2/4/12: Duane Merrill and his son Ethan are antique dealers who have a deep appreciation for all things old. Last Saturday, Eva headed to Merrill's Auction Gallery in Williston to see them in action.

Music: Kevin MacLeod, "Fig Leaf Rag - distressed", Rick & The Ramblers Western Swing Band, What Goes Around, "You Got What I Want"... Read more

Every 10 years, as lawmakers consider how to redraw the boundaries of Vermont’s state senate districts, the same old question arises: What to do with the juggernaut that is Chittenden County?

Since it was created in 1836, the 30-member Vermont Senate has been divvied up, more or less, along county lines. But since 1965, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that state legislative districts had to closely reflect population, the decennial redistricting dance has grown more challenging.... Read more

According to conventional wisdom, the hardest part of beating an addiction is admitting that you have a problem. But for hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Vermont addicts who are hooked on heroin or prescription painkillers, the hardest part is finding someone to treat their dependency.... Read more

How does fracking work? Click on the diagram above for a visual explainer.

Want a piece of neighborly advice?

Keep the frack out.

That’s the word from Québecois residents who support Vermont’s possible three-year moratorium on hydraulic fracturing — a controversial method of drilling for natural gas more colloquially known as fracking. ... Read more

Hideichi Oshiro is finally seeing a long-held dream come true: the donation of his life’s work to an educational institution so that future generations can enjoy and learn from it. Oshiro is more patient than most of us: He’s 101. The Newburgh, N.Y.-based artist is giving away some 750 pieces of art made over more than six decades — paintings, calligraphies, handmade books, prints, poems, haiku, scrolls and more. And that institution? Goddard College in Plainfield, Vt.... Read more

1/29/12: The Young Street Rink in Colchester is a backyard ice rink that has been maintained by the Young Street community for about a decade. Over the years this patch of ice has become the neighborhood hot spot.  Eva visits on a Sunday night for a bonfire, burgers and a tour.
Music: Kevin MacLeod, "Porch Swing Days"

Ask N.B. to recount the lowest point in her life and she doesn’t have to stop and ponder. In October 2006, the Jericho native recalls, the father of her child had kicked her out “for the 50th time.” An intravenous drug habit had withered her down to 85 pounds, and both her arms were bruised, from wrists to shoulders. Then she discovered she was pregnant again.... Read more

Imagine:

Four new buildings flanking the Unitarian Universalist Church at the northern end of the Marketplace

An Intervale demonstration garden — perhaps including “chickens on Church” — in place of the fountain on the perennially problematic top block

Student apartments added above ground-floor retail spaces on the Marketplace

Then Imagine:

An indoor farmers market replacing the waterfront parking lot at the foot of College Street... Read more

A visitor could mistake the inside of 228 North Winooski Avenue for a small grocery, albeit one with an eclectic selection. Morning sunlight illuminates shelves neatly stocked with jars of peanut butter, bags of white rice and pasta, tins of tomatoes, loose tea bags, cans of drinking water, and boxes of bran flakes. A refrigerator holds packages of baby Brussels sprouts and small tubs of Cabot Greek Vanilla Bean Yogurt.... Read more

“Let’s talk about RutVegas.”

Jim Sabataso is sitting at a small table in Café Terra, “Rutland’s best coffee shop” — and only one, he admits.

Sabataso is 28 years old, bearded and friendly. His family goes back a long time in these parts: His great-grandparents emigrated from Italy and landed in Rutland; the Sabataso family has run the Palms restaurant downtown since 1933. Jim Sabataso is Rutland through and through.... Read more