisp leaf lettuce.

Energy costs can be significant, a major reason the model might not pencil out in other places, Farr said. The LED and highpressure sodium grow lights are highly efficient, but running them several hours a day all year would still do a number on their electric bill if it weren’t for their 100kW solar array. Low natural gas prices keep heating costs manageable, but if that changes, they can switch to a backup biomass boiler.

And keeping the place cool in summer — especially a hot one like this year’s — requires a two-pronged approach. A retractable shade curtain infused with aluminum strips reflects sunlight, and an evaporative cooling system keeps the temperature in check, if needed.

For water, a 475-foot-deep well draws 22 gallons per minute, more than enough for the half-acre operation. The water is mixed with fertilizer and delivered in a gravity-fed system to the base of the plants

PHOTOS: JEB WALLACE-BRODEUR

valuable vegetables, however, the men strolled calmly down neat crop rows as the torrent harmlessly drummed the greenhouse roof above.

As farmers across Vermont struggle to adapt to an increasingly unpredictable water cycle, more may be forced to seek shelter from extreme weather events by growing crops indoors.

“I think it’s going to get uglier before it gets better,” Farr said. “If the climate changes to the point where you can’t grow crops outside, this is the answer.”

“This” was thousands of tender lettuce, basil and watercress plants — from trays of pea-size sprouts to lush, leafy greens ready to fetch top-dollar in the Whole Foods produce aisle — protected from the elements raging on the other side of just a few millimeters of plastic.

“This is climate change,” Hartshorn said. “To do what we do, we’ve had to change the climate.”

When it’s snowing outside, the pampered, hydroponically grown plants bask in a near-constant 72 degrees. At night they soak up the rays from violethued LED lamps. When the summer sun threatens to scorch their delicate foliage, a high-tech shade cloth shields them. And no matter how much — or how little — rain the valley receives, they drink from a steady stream of nutrient-rich recycled well water.

When Irene slammed the state in August 2011, Hartshorn watched helplessly as floodwaters inundated his fields along the Mad River at the peak of the growing season.

So when he and his partners went looking for a place to locate an experimental hydroponic farm, they made sure to build Green Mountain Harvest Hydroponic’s greenhouses well outside of the expansive floodplain. They chose a spot uphill from Hartshorn’s popular farmstand, which is a major tourist draw in the Mad River Valley.

They opened in 2013 after an investment Farr admits would be cost-prohibitive for many farmers. The Hartshorn and Farr families own hundreds of acres of agricultural land combined and were able to leverage those acres to raise the money needed to get the new operation off the ground.

Finding a way to expand the growing season to year-round in Vermont seemed like a great idea, but it has been a struggle, Farr said.

Raising vegetables hydroponically — in water instead of soil — isn’t that hard, but doing it profitably is. They’ve tried more than 15 crops to date, including kale,

Ted and John Farr

Green Mountain Harvest Hydroponic

growing in row after row of containers that resemble waist-high rain gutters.

The combination of natural and artificial light, steady warmth, and a regular, nutrient-rich water supply mean the crops grow phenomenally quickly. The lettuce is ready to harvest in 30 days, so they get 12 crops a year. The basil grows even faster, yielding 14 crops annually. The superstar is the watercress, a water-sucking superfood ready to harvest 25 to 30 times per year.

They estimate that the ability to grow year-round and in ideal conditions gives their little greenhouse the productivity of a conventional 200-acre Vermont farm.

In addition to growing faster and in a cleaner environment, the greens are sweeter and more tender than the more fibrous field-grown versions, Hartshorn said.

The venture was hatched mostly to grow crops year-round in a more sustainable, efficient way. But Hartshorn said it has proven an important way to diversify a flood-prone farm, making it more resilient to the impacts of the climate crisis.

“I know that some of the land that I’m farming now,” he said, “will not be farmable when the big one comes.”

K.M.

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10/20/20 9:41 AM

2020 has been a year of challenges. Now, more than ever, neighbors in our communities need our help – and we’re responding. This year, in place of our traditional Hannaford Helps Fight Hunger boxes, we’ll be focusing on cash donations to help every dollar stretch even further – with every penny of every donation going directly to our local food pantries. Because together, we’re greater than groceries.

Grab a $5 or $10 donation card at your local Hannaford Supermarket today and help a neighbor in need. *Per USDA Meal Equivalent Guidelines

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SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 21-28, 2020

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10/16/20 9:11 AM

RETAIL THERAPY BY CAROLYN SHAPIRO

Sweet Relief

At AroMed Essentials, products soothe aches and pains — and smell good

Check out what other Vermont retailers are up to at shoptheregister.com.

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SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 21-28, 2020

JEB WALLACE-BRODEUR

K

rista Harness stopped at AroMed Essentials in downtown Montpelier last week to pick up a special cream and other gifts for a friend recovering from a major medical issue. As she handed her credit card to shop owner Lauren Andrews, she raved about the Relief Lotion and its “magic recipe” for mitigating muscle soreness, joint pain and body aches.

“I swear that stuff works, like, immediately,” she said. “I like that it’s arnica and CBD together, because I think they’re both really effective, and I don’t see that blend anywhere else.” Her son, too, endorsed its powers after using it to soothe a stiff neck, Harness told Andrews.

“One of the reasons I like coming here is because you’re a nurse,” Harness continued. “You have a medical background. Not that I come here for medical care, but I feel like I can talk to you.”

Such opportunities for conversation drove Andrews to open AroMed Essentials in 2015. At the time, she was working as a psychiatric nurse at Central Vermont Medical Center and helped launch its sensory integration program. It included yoga, music therapy, pet therapy and poetry writing as alternative mental health treatments, but it had nothing for the olfactory sense.

So Andrews added aromatherapy with essentials oils she sourced from other suppliers, before she started making her own “synergies,” or blends. For many in the sensory integration program, the therapeutic scents helped relieve anxiety, agitation and sleep disorders, in some cases offsetting the need for pharmaceuticals, Andrews said.

“The program became instantly, extraordinarily popular and helpful,” she recalled. “The patients were benefiting.”

Andrews, who lives in Barre, said she wanted to share those benefits with a wider audience. She chose to sell her

AroMed Essentials owner Lauren Andrews

I REALIZED THAT I WAS ONTO

SOMETHING VERY POWERFUL. L AU RE N A ND R E W S

wares from a physical storefront, not just online.

“I wanted to have that human interaction,” she said. “A lot of the skills that I used in the hospital setting, I use here.

You don’t just stop being a nurse.”

Andrews, 56, also described herself as a plant chemistry expert. She is a clinical aromatherapist and has certification in cannabis science and medicine from a course at the University of Vermont.

That may seem like a hefty résumé for a retailer, but AroMed Essentials is as devoted to dispensing knowledge as it is to selling wellness products. Andrews avoids making medical claims but will share scientific evidence and research with her customers.

“So people understand when they come here that they’re going to get accurate information, because there’s a sea of misinformation online, and certainly fraudulent products on the market,” she explained. “I think it’s irresponsible to sell plant supplements unless you are educated and experienced.”

As for that “magic” Relief Lotion, a fellow aromatherapist friend blends the creamy base of arnica and white willow, which Andrews now buys in 12-gallon orders. Andrews created the rest of the formula of CBD and essential oils after completing a pain-management workshop.

When she opened AroMed Essentials — AroMed stands for “aromatic medicine” — Andrews became one of the state’s first retailers to sell products containing CBD, or cannabidiol, a component of the hemp plant that doesn’t have psychotropic properties. The store’s best sellers are the CBD tinctures she concocts for users to take orally, as drops under the tongue or in food or beverages, Andrews said.

“I realized that I was onto something very powerful and something that was going to be very popular and helpful to people,” she said.

Her foundational brand of essential oils, lotions and tinctures provides the bulk of AroMed Essentials’ sales. In her nearby production space, Andrews also makes hand sanitizer spray with a pleasant bouquet of Bulgarian lavender, sweet orange, eucalyptus and thyme essential oils.

The shop sells other manufacturers’ bath soaps and body lotions, jewelry, bags, eye and neck pillows, diffusers for essential oils, and a variety of stones believed to have healing and energetic properties.

Andrews also carries hemp flower and CBD edibles and isolates by Vermont suppliers she trusts, including Lily Hill, Mansfield Provisions, RopaNa Wellness and HempVet, which makes CBD treats and supplements for pets.

In the past two years, Andrews opened AroMed Essentials stores in the Berlin Mall and in Hanover, N.H. But that growth required that she focus more on management than customer care; she had been thinking of consolidating the business

back into one store when the coronavirus clinched the decision.

Andrews’ leases in Berlin and Hanover were set to expire just after Gov. Phil Scott issued an emergency order temporarily shuttering businesses to stem the spread of COVID-19. So she closed those locations permanently, laying off five retail employees and keeping one production worker.

Since the Montpelier store reopened in June, AroMed Essentials has maintained steady online sales, many from regular customers at the other locations who shifted to web orders. As a result, the average monthly revenue at her remaining business has increased by about 20 percent, Andrews estimated. She declined to quantify the amount of sales she lost from the two closed stores.

Last Thursday, which marked AroMed Essentials’ five-year anniversary, Andrews was offering a storewide 20 percent discount during Montpelier Madness, a three-day event to generate shopping traffic. Andrews thought the promotion helped prompt a steady stream of customers that afternoon.

One of them was Alice Goltz. “What’s good for muscles?” she asked Andrews, explaining that she suffers from stiffness and pain.

Andrews steered her to the Relief Lotion and dropped a dollop on Goltz’s hand with a plastic sample spoon. “Oh, it feels nice,” Goltz said.

“And it works,” Andrews responded.

“It’s got CBD and anti-inflammatory essential oils in it. We’ve sold thousands of jars of this.”

Goltz chose the two-ounce jar, which sells for $26.95. “You just put it on at least three or four times a day, and it really kind of numbs the pain, helps with mobility [and] range of motion,” Andrews instructed. She added that she would honor the 20 percent discount if Goltz wanted to return another time for the larger size.

“It’s not just about making dollar bills,” Andrews said after Goltz left the store.

“It’s about having relationships, and it’s about helping the people we serve.” m Contact: shapiro@sevendaysvt.com

INFO AroMed Essentials, 8 State St., Montpelier, 505-1405, aromedessentials.com.

Retail Therapy is a seasonal series focused on retail businesses around Vermont.

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WIN $500 FOR GIFTS!

NOW THROUGH OCTOBER 30

Wanna be on the “nice” list?

Get vocal about gifting local!

Vermont merchants have faced mandatory store closures and other challenges during the pandemic, but many are open for business now and need your support — especially this holiday season.

Now through October 30*, tell us where you’re shopping locally in person or online for the holidays, and you’ll be entered to win a $500 gift card to the Vermont retailer of your choice!

SEVENDAYSVT.COM/GIFT-LOCAL

The shops with the most vocal support will be featured in the Seven Days Holiday Gift Guide on November 18. *Shopping for gifts will be different this year. Gotta start early!

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 21-28, 2020

39

Mailing It In A photographer chronicles Vermont’s early voters

T Donna Smyers, Cindy Gardner-Morse and Dolly dropping off ballots in Calais

P HO T O S B Y T ER RY J . A L L EN

he 2020 U.S. General Election is almost here. And, in Vermont and all over the country, voting is already in full swing. Record numbers of Americans from coast to coast are showing up to polling places early or casting mail-in ballots.

According to the Vermont Secretary of State’s Office, as of October 20, Vermonters had returned 163,784 early or absentee ballots, surpassing the previous record of 95,000 such ballots sent in the 2016 election. That number is more than half of the 320,000 total votes Vermonters cast in the 2016 election. And there are almost two weeks to go until Election Day on Tuesday, November 3.

“It’s a really important election,” said Terry J. Allen, an East Montpelier photographer who has spent the past several weeks documenting Vermonters as they cast their ballots. “I wanted to show a cross-section of Vermonters mailing or bringing their ballots to the town clerk and voting this year,” she said.

“Voting is an essential component of democracy,” Allen continued. “But it is only one of many steps needed to ensure that we have a just and compassionate government that serves and protects people.”

Allen, a 25-year veteran of print journalism who transitioned to photojournalism “in the past five or 10 years,” has trained her lens on central Vermont voters from different socioeconomic backgrounds and across the political spectrum. Regardless of their political leanings, she said, the voters she’s spoken with expressed a universal sense that this election matters.

“People care a lot,” Allen said. “People are really invested in the results of the election because they know it will, in some ways, determine the future of democracy in this country.”

At long last, that’s something on which everyone may be able to agree.

Here is a selection of photos from Allen’s “Vermont Votes 2020” series. Find more at flickr.com/photos/terryallen.

2020

ELECTION

Joe Martinez working at the Salvation Army in East Montpelier. Martinez, whose father fled to the U.S. from Fidel Castro’s Cuba, went for Trump in 2016 but will vote for Biden in 2020.

DAN BO LLE S

Above: Anne Ferguson and Nancy Schulz of Montpelier

Karli and Justin Brown supporting Trump and QAnon in Woodbury

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Separated by a plastic curtain, Fran Weinbaum is visiting and filling out ballots with her mother, Elvira Woodworth, at Heaton Woods Residence in Montpelier

COURTESY OF DANI SMITH

Calais resident Aranya Phonjan Azarian, 19, is voting for the first time. Hooligan, 10, will have to wait.

Scott Luscombe, who lives in Hyde Park, is a master forester and a voter.

Larry Bowling and Joe Shadroui on their porch in Barre

Diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma, a type of bone cancer, Peyton Smith of Montpelier, who turned 18 this spring and is currently in hospice, was determined to vote. His mother, Dani, took this photo and wrote: “I hope his dedication to voting will inspire others to take the time and vote! It meant the world to him.”

Deborah and Jim Lacourse, reunited childhood sweethearts, have a giant Halloween display in their East Montpelier yard, along with the pro-Trump signage.

Dorigen Keeney and Carl Powden down on the farm in Johnson. The piggies, Maybelline and Stella, won’t be voting.

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 21-28, 2020

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n the summer of 2015, Dustin Eager was working at Burlington bar Red Square after graduating from the University of Vermont. He’d recently bought a bike for the first time and was enjoying local explorations on two wheels.

He’d usually bring the bike inside while he was at work, but one evening after a late shift, he left it chained up overnight on Church Street and caught a ride home.

“I came back the next day, and one of the wheels was missing,” Eager said. He went home to get his car and came back to pick up the bike; by that point, the other wheel and the seat had been swiped, too.

The warm weather waned, and it was several months before Eager decided to replace the missing parts. Eventually, he went to Old Spokes Home, found some new wheels and learned how to fix up the bike.

Eager said to himself, “‘I’m going to use this as an opportunity to become an amateur bike mechanic,’” he recalled. “I was so proud of myself.”

10/19/20 3:30 PM

Roughly three weeks later, after Eager locked up the bike on Church Street again, someone cut his cable lock. This time, the whole bike was gone.

Eager’s story is not unusual in Burlington. Local Facebook and Front Porch Forum pages are full of missing bikes. Bikes have disappeared from backyards, downtown bike racks and the UVM campus. Some bikes were unlocked, but others were absconded by thieves who cut locks, removed tires and even hacked through the wooden bars of porch railings. It’s so common that it’s become a punch line, a meme, a Burlington Thing.

But bike theft isn’t unique to the Queen City. According to estimates by 529 Garage, a bike registry website, more than two million bikes are stolen every year in the U.S. — and only one in five is reported to the police. Theft puts a dent in bike ridership: 25 percent of theft victims report riding less after the incident, and 7 percent quit cycling altogether.

Bikes are attractive to thieves for many reasons, according to the Arizona State University Center for Problem-Oriented Policing. Bikes are widely available, fairly valuable, inconspicuous to be seen with, and easily flipped and sold. But not all bikes are stolen for resale; sometimes, people just need a ride from one place to another and later abandon the bike.

As with other crimes, there are different approaches to thinking about bike theft, as outlined in a BBC study guide about crime for British students. The individualist approach holds that crime is a choice and a personal responsibility; the collectivist approach, that societal conditions, including poverty and inequality, drive crime.

Most of the efforts around bike theft focus on prevention. When a bike goes missing, there’s usually not much anyone

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can do about it. Eager said he “diligently bikes stolen from her backyard in the Old filed a police report” and scanned Craigslist North End. She filed a police report but and local buy-and-sell pages. “I was confi- said it didn’t seem to go anywhere and that dent that I was going to catch whoever was police seemed “a bit dismissive” because going to sell my bike. she’d waited a week to file the report.

“I think maybe these people are a Culkins posted about the bikes in Front little more savvy than that,” he contin- Porch Forum and heard from another local, ued. “I definitely would have confronted Linnie Miller. Miller asked for photos of someone who was trying to sell it. In that the bikes and said she’d keep her ear to the respect, I’m almost glad I didn’t find it.” ground. Three weeks after the bikes disapWade Labrecque, a deputy chief at peared, Miller connected Culkins to a post the Burlington Police Department, esti- about a bike dumped in someone’s yard in mated that the department solves 30 to Winooski. It was one of her missing bikes.

40 percent of the bike thefts reported. “It was amazing,” Culkins said.

And though busts of large-scale theft Miller, who works at ANEW Place, operations may make headlines, as when a low-barrier shelter, said she sees South Burlington police “borrowed” bikes turn up found 16 bikes in a man’s there occasionally, and she Burlington apartment spots abandoned bikes and in August, Labrecque parts scattered along the said it’s more common waterfront bike path. She also spends a fair amount that bikes are returned because they’re found of time on Champlain abandoned.

Black Market and other Ben Emery was a Facebook groups, and member of the UVM she makes a point to note details about bikes that are cycling team when two bikes were stolen from reported missing or found.

“I’m just very active in the living room of the house in which he lived. my community, and I’ve A few other items were always been,” Miller said.

She reported reuniting missing, and multiple B E N EMERY other bikes weren’t five or six bikes with their taken, so Emery guessed original owners. the bikes were used mainly as getaway The advice around dealing with bike vehicles. He and his roommates filed a theft is generally similar from all sources: police report; police found and returned Invest in a quality lock, bring bikes inside one bike, belonging to a roommate’s when possible, write down the serial partner, though Emery said they wouldn’t number (usually found by flipping the provide any information on how it was bike upside down and inspecting the joint recovered. where the pedal cranks meet), and take “I was under the impression that [my photos of the bike. bike] was going to be recovered once the Patrick McGinn, a manager at Old police returned the other stolen bike,” Spokes Home, said the serial number and Emery said. Instead, he got radio silence. photos can help people identify their bike “It took a long time to get in contact with if it’s stolen and turns up abandoned or anyone who was actually involved in that in a shop. A receipt from purchase can case, and, once I did, all they said was, ‘We also help. As for preventing the theft, he don’t have anything,’” he recalled. emphasized the quality of the bike lock, Emery now lives in Albuquerque, the location in which the bike is locked N.M., where his brother recently had a and the length of time it’s left there. bike stolen. “If we want to solve the prob“If you have the best bike rack ever and lem of bike theft, in my view, it seems like you leave your bike there for two weeks, we have to start addressing why the need at some point someone’s going to notice,” for theft is present in so many people,” McGinn said. “It sucks, and it’s a shame, Emery said. but it is going to happen. Really the best For some Burlingtonians, a community- thing we can do is to educate people.” based approach to recovering bikes has actually worked. Daisy Culkins had two Contact: margaret@sevendaysvt.com

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From Gundruk to Goose Sausage Delicious meals from area eateries for $12 or less B Y S A LLY POL L AK, JORDAN BARRY & ME LISSA PAS ANE N

JORDAN BARRY

assembly line, from the washing station in the driveway into a hand-cranked apple grinder, then into the small wooden press (also hand-cranked). Fifty pounds and several hours in, we were getting hungry.

It was going to be a long night.

The Bristol residents knew the drill: Time to call the Bobcat Café & Brewery. I had worked up quite the appetite pulverizing apples in the grinder, so a hearty burger sounded exactly right.

After a glance at the menu, I decided on not just a burger but the Obarski burger ($10): homemade goose sausage, blue cheese, bacon and chipotle-raspberry jam on a pretzel bun. The description also said “No pickles!!” If that was an inside joke, I was too hungry to ask about it.

THE UNCTUOUSNESS OF THE GOOSE SAUSAGE WAS CUT BY

THE SPICY, FRUITY JAM.

The Obarski burger, fries and a Big Ole Fat Salad from the Bobcat Café & Brewery

W

e’ve been running a series called “Dining on a Dime” on our Bite Club blog since 2016. Over the years, we’ve enjoyed well-made, filling bites — substantial enough to qualify as a small meal or better — for $12 or less at 96 different establishments.

We often discuss raising the price limit for the weekly-ish series — even a sandwich can be $14 these days! But it’s always been a fun challenge to stop in somewhere

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SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 21-28, 2020

and see what we can get on a budget. And now, during the pandemic, highlighting places to eat affordably seems more important than ever.

“Cheap eats” don’t fall into any one category; they can be global, farm-to-table, comfort food or even on the menu at places we classify as “fine dining.” It just takes a little creative ordering.

Here are seven places we’ve eaten well on the cheap over the past few months.

J.B.

GOOSEBUMPS

The Bobcat Café & Brewery, 5 Main St., Bristol, 453-3311, thebobcatcafe.com

My husband and I headed to Bristol on a recent Saturday afternoon with one mission: to turn 200-plus pounds of apples into hard cider.

