Fun and Swine Flu in the Same Sentence? Check out "Beat the Swine '09"

Want to feel like superwoman, or a Good Samaritan, or a science geek, or all three at once?

Download the new “Beat the Swine ’09” iPhone application, which allows you to ‘swine-bust’ all kinds of viral invaders. I’ve been playing this game since Tuesday and I’m totally hooked. 

“Beat the Swine ‘09” is addictive, cheap and educational — and it’s among the first Apple apps to donate a percentage of its profits to a cause. Along with his two best friends from pre-school, UVM art major Alex Connelly did the illustrations and design of the ninety-nine cent app, that launched November 2. 

Here's how it works: You are a blood cell on a mission to rid your body of the swine flu virus. Fifteen of your anatomical body parts are infected, and unless you want to yield to the nasty, you’ve got to fight the rapacious strands of H1N1. The first levels concentrate on your hands, nasal cavities and the initial depots of viral ingestion. Next, the digestive system becomes infected. The lungs are the last battleground and the most vital to win. 

As you progress throughout your own infected body – how quickly you forget this is just a game and not all-out warfare – you will pick up ‘power-ups,’ such as five-second immunities, vaccinations, and an antibody potion that transforms you into a merciless, superhero antibody. It gets pretty graphic. 

Warning: you will find yourself a little bloodthirsty; the last I experienced this kind of vengeful pleasure was while watching Tarantino’s Inglorious Bastards. 

Big Environmental Confab This Saturday — Five Democratic Gov Candidates Attending

UPDATE: Doug Racine will be out of the country and will not be attending the conference. He'll be sending volunteer advisor Pat Parenteau, former Commissioner of the Dept. of Environmental Conservation, on his behalf.

For all the ink spilled on the 2010 governor's race — who's in, who's out, which spin doctors are running which campaigns — rarely do we hear about the candidates' positions on the issues. Especially environmental issues.

How does Doug Racine feel about the use of harmful chemicals like bisphenol A, or BPA, in the making of plastic baby bottles? How would Deb Markowitz confront the state's trash problem — tons of recyclable and compostable waste ending up in landfills every year? And does Susan Bartlett support or oppose proposals for a trash-to-energy plant in Vermont?

You can ask the candidates yourself this Saturday, Nov. 7, at the fourth annual Environmental Action Conference — at least, you can ask the Democratic ones.

State's Attorney: No Charges Filed Against Sen. Ed Flanagan

No criminal charges will be filed against Democratic State Sen. Ed Flanagan, who this summer was caught allegedly masturbating inside a private men's locker room at the Greater Burlington YMCA.

Acting Addison County State's Attorney Chris Perkett told Seven Days this afternoon that he would not file charges against the two-term Democratic state senator.

Flanagan did not immediately respond to phone calls seeking comment about the case's dismissal.

While he felt confident he could prove that Flanagan masturbated in front of Y patrons, Perkett said he did not believe he had the evidence to prove "beyond a reasonable doubt" that Flanagan acted intentionally.

"I felt there was sufficient evidence to conclude that the act was committed as the eyewitnesses described it," said Perkett.

Two separate witnesses told the Chittenden Unit for Special Investigation that they saw Flanagan masturbating outside the showers inside the Men's Wellness Center, an adults-only fitness area within the YMCA.

However, to file a charge of lewd and lascivious conduct, Perkett also needed to prove Flanagan intended to commit the act.

"Based on the evidence, I could not prove Sen. Flanagan had the requisite mental state necessary to conduct the act intentionally," Perkett noted.

Fiber from the Chaff

As the saga of Burlington Telecom continues to unfold, a growing number of observers are offering their take on the ever-popular topic.

From the pages of the Burlington High School newspaper to the airwaves of Vermont Public Radio, the topic is capturing the public's imagination. Given the confluence of issues in play, such interest makes sense: We're looking at a $17 million loan that was never given an explicit OK by the city council; the use of that money in violation of BT's certificate of public good; a growing revulsion among some people toward anything government-run; and decades-old political turf wars between Democrats and Progressives thrown in for good measure.

As I noted in this week's "Fair Game," there are plenty of parties to blame for missing all the signs of a possible scandal (and the media aren't exempt). But where to go from here?

That's where these commentators come in. I'll simply provide a salient quote and a link to some of the thoughts being offered on how to move forward with Burlington Telecom.

Children's Museum Pulls Out of Moran Plant Project

The Green Mountain Children's Museum announced this morning that it will not be one of three anchor tenants in the Moran Plant redevelopment project on the city's waterfront.

