• Vermont Supreme Court Suspends Vekos' Law License for Impeding State Probe

    The Vermont Supreme Court has temporarily suspended the law license of Addison County State's Attorney Eva Vekos, who faces a pending criminal DUI case. The court ruled on Wednesday that Vekos impeded a parallel probe into her fitness to practice law. The interim suspension of Vekos' license does not prevent her from staying on as the county's top prosecutor, but it does limit the duties she can perform. Vermont State Police arrested Vekos in January when troopers said she arrived drunk...

  • Adi Oasis to Curate the 2024 Burlington Discover Jazz Festival

    The Flynn announced on Wednesday that Brooklyn-based soul and funk artist Adi Oasis will serve as the guest curator for the 2024 Burlington Discover Jazz Festival. A rising voice in R&B and modern jazz as well, Oasis has performed alongside artists such as Lenny Kravitz, Anderson .Paak and Big Freedia and released her debut solo LP, Lotus Glow, in 2023 to rave reviews. She will oversee the five-day festival, which runs from Wednesday to Sunday, June 5 to 9, at venues across downtown...

  • Free Will Astrology (3/27/24)

    ARIES (Mar. 21-Apr. 19): In the coming days, your hunger will be so inexhaustible that you may feel driven to devour extravagant amounts of food and drink. It's possible you will gain 10 pounds in a very short time. Who knows? You might even enter an extreme eating contest and devour 46 dozen oysters in 10 minutes! APRIL FOOL! Although what I just said is remotely plausible, I foresee that you will sublimate your exorbitant hunger. You will realize it is spiritual in nature and can't be...

  • Letters to the Editor (3/27/24)

    'Farnsworth Is a Hoot' I want to give a shout-out to Chris Farnsworth and his music reviews, such as [Review This, March 13]. The vast majority of the time, he's reviewing music that I have absolutely no interest in hearing, but his writing is so enjoyable that I read them — often out loud to my partner. Maybe the person in February who complained that the comics Seven Days runs aren't funny [Feedback: "Nothing Funny About It," February 28] should shift to the Music + Nightlife section;...

  • Embers in Umbra, 'Phases'

    (Self-released, digital) Burlington rock outfit Embers in Umbra are a proud oddity. Few bands in 2024 are devoted to the kind of radio rock that dominated the airwaves back when America was run by George W. Bush and Clear Channel and MTV still occasionally played music videos. It all started with an a cappella demo from singer-songwriter Bri Lucas. From there, the band's sound was heavily shaped by multi-instrumentalist and producer Anthony Girelli, who plays drums with the group live....

  • Would It Be Rude If I Skipped Church With My Partner's Family on Easter?

    Dear Reverend, My partner is from a very Catholic family. Although he doesn't practice anymore, he grew up going to church and attended Catholic school. I, on the other hand, have never been to a mass. My family just never did any of that. His parents are coming from out of town for Easter, and they are all planning to go to a service on Sunday morning. I'm sure they expect me to go, but I don't really want to. Would it be terribly rude if I skipped it? Lily O. LaVallee (woman, 26) Dear...

  • Mad River Valley Arts Branches Out With an Arboreal Exhibition

    The current group exhibition at Mad River Valley Arts in Waitsfield, titled "RISE: Trees, Our Botanical Giants," offers a visual corollary to the Howard Nemerov poem "Trees." That reads, in part: "To be so tough, and take the light so well, / freely providing forbidden knowledge / of so many things about heaven and earth." Using a variety of mediums and materials, 28 artists from several states express the enduring practical, mythical and mystical relationships humans have with trees....

  • A Book Launch Party Celebrates Poet Robert Frost's 150th Birthday

    Author and Middlebury College professor Jay Parini, 75, is steeped in the life and work of Robert Frost. Parini spent a quarter century crafting Robert Frost: A Life, his 2000 biography of the iconic American poet (1874-1963). He has taught Frost's poetry for 50 years, first at Dartmouth College and then Middlebury. So it makes sense that Library of America, a nonprofit publisher of classic American literature, commissioned Parini to create a commemorative collection of Frost's poetry...

  • Lily Seabird, 'Alas,'

    (Self-released, cassette, digital) On her new sophomore album, Alas, Burlington's Lily Seabird brings listeners on a journey through raw human emotion as she blurs the lines between happiness and sorrow. Lulling the audience into lo-fi grooves, then startling them with twists in the form of a heartfelt wail from her gritty voice or a searing guitar, her indie-folk songs are as nuanced as the messages they convey. On opener "Take It," Seabird — whose real name is Lily Seward — introduces...

  • On the Beat: Battle of the Bands and the Return of the Do Good Fest

    Get your audition tapes ready, bands. There are battles to be had! First up is the Jam 4 SlamT1D battle of the bands, a fundraiser to support the fight against type 1 diabetes. The three-day contest takes place on June 12, 19 and 26 at the Old Post in South Burlington. But the deadline for artists to enter is midnight on April 12, so don't sleep on this one. The winning band or artist gets two days of recording at Egan Media Productions in Colchester, as well having one song added to the...

  • Now Playing in Theaters: March 27-April 2

    In addition Love Lies Bleeding, here's what is playing in Northern and Central Vermont movie theaters this week. Listings include new movies, vintage films and a directory of open theaters. new in theaters A CAT'S LIFE: A girl (Capucine Sainson-Fabresse) and her kitten experience the challenges of the great outdoors on a country vacation in this family drama from France, directed by Guillaume Maidatchevsky. (83 min, PG. Majestic) GODZILLA X KONG: THE NEW...

  • Q&A: Digging Into the Remnants of the Ravine That Divided Burlington

    The serpentine ravine that bisected Burlington up until the 19th century is the stuff of legend. It's hard to imagine, but the city's downtown was separated from the Hill Section by a deep gully with a stream running through it. The ravine was most likely thousands of years old and more than a mile long. From the Old North End, the gulch twisted across Pearl Street and through the downtown core — including where the Fletcher Free Library now stands — emptying into Lake Champlain south of...