Our friends had converted their garage in the village into a fledgling fermentory.

We passed Wicksons, Dabinetts, Dolgo crab apples and foraged apples down the

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The Bobcat is open only for pickup, with orders and payment taken over the phone. The restaurant has been serving a frequently changing, low-cost takeout menu since the beginning of the pandemic.

As we wrote down our list of burgers and po’boys, all $10, I realized the restaurant would be a great fit for Dining on a Dime. We did the quick math to figure out whether we could split an order of garlicherb French fries ($5) and a Big Ole Fat Salad ($10) among the four of us and decided it was close enough. (We’d used all of our arithmetic abilities to estimate how many gallons of cider we’d end up with.)

It took a few tries to get through to a human and place our order, but this was Saturday at 6 p.m., and the locals told us the food was totally worth the unsurprising wait.

Half an hour later, we pulled up to the

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Bobcat and joined a small, well-spaced queue. When my name was called, I ran into the vestibule and grabbed our paper bags from the pickup table, following the rules of the restaurant’s slick system.

Back in the garage, sitting on an apple crate, I dove into the rich, flavor-packed burger. It was everything I needed to keep up the grind for the next 150 pounds.

The unctuousness of the goose sausage — a phrase I never thought I’d write, given how rarely goose sausage shows up on a menu — was cut by the spicy, fruity jam.

Each bite of the Obarski burger blended notes of tart, sweet and savory in a way I could only hope our finished cider would.

I immediately put in a vote to name our first batch after it.

J.B.

that, in a normal season, are prepared and plated for diners at the Inn at Shelburne Farms. The inn, as well as all farm buildings, is closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This fall, the produce is available for purchase outside the visitor center-cumfarm store. Open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., the store also sells Shelburne Farms cheese, maple syrup, eggs and prepared foods.

We were super psyched to discover that those prepared dishes come from the inn’s kitchen, which typically turns out expensive dinners for in-house diners.

This year it offers excellent meals at very reasonable prices.

Our favorite is the rich, classic beef lasagna made with beef raised on the farm, tomatoes, cheese and béchamel sauce. A $12 lasagna feeds two. (I spend

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Shelburne Farms, 1611 Harbor Rd., Shelburne, 985-8686, shelburnefarms.org

It’s two miles from the visitor center at Shelburne Farms to the inn and gardens on Lake Champlain, or a little more, depending on your route. But who’s marking the distance when a walk across the property — past grazing Brown Swiss cows and the milking barn — is a double win: one of the most beautiful strolls in Vermont combined with an effortless shopping trip?

Yes, a shopping trip. You can take a walk at Shelburne Farms while a staffer packs your online food order for curbside pickup. If you’re an impulse shopper, you can even phone in your order from the parking lot, go for a walk and return to get your food.

The farm’s seven-acre market garden produces organic vegetables and herbs

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more money on ingredients when I make my own lasagna, though it fills a big pan.)

Vegetarian lasagna costs $11. Both come frozen and need to be defrosted and warmed in the oven. We eat ours with salad and bread; the dinner is both a treat and a bargain.

We’ve also had the macaroni and cheese ($8) and the squash blossom fettuccine ($5), and we’ve become fall fans of the beef or veggie chili ($12 a quart).

With the farms’ garden and hoop houses producing a beautiful autumn harvest — Brussels sprouts, beets, onions, Swiss chard, celery root, squash, turnips — that will extend well into December, it’s easy to look past the prepared meals.

But a late afternoon walk turns into a one-night vacation when it ends with dinner-in-a-bag.

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From Gundruk to Goose Sausage « P.45

MAKING NEW FRIENDS

Friend’s Nepali Restaurant, 212 Main St., Winooski, 654-8000, Facebook at Friends (no apostrophe) Nepali Restaurant (closed on Tuesdays)

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SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 21-28, 2020

M.P.

DOLMA DELIGHT

Honey Road, 156 Church St., Burlington, 497-2145, honeyroadrestaurant.com

EACH BITE WARMS LIKE A HUG, AT A TIME WHEN HUGS ARE TOO FEW AND FAR BETWEEN.

Conscious Eatz’s chickpea tuna sandwich

FIL

E:

SA

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House special thali (clockwise from top left): gundruk soup, lentil soup, ema datshi, mango chutney, two breads, gulab jamun and rice from Friend’s Nepali Restaurant

Y

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Some food is made to be eaten, not photographed. I’d throw Honey Road’s eggplantand-corn grape-leaf pie into that category.

It’s not that the dish doesn’t look good, just that the purpose would be better served by an audio clip of me OMGing when I took my first bite.

(Plus, skipping the photos means we can start eating sooner.)

Still, if I remember correctly, it was a photograph on Instagram that alerted me to Honey’s Road inventive dolma. The price ($12) for this Eggplant-and-corn grape-leaf seasonal special was a draw. The pie from Honey Road ingredients — eggplant, corn, dill, grape leaf and labne (lots of it!) — clinched it. Plus: jasmine rice.

A mound of vegetables is always going to excite me. When eggplant is part of the mix, sweet local corn is featured, and the meal is set on a bed of grape leaves, it’s enough to make me leave home for the takeout window.

For us uninventive types who think a dolma is supposed to look like a cigar, what a revelation to come across one in the shape of a hockey puck. Slap shot. Score.

S.P.

FIRMLY PLANTED

Conscious Eatz food truck, often parked at 6 Clarke St., Burlington, consciouseatz.com

FILE: JORDAN BARRY

I visited Friend’s Nepali Restaurant, which reopened under new ownership the first week of August, on the recommendation of a friend who spoke glowingly of the vegetable curry and the gundruk — fermented and dried greens that are a Nepali staple. I was particularly intrigued by the latter, which I’d never tasted.

When I unearthed a current menu on Facebook and called to order lunch, co-owner Rup Mizar encouraged me to try the lamb curry. I thought it was $12, but the delicious curry actually rang up at $12.50.

Under normal circumstances, 50 cents would not be a big deal, but if you want to follow the rules of Dining on a Dime, order the curry with chicken ($11.50) or kidney beans ($10.50). Both come bathed in the same deep and balanced red-brown sauce, made with garlic, ginger, housemade masala spice mix and paprika. Each bite warms like a hug, at a time when hugs are too few and far between.

Gundruk is available only as part of the multicourse house special thali. Although technically a rule-breaking $15, a single thali met our criteria because it delivered an ample meal for two, especially when preceded by a pair of vegetable samosas ($4.50) stuffed with a well-spiced potato mixture that zinged with mild heat.

Thali would normally be presented on a round tray, with dishes like planets orbiting a sun of rice. My takeout version was a stack of containers holding cracker-like papadum; soft paratha bread; basmati rice; mango pickle; lentil daal; gundruk soup; and ema datshi, also new to me. Gulab jamun, or sweet condensed milk balls in syrup, rounded out the meal.

When I picked up my order, Sabitra Poudyel, the restaurant’s co-owner and Mizar’s cousin, greeted me warmly and said she’d included an extra gulab jamun. Even if she hadn’t, our total budget of $24 had room for another order of two of the sweet treats ($3) or a mango lassi to share ($3), plus an extra papadum ($1.20), my son’s favorite for its toasty chickpea and cumin flavor.

Poudyel later gave me a primer on the two unfamiliar dishes, both of which I enjoyed very much. They represent the dual background of her family and more than 2,500 Bhutanese of Nepali heritage in Vermont.

Most spent years in eastern Nepal refugee camps after leaving Bhutan due to ethnic and religious persecution.

Friend’s Nepali makes its gundruk from

mustard leaves. The slight funk and chewy texture are complemented by potato chunks and a broth of tomatoes, garlic and ginger.

Ema datshi, a national dish of Bhutan, consists of cauliflower, potato and daikon radish cooked until tender with bell peppers in a rich, tangy sauce of yogurt and butter.

Poudyel recounted how she and Mizar came to buy a restaurant during a pandemic.

Her younger brother, Ganga Dahal, was just 25 when he passed away in April from cancer. “It was his dream to own the restaurant,” she said. “We could not save him, but we have his dream.”

Burlington’s vegan scene got a bit bigger — and more mobile — on September 3 when Conscious Eatz rolled into town. The food truck eventually parked near the top of the Church Street Marketplace.

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» P.48

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Tacos from Caja Madera in 2016

Keep on Truckin’ HARDWICK’S CAJA MADERA FOOD TRUCK SETTLES IN A WINTER LOCATION

This week, chef-owner BRYAN PALILONIS opens his CAJA MADERA food truck for the winter in a renovated two-bay, heated garage on Route 15 in Hardwick, across from the Aubuchon Hardware store.

In that temporary covered location, Palilonis offers lunch and early dinner out of Caja Madera’s converted horse trailer. Next week, he’ll add breakfast. Most orders are to-go, but customers can eat on-site at two well-spaced tables in view of a warming desert scene painted by Burlington-based Anthill Collective.

The menu includes

four daily taco choices, such as housemade chorizo sausage, smoked guajillo chile-maple carnitas, and verde shrimp marinated in garlic and tomatillos with mango salsa.

Caja Madera will expand beyond tacos to offer gyros with homemade pita bread on Wednesdays, smoked wings with house-infused hot honey on Thursdays and barbecue plates on Fridays, Palilonis said.

The breakfast menu will include burritos, empanadas and freshly made papas, or home fries.

On the drinks menu are Mexican sodas, such as Jarritos, and kombucha from NOMADIC ROOTS STUDIO & KITCHEN in Craftsbury. “Their seasalt-and-lime kombucha is like a nonalcoholic margarita,” Palilonis said.

The chef is no stranger to operating a food truck through cold weather. He launched his first version of the taco truck in February 2016 — outdoors — but has taken the past two winters off. This year, his normally busy summer and fall wedding schedule tanked, going from 30 events to six, and he needed to keep generating revenue through the winter, he said.

Caja Madera is open Tuesday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.; starting October 27, opening time will be 7:30 a.m. Find the day’s menu on Facebook and Instagram. m

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From Gundruk to Goose Sausage « P.46

Elf’s Stone Soup were back in action after a six-month moratorium. The trio of basics made their comeback along with sandwiches, soups, muffins, apple crisp, bread and the changing array of items in the café’s hot and cold bars.

The not-so-normal part is that those hot and cold bars are no longer self-serve, which was Stone Soup’s prepandemic way. Now a staffer fills your plate for you. A Plexiglas shield — probably the best looking in town — separates the food and the people, guarding

have followed a plant-based diet for the past few years. When they moved back to Burlington in summer 2020, they noticed a “major gap in vegan and vegetarian foods,” Morgan said.

“For such a progressive city, it really surprised us that there weren’t more options,” she continued.

Approachability is key to the food truck’s menu. Items such as Buffalo cauliflower tacos ($12) and the maple-glazed tempeh burrito ($11) have been popular from the get-go.

“We really tried to make all of our ingredients and menu items Dinner from Zabby & Elf’s Stone Soup things that would appeal to anybody,” Morgan said.

“If one person who typically eats meat decides for one of their meals, one day a week, to not eat meat, that in itself has a positive impact.”

With that in mind, my dining companion and I skipped our usual omnivorous lunch plans and ordered Conscious Eatz’s chickpea tuna sandwich ($9) and Lucerne club ($9), both of which one from the other. (Ever been tempted to came with an ample side of potato chips. snitch a crouton or an olive at Stone Soup?

The “tuna” successfully mimics the clas- Sorry, that game is over.) sic sandwich. The combination of chickThe new service system at Stone Soup peas and smooth hummus — spiked with offers two pathways. You can tell a staffer celery — has everything but the fishiness. what you’d like — three chicken wings, It would be a perfectly polite solution to please, some curried cauliflower and chicka tuna craving at the office, if sitting near peas, and those seared Brussels sprouts! Or, coworkers for lunch al desko were some- how about some salad and cottage cheese, thing we could actually do. a spoonful of pickled beets, a hit of roasted The Lucerne club strays further from the mushrooms, and dried apricots? original (no frilly toothpicks), but it’s a twist Or you can opt for a chef’s tasting plate: worth trying. The sandwich is piled high $10 for small, $15 for large. Specify vegan, with shredded carrots, sprouts and crispy vegetarian or omnivore and let a Stone “carrot bacon” and slathered with a Thai- Souper pick your food for you. inspired peanut sauce.

I’m always pleased to relinquish responIn a world of increasingly expensive sibility, so I allowed the server to create my sandwiches, these felt like a good deal at $9. plate when my daughter and I stopped for Tempted by the desserts — particularly the dinner one evening in mid-September. blueberry cheezecake ($5) — we skipped Though the dining room is open at reduced them to stay under our $12-per-person limit. capacity, with off-limits tables marked by We were so stuffed we didn’t even miss the arrangements of stones and flowers, we sweets. took our meals home.

J.B. “We’re working hard to create products that work in this setting — but still serving the food everybody has been used to,” co-owner Tim Elliott told me. “You need to have trust in your server.”

Zabby & Elf’s Stone Soup, 211 College St., As it happened, co-owner Avery Rifkin Burlington, 862-7616, stonesoupvt.com was on duty the evening we visited, and I Normalcy — sort of — returned to Burling- certainly trust him (and everyone else at ton’s College Street in September in the Stone Soup) to feed me. I chose the small form of sweet potatoes, kale and brown rice. plate ($10) to qualify for Dining on a Dime, The mainstays of the hot bar at Zabby & which left me $2 for a chocolate cookie.

Rifkin loaded me up with food I’ve been missing for six months: chicken wings, kale salad, cucumber salad, mac and cheese with vegetables, beet hummus, and a thick slice of whole wheat bread.

Stone Soup opened the week before Rosh Hashanah, a holiday that calls for in-house noshing. On that occasion, several days after my takeout dinner, a friend and I met at the café for coffee and rugelach at a table by the big open window.

If I could pick a word to describe the mark-

IT WAS HARD TO BELIEVE

THIS HOAGIE-SIZE BÁNH MÌ COST $4.95.

48

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 21-28, 2020

FILE PHOTO

FILE: SALLY POLLAK

TRIED-AND-TRUE TRIAD

ing of the Jewish New Year at Stone Soup, “normal” is not it. The café’s candlelit celebration is one of a kind — or, at least, like nothing I’ve ever seen in a restaurant.

A baking marathon yields loaves of round challah, rugelach, mini babkas, apple cake and honey cake. The baked goods are set on a counter that also holds candles, flowers, pumpkins and gourds. The tiered stack of rugelach, an annual engineering marvel, is high and holy — as in, holy smoke!

Check it out next year.

Meanwhile, you’ll find braided and seeded challah behind Plexiglas every Friday. For $7 a loaf, you can dine on a carbo dime — and have $5 left for sweet potatoes and kale.

S.P.

TURNED ON TO TOFU BÁNH MÌ M-Saigon Restaurant, 370 Shelburne Rd., Burlington, 865-8383, Facebook

My daughter and I are typically winter customers at M-Saigon Restaurant on Shelburne Road, where we’re fond of the pho with tofu and vegetables and the drunken noodles with chicken.

So I hadn’t been thinking about the Vietnamese restaurant in Burlington’s South End over the summer, until I went to the post office one late August day and noticed that M-Saigon, just next door, was open.

Here was the right spot for Dining on a Dime, I thought.

But the noodle dish costs $12.95, just over this feature’s $12 limit. And it was summer — I wasn’t in the mood for soup.

How lucky for us that considerations of price and season pushed us to look anew at the menu. My daughter chose grilled lemongrass honey chicken with vermicelli ($11.95). I got chicken dumplings ($5.95) and the lemongrass tofu bánh mì ($4.95).

For $22.85, before tax and tip, we shared a very good and satisfying meal for two.

(Unsolicited tip advice: Tip at least 20 percent — 25 if you can swing it — when you’re picking up food to-go or buying a beer at an outdoor bar. If a business is collecting money for a local nonprofit rather than accepting a gratuity, contribute a comparable amount.)

The generous portion of vermicelli at M-Saigon came with two pieces of grilled chicken, a medley of vegetables — cucumbers, bean sprouts, daikon, carrots and shallots — and Bánh mì crushed peanuts.

I probably hold sandwiches to the highest standard of any food group, and the bánh mì was terrific. Served on a housemade baguette, the sliced tofu was garnished with cilantro, a crunchy wedge of cucumber, pickled daikon and carrots. The staff held the house mayo at my request and substituted sweet chile sauce (their idea). It was hard to believe this hoagie-size bánh mì, with ingredients we’re not likely to pull from our home refrigerator, cost $4.95.

M-Saigon closed in mid-March, in compliance with Vermont’s coronavirus shutdown order, and reopened on July 6, according to Chantalle Nguyen, daughter of chef-owner Khoi Nguyen. A psychology major at the University of Vermont, Chantalle is balancing restaurant work with university classes.

Chantalle Nguyen was in elementary school in 2008, when her parents opened the restaurant. Her favorite items on the menu are the crispy pork bánh mì and the grilled lemongrass pork on vermicelli, she said. As a new fan of the tofu bánh mì, I’m planning a return trip for the Nguyenrecommended one ($4.95).

“I grew up eating this food,” Nguyen said. “A lot of the food that is on the menu we cook at home on a regular basis, for regular dinners.”

S.P.

Contact: jbarry@sevendaysvt.com, pasanen@sevendaysvt.com, sally@sevendaysvt.com

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Ellen Fullman and her Long String Instrument

COURTESY OF NICOLAS JOUBARD

S UNDbites

News and views on the local music + nightlife scene B Y JO R D A N A D A MS

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Two weeks ago, I started a new series in this column focusing on local record stores. Other than the fact that I just 50

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 21-28, 2020

COURTESY OF GREG DAVIS

Sigh. I’m starting this week with a little bit of housekeeping. Last Friday, New York City ensemble the QUEEN’S CARTOONISTS were meant to play a show at the Shelburne Museum. But the dang rain and frigid temperature meant an outdoor, socially distant show was just not possible. However, as promised by the Flynn, who presented the show, the animation-obsessed sextet will return in the spring of 2021.

This is good news for anyone who wasn’t able to get a ticket. The show, which had a fairly limited capacity, sold out ahead of time. Maybe by next spring we won’t have to put such harsh restrictions on audience size. In any case, definitely check out the Q&A with bandleader JOEL PIERSON that ran in last week’s music section, because the Queen’s Cartoonists are the shit, and you should get to know them before they descend upon us next year.

Moving on…

Greg Davis, owner of Autumn Records

like vinyl a whole damn lot and I want people to patronize our local shops, I’m putting a focus on record stores because, once upon a time, they used to get love in this paper on a weekly basis in the form of sales charts. But we stopped doing that in the mid- to late aughts, because CD sales weren’t exactly a thing worthy of consideration at the time. Thanks a lot, iTunes. Little did we know, vinyl was poised to make a serious comeback over the next decade.

This week’s featured record shop

is Winooski’s Autumn Records, which arrived on the circle a little more than three years ago. Before opening the store, proprietor GREG DAVIS was known locally as the grand master of all things experimental, from composing and recording his own work to bolstering the music of other avant-garde artists to curating a free event series called Signals. Just recently, Davis unveiled a new service called Outer Sounds Vinyl Subscription.

“Things have been pretty good for

us,” Davis told me on a recent visit to the shop. “I feel grateful and fortunate for that.”

Like all retail businesses, Autumn Records closed in March when the shit hit the fan. The store reopened in June and, in the interim, primarily survived on online sales through vinyl marketplace Discogs.

During his downtime, Davis revamped Autumn Records’ website to include a web store for the first time. It features all of the new titles currently in the shop.

“That was a lot of work,” he said, gesturing at the vastness of new discs in stock. “I had to enter in manually every single new vinyl that we had.”

Davis said in-store sales have been almost back to normal since reopening in June, and online sales have remained higher than normal. He noted that only a fraction of what’s offered in store is available via Discogs, but some select titles are only available via the online shop, such as the more valuable and collectible titles. Or, as Davis put it, “random stuff that’s expensive for some reason.” (As he subsequently clarified, scarcity and demand are the main driving factors, same as in any sector.

GOT MUSIC NEWS? JORDAN@SEVENDAYSVT.COM

WE WILL BE CLOSED THIS WEEK Due to operational and staffing challenges, we will not be open to the public this week.

But predicting what wax will suddenly become a hot commodity is tricky.)

Outer Sounds is a niche service all about what Davis loves most: weird-ass shit. Or, as is listed on the website: ambient, drone, dub, electronics (new and old), ethnographic, krautrock, minimalism, modern composition, new age, psychedelic, spiritual and free jazz.

“It’s something I’ve wanted to do since I opened, and I finally took the time,” he said of launching the project. He used some of his Vermont Emergency Economic Recovery Grant funds to develop the service’s website, which is a separate entity from the record store’s site.

“There are a lot of other vinyl subscriptions services out there, and they’re all pretty cool and good, but I felt like there was a niche for me to have a service that’s more focused on the stuff that I love, which is … the outer realms of the music world,” Davis said.

Here’s how it works: Users sign up for three months at a time and will receive one record per month by mail.

Some titles might be reissued older albums, and some will be brand-new releases. Davis plans to pair each month’s pick with additional web content to provide some context, including interviews with artists, people who run record labels, avid collectors or others affiliated in some way with a given month’s pick.

The supplemental content will be available to anyone who visits the website, rather than be exclusively for subscribers. That’s a smart move, in my opinion, because people who are on the fence about subscribing could be swayed to fork over their cash through compelling content.