The multi-million-dollar redevelopment of the former coal-fired electric generating plant has been years in the making. In September, a key financial deal was struck with the legislature to allow Burlington to finance its portion of the development without additional taxes.

Citing the economy, GMCM's board chair said the organization is looking for a new home elsewhere. The group's board made the decision Tuesday morning. An announcement was made this morning by the mayor's office.

“The city has done a good job of holding down project costs, however, the economic climate has changed since the project began and there are many variables beyond either party’s control," said Mia Graham Beer, of GMCM. "As a start‐up nonprofit, it is especially vital that we acknowledge those changes. We have therefore decided to seek an alternate location.”

From Log Cabin in Vermont, Couple Fights Reclusive Religious Sect

What would you do if your upbringing inside a fundamentalist Christian community left you scarred and confused — and estranged from family members still inside the sect?

For Tim Twinam, a software developer living in Williston, Vermont, the answer was: Launch a website dedicated to re-connecting lost members driven apart from family and friends by the religion's "doctrine of separation."

Twinam was raised inside The Exclusive Brethren in 1960s England. He couldn't eat or socialize with anyone outside the sect, and TV, radio and university education were strictly forbidden. Internet is also banned.

Today he is the webmaster of Peebs.net, an online community made up of former members of The Exclusive Brethren, which is the subject of this week's Seven Days cover story.

Twinam, and his wife Sallie (pictured), have devoted the last four years to exposing the secrets of the reclusive Brethren and creating a network of "helpers" to assist those who want to leave the religion but don't know how.

Now the Brethren are suing the Twinams in Vermont federal court for copyright infringement, claiming Peebs.net downloaded Brethren-owned sermons and letters that are property of the Brethren.

Lawyers for the sect say they're just protecting their legal property. The Twinams say it's a lawsuit meant to silence their criticism by bleeding them dry financially.

Two attempts to settle the suit have failed and a third attempt is slated for later this month. Meantime, the Twinams told their story in the hope it would raise awareness about a relatively unknown religion with 43,000 worldwide followers, one they say wields outsize influence in the worlds of business and politics.

We've linked to the story here to allow readers to comment.

Photo by Andy Duback.

The Jazz Guys: They Rock, You Decide

A couple of a weeks ago, Burlington's crown princes of pop, The Jazz Guys, took the local interwebs community by storm with a great cover and video of "Single Ladies," the recent chart scorcher by pop diva Beyoncé. If you haven't seen it yet — or simply wish to relive the glory — here it is again.

Anyway, as I mentioned in my SoundBites column two weeks ago, they are itchin' to get back into the studio and do it all again. The only hitch: They need your help to figure out which song they should lampoon next. Decisions, decisions.

Below is a list of five songs the band is currently considering. Take a look, cast your vote and in a couple of weeks, The JGs promise to rock our worlds yet again with another funny tune — and maybe a copyright infringement lawsuit.

 

Online Surveys & Market Research

Barfberries: The Story of the World's Stankiest Tree

Many are the reasons why fall is not my favorite time of year:

*My wicked summer tan fades to nothing
*Pre-winter fat begins to encase my body
*My favorite holiday — my birthday — is six months away

Granted, fall is when baseball blessedly falls off the sporting map and gives way to superior sports like football, hockey and curling. So that's a good thing. But fall is when the barfberries come out and ruin my life for the month of November.

You may be unfamiliar with these apricot-colored stink bombs. It's OK. I'm here to help.

A barfberry is the colloquial term for the world's most stank-ass tree, the ginkgo biloba. Or just the ginkgo tree if the proper name is too much effort. These are the trees that line sections of North Winooski Avenue in Burlington and in late October/early November they begin to drop their seeds and make their surroundings smell like something your dog yakked up.

Lawmakers: State Unemployment Fund Needs Work

A new proposal by the Douglas administration to fix the state's battered unemployment insurance trust fund is expected to draw heat from opponents during a public hearing tomorrow.

Throughout the summer, a special legislative committee has been gainfully employed looking at ways to shore up a fund that House Speaker Shap Smith said “is in desperate need of reform. The fund has been in decline for many years and without reform will go bankrupt."

So, what to do?

The committee is looking a mix of solutions that include everything from reducing benefit levels to increased contributions from employers and short-term borrowing, among other things.

Last month, the biggest news that came out of the committee's hearing was a letter circulated to members by State Auditor Tom Salmon. Salmon recommended changing the maximum benefit to as little as $300, or the levels they were at in 2000. Three other states — Missouri, Nebraska and South Dakota — have this benefit level today.

