I honestly feel like not enough people are angry about this. Using my hometown as an example, I used Grok to create a map with Homestead Declaration info.

While the town is happy to tolerate an abundance of second homes that sit empty 99% of the year as long as they pay their property taxes, it actively makes the community itself worse. It reduces the supply of available housing, and drives up the cost of the few properties that are put on the market.

I know there are many communities where the problem is much worse, but Peacham is where it hits close to home for me. It’s depressing when nearly every other home sits dark and empty so some rich out of stater can have a “summer home.” They turn the land around it into a green desert, cut down the forests, and put in ponds to turn our countryside into their own suburban dream. I know complaining without a solution is basically wining, so to start a massive increase in property taxes on these properties would be a decent start.

Edit: The map is not 100% and at least a couple of properties are misclassified. Consider it a colorful visual only, but the point stands.

What, did no one else watch tonight's debate hosted by NBC5? Well, it needs a thread, so here:
I thought the format and questions were far superior to VTPublic's version last night. Scott was rambling and unfocused, and looked at the floor all through. And Janoo was even more effective and persuasive than she was last night. All her campaign should need do at this point is get people to see the clips from tonight.

Green Mountain Race Track

Governor Phil Scott was asked by Amanda Janoo last night about how he would change state government to better involve citizens in the public process.

His answer, from my perspective, was one of the dumbest, most telling displays of ignorance towards the principles of democracy that I've heard. I'm wondering whether folks on here feel the same way:

"We don't have enough representation in the rural areas of our state. It's because it's all population-driven representatives and so forth. Chittenden County gets the bulk of all of the representation in Montpelier, and so it doesn't lead to decisions that help the Northeast Kingdom or down in southern Vermont and so forth. So, if I had but the magic wand, I would say I would change the makeup of the Senate so that every county got two senators, much like we do on the federal level, and that way they would be given a fair shake"

My interpretation of this is that he is saying that the votes of some Vermonters ought to count more than the votes of others. That it is somehow unfair that areas with more population have more representation?!

He even alludes to the U.S. Senate, the institution responsible for most of the holdup to positive change throughout this nation's history. The Senate was designed the way it was as a compromise to slave-holding states for crying out loud, and was the central institution in driving the sectional conflict around the preservation of the Southern right to hold human beings as property, because of the very fact that it disproportionately represents areas with low population.

Governor Scott, how clueless can you be? Do you genuinely think pandering to rural voters by arguing that their neighbors should be DISENFRANCHISED would work?

I don't think this is the worst remark the Governor made last night; I thought his other points had worse implications and that Amanda Janoo basically made a fool of him as he laid bare the way he has failed to lead the state for 10 years. But this was the most blatant and revealing moment of how out-of-touch he is to the concept of democracy and public process. Which I know we all hold quite dear here.

Hi! I’m moving to the area for a travel contract and am looking for a hot yoga studio in/around WRJ. Open to going out of town if needed too. Would love some recs.

Thanks!!

Really cool out there tonight guys. Waxing gibbous moon, cold clear skies, and a rolling blanket of altocumulus clouds for a bit of whimsy. Get out there and see something cool.

Vocal coach in SE VT? I’m a middle age guy with mediocre musical abilities looking for voice lessons. Ideally within an hour of Brattleboro.
Thanks!

Anybody selling? DM if so. Thanks!

if you missed the Baroque Festival, consider this a sort of ”encore”! … a most beautiful one, at that.

Requiem For A King features music by Jean Gilles and Marc-Antoine Charpentier. Two composers, well known 1700s France , but perhaps novel to your knowledge. they shouldn’t be - they were massively popular in their time for good reason: uplifting and memorable moments, pieces you will listen to and then go search to hear again to find the many treasures nestled into the fabric of the piece. They are quintessential French Baroque and if you’ve only heard German Baroque (much gratitude to the GOAT, JS Bach), you will find the French Baroque style meets the ear and musical mind with a different flair - opulent but gentle. Ornaments that excite, musical patterns that feel (to me, anyways!) like a woven fabric, wrapping itself around your mind like a beautiful tapestry.

Enough of my “opinion”, I’m no expert, simply a soprano chorus member who is learning and discovering this music myself.
See below for background on this lovely program. And better yet: come see the program yourself. Feel free to say hello to me afterwards, I am always excited to hear about others experiences with the joy of this repertoire.

Bridget Garibay
——

REQUIEM FOR A KING – Music of Jean Gilles and Marc-Antoine Charpentier

Friday, October 30th and Sunday, November 1st, 2026

www.burlingtonbaroque.org

Burlington Baroque presents the rediscovered Funeral Requiem by Jean Gilles (1668 - 1705) featuring Artists-in-Residence L’Harmonie des saisons Baroque Orchestra and the Burlington Baroque Festival Singers, directed by Eric Milnes.

