 newspackHandleImageError(this);” fifu-data-src=”https://i1.wp.com/vtdigger.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/vermont-conversation-logo-300×106.jpg?ssl=1″ alt=”vermont conversation logo” class=”wp-image-523351″ srcset=”https://i1.wp.com/vtdigger.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/vermont-conversation-logo-300×106.jpg?ssl=1 300w, https://vtdigger.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/vermont-conversation-logo-1200×422.jpg 1200w, https://vtdigger.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/vermont-conversation-logo-125×44.jpg 125w, https://vtdigger.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/vermont-conversation-logo-768×270.jpg 768w, https://vtdigger.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/vermont-conversation-logo-1536×541.jpg 1536w, https://vtdigger.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/vermont-conversation-logo-2048×721.jpg 2048w” sizes=”(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px”></figure>
</div>
<p>Karen Kevra was passionate about playing the flute as a child. But in college, she became disillusioned and walked away from classical music. Her long and winding journey brought her back to music, and in the process, transformed the music scene in Vermont.
<p>Karen Kevra is founder and artistic director of Capital City Concerts (CCC), which is celebrating its 25<sup>th</sup> anniversary this year. It has become one of Vermont’s premier and most beloved chamber music series, holding concerts in Montpelier and Burlington. Kevra is a Grammy-nominated flutist who performs at each of the CCC concerts. She has shared the stage with members of the Emerson String Quartet, the Paris Piano Trio, the Borromeo String Quartet, the Boston Chamber Music Society and Trey Anastasio of Phish.
<p>Kevra has performed throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe, including performances at Carnegie Hall and the French Embassy in Washington D.C. When the Covid pandemic closed down performance venues, Kevra turned to telling stories. She launched a podcast, Muse Mentors, a series of beautifully crafted interviews with artists, activists and thinkers in which she explores the transformative role that mentors have played in their lives. She is on the music faculty of Middlebury College.<div class=){kind=spacer}
A plan by Gov. Phil Scott’s administration to make all of the state’s lottery games, including scratch-off tickets, available on a person’s phone never got off the ground at the Statehouse this year.
Lottery Commissioner Wendy Knight told lawmakers in January that the plan was a way to modernize the lottery “because you need to keep pace with technology — you need to meet your players where they are.”
Fifteen states have created a “digital” lottery system, and many have discovered there’s a distinct market of people who don’t buy lottery tickets at retail outlets but will do so on their phones, according to Knight. “We’re trying to ensure the future of the Vermont Lottery, ” the commissioner said.
But state lawmakers have not been persuaded.
Vergennes Rep. Matt Birong, the Democratic chair of the House government operations committee, said members of the panel felt this year was not the time to move forward with this plan, especially given the recent legalization of sports betting.
“It is digitizing a current system and after moving forward with the sports wagering — people just wanted to take their time with it — so my committee decided to tap the brakes on further testimony.”
The administration estimated that the plan would have raised roughly $5 million a year for the state’s education fund after two years of implementation.
The prospect of that additional revenue is appealing to lawmakers, and Birong said they may reconsider the plan next year.