Outer Sounds’ first pick, ELLEN FULLMAN’s music for the man who grew common in wisdom, will be sent out the first week of November. Davis interviewed Fullman via video chat and posted it on the service’s website. I personally don’t know much about her, but I’m quite intrigued by something called the Long String Instrument,

which, according to Fullman’s website, is “an installation of dozens of wires fifty feet or more in length” that she’s been developing since the ’80s. Read more about the project at ellenfullman.com.

If you recall from my interview with XAVIER JIMENEZ, co-owner of Buch Spieler Records in Montpelier, his shop has also recently launched a vinyl subscription service. But Buch Spieler’s and Davis’ services are completely different. Davis is peddling only new vinyl and acting as a true curator, while Jimenez and business partner KNAYTE LANDER are pushing new and used titles and attempting to be something like a human Pandora. Tell the Capital City music heads what kind of stuff you’re into, and they’ll take a stab at something from their stock that they think you’ll like.

Of course, I couldn’t leave Autumn Records without finding out what titles have sold well recently — and picking up a little something for myself. (I snagged Sweat, the debut from synthfunk party starters the SYSTEM. Steam whistle sound!) Unsurprisingly, FIONA APPLE’s Fetch the Bolt Cutters and BOB DYLAN’s Rough and Rowdy Ways were hot sellers over the summer.

I’ll continue my foray into local record shops in the weeks to come. In the meantime, get out there and buy some damn records!

We regret this news, and apologize if we were part of your plans this week. We plan to reopen next week! www.pica-pica.us ● (802)424-1585

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GOT MUSIC NEWS? JORDAN@SEVENDAYSVT.COM

REVIEW this A Box of Stars, Big Hole in the Sky/ Museum of Light (SELF-RELEASED, DIGITAL)

A Box of Stars aren’t a band anymore — at least not right now. The former fourpiece dream-folk outfit succumbed to the perennial enemy of rock and roll: life.

The pandemic, ramped-up educational trajectories and artistic wanderlust conspired to leave Burlington’s Macaulay Lerman as the band’s sole proprietor. So what did he do? He recorded not one but two freakin’ albums and dropped them both at the end of September.

Big Hole in the Sky was meant to be a full-band album, Lerman explained by email. While recording it, he also found himself writing Museum of Light, a sort-of companion piece. Given how stylistically

Harpoons, Pangs of Conscience (SELF-RELEASED, DIGITAL)

There’s a memory bubbling around in the back of my brain. It’s been there since I was a child, and I honestly don’t remember what it’s from, or even if it’s real or something 6-year-old me imagined. I’m sitting in the living room, prostrate before a big-box TV and watching a comedy sketch in which a character is in a sinking rowboat. He’s looking everywhere for a bucket to help keep the boat afloat, but he keeps finding things such as eggbeaters and rubber chickens.

While the studio audience howls, the character pantomimes increasingly alarmed expressions toward the camera.

The sketch has come to mind more often this year as new music has filtered out in fits and bursts. I’m frantically searching

linked the albums seem to be, it’s puzzling that they’re siloed.

Both records are strippeddown, lo-fi, beta-blocked collections of acoustic rock.

Lerman sounds close, as if he were right there lying next to you, breathing into your ear while he spoons you to sleep.

The works are remarkably intimate, a trait shared by Days Drunk Off Heat, A Box of Stars’ 2018 album.

What’s missing in the new LPs is the oomph heard on Days. Understandably so — it’s difficult for a single person to conjure the magic that happened when four creative minds came together. Also, Lerman recorded at home using a four-track

recorder; its wispy hiss is a constant, glowing aura. It’s hard not to see the shift as a degradation of sorts, given the warmth, depth and vivid textural sensations Days put into the world.

As I began to dig into the two LPs, I thought I was momentarily losing my mind.

That’s because the albums’ opening tracks are practically indistinguishable, save for their lyrics. Both songs are in the same key and have an identical chord progression, and they fuse and get lost in each other if played simultaneously.

Try it for yourself. Open up two browser windows and play Big Hole’s “Spend the Afternoon” and Museum’s opening title track at the same

time. Since they’re played at nearly but not exactly the same tempo, they gradually fall out of phase as the sync continues, creating an entropic sound-art piece that likely wasn’t intended as such but is bewilderingly enthralling nonetheless.

Only the most ardent fans of whispercore will want to devour these two records, but Lerman’s poetry and observations about the world should at least briefly hold the attention of general indie fans.

Standouts include “Frankie Is Alive,” from Museum, a charming love letter to an animal companion that’s bolstered by shimmering synth pads; and Big Hole’s “Knapsack,” a simple tune with evocative harmonica and a shuffling pace.

Big Hole in the Sky and Museum of Light are artistically transitional albums that imply more great things in Lerman’s future. Both are available at aboxofstars.bandcamp.com.

for something to return that feeling, the excitement that a scene as good as Vermont’s can give when incredible, unknown records drop. After some months of listening to a lot of bedroom albums made by quarantined and rather depressed songwriters, listening to Pangs of Conscience

by Harpoons was like finding the bucket in the sinking boat.

Over 11 tracks of dark, punk-driven shoegaze, the trio of Liam Elder-Connors (bass, vocals), Nick Kennedy (drums) and Nate Lewis (guitars, vocals) achieves that hardest-to-cultivate feat for bands: a sonic aesthetic all their own. To be sure, Harpoons owe a debt to bands like Joy Division and Television. With driving bass lines and austere synths, the group leans hard into that style of angular rock. But there remains a sense of punk

playfulness and sudden aggression. Stabs of surprisingly welcome saxophone — by Henry Epp, reporter and host at Vermont Public Radio — elevate Harpoons above any sort of hero worship.

The band can also find a deep-pocket groove, as on “The Camera.” ElderConnors, who also daylights as a reporter for VPR, pushes and drives his bass with all the energy of the Replacements’ Tommy Stinson, while he and Lewis trade distorted vocals.

It’s a blast of post-punk energy, and one could forgive the band for making an entire record with that feel. But Harpoons resist the temptation. This is an excellently sequenced record, a rare capital-A album with that impossible-to-fake feeling of flow. The tracks just blend into one another seamlessly, all while retaining individuality.

Perhaps the most refreshing aspect of Pangs of Conscience is how weird it can get. Ambient noise, ghostly snatches of dialogue and eerie intros color the record, adding a subtext of the unknown, like a subplot in a great mystery story.

“GABASIO” briefly ventures into prog-rock territory, and “Titans of Soft Rock” starts with a saxophone figure right out of an ’80s detective movie.

There are many reasons that so many of this year’s releases have been sedate and occasionally mournful affairs. But if, like me, you’ve been waiting for something more adventurous, sonically dark and high energy, Harpoons have finally delivered the goods.

Get out the buckets and start bailing water, people.

Stream Pangs of Conscience at harpoonsmusic.bandcamp.com, and turn it up a little while you’re at it.

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A Thousand Cuts ★★★★★ COURTESY OF FRONTLINE PBS

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LONG DAY’S JOURNEY A reporter’s job is never done in Diaz’s documentary about an indefatigable voice for government accountability in the Philippines.

O

ur streaming entertainment options are overwhelming — and not always easy to sort through. This week, I previewed one of the offerings of this year’s all-virtual Vermont International Film Festival. A Thousand Cuts will stream on October 31 and November 1; a related live Q&A on November 1 at 8 p.m. features journalist and documentarian Bill Lichtenstein and Emmy winner Van Dora Williams. For more information, see this week’s “State of the Arts” and vtiff.org.

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Elected president of the Philippines in 2016, popular nationalist leader Rodrigo Duterte has overseen the extrajudicial killings of thousands of suspected drug users and dealers, according to Human Rights Watch. In the words of Maria Ressa, founder and CEO of the Philippine news outlet Rappler, under his leadership, “The war on drugs became a war on the poor.”

For her efforts to hold the government accountable, Ressa has drawn intense online hatred, been arrested several times, and been fêted in the U.S. and made a Time 2018 Person of the Year. A concentrated bullet of energy, she occupies the center of Ramona S. Diaz’s 2020 documentary, which follows Rappler as it covers the 2019 senatorial election.

Will you like it?

onecowvt.com 54

Like most modern documentarians, Diaz doesn’t feed us context in the form of narration or talking-head commentary.

She uses news clips to catch the viewer up on recent Philippine history before tossing us into the world of Ressa and

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 21-28, 2020

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REVIEWS

10/12/20 12:00 PM

Rappler’s other reporters as they respond to a lightning-fast news cycle.

But the strongman rhetoric of Duterte and his allies speaks loudly for itself. At one point, Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, then director general of the Bureau of Corrections, tells a crowd, “I would kill for the president.”

Ressa and her employees — many of whom are female — counter this approach with quiet stubbornness. They simply refuse to stop asking the hard questions, a tactic that has led the president to deem Rappler a “fake news site.”

While the film’s portrait of Rappler and Ressa is clearly positive, the other side is far from ignored. Diaz spends time with Duterte supporters dela Rosa and Mocha Uson, a pop star and influencer who mobilizes her social media army against Rappler. Through these opposing perspectives, A Thousand Cuts becomes a compelling case study in how social media can subject reporters to harassment and enable a few people, for better or worse, to sway the views of millions.

All the main figures in this drama are a bit larger than life, including Ressa herself. Like the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg, she has a personality that outweighs her unassuming physical presence, and she doesn’t mince words. The film’s title comes from her summation of the situation in her country: “What we’re seeing is death by a thousand cuts of our democracy.”

Partially raised in New Jersey, Ressa isn’t talking exclusively about the Philippines. “They’ve created a politics of hate,” she says at one point, referring to Duterte and President Donald Trump. Many of her antiauthoritarian sound bites apply equally to the present-day U.S. The film has a chilling postscript: In

June, Ressa was convicted of cyber libel.

The New York Times called it “the latest in a series of moves by Mr. Duterte’s administration to intimidate the news media.”

Diaz’s doc offers a sobering reminder that a free and independent press can never be taken for granted.

If you like this, try...

• The World Is Watching (1988; at VTIFF from October 26 through 28): A Thousand Cuts focuses on the heroism of Ressa and her team in telling the stories their government doesn’t want told. But sometimes journalists can’t or don’t report the full story. Taking the point of view of an ABC News team covering the Nicaraguan Revolution, this doc explores some reasons why.

• This Is Not a Movie (2019; at VTIFF from October 23 through 25): A Thousand Cuts captures the whirlwind pace of digital journalism. For an intimate look at a slower, old-school model, watch this doc about Robert Fisk, longtime Middle East correspondent for the Independent, who lives by the credo that “we should be objective and unbiased — on the side of those who suffer.”

• The Act of Killing (2012; Amazon Prime Video, Kanopy, rentable): At one point in A Thousand Cuts, a woman asks Ressa why she should care about the fate of drug dealers. Ressa recites Martin Niemöller’s famous poem “First they came…” as a reminder that violence tends to escalate. This documentary, one of the most chilling ever made, examines the mechanics and aftermath of a statesanctioned genocide.

MARGO T HARRI S O N

NEW IN THEATERS AFTER WE COLLIDED: The film version of Anna Todd’s After saga — originally One Direction fan fiction — continues in this college romance starring Josephine Langford and Hero Fiennes Tiffin. Roger Kumble directed. (105 min, R. Essex Cinemas) BABYTEETH: Eliza Scanlen plays a gravely ill teenager who falls in love with a drug dealer, to her parents’ dismay, in this comedy-drama that was nominated for the Venice Film Festival’s Golden Lion award. Shannon Murphy directed. (118 min, NR. Savoy Theater)

HONEST THIEF★★1/2 Liam Neeson plays a bank robber whose plan to turn himself in to the FBI goes awry when rogue agents set him up for murder in this action drama directed by Mark Williams (A Family Man) and also starring Kate Walsh and Jai Courtney.

(99 min, PG-13; Essex Cinemas, Sunset Drive-In)

EDWARD SCISSORHANDS (Bijou 4 Cineplex, Fri & Sat only)

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FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 2 (Sunset Drive-In)

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ON THE ROCKS★★★1/2 Writer-director Sofia Coppola reunites with Bill Murray for this bittersweet comedy in which a woman (Rashida Jones) enlists her playboy dad to help her find out if her husband (Marlon Wayons) is cheating on her. (96 min, R; Savoy Theater)

MONSTERS, INC. (Essex Cinemas, Sunset Drive-In)

BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM: Sacha Baron Cohen takes another journey across the U.S. as Kazakh journalist Borat in this comic mockumentary, and yes, he’s doing it during the pandemic. With Irina Novak and Luenell. (95 min, R. Sunset Drive-In)

TENET★★1/2 Christopher Nolan (Interstellar) brings us a new high-concept spectacular in which John David Washington plays a mysterious agent who appears to be fighting for the very nature of time and reality. With Elizabeth Debicki, Robert Pattinson and Kenneth Branagh. (150 min, PG-13; Essex Cinemas)

THE EMPTY MAN: A crime investigation turns into a horror scenario when an ex-cop discovers a group trying to summon something supernatural. With James Badge Dale and Stephen Root. David Prior directed. (137 min, R. Essex Cinemas)

TIME★★★★1/2 An award winner at the Sundance Film Festival, this documentary follows a woman’s fight for her husband’s release from prison, where he’s serving 60 years for a bank robbery. Garrett Bradley directed. (Savoy Theater)

NOW PLAYING 2 HEARTS★1/2 Two couples of different generations share an unusual connection in this romantic drama starring Radha Mitchell and Jacob Elordi and directed

by Lance Hool. (100 min, PG-13; Essex Cinemas)

HARRY CHAPIN: WHEN IN DOUBT, DO SOMETHING: Rick Korn’s documentary chronicles the life of the singer-songwriter and philanthropist who died at age 38. (93 min, NR. Savoy Theater)

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ALONE★★★1/2 A recent widow encounters a killer on the road and must flee into the wilderness in this thriller directed by John Hyams (Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning). With Jules Willcox, Marc Menchaca and Anthony Heald. (98 min, R; Sunset Drive-In)

THE WAR WITH GRANDPA★★ Forced to share a room with his grandfather (Robert De Niro), a kid (Oakes Fegley) goes on the offensive to get his space back in this family comedy directed by Tim Hill (Hop). With Uma Thurman and Rob Riggle. (94 min, PG; Essex Cinemas)

HOCUS POCUS (Sunset Drive-In)

ESSEX CINEMAS & T-REX THEATER: 21 Essex Way, Suite 300, Essex, 879-6543, essexcinemas.com ESSEX CINEMAS DRIVE-IN AT THE MANSFIELD BARN: 3 Irish Farm Rd., Jericho, 879-6543, essexcinemas.com

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Main Office: 200 Church St. Burlington, VT Storefront: 1127 North Ave. #36 Burlington, VT

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 21-28, 2020

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10/20/20 5:22 PM

classes THE FOLLOWING CLASS LISTINGS ARE PAID ADVERTISEMENTS. ANNOUNCE YOUR CLASS FOR AS LITTLE AS $16.75/WEEK (INCLUDES SIX PHOTOS AND UNLIMITED DESCRIPTION ONLINE). SUBMIT YOUR CLASS AD AT SEVENDAYSVT.COM/POSTCLASS.

dance

drumming

RESILIENT DANCING: ONLINE FALL DANCE CLASS SERIES: Presenting three new Zoom October classes: Composition for Teens; 3 Ways to Party: A Hip Hop and House Dance Experience; and Somatic Explorations and Art for Culture Shift. All classes are open level/drop-in friendly. Email info@ vermontdance.org for accessibility requests or to apply for a scholarship or group rate. Sep.Dec. Cost: $10/person to drop in; $200/person for unlimited class card. Location: Zoom, online.

Info: VT Dance Alliance, Hanna Satterlee, 410-458-3672, info@ vermontdance.org, vermont dance.org/events.

DJEMBE & TAIKO: JOIN US!: Digital classes! (No classes on-site for now.) Taiko: Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Djembe: Wednesday. Kids and Parents: Tuesday and Wednesday. Private digital conga lessons by appointment. Let’s prepare for a future drum gathering outdoors! Schedule/register online.

Location: Taiko Space, 208 Flynn Ave., Suite 3G, Burlington. Info: 999-4255, burlingtontaiko.org.

language EXPERIENCED NATIVE PROFESSOR OFFERING ONLINE SPANISH CLASSES: Premier native-speaking Spanish professor Maigualida Rak is giving fun, interactive online lessons to improve comprehension and

pronunciation and to achieve fluency. Audio-visual material is used. “I feel proud to say that my students have significantly improved their Spanish with my teaching approach.” -Maigualida Rak. Read reviews on Facebook at facebook.com/spanishonlinevt.

Location: Maigualida Rak, Online.

Info: Maigualida Rak, spanish tutor.vtfla@gmail.com, facebook. com/spanishonlinevt.

LEARN SPANISH LIVE & ONLINE: Broaden your world. Learn Spanish online via live videoconferencing. High-quality, affordable instruction in the Spanish language for adults, students and children. Travelers lesson package. Our 14th year. Personal small group and individual instruction with a native speaker.

See our website for complete information, or contact us for details. Location: Spanish in Waterbury Center, Waterbury Center.

Info: 585-1025, spanishparavos@gmail.com, spanishwaterburycenter.com.

martial arts VERMONT BRAZILIAN JIU-JITSU: Brazilian jiujitsu is a martial arts combat style based entirely on leverage and technique. Brazilian jiujitsu self-defense curriculum is taught to Navy SEALs, CIA, FBI, military police and special forces.

No training experience required.

Easy-to-learn techniques that could save your life! Classes for men, women and children.

Students will learn realistic

bully-proofing and self-defense life skills to avoid becoming victims and help them feel safe and secure. Our sole purpose is to help empower people by giving them realistic martial arts training practices they can carry with them throughout life. IBJJF and CBJJ certified black belt sixthdegree instructor under Carlson Gracie Sr.: teaching in Vermont, born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A five-time Brazilian National Champion; International World Masters Champion and IBJJF World Masters Champion.

Accept no Iimitations! Location: Vermont Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, 55 Leroy Rd., Williston. Info: 598-2839, julio@bjjusa.com, vermontbjj.com.

massage CHINESE MEDICAL MASSAGE: This program teaches two forms of East Asian medical massage: Tui Na and shiatsu. We will explore oriental medicine theory and diagnosis, as well as the body’s meridian system, acupressure points, and yin-yang and five-element theory.

Additionally, Western anatomy and physiology are taught. VSAC

nondegree grants are available.

FSMTB-approved program. Starts Sep. 2021. Cost: $6000/625-hour program. Location: Elements of Healing, 21 Essex Way, Suite 109, Essex Jct. Info: Scott Moylan, 2888160, scott@elementsofhealing. net, elementsofhealing.net.

yoga EVOLUTION YOGA: Come as you are and open your heart! Whether you’re new to yoga or have practiced for years, find the support you need to awaken your practice.

Offering livestream, recorded and indoor classes. Practice with us at your comfort level. Flexible pricing based on your needs, scholarships avail. Contact yoga@ evolutionvt.com. Single class: $0-15. Weekly membership: $10-25. 10-class pass: $140. New student special: $20 for 3 classes.

Location: Evolution Yoga, 20 Kilburn St., Burlington. Info: 8649642, evolutionvt.com.

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Untitled-13 1

10/19/20 9:16 AM

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 21-28, 2020

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9/14/20 1:21 PM

HAVE YOU

NOTICED OUR LEGAL ADS?

Check them out for important and useful information, including: • Act 250 Permit applications • Foreclosures • Notices to creditors

• Storage auctions • Planning and zoning changes

EV E N T S O N SA L E N OW BUY ONLINE AT SEVENDAYSTICKETS.COM

Contact Katie Hodges for a quote at legals@sevendaysvt.com; 865-1020 x10.

6H-legals.indd 1

Radio Vermont

Journey with Death Weekly Series THU., OCT. 21, 28, NOV. 4 VIRTUAL EVENT 8/27/20 8:01 AM

Exploring Spirituality SAT., OCT. 22 VIRTUAL EVENT

Ethiopian / Eritrean Takeout

96.1 96.5 98.3 101.9 AM550

SAT., OCT. 24 O’BRIEN COMMUNITY CENTER, WINOOSKI

Jamaican Takeout

SAT., OCT. 31 O’BRIEN COMMUNITY CENTER, WINOOSKI

November 3rd Beginning at 7:00 pm ������� �� ����� ��� ��������� ����� Radio Vermont

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Cannabis Cultivation: Harvest Time SAT., OCT. 31 GREEN STATE GARDENER, BURLINGTON

Life and Loss THU., NOV. 5 VIRTUAL EVENT

Greek Takeout

ANCHORED BY Lee Kittell & Ric Cengari SOCIAL MEDIA INSIGHTS - Dillon Deloge EXPERT ANALYSIS Throughout the evening

Facing Change THU., NOV. 12 VIRTUAL EVENT

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SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 21-28, 2020

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SAT., NOV. 7 O’BRIEN COMMUNITY CENTER, WINOOSKI

10/19/20 11:58 AM

MORE EVENTS ONLINE AT SEVENDAYSTICKETS.COM SELLING TICKETS? • Classes • Webinars • Virtual Events • Fundraisers

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WE CAN HELP! • No cost to you • Local support • Built-in promotion • Custom options

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Contact: 865-1020, ext. 10 getstarted@sevendaystickets.com

10/20/20 4:10 PM

COURTESY OF KELLY SCHULZE/MOUNTAIN DOG PHOTOGRAPHY

Humane

Society of Chittenden County

Ghost AGE/SEX: 5-year-old neutered male ARRIVAL DATE: October 15, 2020 REASON HERE: Behavioral concerns in his previous home.