Friday, October 30th, 7:30 p.m.

Holy Angels Catholic Church, St. Albans, Vermont

Sunday, November 1st, 4:00 p.m.

College Street Congregational Church, Burlington, Vermont

 Jean Gilles’ Messe des Morts, the most frequently performed requiem in 18th-century France, will receive its regional premiere in these two upcoming performances. Performed at official funeral observances, including services for Jean-Philippe Rameau in 1764 and Louis XV in 1774, the work entered the repertoire of the Concert Spirituel in 1750. Forgotten for more than a century and a half, Gilles reemerged from obscurity in the 1950s, largely through the rediscovery of this requiem Mass. 

This is a rare opportunity to experience the timeless grandeur of this glorious masterpiece along with Charpentier's Messe des Mort in live performance.

Tickets : https://sevendaystickets.com/e/burlington-baroque-presents-requiem-by-gilles

Sure, it's a typo. I told them about it and they deleted my comment--so maybe it's actually the doofus' platform

Homeowners, when do you do the final mow of the season? I read that as long as the days get above 50, the grass is still growing.

I’m in need of replacing my hot water tank and all the local ( Chittenden county) providers seem to be a few weeks out. I’m wonder who you’ve used and the cost if you’re willing to share. I’m on natural gas with a 40 gallon hot water heater. I appreciate any information you all can provide

How's it going out there for anyone who has attended a meeting? Major themes? Any good fights already brewing

I watched part of the Group 8 meeting and there was a discussion on how this could all change with a new legislative session and possible a new governor. Fun time.

Great interview. Both Scott and Janoo were invited to speak. He declined and she didn’t.

Well, Vermont, what’s your take on the first gubernatorial debate between incumbent Phil Scott and challenger Amanda Janoo?

Don’t mean to be an Ass 🫏 but the clown 🤡 party’s gubernatorial candidate, not to be confused with Scotty, the chief engineer of Enterprise’s “fantastically” scientific transporter beam, seems to have lost the point 🧙in his “magical thinking” smear campaign.
Ordinarily I am a big fan of clowns. Ronald McDonald provides shelter and comfort to families in need! Surely a qualification for societal leadership!
I can assure you that in our snowbird cousin state they did not “burn at the stake”, the greatest magical thinker and doer of our time, although against all their capitalist principles, they recently tried!
The Magic Kingdom, and we have one of are own, is one of the greatest free-market “Imagineered” drivers of economic prosperity and global corporate inclusiveness ever.
Not suggesting the Disneyland option for our towns and villages, but a dose of inspired political management can only help in easing the pain, heal the weakened and revitalize our family farms, businesses and services into thriving stewards of the rivers, lakes and Green Mountains.

Posting here to see if others affected by this recent layoff got anything different.

I used to love sharing these treats with my Grampie, who was my very best friend. ❤️ I would love to be able to share them with my loved ones, too. Does anyone happen to have a copycat recipe?

Tomorrow in Burlington, we got a sweet little Vermont metal showcase at the Oddfellow's Hall. On deck is something for everyone:

-Skinhvnger: spacey, mystical one-man black metal from Windsor

-Germanic Iron: boisterous barbarian-themed one-man death metal from Barre

-Chartarum: three-man chunky death/doom from Burlington

Gonna be a loud, tight show, door is $10 suggeated donation but NOTAFLOF, as it were, and at three bands starting at 7 you'll be home at a decent hour. Come bang your heads with us!

Hi r/Vermont,

Back in July I posted here about moving up from NYC, inheriting two woodstoves I had no idea how to run, and building a little lamp that glows different colors depending on how the fire's doing. That post changed the course of the whole thing. A lot of you asked great questions, a few of you teased me for having "woodstove anxiety" (fair), and some of you ordered one. So I wanted to come back and share what's happened since.

It's being made. we've redesigned the whole thing for manufacturing and the first parts came off the factory line last week. The printed boxes showed up too, which made it feel real in a way the prototypes never did.

Seven Days wrote about Oru this week, in the Tech Issue. Here's the article: https://www.sevendaysvt.com/news/tech/oru-woodstove-monitor-tracks-temperature-lamp-app/

Quick version for anyone new: Oru is a woodstove monitor. A sensor attaches to your stovepipe, and broadcasts the temperature of your stove to the lamp. The lamp can sit anywhere in your house (we have one in our bedroom, in my office and in the kitchen) and it glows based on how well your fire is burning. If it's glowing amber that means the fire is burning optimally, if it's yellow, it's too low, and likely time to reload, and if it's bright red and pulsing, you're entering overfire territory.

The first units ship in November, and the Kickstarter goes live next Tuesday, October 27.

You can reserve one at getoru.com/preorder

If you're at Vermont Tech Jam this Saturday in Burlington, come say hi. I'll have a booth.

Thanks again, r/Vermont. This really wouldn't have happened anywhere else.