Derek Brouwer

2 weeks ago | sevendaysvt.com | Derek Brouwer

click to enlarge More than 1,000 Vermonters won't get rental subsidies this year as housing authorities roll back the primary assistance program for impoverished households. Facing flat federal funding and an unforgiving rental marketplace, housing authorities big and small have stopped issuing rental-assistance vouchers known as Section 8.

1 month ago | sevendaysvt.com | Derek Brouwer

click to enlarge First came a pandemic. Then two years of floods. Now, a belch of hot air from President Donald Trump is the latest disaster to plague Vermont businesses that have long courted Canadian customers. Trump's spasmodic, he-must-be-joking comments about turning Canada into the "51st state," coupled with his maybe-he's-serious tariffs on the country's imports, have unleashed fury in the north.

1 month ago | sevendaysvt.com | Derek Brouwer

click to enlarge The bishop waited inside the courthouse foyer for his turn through the metal detector. On a clipboard ledger, he jotted his name — "John McDermott," omitting his honorifics — along with the time he was signing in, 9:32 a.m. on May 14, a Wednesday. He had arrived alone. McDermott, 62, wore a black shirt and a pectoral cross around his neck.

1 month ago | sevendaysvt.com | Derek Brouwer |Sasha Goldstein |Kevin McCallum

click to enlarge Montpelier already had two cannabis shops when John Benjamins hatched his idea for Winterland Haze last summer. By the time he opened his doors in December, the number of competitors in the Capital City had increased to three, and a pair of new dispensaries had hung their shingles in nearby Barre. Benjamins' Main Street outlet is located just a few storefronts down from a larger, established shop, Capital Cannabis.

1 month ago | sevendaysvt.com | Derek Brouwer

click to enlarge Removing needles from sidewalks. Cleaning up graffiti. Banning public nudity in and around Church Street. Forcing an outdoor soup kitchen to move away from downtown shoppers. Those are among the actions that city leaders should take to deal with the economic "crisis" in downtown Burlington, according to more than 100 local businesspeople.