SUMMARY: Ghost is an outgoing, inquisitive pup who would be glad to join you for lots of adventures. He is eager to learn and would love an owner who will work with him to become his very best self. He greets most people like long-lost friends but will benefit from help sharpening up his skills around other dogs. After a long day of playing and training, there’s nothing Ghost wants more than to curl up next to his person and relax. If you’re looking for an active dog who can keep up when you’re on the move, and then settle in for quiet time at home, schedule a visit with Ghost today!

housing »

APARTMENTS, CONDOS & HOMES

DID YOU KNOW? Jumping on people is common dog behavior when they are looking for attention or social interaction. If dogs are scolded, petted or spoken to when they jump up, this reinforces the behavior because they’re getting a response from you! Instead, turn your back and ignore the dog until it is no longer jumping, and instruct others to do the same. Give the dog lots of love (and maybe a treat) to reinforce the jump-free behavior!

Sponsored by:

CATS/DOGS/KIDS: Ghost may be most successful as the only pet in his home. He has lived with children.

NEW STUFF ONLINE EVERY DAY! PLACE YOUR ADS 24-7 AT SEVENDAYSVT.COM.

on the road »

CARS, TRUCKS, MOTORCYCLES

pro services »

CHILDCARE, HEALTH/ WELLNESS, PAINTING

buy this stuff »

APPLIANCES, KID STUFF, ELECTRONICS, FURNITURE

music »

INSTRUCTION, CASTING, INSTRUMENTS FOR SALE

jobs »

NO SCAMS, ALL LOCAL, POSTINGS DAILY

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 21-28, 2020

59

CLASSIFIEDS We Pick Up & Pay For Junk Automobiles!

on the road

CARS/TRUCKS

Route 15, Hardwick

802-472-5100

3842 Dorset Ln., Williston

housing ads: $25 (25 words) legals: 52¢/word buy this stuff: free online services: $12 (25 words)

AFFORDABLE 2-BR APT. AVAIL. At Keen’s Crossing.

2-BR: $1,266/mo., heat & HW incl. Open floor plan, fully applianced kitchen, fi tness center, pet friendly, garage parking.

Income restrictions apply. 802-655-1810, keenscrossing.com.

802-793-9133 BURLINGTON Single room, Hill CASH FOR CARS! Section, on bus line.

We buy all cars! Junk, No cooking. Linens high-end, totaled: It sm-allmetals060811.indd 7/20/15 1 5:02 PM furnished. 862-2389. doesn’t matter. Get free No pets. towing & same-day cash. Newer models, KEEN’S CROSSING IS too. Call 1-866-535NOW LEASING! 9689. (AAN CAN) 1-BR, $1,054/mo.; 2-BR, $1,266/mo.; 3-BR, RUST-FREE SUBARU $1,397/mo. Spacious LEGACY OUTBACK interiors, fully appli1996 Subaru Legacy anced kitchen, fi tness Outback. Ready for center, heat & HW incl. winter & to pass Income restrictions inspection. 260K miles, apply. 802-655-1810, 5-speed. Timing belt, 3-BR NOW, 2-BR SOON, keenscrossing.com.

BURLINGTON rear brakes, e-brakes Roomy 3-BR, now, 1st & more recently done.

PINECREST AT ESSEX floor, prime location, Anthony, 279-6449.

9 Joshua Way, Essex Burlington. Roomy 2- & Jct. Independent senior 3-BR will be avail. soon, great location, 2nd floor. living for those 55+ years. 1-BR avail. now, Burlington. Call Joe at $1,240/mo. incl. utils.

802-318-8916 or Jackie & parking garage. NS/ at 802-238-0004. pets. 802-872-9197 or rae@fullcirclevt.com.

housing

FOR RENT

m

CLASSIFIEDS KEY appt. appointment apt. apartment BA bathroom BR bedroom DR dining room DW dishwasher HDWD hardwood HW hot water LR living room NS no smoking OBO or best offer refs. references sec. dep. security deposit W/D washer & dryer

EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY All real estate advertising in this newspaper is subject to the Federal Fair Housing Act of 1968 and similar Vermont statutes which make it illegal to advertise any preference, limitations, or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, handicap, presence of minor children in the family or receipt of public assistance, or an intention to make any such preference, limitation or a discrimination. The newspaper will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate, which is in violation of the law. Our

60

TAFT FARM SENIOR LIVING COMMUNITY 10 Tyler Way, Williston, independent senior living. Newly remodeled 1-BR unit on the ground floor, w/ restricted view avail., $1,095/mo. incl. utils. & cable. NS/pets.

Must be 55+ years of age. cintry@fullcirclevt. com, 802-879-3333.

TAFT FARM SENIOR LIVING COMMUNITY 10 Tyler Way, Williston, independent senior living. Newly remodeled 1-BR unit on the main floor avail., $1,185/ mo. incl. utils. & cable.

NS/pets. Must be 55+ years of age. cintry@ fullcirclevt.com or 802-879-3333.

display service ads: $25/$45 homeworks: $45 (40 words, photos, logo) fsbos: $45 (2 weeks, 30 words, photo) jobs: michelle@sevendaysvt.com, 865-1020 x21

HOUSEMATES $700/MO. BR NOW, NEAR LAKE Private, sunny BR in house off Pine St., Burlington. Off-street parking. Free plowing, on-site laundry & storage. Doesn’t incl. utils. Mo.-to-mo. Text Turner: 703-850-9909, t.konigsberg92@gmail. com.

NEED A ROOMMATE? Roommates.com will help you find your perfect match today!

(AAN CAN) ROOMMATE WANTED Bright Winooski apt.

Free parking in back.

2nd-floor townhouse apt. NS. $600/mo. + utils. chases1055@ gmail.com.

ROOMMATE WANTED Roommate wanted for spacious apt. near lake. $875/mo. incl. W/D. Please email ellis.pk@ yahoo.com, leave name & phone number. No dogs.

SMALL ROOM DOWNTOWN, NOW In stylishly Clorox-clean, remodeled house.

Respectful living w/ others in this new normal (wash hands prior to entering building; disinfect BA, kitchen & common areas after use). Wi-Fi, cable, W/D on-site, back porch, garden. Tobacco outside only. Inside: 420-friendly. Mo.-tomo., $600/mo. + $100 dep. Incl. all utils. Don Shall: 802-233-1334.

OFFICE/ COMMERCIAL

All conditions accepted.

Free pickup. Call for details. 855-978-0215.

(AAN CAN)

& infilling the trenches & restoration of finishes in the school. Proposals must be received no later than noon on Dec, 15, 2020, by U.S. mail, fax or personal service.

BIZ OPPS

RFP: PHONE SYSTEM UPGRADE The Addison Northwest School District seeks proposals for services by experienced vendors to provide installation & testing of a hosted VOiP phone system for the entire district.

Proposals must be received no later than 1 p.m. on Dec. 4, 2020.

BECOME A PUBLISHED AUTHOR! We edit, print & distribute your work internationally. We do the work; you reap the rewards! Call for a free Author’s Submission Kit: 844-511-1836. (AAN CAN) RFP FOR TUNNEL INFILL The Addison Northwest School District requests bids for the infill of existing mechanical trenches at the Ferrisburgh Central School. The infill project requires significant mechanical & plumbing relocations, insulating,

EDUCATION TRAIN ONLINE TO DO MEDICAL BILLING! Become a medical office professional online at CTI! Get trained, certified & ready to

work in months. Call 866-243-5931. Mon.-Fri., 8 a.m.-6 p.m. (AAN CAN)

FINANCIAL/LEGAL AUTO INSURANCE Starting at $49/mo.!

Call for your fee rate comparison to see how much you can save. Call 855-569-1909. (AAN CAN) BOY SCOUT COMPENSATION FUND Anyone who was inappropriately touched by a Scout leader deserves justice & financial compensation!

Victims may be eligible for a significant cash settlement. Time to file is limited. Call now.

844-896-8216. (AAN CAN) NEED IRS RELIEF? $10K-125K+. Get fresh start or forgiveness.

Call 1-877-258-2890 Mon.-Fri., 7 a.m.-5 p.m.

PST. (AAN CAN) OVER $10K IN DEBT? Be debt-free in 24-48 mos. Pay a fraction of what you owe. A+ BBB rated. Call National Debt Relief: 877-5901202. (AAN CAN)

Contact Robbi for your Real Estate needs.

Let’s make it happen.

Robbi Handy Holmes • 802-951-2128 robbihandyholmes@vtregroup.com Client focused Making it happen for you!

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OFFICE/RETAIL SPACE AT MAIN STREET LANDING on Burlington’s waterfront. Beautiful, healthy, affordable spaces for your business. Visit mainstreetlanding.com & click on space avail.

Melinda, 864-7999.

print deadline: Mondays at 4:30 p.m. post ads online 24/7 at: sevendaysvt.com/classifieds questions? classifieds@sevendaysvt.com 865-1020 x10

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HEALTH/ WELLNESS GENTLE TOUCH MASSAGE Specializing in deep tissue, reflexology, sports massage, Swedish & relaxation massage for men. Practicing massage therapy for over 14 years. Gregg, gentletouchvt.com, motman@ymail.com, 802-234-8000 (call/ text). Milton.

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SERVICES »

10/2/20 11:05 AM

Homeshares BURLINGTON Share apartment w/ active woman in her 30s who enjoys VPR & farmers markets.

Assist w/ transportation, cooking & other household support, in exchange for no rent.

Shared BA.

COLCHESTER readers are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised in this newspaper are available on an equal opportunity basis. Any home seeker who feels he or she has encountered discrimination should contact: HUD Office of Fair Housing 10 Causeway St., Boston, MA 02222-1092 (617) 565-5309 — OR — Vermont Human Rights Commission 14-16 Baldwin St. Montpelier, VT 05633-0633 1-800-416-2010 hrc@vermont.gov

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 21-28, 2020

Tidy home to share w/ independent gentleman in his 90s who enjoys NASCAR, history shows & family. Prepare 3-4 evening meals/wk & help w/ yard work. Shared BA. $350/mo.

CABOT

services

AUTO DONATE YOUR CAR TO CHARITY Receive maximum value of write-off for your taxes. Running or not!

Enjoy homesteading w/community and social justice-oriented couple on small farm. $450/mo. & utility share plus help w/household & farm chores. Lovely furnished bdrm.

Shared BA.

Finding you just the right housemate for over 35 years!

Call 863-5625 or visit HomeShareVermont.org for an application. Interview, refs, bg check req. EHO Homeshare-temp2.indd 1

10/12/20 9:33 AM

Calcoku SEVENDAYSVT.COM/CLASSIFIEDS »

Using the enclosed math operations as a guide, fill the grid using the numbers 1 - 6 only once in each row and column.

1-

6x

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2-

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Show and tell.

Sudoku

numbers 1-9 only once in each row, column and 3 x 3 box.

1

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DIFFICULTY THIS WEEK: HHH

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BY JOSH REYNOLDS

Fill the grid using the numbers 1-6, only once in each row and column. The numbers in each heavily outlined “cage” must combine to produce the target number in the top corner, using the mathematical operation indicated. A onebox cage should be filled in with the target number in the top corner. A number can be repeated within a cage as long as it is not the same row or column.

crossword

2 5 7 4 6 5 3 7

4 3

Difficulty - Hard

Open 24/7/365.

View and post up to Post & browse ads Complete the following puzzle by using theconvenience.

6 photos per ad online. at your

No. 659

SUDOKU

Difficulty: Medium

BY JOSH REYNOLDS

DIFFICULTY THIS WEEK: HH Place a number in the empty boxes in such a way that each row across, each column down and each 9-box square contains all of the numbers one to nine. The same numbers cannot be repeated in a row or column.

1 2 5 8 7 4 9 3 6 9ANSWERS 4 7ON P.662 5 3 8 1 2 1 = CHALLENGING 9 5 7 H4HH = HOO, BOY! 6H =8MODERATE 3 2 HH 4 1 2 9 8 7 6 5 3 8 3 9 1 6 5 4 2 7 CITY SCRAMBLE 7 P.625 » 6 3 4 2 1 9 8 ANSWERS ON 3 9 4 5 2 8 7 6 1 2 6 8 7 9 1 3 4 5 5 7 1 4 3 6 2 8 9

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Extra! Extra!

There’s no limit to ad length online.

Fresh.

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buzz?

Find out what’s percolating today.

Sign up to receive our house blend of local news headlines served up in one convenient email

by Seven Days.

SEVENDAYSVT.COM/DAILY7 8v-daily7-coffee.indd 1

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 21-28, 2020

1/13/14 1:45 PM

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The District 4 Environmental Commission is reviewing this application under Act 250 Rule 51—Minor Applications. A copy of the application and proposed permit are available for review at the office listed below.

The application and a draft permit may also be viewed on the Natural Resources Board’s web site (http://nrb.

members listed on the attached Certificate of Service under “For Your Information” may have a conflict of interest, or if there is any other reason a member should be disqualified from sitting on this case, please contact the District Coordinator as soon as possible, and by no later than November 2, 2020.

If you have a disability for which you need accommodation in order to participate in this process (including participating in a public hearing, if one is held), please notify us as soon as possible, in order to allow us as much time as possible to accommodate your needs.

Parties entitled to participate are the Municipality, the Municipal Planning Commission, the Regional Planning Commission, affected state agencies, and adjoining property owners and other persons to the extent that they have a particularized interest that may be affected by the proposed project under the Act 250 criteria. Non-party participants may also be allowed under 10 V.S.A. Section 6085(c)(5).

4

2

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3 6 1 2 7 4 5 3 2 12x7 9 8 6 1 4 5 8 9 13+

Using the enclosed math operations as a guide, fill the grid using the numbers 1 - 6 only once in each row and column.

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 21-28, 2020

storage unit will be sold as one lot. The winning bid must remove all contents from the facility at no cost to MBSS, LLC on the day of auction.

MBSS, LLC reserves the right to reject any bid lower that the amount owed by the occupant or that is not commercially reasonable as defined by statute.

the inclusionary housing bonus.

PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE BURLINGTON COMPREHENSIVE DEVELOPMENT ORDINANCE Pursuant to 24 V.S.A. §4442 and §4444, notice is hereby given of a public hearing by the Burlington City Council to hear comments on the following proposed amendments to the City of Burlington’s Comprehensive Development Ordinance (CDO):

ZA-21-01: To eliminate the distinction between small and large Day Care Centers and small and large Preschools, and to eliminate the GFA limit on these facilities in RCO districts.

ZA-20-07 Front Yard Parking ZA-20-08 Convalescent Home Lot Coverage ZA-20-09 311 North Ave Rezone, parks lot coverage standards, WRM Height Exemption ZA-21-01 Daycares & Preschools in RCO

Dated at Essex Junction, Vermont this 13th day of October, 2020.

ZA-21-02 Temporary Tents

By: Kirsten Sultan, District Coordinator, 111 West Street, Essex Junction, VT 05452 802-751-0126 kirsten.sultan@ vermont.gov

Per Act 92, Secs. 5 and 6, the public hearing will take place on Monday, November 9, 2020 during the Regular City Council Meeting which begins at 7:00 pm. You may access the hearing/ meeting as follows:

FROM P.61

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FROM P.61

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Calcoku

No. 659

Difficulty: Medium

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If you feel that any of the District Commission

6

REHEARSAL SPACE Safe & sanitary music/ creative spaces avail. by the hour in the heart of the South End art district. Monthly arrangements avail., as well. Tailored for music but can be multipurpose. info@ burlingtonmusicdojo. com, 802-540-0321.

2

PUZZLE ANSWERS

STUDIO/ REHEARSAL

5

REAL ESTATE PHOTOGRAPHY Professional real estate photography. 48-hour turnaround time. I’ll make your property look good! Email owlsiris photography@gmail. com for more info.

BASS, GUITAR, DRUMS, VOICE LESSONS & MORE Remote music lessons are an amazing way to spend time at home!

Learn guitar, bass, piano, voice, violin, drums, flute, sax, trumpet, production & beyond w/ pro local instructors from the Burlington Music Dojo on Pine St. All levels & styles are welcome, incl. absolute beginners.

Come share in the music! burlingtonmusicdojo. com, info@burlington musicdojo.com.

6

LEO’S ROOFING Shingle, metal & slate repair. Roofing repair or replacement. Call for free estimate: 802-503-6064. 30 years’ experience. Good refs. & fully insured.

Chittenden County.

INSTRUCTION

HARMONICA LESSONS W/ ARI Online harmonica lessons! All ages & skill levels welcome.

First lesson just $20.

Avail. for workshops, too. Pocketmusic. musicteachershelper. com, 201-565-4793, ari.erlbaum@gmail.com.

On September 18, 2020, Chittenden Solid Waste District, 1021 Redmond Road, Williston, VT 05495 filed application number 4C0400-19D for a project generally described as an ± 8 acre expansion of the existing compost management facility. The expansion includes a 3.8 acre windrow area, a 3 acre sales/ blending area, a 25-30’ wide perimeter road, and stormwater infrastructure. The project is located on Redmond Road in Williston, Vermont. The application was deemed complete on September 25, 2020 after the receipt of supplemental information.

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HOME/GARDEN

music

GUITAR LESSONS Jazz, rock, Western classical, Indian classical.

Technique, theory, learn songs, express your unique voice. Studentcentered lessons. All ages/levels. 20 years’ experience. In-person & online lessons avail. xander.naylor@gmail. com, 802-318-5365.

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SHEEP SHOP Enjoy fall w/ a visit to the Sheep Shop for handcrafted sheep goods. Open weekends, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. 1820 Route 14, S. Woodbury. sheepshopvt.com, 802-456-7035.

ATTENTION, VIAGRA & CIALIS USERS! A cheaper alternative to high drugstore prices!

50-pill special: $99 + free shipping! 100% guaranteed. Call now: 888-531-1192. (AAN CAN)

ACT 250 NOTICE MINOR APPLICATION #4C0400-19D 10 V.S.A. §§ 6001 - 6093

No hearing will be held and a permit may be issued unless, on or before November 2, 2020, a person notifies the Commission of an issue or issues requiring the presentation of evidence at a hearing, or the Commission sets the matter for a hearing on its own motion. Any person as defined in 10 V.S.A. §6085(c)(1) may request a hearing. Any hearing request must be in writing to the address below, must state the criteria or sub-criteria at issue, why a hearing is required and what additional evidence will be presented at the hearing. Any hearing request by an adjoining property owner or other person eligible for party status under 10 V.S.A. §6085(c)(1)(E) must include a petition for party status under the Act 250 Rules. Prior to submitting a request for a hearing, please contact the district coordinator at the telephone number listed below for more information. Prior to convening a hearing, the Commission must determine that substantive issues requiring a hearing have been raised. Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law may not be prepared unless the Commission holds a public hearing.

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PSYCHIC COUNSELING Psychic counseling, channeling w/ Bernice Kelman, Underhill. 30+ years’ experience. Also energy healing, chakra balancing, Reiki, rebirthing, other lives, classes, more. 802-899-3542, kelman.b@juno.com.

MISCELLANEOUS

vermont.gov) by clicking on “Act 250 Database” and entering the project number “4C0400-19D.”

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services [CONTINUED]

buy this stuff

GUITAR INSTRUCTION Berklee graduate w/ 30 years’ teaching experience offers lessons in guitar, music theory, music technology, ear training. Individualized, step-by-step approach.

All ages, styles, levels.

Rick Belford, 864-7195, rickb@rickbelford.com.

NOTICE OF SELF STORAGE LIEN SALE MALLETTS BAY SELF STORAGE, LLC 115 HEINEBERG DRIVE COLCHESTER, VT 05446 Notice is hereby given that the contents of the self storage units listed below will be sold at public auction by sealed bid.

Name of Occupant Storage Unit: Tim Ashline # 35.

Said sales will take place on 11/6/20, beginning at 10:00am at Malletts Bay Self Storage, LLC, (MBSS, LLC)115 Heineberg Dr, Colchester, VT 05446.

Units will be opened for viewing immediately prior to auction. Sale shall be by sealed bid to the highest bidder.

Contents of entire

To join from a Computer, please use the following link: https://us02web.zoom. us/j/83845000131 To join by telephone dial: +19292056099 Webinar ID: 838 4500 0131 Pursuant to the requirements of 24 V.S.A. §4444(b): Statement of purpose: ZA-20-07: To limit parking spaces within the front yard setback in all residential zones, and incorporate dimensional standards for residential driveways that presently only apply in design review areas.

ZA-20-08: To allow lot coverage in residential and neighborhood mixed use districts for the senior housing bonus to be identical to

ZA-20-09: To rezone 311 North Avenue from W-RM to RCO-RG, include the parcel in Table 4.4.6-2 for lot coverage standards, eliminate discrepancy between Table 4.4.6-2 and Article 14 regarding downtown and waterfront parks, and delete the W-RM Height Exemption.

ZA-21-02: To allow for placement of structural tents for non-residential purposes without review or zoning permit required for up to 180 days with Fire Marshal permit.

Geographic areas affected: ZA-20-07: All residential zoning districts.

ZA-20-08: The lot coverage bonus applies to all residential and neighborhood mixed use zoning districts.