In Vermont, the current maximum benefit level is $425, although the average benefit paid out is $309 a week.

A special legislative committee will meet at 1 p.m. in the Statehouse to hear from administration officials about a new proposal being floated by the governor. The public hearing will be held from 4 to 6 p.m.

The administration of Gov. Jim Douglas is proposing several changes, some of which opponents claim hurt laid-off workers more than employers — employers who haven't had to pay more into the system for years.

The administration's latest proposal would lower benefit levels from a maximum of $425 a week to $400, saving $5 million in 2010 alone, as well as other changes, including:

Best Bites: Wayside Restaurant & Bakery

1873 Route 302, Berlin

Back in 2006, before I worked for Seven Days, I wrote a comment for the Wayside on the 7 Nights website entitled, "Calvin Coolidge's Ghost Eats Here." I stand by the statement. If the shade of the former president were looking to satisfy an earthly hunger, he would find the food, prices and company most agreeable – and changed little since the Wayside opened in 1917.

Where else in Vermont is honeycomb tripe always on the menu and salt pork with milk gravy a regular special? On my last visit, I think I finally cemented my battle plan: It's cheap, so order a lot. For two of us, we ordered three entrées, all from the specials menu. With that, we got six sides. Cheddar Goldfish was among them (pictured) and the first to arrive, along with the fluffy, doughnut-sweet rolls.

All three entrées, which are relatively small, but very cheap, arrived at once with the remaining five sides. The meatloaf was sweetened with a generous layer of ketchup and smothered in rich gravy. Even when soaked in sauce, the fries on the side remained crisp.

And Then There Were Four ...

It's official (almost) — former Windsor County State Sen. Matt Dunne will enter the Democratic primary for governor.

"It will not be a big campaign launch with banners and crowds. It will be a more informal occasion with family and a few of the many people I've met around the state who believe, as I do, that Vermont is ready for its next great era," said Dunne in an email to potential supporters.

That brings to four the number of Democrats vying for the right to take on the GOP's presumptive gubernatorial nominee Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie. It's not expected Dubie will face an opponent in the Republican primary.

Dunne joins Secretary of State Deb Markowitz, State Sen. Doug Racine (D-Chittenden), and State Sen. Susan Bartlett (D-Lamoille) in the race to succeed Gov. Jim Douglas, who announced in August that he would not seek reelection.

Circulation Plummeting at Vermont's Daily Newspapers

Here's a headline no newspaper publisher wants to read:

Newspaper Circulation Dropping Like a Bomb; Biggest Six-Month Decline on Record

But that's what is happening at daily newspapers across the country and right here in Vermont. Nationally, circulation went down 10.8 percent between April and October, the biggest drop on record, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

Vermont papers, in some cases, fared even worse — a decline of 14 percent in the worst instance. Newsrooms already battered by years of declining print readership face the prospect of more cuts as dailies watch the steady erosion of their subscriber base and single-copy sales.

The Burlington Free Press, Vermont's largest newspaper, sustained the worst hit. Weekday circulation dropped 14 percent during the six-month window, to 33,489 copies. Sunday circulation declined 9.7 percent, to 42,180.

Free Press Publisher Brad Robertson was apparently out of town on business this week, and did not reply to an email from Blurt seeking comment on the paper's circulation figures.

Around the state, the news was just as bleak.

• The family-owned Montpelier/Barre Times-Argus saw a drop of 10.2 percent weekday, 8 percent Sunday
• The Rutland Herald (same publisher as the Times-Argus) dropped 12.5 percent weekday, 8.2 percent Sunday.
• The Brattleboro Reformer declined 10.7 percent weekday, 9.9 percent weekday.

Of the six Vermont papers that report their circulation to the Audit Bureau, the Bennington Banner posted the best numbers for weekday circulation: down 6 percent, from 6,390 to 5,952.

John Mitchell, publisher of the Times-Argus and Rutland Herald, says the numbers are "clearly disappointing." Mitchell's papers raised newsstand prices last February, from 75 cents to $1, and he suspects that contributed to the drop in sales.

"But we think that more people than ever are reading our newspapers," says Mitchell. The papers' web sites get 4 million hits a month, Mitchell says, they just can't make much money off that. Mitchell says the papers are still profitable, but "not by much."

The papers have reduced their staffs significantly over the  last three years, but the publisher says additional cuts aren't in the papers' immediate future.

