Take a Trance on Me

Saturday 18

This year’s Bandwagon Summer Series, presented by Next Stage Arts, kicks off at the Putney Inn with an unbeatable double billing. Persian violinist and kamancheh (an Iranian bowed string instrument) player Mehrnam Rastegari (pictured) and Mediterranean psychedelic-surf trio Habbina Habbina transport audiences to the Middle East and beyond.

Golden Skate Warriors

Saturday 18

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• Courtesy
• Green Mountain Roller Derby

Vermonters cheer on the women and nonbinary athletes of Green Mountain Roller Derby at the team’s Back in Black Bout at Champlain Valley Exposition in Essex Junction. Hard-hitting skaters enter a heart-pounding face-off against New York’s Salt City Roller Derby at this full-contact showdown.

Yiddish You Were Here

Thursday 16

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• Courtesy Of Clever Sangalaza
• Rabbi Jessica Kate Meyer

Burlington’s Ohavi Zedek Synagogue presents a benefit concert for its Full Circle Preschool featuring Boston-based trio Fun Yener Velt, Yiddish for From Another World. After wine and cheese at an art show of works donated by OZ community members, musicians Jessica Kate Meyer, Hankus Netsky and Itay Dayan perform everything from soulful Carpathian Jewish songs to joyful klezmer jams.

One-Stop Shop

Thursday 16

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• Downtown Sip + Shop

At Rutland’s Downtown Sip + Shop, more than 20 local stores pair up with Vermont beverage and food purveyors for a delicious day of drinking and supporting small businesses. Ticket holders pick up a map and commemorative tote bag before tracking down all the tastings, from mocktails at the Rutland County Pride Center to Golden Rule Mead at GreenSpell Plant Shop to Inspired Cookies’ whoopie pies at Phoenix Books.

Short Squeeze

Friday 17-Sunday 19

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• © Westonneyphotovideo | Dreamstime
• 48-Hour Film Slam

Junction Arts & Media invites all White River Junction-area filmmakers to enter a race against the clock at the 48-Hour Film Slam. Beginning on Friday evening, registered teams have just two days to write, shoot and edit a short film, which will be screened to audiences at an awards ceremony on Sunday night. Start storyboarding now.

The Family Stone

Friday 17-Sunday 19

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• Pigeo n Watching

The William Eddy Lecture Series at St. Johnsbury’s Fairbanks Museum & Planetarium returns with artist, author and birder Rosemary Mosco‘s address “Panels and Pigeons: How Comics Help Us See Local Wildlife in New Ways.” The weekend fun continues with Mosco leading two kids’ cartoon workshops, a creative get-together over drinks at Kingdom Taproom and Table, and nature walks through Matsinger Forest in Danville.

This Is 40

Ongoing

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• “Muddy Brook” by Dianne Shullenberger

Bryan Memorial Gallery in Jeffersonville invites art lovers to party like it’s 1984 at its “40 Years Together” exhibit. Visitors are invited to break out their hair crimpers and shoulder pads for a 1980s-themed reception on May 16, where they’ll get the first look at a vast collection of modern and historical works by Vermont artists, as well as originals by gallery founder Alden Bryan and his wife, Mary.

MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) – Vermont lawmakers wrapped up the legislative session in the early morning hours Saturday, passing an $8.6 billion state budget.

Lawmakers tackled issues like housing and flood recovery, but also passed a number of new tax increases, including a 3% tax on short-term rentals, a 6% tax on business software and a 3.4% tax when second homes are bought or sold. It comes as Vermonters will also see a 0.44% payroll tax starting July 1 that will help pay for child care.

The session started with flood recovery in the forefront of everyone’s mind but ended with clashes among the House, Senate and Gov. Phil Scott over taxes and spending.

The session was defined by big questions about the future of education and no federal stimulus money to fall back on.

“This has been a hard session. Perhaps the hardest session of my 20 years here in the Statehouse,” said Sen. Allison Clarkson, D-Windsor County.

State lawmakers grappling with the soaring cost of education and spiking property taxes passed a plan to raise them by 13.8%.

The plan, sarcastically blasted by Senate Minority Leader Randy Brock, almost certainly faces a veto from Governor Scott.

“Most Vermonters will be happy that we’ve tamed the property tax problem by limiting this year’s increase to only double-digits,” said Brock, R-Franklin County.

Others stressed the challenges are in contrast to massive legislation last year.

“This has been a dark year but it’s been an amazing biennium,” said Sen. Phil Baruth, D-Vt. Senate President Pro Tem.

Lawmakers also struck 11th-hour deals on retail theft, stiffer penalties for drug trafficking and Act 250 reform. The proposal is intended to balance conservation and the housing crisis.

But not everything made it, including a proposed wealth tax, a bill reforming the state Fish and Wildlife Board, another banning cellphones in the classroom and a proposal to pause the PCB testing program.

The end of the legislative biennium again put the Democratic supermajority at odds with Republican Gov. Phil Scott. In his goodbye speech to lawmakers, Scott acknowledged their differences.

“I think most of us want the same thing. We just have a different vision on how to get there. And after this session, it’s clear that we have a little more work to do,” the governor said.

Political experts say the moderate Republican governor and Democrats are divided on what degree the state should spend and tax.

“I do think you see a deeper debate over principle here between Democrats who are willing to raise more taxes and a Republican governor who thinks it’s central to his philosophy to hold the line,” said Bert Johnson, a Middlebury College political science professor.

As Scott prepares to campaign for a fourth term, we’re tracking at least six bills on the way to his desk that could end in a veto. State lawmakers will return on June 17 to attempt to override.

Copyright 2024 WCAX. All rights reserved.

RUTLAND, Vt. (WCAX) – A Vermont correctional officer faces charges after investigators say he smuggled contraband into a prison.

Vermont State Police say David Orvis, 28, of Rutland, coordinated with at least two separate inmates to transport tobacco into the Marble Valley Correctional Facility. Police believe the inmates paid him to do so.

Orvis was reported to Vermont State Police back in February. He has since resigned and now faces charges of neglect of duty.

Orvis is due in court in June.

Copyright 2024 WCAX. All rights reserved.