ZA-20-09: City parcel of land at 311 North Avenue, portion of W-RM Height exemption along Depot Street, and all City-owned parks within the downtown and waterfront core.

ZA-21-01: Eliminating the distinction between small and large facilities applies to all zoning districts, but changes what is presently allowed in RCO and E-AE zoning districts. Change to footnote 8 impacts only RCO zoned areas.

ZA-21-02: Applies to all parts of the city.

List of section headings affected: ZA-20-07: Modifies Secs. 8.1.12 (c), Front Yard Parking Restricted, and 6.2.2(i), Vehicle Access ZA-20-08: Modifies Sec. 4.4.2 (d) 3. B, Senior Housing; and Table 4.4.5-5, Senior Housing Bonus ZA-20-09: Deletes Sec 4.4.5(d) 2.- A, Height-Exceptions in Waterfront RM District, and Map 4.4.5-2, Waterfront RM Height Exceptions; modifies Table 4.4.6-2, City Park Lot Coverage Maximum Standards; modifies Maps 4.3.1-1, Base Zoning Districts,

Heated Winter Storage

4.4.5-1, Residential Zoning Districts, and 4.4.6-1, Recreation, Conservation, Open Space Districts.

Probate Court, P.O. Box 511, Burlington, VT 05402

ZA-21-01: Modifies Sec. 5.4.1, Small and Large Day Care Centers and Small and Large Preschools, Table 8.1.8-1, Minimum Off-Street Parking Requirements, Article 13, Definitions, and Appendix-A Use Table

THE CONTENTS OF STORAGE UNIT 0300503 LOCATED AT WINTER SPORT LANE, WILLISTON, VT 05495 WILL BE SOLD ON OR ABOUT THE 29TH OF OCTOBER 2020 TO SATISFY THE DEBT OF ABIGAIL BUZZELL. Any person claiming a right to the goods may pay the amount claimed due and reasonable expenses before the sale, in which case the sale may not occur.

ZA-21-02: Modifies Sec. 5.1.2 (f) Temporary Structures The full text of the Burlington Comprehensive Development Ordinance is available online at www.burlingtonvt. gov/DPI/CDO. A hard copy of the proposed amendments are posted and can be viewed on the information board located on the first floor of City Hall, 149 Church Street, Burlington, Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. or on the department’s website at https:// www.burlingtonvt.gov/ DPI/CDO/ProposedAmendments-Beforethe-City-Council.

STATE OF VERMONT SUPERIOR COURT PROBATE DIVISION CHITTENDEN UNIT DOCKET NO. 20-PR-01126 IN RE: ESTATE OF MITCHELL J. RAMSEY NOTICE TO CREDITORS To the creditors of Mitchell J. Ramsey, late of Colchester, Vermont: I have been appointed to administer this estate. All creditors having claims against the decedent or the estate must present their claims in writing within four (4) months of the date of the first publication of this notice. The claim must be presented to me at the address listed below with a copy sent to the court. The claim may be barred forever if it is not presented as described within the four (4) month period.

Dated: 10/13/2020 /s/_Katrina Burks Executor/Administrator: Katrina Burks, c/o Livia K. DeMarchis, Gravel & Shea PC, P.O. Box 369, Burlington, VT 05402 Name of Publication: Seven Days Publication Date: 10/21/20 Address of Court: Chittenden Unit,

TO: CLIENTS OF ATTORNEY DIANNE ROSEN PALLMERINE: Attorney Pallmerine died on June 12, 2020. Any clients who would like their files should contact Kathi J. Monteith before December 12, 2020. Her contact information is: Kathi J. Monteith, Executor, KJM Guardianship, P.O. Box 193, Shelburne, VT 05482, kathi@kjmguardianship. net 802-448-3735

TOWN OF BRISTOL REQUEST FOR BIDS LEWIS CREEK STREAMBANK REPAIR OFF IRELAND ROAD The Town of Bristol is accepting bids for stabilization of approximately 170 feet of streambank with riprap along the Lewis Creek at 455 Ireland Road, Bristol, Vermont, which was significantly altered during the Halloween storm of October 31 – November 1, 2019. The project is funded largely through a Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Emergency Watershed Protection grant. A complete scope of work is available upon request, on the Bristol Web site at www. bristolvt.org , and on the State Electronic Bid System at www. vermontbusinessregistry.com.

A pre-bid site visit is scheduled for Wednesday, October 28, 2020, 10:00am, at 455 Ireland Road, Bristol.

Bids will be accepted until 4:00pm, Thursday, November 9, 2020 by mail or hand delivery to the Town of Bristol, P.O. Box 249, 1 South Street, Bristol, Vermont, 05443, Attn. Town

Administrator, or by e-mail to townadmin@ bristolvt.org . The envelope or e-mail subject line must include “Lewis Creek Bid.” Bids will be considered at the November 9, 2020 meeting of the Selectboard. The Selectboard has the right to accept or reject any and all bids. For more information, contact Town Administrator Valerie Capels at (802) 453-2410 ext.

1 or townadmin@ bristolvt.org . The Town of Bristol is an equal opportunity provider and employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, sexual orientation, disability, religion, gender, or familial status.

TOWN OF ESSEX PLANNING COMMISSION AGENDA NOVEMBER 12, 2020 -6:30 P.M. COVID-19 UPDATE: Due to the COVID-19 / coronavirus pandemic, this meeting will be held remotely and recorded via Microsoft Stream.

Available options to watch or join the meeting: Join via Microsoft Teams. Depending on your browser, you may need to call in for audio (below).

Join via conference call (audio only): (802) 377-3784 | Conference ID: 590879654#.

Watch the live stream video on Town Meeting TV’s YouTube Channel.

Town Meeting TV is aired on Comcast channel 1087.

Public wifi is available at the Essex municipal offices, libraries, and hotspots listed here: https://publicservice. vermont.gov/content/ public-wifi-hotspotsvermont

application materials, and minutes.

TOWN OF HARDWICK REQUEST FOR BIDS The Town of Hardwick is accepting bids for a 1994 International/E-One Fire Truck. 1250 Hale Pump, 1200 gal. tank, 5-man cab, 1,492 hours, 16,356 miles. Sold in “as-is” condition, needs work.

Successful bidder would need to pick up the truck within two weeks following purchase. The minimum bid is $3,000.

Please submit your sealed bid to: Town of Hardwick, P.O. Box 523, Hardwick, VT 05843 by no later than 3:00 p.m. on Friday, October 30, 2020. Bids can be emailed to casey. rowell@hardwickvt.org.

The Town of Hardwick reserves the right to waive informalities in, or reject any or all bids, or to accept any bid deemed to be in the best interest of the Town. For additional information or to set up a time to view the truck, contact the Hardwick Fire Chief at (802) 472-6029.

TOWN OF MILTON’S COMBINED NOTICE OF TAX SALE The resident and non-resident owners, lienholders, mortgagees and all persons interested in the purchase of land in the Town of Milton, County of Chittenden and State of Vermont, are hereby notified that the taxes assessed by such Town for the 2019-2020 and prior fiscal years remain, either in whole or in part, unpaid on the following described lands and/or premises situated in the Town of Milton:

2. FINAL-SUBDIVISIONPUBLIC HEARING: Kathy Pecue: Proposal for a 4 lot, 5-unit residential subdivision on a 10.5 acre lot located at 84 Susie Wilson Road in the I1, C2, & R2 Districts. Tax Maps 9, Parcel 4.

Property No. 1: Property commonly known and numbered as 420 Route 7 South, together with buildings thereon, owned by Bayview Loan Servicing, LLC, by virtue of Confirmation Order in a foreclosure action, said Order being dated August 17, 2017, and recorded in Volume 481 at Pages 709-711 of the Town of Milton Land Records.

3. DISCUSSION: Review of Final ETC|NEXT Draft

Property No. 2: Intentionally Left Blank.

4. Minutes: October 8, 2020

Property No. 3: Being a 2008 Champion make and Titan PN 749 model mobile home, serial number 019-000-H-013806AB, property commonly

1. Public Comments

5. Other Business Note: Please visit our website at www.essex. org to view agendas,

known and numbered as 109 West Milton Road, located in the Birchwood Manor Mobile Home Park, owned by James M. Gabaree, Sr., conveyed to him by Vermont Mobile Home Uniform Bill of Sale of Brault’s Mobile Homes, Inc., dated September 29, 2016, and recorded in Volume 470 at Pages 689-690 of the Town of Milton Land Records.

o’clock in the afternoon (1:00 p.m.), to discharge such taxes with costs, unless the same are previously paid.

Information regarding the amount of taxes due may be obtained at the offices of Robert E. Fletcher, Esq., Stitzel, Page & Fletcher, P.C., P.O. Box 1507, Burlington, Vermont 05402-1507, (802) 660-2555.

Property No. 4: Intentionally Left Blank

DATED at Milton, in the County of Chittenden and State of Vermont, this 29th day of September 2020.

Property No. 5: Being a 1979 Skyline Budget make and 0163 model mobile home, serial number 01160269N, property commonly known and numbered as 23 Sparrow Circle, located in the Milton Mobile Home Cooperative, owned

by Ashley T. Haupt, conveyed to her by Vermont Mobile Home Uniform Bill of Sale of Melody-Kay Sweet and Daryll R. Sweet, dated January 26, 2016, and recorded in Volume 462 at Pages 835-836 of the Town of Milton Land Records.

Property No. 6: Intentionally Left Blank.

Property No. 7: Being a 1973 Beaumont make and FKD model mobile home, serial number 404, property commonly known and numbered as 106 Mansfield Road, located in the Birchwood Manor Mobile Home Park, owned by Charles L. Mobbs, conveyed to him by Vermont Mobile Home Uniform Bill of Sale of Melissa Mobbs and Charles Mobbs, dated April 8, 2009, and recorded in Volume 387 at Pages 42 of the Town of Milton Land Records.

Property No. 8: Intentionally Left Blank.

Property No. 9: Intentionally Left Blank.

Property No. 10: Intentionally Left Blank.

Property No. 11: Intentionally Left Blank.

Said lands and/or premises will be sold at a public auction at the Town Offices, 43 Bombardier Road, Milton, Vermont, on Tuesday the 17th day of November 2020, at One

/s/ John C. Gifford, John C. Gifford, Delinquent Tax Collector, Town of Milton

WINOOSKI NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION DISTRICT SEEKS CANDIDATES FOR BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Notice is hereby given that as of October 8, 2020 petitions to be on the election ballot for the position of Supervisor for the Winooski Natural Resources Conservation District (WNRCD) are available. Eligible candidates are those who live within Winooski District boundaries which include all of Chittenden and Washington counties and the towns of Orange, Williamstown, and Washington.

Petitions require twenty-five signatories and must be completed and returned to WNRCD by close of business on November 10, 2020.

If WNRCD receives petitions from more than one candidate, an election will be held on November 24, 2020. Only persons who hold title in fee land and reside within District boundaries are eligible to sign a petition or vote.

Conservation Districts are local subdivisions of state government established under the Soil Conservation Act of Vermont. Visit winooskinrcd.org or contact info@winooskinrcd.org or 802-828-4493x3178 for a petition or more information.

Say you saw it in...

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sevendaysvt.com

1741 Rt. 7 So., Middlebury, Vt 05753 This 100,000 SF, heated, warehouse on 1741 Route 7 South in Middlebury will be accepting boats, motor homes, trailers, motorcycles, cars, and pickups for storage this season. Storage runs from October thru April. Rates are listed below.

Reserve your heated indoor space now!

Cars & Pickups $250 each for indoor storage ATV & Motorcycles $115.00 each for indoor storage Boats (ball hitch to propeller) $22.00 per foot Campers (bumper to bumper) $22.00 per foot Travel Trailers (hitch to bumper) $22.00 per foot

Rates payable by cash or check at the time of storage. No exceptions.

Contact Nikki 802-651-6888 ext. 2 Email: info@neddere.com

Public Auto Auction Friday, October 23 @ 9AM Register from 7:30AM

298 J Brown Dr., Williston, VT 802-878-9200  800-474-6132  25% deposit due upon acceptance of highest bid, balance due Tuesday  No dealer’s license required to buy

Household Furnishings & Decor

Online Monday, October 26 @ 6PM 571 Sugar House Rd., Burke Hollow, VT Preview: Friday, Oct. 23 from 11AM-1PM

A well-appointed spread of antique and contemporary furnishings & decor from a Vermont Country home.

3BR/1BA Home on 25± Acres, with River Frontage Friday, October 30 @ 3PM 28 Church Street, Swanton, VT

Village home in need of renovations.

1,544±SF, full basement, barn and outbuildings. 25± acres with public water and sewer in the village portion.

THCAuction.com 800-634-7653 SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 21-28, 2020

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63 10/19/20 9:10 AM

PHOTO: JEB WALLACE-BRODEUR

When Spruce Peak Arts’ finance manager decided to retire, we definitely entered the search with some trepidation. It’s such a strange time for individuals and businesses that I just didn’t know what to expect. I wasn’t sure what the landscape would be for job hunters right now.

We started advertising just with Seven Days, where we’d had success before, and never expanded the search beyond that. Previously, we’ve used a ton of sites, including Indeed.com. With those big, national sites, I just haven’t found the quality of candidates we were hoping for.

We were just hopeful that, even in this strange time, we’d be able to find the right person.

And luckily we did. We had an immediate flood of inquiries from some very, very qualified candidates. Within two weeks I was able to make an offer to someone whom I think will be an amazing addition to the team.

Seven Days and Michelle made it super easy, super efficient.

I was so pleasantly surprised by the caliber of people who responded — and the quantity, as well. It was really terrific for us.

HOPE SULLIVAN Executive Director Spruce Peak Arts, Stowe

…it works.

CALL MICHELLE: 865-1020, EXT.21 OR VISIT JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM 64

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 21-28, 2020

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6/9/20 11:42 AM

65 OCTOBER 21-28, 2020

ATTENTION RECRUITERS: POST YOUR JOBS AT: PRINT DEADLINE: FOR RATES & INFO:

JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM/POST-A-JOB NOON ON MONDAYS (INCLUDING HOLIDAYS) MICHELLE BROWN, 802-865-1020 X21, MICHELLE@SEVENDAYSVT.COM

YOUR TRUSTED LOCAL SOURCE. JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM Head of School The Bellwether School, a progressive education community for students ages 3-12 in Williston, Vt., is seeking a new Head of School, effective July 2021.

Requirements: Masters in Education Administration, Education, or comparable degree and/or equivalent experience and experience in educational leadership and the administrative responsibilities of school operations.

Contact Jean Lamont, Partner, Educators’ Collaborative, LLC, jlamont@ educatorscollaborative. com; phone: 203-605-6975.

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PAID TRAINING!

ACCOUNTANT

Looking for LNA Training?

Come talk with us!

Statewide affordable housing provider/ manager needs an individual to perform professional accounting & technical work related to nonprofits & limited partnerships. Knowledge of GAAP & its application is essential. Bachelor’s degree with major work in accounting, business administration plus two years’ experience with emphasis on accounting & financial management.

Additional experience may be substituted for education. $19.54/ hour plus benefits. Full time position located in Montpelier, VT. Send cover letter, completed application & resume to: HR, VSHA, One Prospect St., Montpelier, Vt. 05602; contact@vsha.org.

Applying to Elderwood at Burlington as a Support Aide is the first step to being accepted into our Licensed Nursing Assistant (LNA) Training Program. Working as a Support Aide will allow you to gain valuable insight into the LNA role. The Support Aide to the LNA track can provide its own rewarding career or it can be a stepping stone to a clinical pathway that could lead to LPN or RN career. Elderwood at Burlington offers Tuition Assistance Programs, Employee Referral Bonuses & a robust benefit package.

Visit www.vsha.org for employment application & full position details. VSHA is an equal opportunity employer.

Apply today to start investing in your future! Class starts in early January 2021! Don't forget to ask us about how to earn a sign-on bonus of up to $2,000!

VSHA is an equal opportunity employer.

VISIT WWW.ELDERWOODCAREERS.COM FOR DETAILS

Vice President of People and Culture

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HIRING EVENT October 16th and 23rd

PRODUCTION AND FORKLIFT OPERATORS (AM shift) 7:00 am – 7:30 pm (PM shift) 7:00 pm – 7:30 am $18.17 – $20.03 per hour The Ben & Jerry's Vermont Manufacturing team is currently hiring to support our St. Albans team in performing various functions in the ice cream production process to ensure safe operation of the machinery, with a focus on producing quality product.

If you are an individual that possesses strong communications, teamwork and problem-solving skills, you are invited to be part of Unilever, one of the world’s largest consumer goods companies.

A full job description and online application are available at: www.benjerry.com or http://bit.ly/BenandJerrysJOBS Online application must be submitted to participate in the hiring event Employment is subject to verification of pre-employment drug-screening results (including Marijuana) and background investigation

10/9/20 1:07 PM

10/20/20 2:19 PM

Exciting Opportunity to join VPR and Vermont PBS, leading nonprofit media organizations, with combined full-time staff of more than 100 and combined audience of more than 400,000 people a month.

Both organizations are independent platforms for news, information, education, music and cultural exploration for the people of Vermont and the region.

The Vice President of People and Culture is a newly created role and will serve separately on the senior leadership team of both VPR and Vermont PBS. You will partner with fellow senior leaders to support and guide the organization in a period of growth and potential merger. Candidates to this position should be innovative, solution-driven, collaborative and able to engage with colleagues across the organizations.

QUALIFICATIONS · Bachelor’s degree in business, human resources or equivalent – preferred, but not required · 7 – 10 years of professional experience in all aspects of human resource and staff development · Equivalent combination of education and experience accepted

· Demonstrated expertise in strategic HR management i.e. planning and policy, talent management, selection, compensation, benefits, training, development, employee relations and performance management · Senior human resource certification (SPHR or equivalent) preferred · Ability to work concurrently for two separate entities and supervisors

BENEFITS: Paid Time Off, 403(b) Retirement Account, Health & Dental Insurance, FSA, Life, STD, LTD, Vision

APPLY ONLINE: vpr.org/careers Equal Opportunity Employers: Vermont Public Radio and Vermont Public Television are equal opportunity employers. Qualified candidate will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, mental or physical disability, and genetic information, marital status, citizenship status, military status, protected veteran status or any other category protected by law.

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Have you always been a caretaker by nature? Looking to impact lives through emotional and physical support? Consider starting your career in healthcare as a Support Aide. This is a non-certified position that can lead to Nursing Assistant certification (LNA).

10/16/20 4:20 PM

ATTENTION RECRUITERS:

66

POST YOUR JOBS AT JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM FOR FAST RESULTS, OR CONTACT MICHELLE BROWN: MICHELLE@SEVENDAYSVT.COM

OCTOBER 21-28, 2020

PART-TIME ADMINISTRATOR

Design/Build Coordinator

Hanover, NH/Upper Valley area The Administrator for the NH & VT Council of Charitable Gift Planners provides staff support to the Board of Directors and the Council’s members (weekday hours). The position requires an average of 10-20 hours per month. Most of the work may be done remotely (at least until after June 2021), and the administrator must have a computer, phone and internet access.

This hands-on role supports Yestermorrow’s Design/ Build and Woodworking courses. Responsibilities include classroom prep, tool and machine maintenance, project management, and material ordering.

Learn more and apply at yestermorrow.org/jobs.

OPEN POSITIONS - ALL SHIFTS

For job responsibilities, please go to: nhvtgiftplanners.org/ 2v-Yestermorrow102120.indd job-opportunities. Applicants please email a cover letter and resume to: kfine@kurnhattin.org.

The NH & VT Council of Charitable Gift Planners is a nonprofit chapter of the Council of Charitable Gift Planners (CGP). The NH & VT Council offers professional development opportunities related to planned giving, usually three or four annually, and other services for its members.

2 Jobs: Apparel & Footwear Buyer - AND Outdoor Gear Sales Associate

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10/20/20

Maintenance Engineer Environmental, Health, & Safety Manager

At Vermont Creamery, our employees are our greatest resource. We are a community that empowers our team to engage and live our mission every day. We know that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and here, the whole is powered by a spirit of collaboration & transparency.

Full Time

Seeking full-time real estate paralegal in Waterbury, VT. Experienced with all aspects of real estate transactions, including title searches. Well11:50 AM developed computer skills.

Knowledge of Microsoft Office and experience or ability to learn law practice software such as E-Closing and Clio. Salary commensurate with experience.

Benefits matter; that’s why we offer a competitive package.

Our benefits program includes medical, vision & dental insurance, retirement plans & a total well-being approach.

Perks to keep you healthy & happy include a wellness program, time off & tuition assistance. A certified B Corp since 2014, we’re using our business as a force for good.

10/19/20 3:55 PM

Real Estate Paralegal

Administrative Assistant Part Time

Seeking person skilled with computers for busy law office in Waterbury, Vermont. Assist staff and clients with wide variety of transactions and tasks. Salary commensurate with experience.

Onion River Outdoors is a community-minded outdoor gear and apparel shop in Montpelier, Vermont. We are Benefits offered at this Central Vermont’s outdoor recreation experts, an eclectic established and growing law and fun group of active, outdoor-loving folks seeking healthier, happier, and firm. A great place to work.

To apply, please call 802-479-9371 or apply online at: more eco-friendly ways to live our lives by using the gear we sell as often as Reply to Robyn Desrochers at we can. We work hard and have fun. We recognize that our shop’s success is careers.landolakesinc.com/vermontcreamery.