Professor David Mindich, who chairs the  Journalism Department at St. Michael's College, says he'd be extremely surprised if most papers could avoid layoffs. "If you're seeing 10 percent average circulation decline, and even higher in some cases in Vermont, you're going to see layoffs, there's just no way around that," Mindich says.

"The most important question we as citizens can ask is, What is this going to do to our democracy? As important as blogging is, we need to pay people on a full-time basis to pay attention to government."The publisher's reports submitted to the Audit Bureau do not count online readership or give numbers for total audience, a key metric publishers use to  measure their products' reach.

(Full disclosure: Seven Days is a free newspaper and is audited yearly by Verified Audit. Seven Days increased its weekly circulation from 33,000 to 34,000 this past June in response to lower rates of papers coming back unread as "returns," according to Circulation Manager Steve Hadeka.)

Update: Incorrect 2003 Free Press circulation figures removed.

Grand Isle Slaughterhouse Closed Following Charges of Inhumane Treatment

A worker shocked this infant calf in an attempt to get him to stand. The HSUS

Some unfortunate news (or fortunate, depending on how you look at it) in animal welfare in Vermont — the Vermont Agency of Agriculture announced today that they and the USDA would be suspending the respective licenses of the Bushway Packing, Inc., in Grand Isle, the only abattoir in the state that slaughters infant veal, or "bob" calves, because of alleged animal abuse. 

The charges were leveled by the Humane Society of the United States after a lengthy investigation of the facility's practices. HSUS provided the state and federal agencies with undercover footage of apparent abuse, which led to the license suspension. The allegations against Bushway are pretty grotesque — shocking infant calves who couldn't stand with electric prods, kicking, slapping and throwing calves and "failure to ensure that stunned calves had been rendered insensible to pain." You can read more about that last allegation in the HSUS report below.

Noted animal behavior specialist Dr. Temple Grandin from Colorado State University apparently reviewed the undercover video shot inside the Bushway facility and called the practices "unacceptable." To read Grandin's letter in PDF form, click this: Download 10-17-09-grandin-vogel-letter-on-bushway

The links to the two undercover videos are here and here. Warning: it's graphic and disturbing.

Bushway is one of a dwindling number of slaughterhouses in Vermont. In 1984, there were 20 slaughterhouses in the state. At present, there are only eight facilities that kill animals for meat. Many of Vermont's meat animals get shipped to New York or Massachusetts for processing.

Apparently, the slaughterhouse is certified by Northeast Organic Farming Association-VT to process organic meat. It also does custom meat processing. Bushway has only been open for about a year, started by John McCracken and Terry Rooney in an effort to stanch the flow of calves out of state.

The Vermont Agency of Agriculture is currently investigating the facility.

To read the HSUS report, click here.

To read the Vermont Agency of Agriculture report, click here. 

To read more about the veal industry in Vermont from 7D's Suzanne Podhaizer, click here.

Vermont Brownie Company Gets Flayed

At least according to Facebook. Shawna Lidsky, co-owner of Vermont Brownie Co. with Katherine Hayward, has signed a confidentiality agreement with the Food Network that prevents her from even sharing the name of the show on which she and Hayward appeared. However, given the circumstances of her experience, she admits, "you can pretty much guess what show it is."

As reported previously in Seven Days, Vermont Brownie Co. got a request from the cable channel to send an audition tape in August. "It was so quick," remembers Lidsky. "They called us on Wednesday and wanted the tape to them by the following Tuesday." The network told them they had never seen "anything quite like" the video and told the pair, whose company is based in South Hero, that they had been chosen to appear on a show. They would not, however, disclose which one. "They tell you something, but I certainly wasn't buying it," says Lidsky.

As viewers of "Throwdown with Bobby Flay" know, this is the very scenario that leads to the grilling guru trying to match his skills with specialists like the Vermont Brownie Co. or Bove's, who appeared on the show a couple of years back. Further evidence —Facebook posts by parties present at the October 28 competition itself. One audience member, who, also signed an agreement with Food Network reports that "the judges were torn."

Lidsky is thankful for the supportive crew working on the show, but hopes her episode doesn't air until after the holidays. Corporate orders are already piling up, she says, and hopes not to be overwhelmed with work spawned by their impending national stardom.

Got Burlington Telecom?

The ongoing debate in Burlington about the use of $17 million in city funds to keep its fledgling telecom utility afloat has taken up a lot of the political, and policy, discussion in the Queen City.

One frequent, and fun, question that comes up in discussions is: Of Burlington Telecom's 4600 subscribers, how many are city councilors?

