An eclectic cache of books inside a rainbow-colored cabinet offers relief from the tedium of waiting for a train at the Amtrak station in Essex Junction. “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” promises the Dr. Seuss exhortation painted on the door of this outdoor literary dispensary. “Take a Book, Return a Book,” urges another sign nailed to the frame of the handmade structure with a cedar-shingle roof.... Read more

Are things looking up — or down — at Burlington International Airport? It depends who you ask.

Delta starts daily nonstop flights to Atlanta this week, marking the airport’s first major air-service expansion in several years. Last week, local dignitaries gathered to celebrate the permanent appointment of Gene Richards as aviation director. His “interim” days are over.

But behind the positive spin are some sobering figures: Since 2008, the number of passengers departing BTV annually has dropped by 23 percent, from 759,000 to 580,000.... Read more

Ten years ago, Burlington education officials were considering shutting down H.O. Wheeler and Lawrence Barnes, the Old North End’s two elementary schools. Both were failing, demoralized institutions with declining enrollments and the lowest test scores among the city’s six primary schools.... Read more

Anyone want to adopt a gigantic Humpty Dumpty? Dude’s roly-poly fun, even if he is a bit fragile.

We’re talking about the Humpty Dumpty sitting on a roof at the eastern edge of Fort Ethan Allen, right before the intersection with Susie Wilson Road. If you’ve noticed the nursery rhyme character’s Colchester gig, you’re probably thinking, “WTF?”... Read more

Water is the theme but not the medium of Gail Salzman’s sensual solo show of abstract paintings currently at the BCA Center. The veteran Vermont artist is here conducting a “metaphorical investigation of water’s seen and unseen influence on our lives,” according to a wall text introducing her show “Soundings.” Most of the 10 large-scale and three dozen smaller works can readily be read as inspired by the pond outside Salzman’s Fairfield studio and by the Maine seashore, where she paints each June.... Read more

Edward Hopper’s time in Vermont was bracketed by natural disasters: the flood of 1927 and the New England hurricane of 1938. In between, the artist who would later become famous for scenes of urban isolation drew and painted agricultural buildings and rural landscapes. Viewing these works offers fresh insight into the psychology and evolving style of his overall body of work.... Read more

It was easy for a merry band of riders to imagine the future of bicycling in Burlington last week as they took, ironically, a pedal into the past.... Read more

Activists opposed to basing F-35 fighter jets at Burlington International Airport have found a potentially effective spokesperson for their cause. She’s Carmine Sargent, a 69-year-old grandmother who has been living within earshot of the airport since 1972.... Read more

Map courtesy of Bill Morris/Geosprocket

Burlington’s first attempt to redraw its electoral map failed last year when a politically gridlocked city council punted the job of redistricting to a panel of mostly neighborhood volunteers. That group, which is more than six weeks into the job, doesn’t appear to be doing much better.... Read more

Jane Williamson used to watch wistfully as tour buses tooled past the Rokeby Museum in Ferrisburgh, where she has worked as director for the past 18 years.... Read more