From Seven Days

  • Burlington Budget Deficit Balloons to $13.1 Million

    For months, Burlington officials have forecasted a $9 million deficit heading into the next fiscal year. On Thursday, that number grew to $13.1 million. Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak delivered the bad news at a press conference Thursday at city hall, where she was flanked by department heads. Higher-than-anticipated insurance costs and a calculation error are to blame for the $4 million difference, she said. The spending squeeze is the first major challenge for the newly elected mayor and...

  • Welch Pledges Support for Nonprofit Theaters

    U.S. Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) was in Burlington on Wednesday to acknowledge the value of Vermont's nonprofit theaters and the continued struggle they face to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. He pledged his support in the form of a bill that would provide $1 billion to the industry annually for five years. Theaters, he said during a press conference in the lobby of the Flynn, were among the first institutions to close when the pandemic hit. "And then they were the last, in many ways,...

  • Obituary: Eva Curtis Clough, 1951-2024

    Essex woman was a dedicated Girl Scout leader and served on the Essex Community Historical Society board of directors Eva Curtis Clough, 72, of Essex, Vt., passed away on Tuesday, April 23, 2024, at her home, surrounded by her children and grandchildren. Eva was born on November 2, 1951, in St. Albans, Vt., the daughter of the late Asa and Eva Therrien Curtis. On October 25, 1975, Eva married David Clough, who predeceased her. Eva worked at Essex Elementary...

  • Obituary: Rev. Dr. Nancy Hester Bloomer, 1939-2024

    Episcopal priest was a gifted writer and caring teacher who loved music and nature in all forms The Rev. Dr. Nancy Hester Bloomer, 84, of Essex Junction, Vt., died peacefully on April 3, 2024. She was born on June 13, 1939, in Binghamton, N.Y. She was the daughter of Ruth (Hester) Bloomer and Ronald Bloomer. Nancy is survived by her daughters, Carol Farley (Mike) and Sarah Vogelsang-Card (Jay), along with her three grandchildren, Eliza Farley, Alex Farley and...

  • Obituary: Eugene Hallman, 1950-2024

    Richmond man believed in giving back to his community and always found a way to volunteer Gene (“Geno”) Hallman of Richmond, Vt., passed away April 18 at the University of Vermont Medical Center, surrounded by the love of his family. Gene was born and raised in Pennsylvania, the son of Eugene and Rosemary (nee Dougherty) Hallman. They filled Gene’s early life with love and were deeply involved in his upbringing, providing carefree summers at the shore,...

  • Senate Committee Votes 3-2 to Recommend Saunders as Education Secretary

    The Senate Education Committee on Wednesday voted to recommend Zoie Saunders to the full state Senate as Vermont’s next education secretary. The vote was 3-2. Committee chair Sen. Brian Campion (D-Bennington), Sen. Terry Williams (R-Rutland) and Sen. David Weeks (R-Rutland) backed Saunders. Sen. Nader Hashim (D-Windham) and Sen. Martine Gulick (D-Chittenden-Central) voted against the motion. The discussion and vote took less than five minutes. Hashim was the only senator who explained...

  • Norwich University Names New President

    A Norwich University graduate — and member of its board of trustees — is set to become the military school’s new president. Lt. Gen. John Broadmeadow, a Marine who graduated from Norwich in 1983, will move into the top position at the Northfield school next Wednesday, May 1. Broadmeadow replaces Mark Anarumo, who resigned on January 4 after he was placed on leave and investigated for violating Norwich’s policies and “values,” according to trustees. [content-1] Broadmeadow, who was...

  • Court Rejects Roxbury's Request to Block School Budget Vote

    A Washington County judge has rejected the Town of Roxbury's request to stop an April 30 vote on a revised school budget that, if passed, would lead the town's elementary school to close. The town had also asked the court to nullify the results of the first budget vote, which failed on Town Meeting Day. Roxbury officials argued that Montpelier Roxbury Public Schools had failed to hold a state-mandated informational budget meeting 10 days before ballots were cast. The revised budget...

  • Media Note: Mitch Wertlieb Named Host of 'Vermont This Week'

    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...

  • Book Review: 'The Trauma Mantras: A Memoir in Prose Poems,' Adrie Kusserow

    We live in an epoch of refugees. According to the UN Refugee Agency, as of October 2023 more than 110 million people in our world had been "forcibly displaced" from their homes. This global emergency lends currency and urgency to The Trauma Mantras: A Memoir in Prose Poems, a new book by Adrie Kusserow, cultural anthropologist, self-described "ethnographic poet," and chair of the Saint Michael's College sociology and anthropology department. Kusserow has been a relief worker and teacher...

  • Three Quick-Hit Reviews of Local Albums

    Sudden Unknown Signal, Missy (OnlyBands, digital) Burlington alt-rockers Sudden Unknown Signal (sometimes known as SUS) carry the torch for '90s guitar rock, once the dominant force in the Queen City music scene. Gone are the days of the Pants, Wide Wail and Guppyboy, and the city needs some new blood. Enter the quartet of Stephen O'Brien (guitar and vocals), Tobias Yandow (drums), Raven Aoyagi (guitar) and Tim Woos (bass), who dropped their debut album, Missy, toward the end of 2023....

  • Two Performances Highlight a Nearly Forgotten Viennese Composer With Vermont Ties

    In the European music capital of Vienna, between the world wars, one of the city's most renowned musical pedagogues was the Austrian Jewish composer Richard Stöhr. During a 30-year career at the Vienna Academy of Music, Stöhr taught theory and composition to many of classical music's future greats, including conductor Erich Leinsdorf and pianist Rudolf Serkin. A prolific composer in the Romantic tradition, he eventually wrote seven symphonies, two operas, and nearly 200 other works for...