I know that's not the biggest question people have, and the formation of two special council committees is a step into finding out answers to the bigger questions around how the money was spent, and whether or not the current governance structure is adequate. As this week's lengthy council meeting proved, there is no end to the angles that can, and will, be explored.

I thought it'd be a fun exercise to find out which councilors buy BT and which buy from other companies. Would they fall into neat political categories? Would the pro-BT voices on the council all have triple play? Would the anti-BT voices have Comcast or whomever?

So, I polled the entire council and with all 14 members responding, their answers may, or may not, surprise you.

Up Against the Wall

Tomorrow night, October 31, the Helen Day Art Center in Stowe is hosting a Halloween exhibit with jack-o'-lanterns made by members of the public, and also a special guest: NYC video projection artist Sean Capone. Don't know if he's a descendant of Al, but who cares?

Capone will cast arabesque patterns against the front of the building, which also houses the town library, both before and after the kiddies go trick-or-treating. No word on just what those images will be, but the picture at right is an example of his work — this one at the DUMBO Art-Under-the-Bridge Festival in Brooklyn last month. Cool, no?

HDAC exhibitions director Odin Cathcart invited Capone to Vermont and, in order to maximize his time here, arranged to get Capone another gig: tonight, October 30, in the alley next to Red Square in Burlington. Viewers leaving the new opening at the Firehouse (for another intriguing show called "Medicine & Mortality") and the Cirque Mechanics performance at the Flynn should stop by for what will likely be a visual feast on the eve before All Hallows.

So many things to see, 'tis a shame we don't have more eyes.

Mid-week Report from the VT International Film Fest

The VIFF has one more weekend to go, and it should be a good one. When I attended the screening of The Men Who Stare at Goats last Friday, it was jam-packed. Fest board head Deb Ellis says that tickets for this Friday's screening of Precious, Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (pictured) are going fast.

Maybe you don't remember the novel Push, a sort of urban The Color Purple for the 1990s. Maybe you do, in which case it won't surprise you that the movie is a huge chunk of desperation and gloom. Word from the fests is that the actresses' performances are worth the price of admission, though.

Ellis also recommends the Saturday 2:30 screening of RFK in the Land of Apartheid: A Ripple of Hope, a documentary about a neglected chapter in the life of the man who might have been president — his inspirational 1966 trip to South Africa. Directors Tami Gold and Larry Shore will be there.

And let's not forget Saturday night's Halloween program, which I previewed in State of the Arts this week.

All the filmmakers in the Vermont Filmmakers Showcase are eligible to win cash prizes, which will be handed out at a ceremony at 6:15 on Friday. All the local ones, that is.

Special Council Panels Created to Review Burlington Telecom

Burlington City Council President Bill Keogh Thursday formed two special panels to look into various aspects of Burlington Telecom, the first step in trying to get a handle on how it came to be that the city loaned the fledgling utility as much as $17 million without explicit public knowledge.

That loan came without explicit approval from the city's Board of Finance or the City Council, and because none of the money was repaid within 60 days it's also a violation of BT's certificate of public good.

Mayor Bob Kiss and Chief Administrative Officer Jonathan Leopold have said the loan was both appropriate and necessary. Leopold apologized to councilors last week for not being clear in his presentations that money from the city's so-called "cash pool" was funding BT, and said it was a mistake to keep them in the dark about the CPG violation. Leopold said he first became aware of the violation in November, but didn't disclose it to the council until May.

The panels were approved during a long and contentious council meeting that began Monday night and ended early Tuesday morning. Despite the acrimony over whether to put Chief Administrative Officer Jonathan Leopold on paid leave, the resolution calling for further investigation into how money was approved and spent on BT's behalf passed unanimously.

Beware Dead Creek

Horror flicks can be really cheap to make, which is why so many indie filmmakers choose that genre. But scary horror films are also really, really hard to make. Pacing is key. Also, avoiding anything campy. (I love the Evil Dead movies, but scary they are not.)

With that in mind, I just watched Dead Creek, a 16-minute film by Northfield director Mike Turner. He'll be screening it at the Vermont Horror Fest on Friday, October 30 at 7 p.m. at Outer Space Café in Burlington.

Of Puppies & Death Metal: Video Version

As announced on SolidState on Monday — and cleverly reported here by Lauren Ober yesterday — Scumlords of the Universe, GWAR, judged Burton's 14th annual "Howl-O-Ween Doggie Costume yesterday afternoon in the lobby of the Burton factory. And let me tell you, it was just about as awesome as it sounds.

What follows is a video I compiled documenting the afternoon's proceedings. No dogs were harmed in the production of this film. Except one, maybe …