E.J. Tebbetts straightens his suspenders. He has nearly completed work on his new home overlooking Woodbury Lake in Woodbury, Vt. He takes a pencil from his pocket and writes on the wall of the front room, At work today here on this house. He signs his name and the year, 1884.... Read more

The murder was discovered after the guests arrived, but before they’d helped themselves to a salad of red-leaf lettuce, apples and fresh mozzarella, laced with apple cider vinegar and olive oil. As they popped crisp fruit and soft cheese into their mouths, they asked each other pointed questions. A nightclub singer with red lips and a sparkling evening gown was on the hot seat: “I hear your father was a convicted killer. Have you followed in his footsteps?” “Were you ever a ‘working goil’ at The Everlay Club?”... Read more

Nobody does Halloween better than Mexico. Dia de los Muertos sprang up as a combination of the Catholic All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day with Aztec traditions that make light of death while celebrating the lives of fallen loved ones. The celebration, which spans the first two days of November, involves assembling shrines (or ofrendas) full of pictures of the departed along with some of their favorite things in life, such as candy or flowers. An arrangement of marigolds and sugar skulls, called calaveras or calaveritos, completes the picture.... Read more

How much would you pay to outsource the most tedious, physically demanding aspects of your job?

That question arose for Pete and Madonne Rainville in April 2008, when their dairy barn burned down and they considered how to rebuild it. They could go back to the old-fashioned, tie-stall milking barn, in which Pete, now 40, would have to attach the milk pumps on his cows manually. But all that bending down, getting up and lifting was wearing out his joints so much that he was already on a regular regimen of physical therapy.... Read more

Rooney’s Café and Deli on College Street has closed. Requests for more information were not returned by press time.

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Looks like giant Hansen Beverage Company is feeling the effects of its falling out with Vermont’s tiny Rock Art Brewery over the use of the term “Vermonster.”... Read more

Tall, bearded Burlington resident Andrew Johnson has held down plenty of cooking jobs — “I’ve worked in a lot of restaurants, from grease traps to fine dining,” he notes. But his current gig requires that he play a new role: a “girl.”... Read more

Sometimes those who own the most cookbooks use them the least — because they’re daunted by all those pages of possibilities. It was a problem part-time Wilmington resident Jane Kelly faced every time she wanted to whip up a stew or bake a cake. “I’ve got a lot of cookbooks, about 700, and lots of other food reference books as well,” she says. “I never had the time to look through and find recipes.”... Read more

Not everyone is happy that Hardwick is the new site of the Vermont Food Venture Center.... Read more

Just six months ago, most Burlingtonians had never heard of a “gastropub.” Now the town is slated to get another one next spring — in the Bank Street former home of the downtown McDonald’s, vacant since the summer of 2007.... Read more

You have to be sure footed, and comfortable with heights, to get a peek at the 572 rooftop solar panels atop the corporate headquarters of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters in Waterbury. They’re only accessible via two very steep ladders. Alternately, a 32-inch flat-panel TV in the lobby of the 90,000-square-foot facility displays pictures of the array, which is the largest in Vermont, along with up-to-the-minute power output statistics. Between 9 and 10 percent of the coffee distribution center’s electricity is derived from the sun.... Read more