A bill that would pave the way for a facility to help people use illegal drugs more safely advanced in the Vermont Senate on Wednesday. H.72 was approved on second reading by a 21-8 vote, suggesting it would have sufficient Senate support to overcome a likely veto by Gov. Phil Scott. Supporters say they fully expect the House to also be able to muster the two-thirds majority required to make the bill become law over Scott’s objections. The bill would create a pilot program for a single...
On Wednesday mornings in Shelburne, five women gather to weave fibers symbolizing the tapestries of their lives. During a recent session, Nancy Rissler, 67, finished weaving a series of letters at the base of her loom, representing the first initials of her mother's 11 siblings. "Putting in the yarn, taking out the yarn, deciding what colors — it sort of reflects how we do life," Rissler said. "[It's] empowering that you can reflect." This is Weaving Your Story, a free weekly course at...
The Vermont Department of Health confirmed Tuesday that a person visiting the state as part of an international program has tested positive for measles. It’s the state’s first case of the highly contagious virus since 2018. The person was among a group of 26 travelers, mostly teenagers, who were exposed during an international flight to Atlanta. State officials say they learned of the exposure April 10 and asked the group to quarantine until they could determine whether anyone was...
Vermont will receive $62.4 million from a new federal program that's aiming to make solar power more affordable for low-income people. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the award on Monday — Earth Day — as part of a $7 billion initiative called Solar for All. The idea was championed by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), who kicked off the grant program in Waterbury last fall with EPA Administrator Michael Regan. The effort aims to help people transition away from...
Updated at 1:59 p.m. In a rare development, the Vermont Senate on Tuesday morning voted down Zoie Saunders, Gov. Phil Scott's nominee for education secretary. The 9-19 tally came after several senators gave impassioned speeches about why they'd vote against Saunders, a Florida school administrator who has spent the bulk of her career working for a privately held, for-profit charter school management company. Many lawmakers noted the unprecedented amount of calls, emails and text messages...
Vermont Stage’s 'tick, tick BOOM!' runs May 1-26 at Main Street Landing in Burlington. An aspiring composer questions his life choices on the eve of his 30th birthday. This autobiographical musical is by Jonathan Larson, the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning composer of ‘Rent’. (Paid Post) Vermont Stage’s tick, tick BOOM! runs May 1 through 26 at Main Street Landing in Burlington. An aspiring composer questions his life choices on the eve of his 30th...
Mitch Wertlieb, host and producer of Vermont Public’s daily news podcast “The Frequency,” has been named permanent host of “Vermont This Week.” The show is the flagship televised news program for Vermont Public, the entity created nearly three years ago when Vermont Public Radio and Vermont PBS merged. "I’m really grateful for this opportunity,” Wertlieb told Seven Days on Wednesday. “I’ve gotten to know some of the folks on the PBS crew and am blown away by what they do.” Wertlieb’s...
There's nothing that dog mom Robin Miller enjoys more than exploring a new hiking trail with her chocolate lab, Millie. Now she's helping others find the same joy. The VT Hiking Dog Challenge, which Miller launched in January, invites hikers and their hounds to traverse 35 handpicked bike paths, rail trails and summits all around the state. Finish at least 10 of them and you'll get a certificate and a "pawsome prize." It costs $10 to sign up, though Miller said she'd waive the fee if...
Forty prints for 40 years. That's the general idea behind "collaboration," a group exhibition at Vermont Studio Center in Johnson. But the display in the Red Mill Gallery isn't just a shout-out to VSC's four decades of existence. Embedded in the exhibition are layers of history and an aspirational offering to the center's future. The history: In 1994, VSC cofounder Jon Gregg and master printer Sarah Amos embarked on a print project that would continue for 10 years. The idea was to invite...
Seven Days writers can't possibly read, much less review, all the books that arrive in a steady stream by post, email and, in one memorable case, a flock of defecating cormorants. No, that didn't actually happen. We just like to be cute with the names for animal assemblages in this feature, which introduces you to a handful of books by Vermont authors by contextualizing each one and quoting a single representative sentence from page 32. For the Animal Issue, we gathered a selection of...
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Lark Thompson heard desperate cries coming from a dark Charlotte farm on Ferry Road late one night in July 2022. When she went to investigate, dozens of emaciated, bleating goats desperate for food and water swarmed her. Thompson, who was then 22 and house-sitting at a neighboring property, did the best she could to comfort the animals but was ill-equipped and overwhelmed. "I showed up the next morning and found four dead baby goats," Thompson told lawmakers in February. "That's when I...