Robyn@waterburystowelaw.com tied to the well-being of our Green Mountain landscape and our Central Vermont community. We open doors to the outdoors by supporting community members in their outdoor pursuits. We believe that when consumers support local 4t-VTCreamery100720.indd 1 10/5/203v-DarbyKolter&Nordle101420.indd 3:29 PM 1 10/13/20 11:36 AM business and local business supports the community, we all win.

We are seeking enthusiastic outdoors people for two positions: a full-time Apparel & Footwear Buyer and several full- or part-time Sales Associates.

Passion for outdoor pursuits, great communication skills, positive outlook, and personal experience with outdoor gear required. Some weekend and holiday hours are a given, but so is a fun workplace in an active community.

Paid vacation, competitive wages, and other benefits available. Visit onionriver.com for full job descriptions and more information.

WHERE YOU AND YOUR WORK MATTER...

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Craft Beer Delivery Driver Customer service oriented team player to deliver Lawson’s Finest beer to retail accounts throughout Vermont.

CDL required.

Apply here: lawsonsfinest.com/about-us/join-our-team.

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PHARMACY TECHNICIAN

The Vermont Department of Public Safety is seeking a temporary person to assist the DPS Business Office with issuing FEMA Public Assistance subgrant agreements and reviewing and processing payments to municipalities and state agencies, particularly but not exclusively related to COVID-19. The ideal candidate will have excellent communication skills along with a knack for learning new systems, experience in the VISION System, as well as a positive attitude and attention to details. For more information, contact Kim Canarecci at kim.canarecci@vermont.gov or 802-585-4209. Location: Waterbury. Status: Temporary. Job ID #9921. Application Deadline: Open Until Filled.

SUBS TANCE ABUSE PROGRAM MAN AGER – BURLINGTON

The Vermont Department of Health, Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Programs (ADAP) seeks a Substance Abuse Program Manager to join our Prevention Team. Seeking candidates with knowledge and experience in grant project management, development and monitoring, evaluations and systems development. Visit our website to see the full job description and apply. For more information, contact Lori Uerz at lori.uerz@vermont.gov.

Department: Health. Status: Full Time – Limited Service. Job ID #9842. Application Deadline: October 18, 2020.

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Start applying at jobs.sevendaysvt.com.

9/22/20 1:00 PM

PUBLIC ASSIS TANCE COORDIN ATOR – WATERBURY

Learn more at: careers.vermont.gov

Looking for a Sweet Job?

CERTIFIED - OUTPATIENT Sign on bonus - Up to $3,000 within a year of employment

The Pharmacy Technician performs those duties which do not require the professional training of a pharmacist. Duties include, but aren’t limited to, filling prescriptions, providing excellent customer service, updating patient records, cleaning, inventory management, dealing with insurance companies & completing tasks as assigned.

LEARN MORE & APPLY: uvmmed.hn/sevendays

The State of Vermont is an Equal Opportunity Employer 10/19/20 9:05 AM 4t-UVMMedCenter091620.indd 1

9/14/20 9:19 AM

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @SEVENDAYSJOBS, SUBSCRIBE TO RSS, OR BROWSE POSTS ON YOUR PHONE AT JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM

Flooring America

IS HIRING

We are looking for a full-time SALES PERSON. No flooring sales experience necessary, we have a great training program for new hires, from the best team in town! Must have the following: • Good communication skills • Integrity • Dependability • Pleasant with customers.

We also need to hire a WAREHOUSE MANAGER. Looking for someone dependable, organized and able to do a little lifting.

NEW JOBS POSTED DAILY! JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM

Hiring Now!

brandhub™ Order Management Lead Select is looking for a talented and experienced order management lead to own the oversight and day-to-day outcomes for key clients on our brandhub™ technology platform that ensures on-time delivery of consumer brand activation assets into market.

Immediate openings Full-time and flexible part-time schedules Days, early evenings, & weekend shifts

Manufacturing Call Center Warehouse

Responsibilities: manage via brandhub™ application all work flow and production status with suppliers, maintain activity and communication with third party logistics (3PL) partners, and distribute accurate shipping and receiving details to all parties.

Apply in person 210 East Main Street, Richmond, VT

9/18/20 These are great positions 4t-Harringtons092320.indd 1 for someone looking to change careers. CompetiMillbrook Building and Remodeling is a local tive pay and benefits. general contractor who is looking for skilled Send resume to: devarts@ carpenters with at least 3-5 years of experience. flooringamericavt.com This is a full time year round position. We are looking for motivated dependable carpenters who have worked in both residential and commercial construction. We believe in training employees to help them grow and thrive within our company.

Please send resume to Office@millbrookvt.com and fill out our online application on our website, millbrookvt.com.

CARPENTERS

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10/16/20 5:08 PM

WE OFFER: • Competitive Pay.

FULL AND PART TIME HOLIDAY POSITIONS

• $18-28.00/hour. Wages based on experience.

• Paid PTO, Holidays, and

Are you looking to make Company Contributions extra money and want to Health Insurance and IRA. to work with a great, experienced team? Dakin Farm is currently seeking applicants to join our team4t-MillbrookBuilding&Remodeling102120 1 of skilled staff for our busy upcoming holiday season.

Northeastern Vermont

67 OCTOBER 21-28, 2020

3:34 PM

Qualifications: 3-5 years experience working with third party suppliers and 3PL partners, knowledge of an order lifecycle and product logistics, and user competence of ERP and order management software. Bachelor degree preferred.

Apply: careers@selectdesign.com Full Listing: www.selectdesign.com/careers 208 Flynn Ave., Burlington, VT (802) 864.9075

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10/19/20 9:04 AM

• Previous OSHA training is a plus, but not mandatory.

• EOE Women and minorities are encouraged to apply.

MULTIPLE POSITIONS OPEN

10/16/20 12:58 PM

We have both full and part time positions in our Warehouse, Mail Order Packing Department, and Specialty Food Production.

We offer competitive wages, generous employee discounts, and hours that meet your schedule.

Regional Hospital (NVRH) has a variety of openings available, including RNs, LNAs, Ultrasound Technologist, Echocardiographer, Sr. MultiModality Technologist and Medical Lab Technician or Medical Technologist. NVRH also has Administrative Positions, Food Service and Environmental Services openings.

Please stop by our retail store: 5797 Route 7, Ferrisburgh to complete an application, or call us at 1-800-99DAKIN. Email your resume to tdanyow@dakinfarm.com.

Full, part-time and per diem positions available.

Excellent benefits available including student loan repayment and tuition reimbursement.

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For more information or to apply, please visit nvrh.org/careers.

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10/19/20 10:50 AM

ATTENTION RECRUITERS:

68

POST YOUR JOBS AT JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM FOR FAST RESULTS, OR CONTACT MICHELLE BROWN: MICHELLE@SEVENDAYSVT.COM

OCTOBER 21-28, 2020

Commercial Roofers AFFORDABLE HOUSING ASSOCIATE DEVELOPER Evernorth has created a new position for an Associate Developer to join our amazing development team. This position reports to the SVP of Real Estate. The successful candidate will be an excellent communicator with experience in real estate development, excel and financial analysis. 2h-ACHathorne080520.indd We believe in equal access to affordable housing and economic opportunities; the power of partnerships based on integrity, respect and professionalism; a collaborative workplace with professional, skilled and dedicated staff.

Please send a cover letter and resume with salary requirements to Kathy Beyer, hr@evernorthus.org. E.O.E.

VCRD IS SEEKING A PART-TIME

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DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR

10/5/20

VCRD is seeking a dedicated and hardworking Development Director to work 1-2 days a week to help lead fund development, prospect outreach, donor communications and other fundraising work in line with our mission to support rural Vermont communities and advance policies that create a prosperous and sustainable future.

Full-time, year-round employment. Good benefits.

Experience in installing Epdm, Tpo, Pvc roofing.

EOE/M/F/VET/Disability employer.

Pay negotiable with experience.

Apply in person at: A.C. Hathorne Co. 252 Avenue C Williston, VT 802-862-6473

1

8/4/20

1

10/9/20 11:48 AM

Work at CCS and support, and live, our mission; “to build a community where everyone participates and belongs.”

Be a part of it and apply today at www.ccs-vt.org.

ccs-vt.org

Visit vtrural.org for the full job description and information about how to apply. Application deadline is 11/07/2020.

10/19/20

Vermont Energy is a Williston based HVAC company established in 1984. We are an industry leader in heat pump technology installation and service. VTE is a full service provider of heating, air conditioning, and plumbing systems. Our primary markets are residential clients and light commercial properties.

We are looking for qualified individuals to join our service team. We offer an excellent compensation package. You will have a four day work week with local travel, great pay, paid vacation, medical and dental insurance, retirement plan and a tool & training account.

If you have experience with service of heat pumps, boilers, furnaces and air conditioning systems we want to talk with you. Pay: $30.00 - $38.00 per hour.

For consideration, send a resume to BARBARA@VTENERGY.COM

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Resume and 3 references can be sent to: pcavt@pcavt.org, or PO Box 829, Montpelier, VT 05601 EOE.

Champlain Community Services, named one of the “Best Places to Work in Vermont” for the second year in a row, wants you to be a part of our team. Our current openings for 4:31 PM 2v-PreventChildAbuseVT101420.indd Service Coordinator, Direct Support Professional, & Overnight Supports offer opportunities to make a positive impact on someone’s life, and in yours.

E.O.E.

10/6/20 10:27 AM

HUMAN RESOURCES GENERALIST

SERVICE TEAM MEMBERS Full Time

Position is full time, day/evening hours.

Experience working with adults, and knowledge of child development and child abuse required.

2:59 PM MSW or other graduate degree required.

Northern Lights certified instructor preferred.

Ready to enjoy your job, be appreciated by your employer, feel good about what you do, and receive a comprehensive benefits package?

We’re looking for someone who: • Demonstrates excellent written, oral, and social media 4t-ChamplainCommServices100720.indd 1 communications skills • Is a self-starter with the ability to work independently as well as part of a team • Is eager to advance rural communities and work with our team in donor solicitation, grant writing and reporting Full-time · $20 / hour • Has fundraising and annual campaign experience.

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CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE PREVENTION TRAINER

Capstone Community Action is growing and we're hiring a HR Generalist! We are seeking a candidate who is comfortable with a highly visible position working with leaders across the organization.

We’re looking for a high level of professionalism, excellent customer service skills and the foundational experience in HR to 10:20 AM grow with our organization. Our Human Resources Generalist will perform a wide range of duties, primarily recruitment and benefit administration, and assisting with additional HR functions.

The ideal candidate will have HRIS knowledge, preferably with ADP, extensive knowledge of Microsoft programs, excellent organizational, verbal and written skills, and ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines. Strong analytical and problem solving skills, and knowledge of employment related laws and best practices are a must. A relevant bachelor’s degree is preferred, but your experience and attitude will be essential to excel in this position.

Youth Coach https://bit.ly/33U580S

Drop-In Center Program Manger https://bit.ly/3k3yaAG

Warming Shelter Support Temporary Positions

https://bit.ly/2ZLD25g

Supported Housing Staff - Evening Shift https://bit.ly/3lKmXWZ

Join us as we grow and strengthen our core mission to lift low 3v-Spectrum102120.indd income Vermonters out of poverty and into a hopeful bright future.

We offer a generous benefits package including health, dental, life, disability, 401K, vacation, holidays and more. For complete job description, visit our website at capstonevt.org/jobs.

Capstone Community Action is an Equal Opportunity Employer and Provider. Applications from women, individuals with disabilities, veterans, and people from diverse cultural backgrounds are encouraged.

10/19/20 1:44 PM

1

10/16/20 10:09 AM

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @SEVENDAYSJOBS, SUBSCRIBE TO RSS, OR BROWSE POSTS ON YOUR PHONE AT JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM

NEW JOBS POSTED DAILY! 3.83”

JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM

Superheroes Needed!

an equal opportunity employer

Early education and child care programs across Vermont are hiring. You can help give our youngest Vermonters a strong start.

Visit: EarlyChildhoodJobsVT.org 3h-LetsGrowKids102120 1

10/20/20 11:23 AM

DELI and BAKERY HELP! Cupboard Deli. Rte 15, Jeffersonville.

• DELI HELP, prep and service (evenings).

• BAKER (early morning). Full-time.

Weekdays, weekends.

Licensed Clinical Social Worker

WORK WITH YOUTH at the Northlands Job Corps Center in Vergennes, VT. Work one or two, 6-7 hour shifts each week (your choice). $50.00/hour. Please contact Dan W. Hauben ASAP for more information. Thank you!

Office: 888-552-1660, Cell: 714-552-6697 omnimed1@verizon.net

If you are interested in joining one of the largest landscape companies in northern New England please fill out an application.

Send resumes to: andrew@landshapes.net.

Team player. Experience preferred but happy to train. Fun crew, great customers.

Apply in person: Call Dean at 644-2069, or email deandecker1976@gmail.com.

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10/20/20

1 9/8/20 2v-Landshapes102120.indd 12:40 PM

VT Affordable Housing Coalition seeks part-time Resident Organizer, with thorough understanding of Vermont’s affordable housing landscape, to take lead role in establishing statewide, resident-led grassroots policy advocacy initiative.

Bachelor’s degree and 2-4 years of community organizing experience required. This is a one-year contracted, grant-funded position with anticipated December start date and potential for renewal and expansion in second year. To apply send cover letter and resume to: hiring@ vtaffordablehousing.org.

Applications accepted on a rolling basis until position is filled.

10/16/20 3v-VTAffordableHousing102120.indd 8:41 AM 1

Immediate Seasonal Openings

$15/hour!

Immediate seasonal job openings in our Manufacturing and Shipping Departments (Burlington & Williston Locations)

5

• • • • • •

Paid Holidays Product Discounts End of Season Incentive Overtime Potential Safe, Fun & Supportive Work Environment Full-Time Day Shift – 6:30am-3pm (7:30am-4pm for Shipping positions) • Full & Part-Time Night Shift – 3pm-11:30pm (Shipping) We’d love to welcome you to our team this season!

Call today, 802-264-2179 or visit our website for additional job details: https://www.lakechamplainchocolates.com/careers

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR

10/20/20 2:16 PM 5v-LakeChamplainChocolates102120.indd 1

RESIDENT ORGANIZER

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Now Hiring!

Landscape Professional Landshapes is hiring for landscape maintenance and construction positions.

Past experience is a plus, but willing to train the right individual. This is a year round position with a competitive 2:10 PM salary and great benefits.

2h-CupboardDeli102120.indd 1

69 OCTOBER 21-28, 2020

10/20/20 11:53 AM

The Town of Hardwick is seeking a Community Development Coordinator (CDC) to promote and negotiate community planning and development projects in Hardwick, with a focus on securing grant support for various Town projects. The CDC is responsible for providing administrative support on various projects within the Town, preparing grant proposals and applications, and finding creative ways through grants and other funding sources to bring economic development projects to the Town. Other work includes administrative support for the Town’s Economic Development Loan Fund, developing short and long term economic and community development plans, working with outside organizations on projects, and promoting the Town through various social media platforms.

DS 302-3

This position is 20 hours per week with some paid time off. 25-0-95-0 The salary is hourly and commensurate with experience.

Minimum requirements include a college degree with prior grant writing experience and a track record of obtaining and administering grants. The successful candidate will be a selfstarter with excellent written and verbal communication skills.

For the complete job description, visit hardwickvt.org.

Please either mail or email your letter of interest and resume to the Town of Hardwick, P.O. Box 523, Hardwick, VT 05843 or email jobs@hardwickvt.org no later than Friday, October 30. Note “Community Development position” in your email subject line. This position is open until filled. The Town reserves the right to assign a candidate to the role at any time.

Hardwick is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

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10/20/20 2:28 PM

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ATTENTION RECRUITERS:

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POST YOUR JOBS AT JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM FOR FAST RESULTS, OR CONTACT MICHELLE BROWN: MICHELLE@SEVENDAYSVT.COM

OCTOBER 21-28, 2020

DIRECTOR, HUMAN RESOURCES & ADMINISTRATION

Secretary Office of the Defender General, Montpelier. Previous secretarial experience required. Experience as a secretary in the criminal or juvenile justice system or human services field preferred. Must be able to work independently and as part of a legal team. Requires patience, the ability to work with a wide variety of people, tenacity, a sense of humor, and a can-do attitude.

Full-time, exempt PG17 (union) position with State benefits. $17.11/hr.

Email resume and cover letter by Wednesday, October 28th to: mary.deaett@vermont.gov. E.O.E.

The Vermont State Housing Authority, statewide provider of affordable housing assistance, seeks a Director of HR & Adm. Responsible for all human resource activities including but not limited to recruitment/hiring, orientation, collective bargaining all employee benefits, policy development, compliance & reporting.

Assists Executive Director with agency administration and coordination, board preparation; acts as Fair Housing Coordinator & Records Officer. Individual will use a variety of computerized programs. Batchelor’s, plus 5 yrs. progressive responsibility including supervision. Full time position located in Montpelier, VT.

ADULT ADDICTION RECOVERY CLINICIAN To provide substance use treatment with individuals, groups and families. Focus on intake and evaluation.

Master’s Degree in a mental health field plus at least one year of relevant clinical experience. LADC required, LADC with dual licensure in mental health filed preferred.

Full time position with comprehensive benefits.

E.O.E. Send resume to: apply@csac-vt.org.

Send cover letter, resume & completed application to: HR, VSHA, One Prospect St., Montpelier, Vt. 05602; contact@vsha.org Visit www.vsha.org for employment application & full job details.

Position open until filled.

VSHA is an equal opportunity employer.

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COOK

CUSTOMER SERVICE POSITION Union Bank, your hometown community bank since 1891, is an employer of choice in the markets we serve.

We offer challenging and rewarding career opportunities.

Currently, we are seeking a motivated individual to join our existing team of dedicated professionals to provide outstanding customer service in our Williston branch office located at Finney Crossing. Primary responsibilities will be to run a Teller drawer and to be cross trained to open new accounts.

Prior banking experience is helpful but not required. We will provide the training and knowledge base for the right individuals who have a passion for helping others. We are seeking individuals who are driven to provide outstanding customer service, are technologically adept, and have a continuous desire to learn.

Starting wages are a minimum of $15.00 per hour, but may be higher based on prior work experience. Union Bank offers a generous and comprehensive benefits program for full time employees, including three options of medical insurance coverage, two dental insurance options, a robust 401(k) plan with a generous company match, fully paid life and disability insurance, and paid vacation, personal and sick leave.

To be considered for this position, please submit a cover letter, resume and references to:

Human Resources - Union Bank P.O. Box 667 Morrisville, Vermont 05661 – 0667 careers@unionbankvt.com

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10/12/204t-VSHA-hrdirector102120.indd 3:46 PM 1

10/19/20 1:37 PM

Do you have a passion for cooking and enjoy connecting with the people you serve? We have the job for you! We encourage our staff to use their passion and skills to influence a creative menu for our residents. This role provides an opportunity for both independence and collaboration with the kitchen team. We are looking for cooking experience, positive attitude, and reliability. 36 hours per week at Cathedral Square Senior Living in Burlington. CSC offers a competitive pay, a great benefit package and a friendly positive working environment. Submit resume to jobs@cathedralsquare.org today! EOE. 3v-CathedralSquare102120.indd 1

10/19/20 1:33 PM

Short Order Cook

ADULT MENTAL HEALTH CLINICIAN Looking for an opportunity in community mental health? Join our dynamic team of clinicians and work in a primary care setting.

To provide individuals, groups and families with clinical assessment and treatment to understand and/or alleviate symptoms related to improvement of mental health, substance use, behavioral, and relationship distress. AOP prides itself on teaming and providing necessary clinical services in a comprehensive outpatient setting. We believe in a team of supportive colleagues and the importance of regular, high-quality supervision. CSAC is known for our innovative approaches and our success with collaborative, inter-agency efforts.

We're looking to hire an experienced short order chef for the iconic Rochester Cafe & Country Store serving breakfast and lunch in the small town of Rochester, Vt.

Please email Stephanie at steffannyg@yahoo.com with some of your past experiences, a few references would be great and what you're looking to achieve in the next few years! Pay is based on your skill and experience. Come show us what you can do!!

Full job description: https://bit.ly/2H99zw0

Full time position with comprehensive benefits. Interest in trauma preferred, as well as interest in being part of evolving models for clinical response to the mental health needs of the populations 2v-RochesterCafe&CountryStore102120.indd10/16/20 1 we serve. Master’s Degree in a mental health field plus at least one year of relevant clinical experience necessary. Candidates with current clinical license preferred but will consider applicants who are rostered and in process of completing licensure requirements. Equal opportunity employer.

11:35 AM

Send resume to: apply@csac-vt.org.

E.O.E. - MEMBER FDIC 6t-UnionBank102120.indd 1

Equal Opportunity Employer

1 10/16/205v-CSACadultMentalHealthClinician102120.indd 5:22 PM

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10/29/19 12:12 PM

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @SEVENDAYSJOBS, SUBSCRIBE TO RSS, OR BROWSE POSTS ON YOUR PHONE AT JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM

NEW JOBS POSTED DAILY! JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM

71 OCTOBER 21-28, 2020

COTTAGE CRISIS SUPPORT PROGRAM COORDINATOR Seeking Masters level mental health professional with strong familiarity with recovery and wellness based approaches for coping with major mental health conditions, as well as excellent leadership, organizational, and teaming skills to coordinate CSAC’s 2 bed crisis support program.

Responsibilities will include: Providing support counseling, screening and planning for placement in Crisis Bed Program, and discharge planning. We offer a collaborative and supportive team environment with ongoing inquiry into innovative practices.

Master’s Degree in mental health field and 2 years of relevant experience required. This is a full time benefit eligible position.

Apply online: www.csac-vt.org/careers/

ASSISTANT MANAGER, MANAGER’S OFFICE, FULL TIME The Town of Essex and Village of Essex Junction, Vermont are seeking an Assistant Manager to work under the Unified Town/Village Manager in areas such as personnel oversight, diversity and inclusion, project management, operational management, departmental management, and leadership. This position works under the direction of the Unified Manager and works in accordance with all Town policies.

In general, the regular work hours per week are 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. However, hours may vary depending upon needs of the municipality. Attendance at Village Trustee and Town Selectboard meetings, and other boards and committees/commissions as required.

This position requires a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Administration, or other relevant field, and four (4) years of responsible experience in local governmental administration or other equivalent work experience; MPA preferred. Previous supervisory experience is also preferred.

The full job description can be found, and applications can be submitted online, by visiting

essexvt.org, essexjunction.org, or essexvt.bamboohr.com/jobs/.

The Town of Essex and Village of Essex Junction are equal opportunity employers.

Equal opportunity employer

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10/20/20 2:23 PM

10/16/20 5:25 PM

EARLY HEAD START TODDLER TEACHER BURLINGTON CHILDREN'S SPACE – BURLINGTON

Engaging minds that change the world

Seeking a position with a quality employer? Consider The University of Vermont, a stimulating and diverse workplace. We offer a comprehensive benefit package including tuition remission for on-going, full-time positions.

Community Care Coordinator - Extension - Migrant Education #S2593PO - The Community Care Coordinator works collaboratively with project staff to ensure immigrant farmworkers and their family members located across 13 Vermont counties are supported in receiving the health and social services that they need. This position screens for and attends to health and social factors that impact health and health outcomes. This position is located in South Burlington, VT. Functions include providing resources and referrals to health and social services and coordinating enabling services as needed including appointment scheduling, transportation and interpretation, coordination and paperwork completion. This individual will also assist in recruiting, training, and managing Bridges to Health volunteer drivers. High School Diploma and two to three years’ related experience required. Written and oral proficiency in Spanish/English, strong organizational and computer skills as well as ability to travel on occasion to rural areas of Vermont necessary. Please upload a resume and cover letter.

Fire Marshal - Risk Management and Safety - #S2562PO The University of Vermont is seeking a University Fire Marshal who will be responsible for UVM’s fire and life-safety programs.

Minimum Job Requirements/Competencies: • Bachelor’s degree in fire science or related discipline and four years of experience in fire and life safety management. Equivalent education and experience may be considered.

• NFPA Certified Fire Inspector or Certified Fire Protection Specialist.

• Experience in training and technical knowledge of fire protection systems and fire alarms.

• Experience with interpreting and applying NFPA codes as adopted by the State of Vermont and City of Burlington, VT. • National Incident Management System (NIMS) ICS-200 certification or higher.

• Strong oral and written communication skills.

• Experience in leading work groups and continuous improvement programs.

• Demonstrated ongoing commitment to workplace diversity, sustainability and delivering exceptional value and great customer service.

• Prior experience at a university or insurance company is desirable.

The University is especially interested in candidates who can contribute to the diversity and excellence of the institution. Applicants are encouraged to include in their cover letter information about how they will further this goal.

For further information on these positions and others currently available, or to apply online, please visit www.uvmjobs.com. Applicants must apply for positions electronically. Paper resumes are not accepted.

Open positions are updated daily. Please call 802-656-3150 or email employment@uvm.edu for technical support with the online application.

The University of Vermont is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.

Head Start is a federally-funded, national child and family development program which provides comprehensive services for pregnant women, children from birth to age five, and their families. Services for children promote school readiness, and include early education, health, nutrition, mental health, and services for children with special needs. Services for parents promote family engagement, and include parent leadership and social service supports.

As an Early Head Start Toddler Teacher, you will serve as co-teacher in an outcomesoriented, team environment, and provide safe, healthy, friendly, and developmentally appropriate environments and experiences for infants and toddlers. Motivated Head Start teachers improve the trajectory of children’s lives, including children’s learning outcomes, living standards, and later academic and professional success. If you want to make a difference in the lives of young children and their families, consider joining the Head Start community.

10/19/20 12:37 PM

Childhood Education or related education field; Infant toddler specific education and experience that meets or exceeds the requirements for an Infant Toddler CDA Credential; knowledge and experience in developmentally appropriate early childhood practice, child outcome assessment, child behavior management, and curriculum planning, development and implementation; a commitment to social justice and to working with families with limited financial resources; excellent verbal and written communication (bilingual abilities a plus!), documentation, and record-keeping skills; valid driver’s license, clean driving record and access to reliable transportation; physical ability to carry out required tasks, and a can-do, extramile attitude.

40 hours/week, 52 weeks/year.

Starting wage upon completion of 60-working day period: $20.28-$24.22/hour, depending on qualifications.

Health plan and excellent benefits.

Please submit cover letter, resume, and three work references to: hdstjobs@cvoeo.org.

No phone calls, please.

THIS INSTITUTION IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER.

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REQUIREMENTS: Bachelor’s degree in Early

10/5/20 9:43 AM

fun stuff

RACHEL LINDSAY

72

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 21-28, 2020

CALCOKU & SUDOKU (P.61) CROSSWORD (P.61)

HARRY BLISS

T:7"

Untitled-7 1

10/19/20 9:23 AM T:7"

“We were already in this room — I remember that hideous Renoir.”

JEN SORENSEN

T:10"

Three rows, sevenseats, seats,countless countless possibilities.

Three rows, seven possibilities.

Introducing the first-ever Mercedes-Benz GLB. An SUV with a state-of-the-art Mercedes-Benz MBUX

Introducing the first-ever Mercedes-Benz GLB. An SUV with a state-of-the-art Mercedes-Benz MBUX system that responds to your natural voice, an optional third row with plenty of room for seven and a system that to your voice, thirdmore rowatwith plenty of room for seven and a priceresponds tag that’s well withinnatural reach. All roadsan areoptional open. Learn MBUSA.com/GLB price tag that’s well within reach. All roads are open. Learn more at MBUSA.com/GLB STARTING AT

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3328 Shelburne Rd. | Shelburne, Vermont 05482-6849

802.985.8482 | TheAutomasterMercedesBenz.com 2020 GLB 250 shown in Polar White paint with optional equipment shown and described. *Base MSRP excludes transportation and handling charges, destination charges, taxes, title, registration, preparation and documentary fees, tags, labor and installation charges, insurance, and optional equipment, products, packages and accessories. Options, model availability and actual dealer price may vary. See dealer for details, costs and terms. ©2020 Authorized Mercedes-Benz Dealers For more information, call 1-800-FOR-MERCEDES, or visit MBUSA.com.

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HEADLINE: 22 pt. • BODY COPY: 9 pt.OCTOBER 21-28, 2020 SEVEN DAYS

200 Varick St. New York, NY 10014 : Phone 212-805-7500

MR2_GEN_MPNY-P00004351_A

Client: MERCEDES-BENZ USA, LLC RDA

73

10/1/20 3:37 PM

WO: MY20 GLB 250 Toolkit

fun stuff RYAN RIDDLE

is

Making it is not :( Keep this newspaper free for all.

Join the Seven Days Super Readers at sevendaysvt.com/super-readers or call us at 802-864-5684.

74SR-Comics-filler071520.indd SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 21-28, 2020 1

7/14/20 3:32 PM

Have a deep, dark fear of your own? Submit it to cartoonist Fran Krause at deep-dark-fears.tumblr.com, and you may see your neurosis illustrated in these pages.

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY BY ROB BREZSNY REAL OCTOBER 22-28

writes, “Hardly anyone about whom I deeply care resembles anyone else I have ever met, or heard of, or read about in literature.” I bet if you’re honest, Taurus, you would say the same.

It’s almost certainly the case that the people you regard as worthy of your love and interest are absolutely unique. In the sense that there are no other characters like them in the world, they are superstars and prodigies. I bring this to your attention because now is an excellent time to fully express your appreciation for their one-of-a-kind beauty — to honor and celebrate them for their entertainment value and precious influence and unparalleled blessings.

SCORPIO (OCT. 23-NOV. 21):

“I loathe narcissism, but I approve of vanity,” said fashion writer Diana Vreeland. Here’s how I interpret that: People who care mostly for their own feelings and welfare, and who believe they’re more important than everyone else, are boring and repellent.

But those who enjoy looking their best and expressing their unique beauty may do so out of a desire to share their gifts with the world. Their motivation might be artistry and generosity, not self-centeredness. In accordance with cosmic potentials, Scorpio, I invite you to elude the temptations of narcissism as you explore benevolent forms of vanity.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): “I’ve been told that nobody sings the word ‘hunger’ like I do,” testified Aries chanteuse Billie Holiday. She wasn’t suggesting that she had a stylish way of crooning about fine dining. Rather, she meant “hunger” in the sense of the longing for life’s poignant richness. Her genius-level ability to express such beauty was due in part to her skillful vocal technique but also because she was a master of cultivating soulful emotions. Your assignment in the coming weeks, Aries, is to refine and deepen your own hunger.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Author Renata Adler expresses my own feelings when she

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): “If you cannot find

an element of humor in something, you’re not taking it seriously enough,” writes author Ilyas Kassam. That’s a key thought for you to keep in mind during the coming weeks. Levity and joking will be necessities, not luxuries. Fun and amusement will be essential ingredients in the quest to make good decisions. You can’t afford to be solemn and stern, because allowing those states to dominate you would diminish your intelligence. Being playful — even in the face of challenges — will ensure your ultimate success.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): I’m hoping the horoscopes I wrote for you in late August helped propel you into a higher level of commitment to the art of transformation. In any case, I suspect that you will have the chance, in the coming weeks, to go even further in your mastery of that art. To inspire you in your efforts, I’ll encourage you to at least temporarily adopt one or more of the nicknames in the following list: 1. Flux Luster, 2. Fateful Fluctuator, 3. Shift Virtuoso, 4. Flow Maestro, 5. Alteration Adept, 6. Change Arranger, 7.

Mutability Savant, 8. Transition Connoisseur.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): “When one is a stranger to oneself, then one is estranged from others, too,” wrote author Anne Morrow Lindbergh. “If one is out of touch with oneself, then one cannot touch others. Only when one is connected to one’s own core, is one connected to others.” In bringing these thoughts to your attention, Leo, I don’t mean to imply that you are out of touch with your deep self.

Not at all. But in my view, all of us can benefit from getting into ever-closer communion with our deep selves. In the coming weeks, you especially need to work on that — and are likely to have extra success in doing so.

Be as elegant and respectful as possible. But make it your priority to experiment with sacred vulnerability. Find out how far you can safely go as you strip away the disguises that have kept you out of touch with your full power.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): My cosmic tipsters told me that you will be even smarter than usual in the coming weeks. As I scoured the heavenly maps, I detected signs that you have the potential to be a skilled code cracker, riddle decipherer, and solver of knotty problems and tricky dilemmas. That’s why I suggest you express gratitude to your beautiful brain, Virgo. Sing it sweet songs and tell it how much you love it and find out which foods you can eat to strengthen it even more.

Now read Diane Ackerman’s description of the brain: “that shiny mound of being, that mousegray parliament of cells, that dream factory, that petit tyrant inside a ball of bone, that huddle of neurons calling all the plays, that little everywhere, that fickle pleasuredome.”

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Between 2008 and 2017, southern California had two sizable earthquakes: 5.5 and 5.1 on the Richter scale. But during the same period, the area had 1.8 million small quakes that were mostly too mild to be felt. The ground beneath the feet of the local people was shaking at the rate of once every three minutes. Metaphorically speaking, Capricorn, you’re now in a phase that resembles the mild shakes. There’s a lot of action going on beneath the surface, although not much of it is obvious. I think this is a good thing.

The changes you’re shepherding are proceeding at a safe, gradual, well-integrated pace.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): I vote in American elections, but I’ve never belonged to a political party. One of my favorite politicians is Bernie Sanders, who for most of his career has been an independent. But now I’m a staunch advocate for the Democrats. Why? Because Republicans are so thoroughly under the curse of the nasty, cruel, toxic person known as Donald Trump. I’m convinced that it’s crucial for our country’s well-being that Democrats achieve total victory in the upcoming election. In accordance with astrological omens, I urge you to do your personal equivalent of what I’ve done: Unambiguously align yourself with influences that represent your highest, noblest values. Take a sacred stand not just for yourself but also on behalf of everything you love.

SAGITTARIUS

(Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Yes, do let people see you sweat. At least for now, be forthright and revelatory. Let people witness your secret fire, your fierce tang, your salty tears and your unhealed wounds. Hold nothing back as you give what you haven’t been able to give before. Be gleefully expressive as you unveil every truth, every question, every buried joy. Don’t be crude and insensitive, of course.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): No American

woman was allowed to earn a medical degree and practice as a physician until Aquarianborn Elizabeth Blackwell did it in 1849. It was an almost impossible feat, since the all-male college she attended undermined her mercilessly. Once she began her career as a doctor, she constantly had to outwit men who made it difficult for her. Nevertheless, she persisted.

Eventually, she helped create a medical school for women in England and made it possible for 476 women to practice medicine there. I propose that we make her your patron saint for now. May she inspire you to redouble your diligent pursuit of your big dream. Here’s your motto: “Nevertheless, I’m persisting.”

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Henry David Tho-

reau wrote, “I fear my expression may not be extravagant enough, may not wander far enough beyond the narrow limit of my daily experience, so as to be adequate to the truth of which I have been convinced.” You’ll be wise to have a similar fear, Pisces. According to my analysis, you can generate good fortune for yourself by transcending what you already know and think.

Life is conspiring to nudge you and coax you into seeking experiences that will expand your understanding of everything. Take advantage of this opportunity to blow your own mind!

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SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 21-28, 2020

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10/20/20 4:21 PM

how to have fun but also carry herself in a professional manner, is a problem solver by nature and loves to try new things. Pcace007, 43, seeking: W SITTIN’ ON TOP That’s me in the corner, looking for a conversation. I don’t mind waiting because I already have myself. The rest is wavy gravy. WonderFull, 64, seeking: W

Respond to these people online: dating.sevendaysvt.com WOMEN seeking...

LOVE TO HAVE FUN Looking for someone to share adventures.

Looking for someone to share in the fun life has to give us. Moderately adventurous and looking for someone who wants to enjoy life, laughter and everything the future can throw at us. Funnygirl112, 57, seeking: M, l LET’S MANIFEST A SEXY SITUATION Looking for a hot, nerdy dude who has an adventurous, sensitive, techie soul.

Good with his hands. Must love cuddles.

I don’t mind if you prioritize your alone time as long as you don’t mind that I can be an endearing space case. Be warned: I will ask for your natal chart and when your most recent STI test was. starsaligned, 25, seeking: M FUN AND ADVENTURE My music is rock and classical. My tastes are spicy and eclectic. I like my coffee hot and black. I’m all over the map on most things, except for one. You won’t find me anywhere near tepid. Faith, 63, seeking: M, l WILD-HAIRED, FUN, YET TRUE I’m kind and true. I love Vermont, all the adventures that it offers. I can’t wait to travel, only to come home to garden, hike, paint and create in Vermont. I’m looking for a “partner in crime,” someone to create and dream together. Perhaps I’ll find my best friend and lover all wrapped into one beautiful heart of a man. Verita, 58, seeking: M, l

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SUGARBUSH & MAD RIVER Looking for a snowman available midweek for some shared outdoor adventures followed by a good meal and conversation. P.S. I should tell you I’m a terrible cook. P.S.S. Willing to do the dishes. MidweekSkier, 52, seeking: M, l POSITIVE, CURIOUS, FUNNY, OUTGOING I seek a good man with integrity and honesty — a creative thinker and problem solver who is kind, loving, considerate, a good listener, engaged with life traveling, not a smoker or big partier. I am an extrovert, kind, considerate. Swim, read, enjoy cooking and working in my studio.

I am not perfect, don’t smoke/ drink, and have been told that I am pretty. Sevevdays, 69, seeking: M INDESCRIBABLY UNIQUE I am a weekend warrior who hikes, backpacks, kayaks and bicycles in the summer and cross-country skis and snowshoes in the winter. I enjoy swing dancing, concerts and sharing homecooked meals. I am an avid reader, good conversationalist and loyal friend.

Looking for my soul mate but will be simply delighted with a new activity partner. Beshert, 67, seeking: M, l FUNNY, ACTIVE ACTIVIST AND ADVENTURIST Recently moved to Vermont from D.C. Would like to meet people for social/ political activism, hiking, hanging out and socializing. Always up for new adventures, like discussing world events. Am compassionate, enjoy outdoor activities. I’m nonjudgmental and appreciate the same in others.

I’ve been involved in activism around racial equity, health care and disability rights ... but don’t take myself too seriously! AnnieCA, 67, seeking: M, l INTUITIVE, CREATIVE, A GOOD LISTENER! I’m a good person who enjoys good food to eat, good wine to drink, good books to read, good stories to share and good friends to spend time with.

I have been called the “Quick of Wit.” My friends say that I am funny, caring, creative, sometimes edgy, and that I not only tell good stories, I write them! Sentient, 66, seeking: M, l SUNNY, HAPPY AND FUN I love sharing fun things with a partner. I love sailing and the beach in the summer and skiing and skating in the winter. I love playing almost all sports except hunting. I also love theater, dance and music. Looking for someone who enjoys the same and is laid-back and not too serious. snowflake123, 49, seeking: M, l OUTDOORSY AND ACTIVE I enjoy being active in all of Vermont’s seasons, adventurous and spontaneous travel, gardening, home projects, outdoor recreation, good food, and small concerts. Am also content with museums or the New Yorker and a front porch. Raise animals for my freezer.

Am a loyal friend. NEK. I am looking for a close companion and am open to all that entails. NEK026, 58, seeking: M, l

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 21-28, 2020

AUTUMN LIGHT It is clear that we must hold to what is difficult; everything alive holds to it.

This is a certainty that will not forsake us. That something is difficult must be a reason the more for us to do it. For one human being to love another is perhaps the most difficult of all tasks. ~RM Rilke~. Hope, 63, seeking: M, l AFFECTIONATE, ENTHUSIASTIC, DYNAMIC SINGLE MOM I make friends like the rest of Vermont is buying Subarus. I’ll make you laugh, solve problems together and be forever loyal. I’m a sucker for muscular thighs, thoughtfulness and looking good in a T-shirt. Sex is an important part of a relationship with me. I’m intelligent, self-employed, ambitious and highly moral. I’m fat by American standards and active. Elastic_Heart, 45, seeking: M, TM CUCKOO ABOUT ADVENTURES I’m just looking for a new friend. I’m somewhat new to the area and would like to find someone who likes to talk, hike, or do anything that doesn’t involve going to the bar or lots of drinking!

NDrootsNYbuds, 38, seeking: M, l HERE’S TO SECOND CHANCES Widowed, fit, fun, financially secure WF with serious BDSM/kinky fantasies that I want/need to explore. Looking to find 50- to 60-y/o male with experience in the much less vanilla side of sex for dating and/or LTR. bestisyettobe, 53, seeking: M, l INTERESTED Still standing after all these years!

WayToGo, 67, seeking: M HONEST, RESPECTFUL, PLANNER, CARING I’m not a girlie girl; I like my sneakers!

I love to plan and know what’s going on. I have been kind of in a slump with exercise, but I have hiked, biked and skied before. I enjoy food, and I don’t aim to impress people. If they can see my caring, affectionate, hardworking side of me, they will like me. Respect2020, 45, seeking: M, l UNITED STATES Sexy country. I am not shy. Funny, outgoing woman. I am looking for a single man of 40 years old or around 50s or 60. Good-looking and want to have fun. Looking for someone to be with in bed and looking to have a relationship, too. redthree, 48, seeking: M

MEN seeking...

OPEN-MINDED, FRIENDLY BI MAN Moved to Grand Isle this summer.

Looking to meet individuals or couples for FWB relationships or more. Open to many scenarios when comfortable. chance2, 55, seeking: M, TW, Cp A NEW ADVENTURE Kind, caring, dedicated professional looking for someone to go on new adventures with and hopefully share my life with. My ideal partner knows

JUST BE YOURSELF. DRAMA-FREE. I’m not sure what to even write here.

I’m no prize; I’m sorry to disappoint.

I just would like to find someone who will be as honest as possible.

We all have secrets, and none of us is as honest as we wish we could be.

My biggest deal breaker is broken promises. If you make a promise, keep it. Mentallybankrupt, 52, seeking: W, l LOOKING FOR A PARTNER ... especially one who plays golf.

Object: a mutually rewarding merger and possible mixed couples contender. I am retired and financially secure. I’m in the NEK but open to relocating. I love banter and gardening. Books, desserts and witty women. Skinny-dipping and wordplay.

Combining unconnected words in sentences. Please see my online ad, where I go on at greater length.

BogeysAreGood, 67, seeking: W, l JUST ASK; I’LL TELL YOU Just ask; I’ll tell you whatever you want to know. I’m kind, caring, loving, genuine and just want what I deserve: to be loved and cherished. I’m a very good cuddler. Tj, 29, seeking: W, l TIMING IS EVERYTHING And the time is now. Lakeman, 59, seeking: W, l THE ONE I am a good-looking and somewhat athletic guy looking for kinda the same.

Intelligent, informed and adventurous.

Really just looking for a Sunday lover for now. Let’s talk about it, and if I trust you, I’ll share contact info and pics. mountintop, 53, seeking: M LOVING, HUMOR, ADVENTUROUS, TRAVELER, AWAKE There is no box; little of what we’ve been told is true. I have carved out a unique, fun, non-cookie-cuttertype life that involves amazing travel adventures, many forms of employment, and an amazing network of friends and family all over the world. I lost my love to ovarian cancer five years ago. Hope to find a magical love connection again.

ComeDanceWithMe, 55, seeking: W, l EMOTIONALLY AVAILABLE Well-adjusted,intelligent,man who doesn’t take himself too seriously,and likes to have laugh seeking liberal, open-minded, mildly kinky woman with any body type. I’m interested in your mind,not your body. Intelligence is a huge turn-on. Communication is of paramount importance to me, as well as sense of humor.

Ilovemyview, 68, seeking: W, l COUNTRY BOY I like being outdoors. Like hiking and mountain bikes.

ARTIC878, 50, seeking: W ALAN ALDA CLONE LIKES BUTT Looking for a regular friend to be with me and my partner. Age is a number; I am looking for an old soul in a healthy body. I have been told (recently) that I am a good teacher for helping guys get pleasure from the ass. But I can cook, too, and love to feed my friends. Besame mucho. pierofrancesca, 62, seeking: M

COUNTRY, WORKER, ADVENTURER My life sure has been an adventure!

Vermont-born and -raised. Looking for a woman who might enjoy a day on the kayaks, a night out dancing or a good old-fashioned movie night. timberjack240, 59, seeking: W, l DOWN-TO-EARTH COUNTRY SOUL I’m down-to-earth with a good sense of humor/wit. Hands-on dad. I enjoy everything outdoors — hiking, gardening, animals, barbecuing, summer at the lake.

I enjoy cooking and projects around the home. I’m open-minded, open to trying new things and adventures. Enjoy a good balance between an evening out and a nice meal home with a movie.

Countrysoul, 45, seeking: W, l HORNY BI-CURIOUS MAN Now is the time. I’ve been thinking about this too long, and it’s time for something new. I’ve dabbled and greatly enjoyed MMF threesomes. It’s time to explore this new side of my sexuality. Looking for a gay or bi male to navigate my exploration.

Time4somethingNew, 44, seeking: M

GENDERQUEER PEOPLE seeking...

LONELY AND WAITING FOR YOU Lonely Carolina immigrant looking for an amazing woman. I love to cook, clean and generally make my partner as happy as possible. I’m comfortable both with my full beard and burly coat, or with my pretty pink lacy dresses and blond curls, whichever makes you happiest. I value trust above all else. Oh, and I give killer foot rubs! Neneveh, 24, seeking: W, l

TRANS WOMEN seeking...

GENEROUS, OPEN, EASYGOING Warm, giving trans female with an abundance of yum to share (and already sharing it with lovers) seeks ecstatic connection for playtimes, connections, copulations, exploration and generally wonderful occasional times together. Clear communication, a willingness to venture into the whole self of you is wanted. Possibilities are wide-ranging: three, four, explorations, dreaming up an adventure are on the list! DoubleUp, 63, seeking: M, Cp, l

COUPLES seeking...

CUTE COUPLE LOOKING FOR FUN 33-y/o couple looking for female friend or couple. Mojovt, 33, seeking: W, Cp, l HELP US BRANCH OUT We are a couple of over 30 years. We love to spend time together, enjoying good food, good beer/wine and good company. We enjoy the outdoors, camping, hiking, skiing. Looking for other couples to become friends with that can help us explore and branch out. We love each other very deeply and want to share that love with others.

CentralVTCpl, 54, seeking: Cp, Gp LOOKING FOR SOMEONE AMAZING We are a couple in an open relationship seeking a bi male, gay male or couple to join us in kinky play. Cuckholds, DP, etc. Are you a playmate (or playmates) who are open to safe, sane and crazy experiences.

Lets fulfill each others fantasies. We’ll try anything twice! We are two clean, professional adults. Discretion given and expected. vtfuncouple, 44, seeking: M, Cp OPEN-MINDED ROLE-PLAY We are an open-minded couple looking for others. Must be discreet. Please let us know your interests. If you are a male replying, you must be bi or bicurious. VTroleplaying, 47, seeking: W

i SPY

If you’ve been spied, go online to contact your admirer!

dating.sevendaysvt.com

HARDWICK GAS STATION, SUNDAY 10/11 You were a lovely blond woman. I asked you if I had cut in front of you in line. You were nice and said “no,” and we smiled outside again outside. I wish I had said more but would like a rain check. You drove off in your Subaru while I leaned up against my car. When: Sunday, October 11, 2020. Where: Hardwick convience store. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915164

SHORT-HAIRED DOG-WALKING LADY I was sitting in traffic at the light next to the high school. You were walking your black-and-white bulldog with supreme joy and confidence toward Dorset Park. I wanted to say hello, but the light turned green and you walked on by. Let’s get a drink sometime soon.

Bring your dog! When: Wednesday, October 7, 2020. Where: Dorset St. You: Woman. Me: Woman. #915159

SHELBURNE BAY PARK BEACH Me: jeans, black T-shirt, black/white generic Southern rescue pup. You (Josh, was it?) wandered onto the beach, and my pup was immediately intrigued and so was I. Your dog couldn’t have been less interested and had eyes only for the stick you were tossing into the water, but did you look my way twice after our too-short exchange? When: Thursday, August 6, 2020. Where: Shelburne Bay Park beach. You: Man. Me: Woman. #915163 GRAVEL BIKER NEAR HUNGER MOUNTAIN To the gravel biker who said hi to me as I loaded up my dogs in the afternoon today: Let’s go for a ride, and I’ll buy you a beer/coffee! —Lady runner with two pups.

When: Sunday, October 11, 2020. Where: Waterbury near Hunger Mountain TH. You: Man. Me: Woman. #915162 OUR DOGS CONNECTED Ozzie loved Sam! If you ever want to go on a hike, I think the three of them would make a great pack! When: Saturday, October 10, 2020. Where: Sucker Brook, Williston. You: Man. Me: Woman. #915161 MAGICAL MYSTERY WOMAN You’re the new kid. You have an interesting energy that could be gorgeously confident or quietly arrogant. Care to elaborate? When: Friday, October 2, 2020. Where: VGS. You: Woman. Me: Woman. #915160

WHIPPLE HOLLOW MAN You look like you have a great sense of humor with your concrete banjo.

Spied you in Seven Days, and you sparked my interest. We could share a brew and learn more. When: Friday, October 2, 2020. Where: Seven Days.

You: Man. Me: Woman. #915157 TRACTOR SUPPLY GUY I did need a belt but remembered it a little differently. Wondered if you saw a white-haired woman. Coffee, perhaps, if you did — or a brew? When: Friday, June 5, 2020. Where: Berlin Tractor Supply.

You: Man. Me: Woman. #915156 MOUNT ABE WITH OLLIE I was hiking with a good friend, and you, your buddy and dog Ollie were doing the same. We passed each other at least four times, counting on the road afterward, and exchanged big (masked) smiles. Probably you’re just naturally generous with smiles, but it’s worth asking if you’d like to go on a hike together? When: Saturday, September 26, 2020. Where: Mount Abe. You: Man. Me: Woman. #915155 SCARED AT SAXON HILL You scared me at Saxon Hill. You were walking, and I was on my bike. We joked about you scaring me. I would enjoy joking about this some more. Hope to see you there again. When: Saturday, September 26, 2020. Where: Saxon Hill. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915154

Ask REVEREND 

Irreverent counsel on life’s conundrums

Dear Reverend,

My girlfriend lost her job due to the pandemic. She has been getting unemployment, but it’s not anywhere near what she used to make. She wants to start selling her unwashed underwear online to make extra money. I think it’s creepy and gross, and I don’t think she should do it.

Panty Perplexed

(MALE, 28)

GREAT LEGS ON A SATURDAY You were parked in the VNA parking lot. Had to come around and see those legs again in that black dress.

You were getting ready to go to a function. Would love to see those legs again. What function were you going to, and what type of car were you driving? (To know it’s you.) When: Saturday, September 26, 2020. Where: Colchester. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915153 JIM AND HIS HARLEY DAVIDSON Over six years ago, closeness developed between you and me at our church on Williston Road. Ironically, we see each other again years later in Cumberland Farms on Riverside (you were working at U-Haul at that time) — only to cross paths again in front of the bank. Did God answer you this time? When: Saturday, June 20, 2020. Where: on his motorcycle.

You: Man. Me: Woman. #915152 MANDY, CHARLOTTE BRICK STORE Hey there. I get coffee sometimes on my work break. Over the course of the winter, your smile, friendliness and very cute face have put you in my mind far more times than I have gotten coffee.

I’d love to know you. When: Saturday, August 1, 2020. Where: Brick Store.

You: Woman. Me: Man. #915150 BURNT ROCK MOUNTAIN You were out enjoying a picture-perfect day on the trail with Lainey, and we crossed paths a few times. After you helped me with some directions in the parking lot, we went our separate ways, but I haven’t been able to shake your beautiful smile. I’ve never I-Spied anyone before, but figured, “Why not?” Join me for a hike sometime?

When: Saturday, September 19, 2020. Where: North Fayston. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915149 NEK BOUNDARIES Passed by each other several times hiking on a beautiful sunny Sunday.

Would like to go on a hike with you next time, and we can debate the extents of the Northeast Kingdom. Hopefully talk about lots of other things, as well, and see more foliage. When: Sunday, September 20, 2020. Where: on the trail. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915148

Dear Panty Perplexed,

If something isn’t your cup of tea, or you don’t quite understand it, that doesn’t necessarily make it “creepy” or “gross.” Panty fetishism is quite common — in Japan, shops and vending machines even used to sell dirty undies. These days, people can make good money selling worn undergarments online. All sorts of other used items are sold, as well: shoes, slippers, stockings, bras, gym clothes — you name it, and somebody out there wants to buy it.

By no means am I an expert on the subject, but I would recommend that she not try to sell on eBay or Craigslist. She

BIKER WOMAN IN DANVILLE I saw you biking, and we spoke a few times on the trail and at the road where you got off. Let’s ride together sometime!

You pedal pretty fast. When: Saturday, September 5, 2020. Where: West Danville. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915147

RT.7 DELI REDHEAD It was around 4. You were wearing an Army green tank top. You headed south on 7 toward Shelburne.

When: Wednesday, July 29, 2020.

Where: Rt.7 Deli, Shelburne Rd. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915119

SHAVED HEAD CO-OP CUTIE You caught my eye with your sick outsider style at the co-op. You said you liked my outfit. Wanna chat about weird feminist art and music over coffee sometime? Signed, The Freak With the Yellow Crocs. When: Wednesday, September 2, 2020. Where: Middlebury co-op. You: Nonbinary person. Me: Woman. #915141

CANADA EX Chatted briefly as you were walking your Portuguese/spaniel mix pup. I was eating lunch with my neighbor, a bit sweaty from working. Would love to join you for a dog walk and chat more. Haven’t seen you walk by again. When: Sunday, July 12, 2020. Where: near North St. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915115

COCHRAN’S PARKING LOT You were enthusiastically supportive of your buddy after mountain biking.

I liked your bright blue biking shorts and infectious pep and passion. I smiled as I walked by in my blue flowered tank and white sunglasses.

As I drove away in my Crosstrek, we smiled again. Want to smile together over a beer or coffee? When: Saturday, August 15, 2020. Where: Cochran’s.

You: Man. Me: Woman. #915138

WHEN WE WERE FOXES...

Love, I wonder why are we in this quagmire? I wish I had remained wild like you; free. Every day I wait for you to come home to me, me alone; to stay.

Please find me again in our next lives. I’ll still be your vixen in moonlight awaiting your kisses sweet. Pull my hair and bite my neck so I know. When: Tuesday, July 28, 2020. Where: Plattsburgh.

You: Man. Me: Woman. #915110 ITALIAN RACE BIKE, BURLINGTON-COLCHESTER BRIDGE Wow, talking to you made my day!

Wouldn’t mind meeting you again.

When: Monday, July 27, 2020.

Where: Burlington bike path. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915109

SAXON HILL You: orange shirt. Me: orange bike.

We crossed paths at Saxon Saturday morning. Would enjoy hearing from you. When: Saturday, August 22, 2020. Where: Saxon Hill. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915134 FOUR_SEASONS Well, Miss Four_Seasons, you have been spied today on here. Your profile has caught my attention, and I am interested in knowing more about you.

I am open to any ideas or thoughts that you have. When: Monday, August 17, 2020. Where: Seven Days.

You: Woman. Me: Man. #915132 TRACTOR SUPPLY IN MONTPELIER We were both looking for mower belts.

Tried to help you figure out which one.

You knew it was a Craftsman but didn’t know the model number. And the book didn’t even list part numbers for Craftsman! I tried to help, had to let you head off to customer service. Should have asked for your number. Kicking myself now. When: Wednesday, August 5, 2020. Where: Montpelier Tractor Supply. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915120

LAKE CARMI I saw a blond woman in a rowing boat in rough waters in a black-and-white bathing suit keeping in great physical shape. I was fishing. Too bad we couldn’t have been closer. Certainly would like to get to know her. I wonder if she has a camp on the lake. I have been renting at Sunnybank Lodge this month. When: Sunday, July 26, 2020. Where: Lake Carmi. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915107 WALK BY ME DAILY ALMOST You: female, and name starts with a C. You always say hi with a smile. You live up the street from me, and we know each other through my work (North Ave. area). I feel like you have that cartoon bubble over your head that is saying more, lol. I’m down if you are. Just ask, and I will play. When: Wednesday, July 22, 2020. Where: North Ave. area.

You: Woman. Me: Man. #915103

should find a reputable site to work with: sofiagray.com, snifffr.com or pantydeal.com, to name a few.

No one’s getting hurt, and she could make some cash — so what’s the big deal? Methinks you may be feeling a little jealous at the thought of a stranger sniffing your babe’s bikinis, but there’s no need. Why not join in the fun? List a pair of your tighty-whities and see what happens.

Good luck and God bless,

The Reverend What’s your problem?

Send it to asktherev@sevendaysvt.com.

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 21-28, 2020

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Internet-Free Dating!

SWM, 60s, seeking woman around 58 to 68. Handyman.

Enjoy skiing, cooking, weekend getaways. Tired of quarantine.

Are you? NEK. #L1453 SF, 42, living in Chittenden County seeks SM for potential LTR. I’m a nerdy gamer, morning person, coffee drinker, nonsmoker. Kind, industrious.

Seeking similar. The world is our opportunity! #L1452 53-y/o discreet SWM, 5’10, 156 pounds. Brown and blue.

Seeking any guys 18 to 60 who like to receive oral and who are a good top. Well hung guys a plus. Chittenden County and around. No computer. Phone only, but can text or call. #L1451 49-y/o SWM seeking female for friendship with benefits.

I am feminine, fit, mostly vegan. I enjoy yoga, hiking and biking, books, some cooking, and cuddling to a good movie.

Seeking romantic lady for friendship. #L1457 I’m a 34-y/o male seeking 18to 45-y/o female. I’m smart, artistic, funny and open-minded.

Love music, books, movies and looking at the cosmos. A cat guy, but like all animals. Looking for love and friendship. #L1456 I’m a GM looking for guys seeking fun and adventure in midVermont. No text/email. Hope to hear from you. #L1441

I’m a male (65) seeking a female (50 to 65). Fit, friendly, frolicsome fella favors fanciful female for fabulous fall friendship. I’m vegetarian, healthy, humorous, reflective and highly educated. Interests are hiking, gardening, dogs, creativity, Scrabble and pillowtalk. #L1455 I don’t live in Vermont anymore, but I’m here semiregularly. I’m a 39-y/o lady friend seeking men, but anyone for friends to write to, maybe more. Hike, ski, lounge, eat, drink, converse. It’s COVID; I’m bored/lonely. What about you? #L1454

HOW TO REPLY TO THESE LOVE LETTERS: Seal your reply — including your preferred contact info — inside an envelope. Write your penpal’s box number on the outside of that envelope and place it inside another envelope with payment. Responses for Love Letters must begin with the #L box number.

MAIL TO: Seven Days Love Letters

P.O. Box 1164, Burlington, VT 05402

PAYMENT: $5/response. Include cash or check

(made out to “Seven Days”) in the outer envelope. To send unlimited replies for only $15/month, call us at 802-865-1020, ext. 10 for a membership (credit accepted).

PUBLISH YOUR MESSAGE ON THIS PAGE!

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1

Submit your FREE message at sevendaysvt.com/loveletters or use the handy form at right.

2

We’ll publish as many messages as we can in the Love Letters section above.

3

Interested readers will send you letters in the mail. No internet required!

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 21-28, 2020

SWF seeks conservative male age 62 to 72, Addison/ Burlington area only. Turnons: har cut, shave, outdoorsy, hunter, camper. Turn-offs: smoker, drugs, tattoos. Me: 5’8, average build, blue/brown, glasses, enjoy nature, have a Shelty, birds, old Jeep, farm raised. Need phone number, please. #L1450 I’m a bicurious 41-y/o male seeking bicurious married or single men, 18 to 45, for some very discreet fun. Good hygiene, hung and H&W proportional a must. Let’s text discreetly and have some DL NSA fun. #L1449

Reply to these messages with real, honest-to-goodness letters. DETAILS BELOW. Attractive SWM, 51, living around the Burlington area.

Seeking a curvaceous female for some casual fun with no strings attached. All it takes is some good chemistry... #L1447 I’m a mid-aged male seeking a M or F any age or gender.

Wonderful youth, caring person. Male, 5’9, 147. Older mid-aged loves long-distance running, writing, literature, poetry, drawing, folk and jazz.

Looking for a great friendship for hikes, walks, talks. Best to all. #L1446 I’m a single female, mid60s, seeking a male for companionship and adventure.

Retired educator who loves kayaking, swimming, skiing and travel. Well read. Life is short; let’s have fun. #L1445 Staff researcher at UVM on biostatistics. 29-y/o Chinese male. INFJ personality.

Seeking a female of similar age for long-term relationship.

Love is kind. Love is patient.

May we all stay healthy and be happy. #L1444

SWF, 37, seeking M for some casual fun, no strings attached. I just got out of an LTR, and I’ve forgotten how it feels to be physically and sexually alive. Can you remind me? Creative meetups and play a must. #L1443 Very unique lady in early 70s seeks male. I’m a people person and very active. Love to cook, garden, read and watch good movies. Very friendly with a lot of empathy. I love to walk and the outdoors.

Looking for someone who enjoys the same. #L1442 I’m 42-y/o looking for someone who can start and show me the way to a new life sexually.

Looking to start with someone experienced. #L1440 I’m a GM, 62, seeking a GM 45 to 65. Bright, bearish build with bookish interests. Still growing spiritually. Love to walk, hike, write — always learning. Looking for pen pals.

Please write and share your passions in life. #L1439

Describe yourself and who you’re looking for in 40 words below:

Required confidential info:

(OR, ATTACH A SEPARATE PIECE OF PAPER.)

__________________________________________

I’m a _________________________________________________ __ ____

NAME

AGE + GENDER (OPTIONAL)

seeking a____________________________________________ ___________ AGE + GENDER (OPTIONAL)

_______________________________________________________

__________________________________________ ADDRESS

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_______________________________________________________ MAIL TO: SEVEN DAYS LOVE LETTERS • PO BOX 1164, BURLINGTON, VT 05402 OPTIONAL WEB FORM: SEVENDAYSVT.COM/LOVELETTERS HELP: 802-865-1020, EXT. 10, LOVELETTERS@SEVENDAYSVT.COM

THIS FORM IS FOR LOVE LETTERS ONLY. Messages for the Personals and I-Spy sections must be submitted online at dating.sevendaysvt.com.

Seasons Change…

But Vermont’s appetite for local food and drink is still hearty.

As the days get colder and Vermonters go back inside, let Good To-Go Vermont be your guide.

This digital directory, compiled by Seven Days, lists local eateries by region, offering takeout, delivery, curbside pickup and on-site dining options during the coronavirus pandemic.

SPONSORED BY

Visit GoodToGoVermont.com to see what your favorite local restaurants are serving. They need your support.

TA K E O U T • D E L I V E RY • S E AT I N G O P T I O N S • G O O D T O G O V E R M O N T. C O M 1T-GoodToGo090220.indd 3

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 21-28, 2020

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10/13/20 6:29 PM

Looking for a new pharmacy?

Hannaford makes it easy to take control of your health with hassle-free prescription management.

Easy Rx Options: Curbside Pickup and Mail Delivery: We are now offering safe and easy temporary curbside pickup and mail delivery for prescriptions.

Please contact your pharmacy directly for more information about these options. Payment by credit card will be requested prior to pickup or mailing.

Easy Prescription Transfer: Just drop off your prescription bottle and we’ll do the rest.

Refills Made Simple: Coordinate your prescriptions to be ready on the same day each month.

Hannaford Rx App: Download from your favorite app marketplace today.

Download now!

Visit hannaford.com/pharmacy for more information.

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