Seven Days

Explore our editor’s picks for must-do events in Vermont this week, including the Stand Up for Shelter Showcase at the Hyde Park Opera House. buff.ly/eBdaLp2

Democratic/Progressive gubernatorial candidate Amanda Janoo has an 8-point lead over incumbent Republican Gov. Phil Scott, according to the final poll of the campaign released on Sunday by the University of New Hampshire’s Survey Center. Conducted online between October 27 and 31, the Green Mountain State Poll surveyed 1,231 respondents. Of likely voters, 51 percent said they will or have voted for Janoo, while 43 percent say they will or have voted for Scott. The results include participants who said they are leaning toward a candidate, a category not included in previous UNH surveys. The poll’s margin of error is 2.8 percent. buff.ly/FapgIcb

Vermonters are voting on two constitutional amendments in this election. The proposed changes are meant to protect rights Vermonters enjoy by enshrining them in the state’s founding document. buff.ly/XGQd632

Haven't voted yet? See who's on the ballot in your area using this handy lookup tool. buff.ly/MKGbY2n

Vermont folk and banjo shredder Bow Thayer threw a release party for his new album, ‘Ninevah,’ at the SEABA Center in Burlington. Photographer Luke Awtry had his eye on the scene. buff.ly/PAwoead

At Soapbox Arts in Burlington, “(Un)Becoming,” a show of works by Ana Koehler and Hannah Cieri, features vibrant decay, from figurative paintings to ceramics inspired by rotting wood to an installation of dried plants. buff.ly/zAaTUva

Album Review: 'To Go On,' the new album from Massachusetts singer-songwriter and sonic chameleon Matt Lorenz, aka the Suitcase Junket, is a tribute to his late sister and a meditation on grief and memory. buff.ly/p7vkqek

In this week's Ask the Rev. advice column: Tarot cards are given a lot of spiritual and energetic meaning, but they’re not for everyone. Don’t want your fortune told? Here’s how to respectfully decline. buff.ly/3R1rBUs

'Alice Sees Ghosts,' the second novel from Bennington author and artist Daisy Rockwell, is an acerbic comedy of manners about a New England heiress who receives a message from beyond. buff.ly/GVif2JJ

At BCA Center in Burlington, seven artists from Vermont and elsewhere expand on flowers’ association with the feminine through works that are political, unstable and a bit threatening. buff.ly/cTY95oN

Wildbranch Cider owner Cedar Hannan typically sources apples himself and turns them into the award-winning concoctions for which he’s become known since his first harvest in 2020. This fall, he changed his process when he launched the 500 Bottles Project, a new community cidermaking fundraiser in the Northeast Kingdom. During two drop-off days, locals brought backyard apples to Wildbranch or volunteered to pick them for those who couldn’t. “Pretty much everybody had a story about picking the apples or reminisced about an apple tree from their childhood,” Hannan said. He then pressed the 35-bushel harvest, which is currently fermenting in a 300-liter tank, and plans to turn it all into the promised 500 bottles of cider this spring. The effort, which Hannan said was inspired by collaborative fundraisers in the beer world, is expected to raise roughly $5,500 that he’ll split between the Craftsbury Public Library and Craftsbury Food Share. buff.ly/Kv8F3VS

"There’s something different about this week’s Seven Days: In the middle of the newspaper is a 12-page report written and designed by the staff of VTDigger, one of our chief competitors in the Vermont media business," publisher Paula Routly writes in this week's note. buff.ly/jZdUQlw

Federal election observers are scheduled to visit Burlington on Election Day as part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s plan to closely monitor the mid-term elections. The DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, which sued Vermont Secretary of State Sara Copeland Hanzas last year for refusing to turn over sensitive voter data, informed her that it plans to send two observers to the Queen City. The move is part of the DOJ’s goal to have election monitors in all 50 states this year. The 1,000 observers it plans to deploy nationwide would be a dramatic increase from past elections. The visit appears to be the first time such monitors have come to Vermont, according to Bryan Mills, chief of staff for Copeland Hanzas. The DOJ claims it is ramping up its oversight this year to ensure the election is conducted fairly. But voting rights groups are increasingly concerned about the potential for election meddling by the federal government. buff.ly/U4ZfI1J

Gubernatorial candidate Amanda Janoo launched into her last week of campaigning wearing an ’80s-style, off-the-shoulder party dress she bought secondhand. The occasion? “Political Prom,” a sold-out Sunday night campaign fundraiser at Winooski’s Monkey House that called for attendees to “dress your best” and “get ready to dance.” “No matter what, win or lose, I want to say that this campaign has brought an incredible amount of joy, movement and power to this state,” Janoo told supporters at the event. The prom was the latest example of the unconventional, grassroots campaign Janoo, the Democratic/Progressive nominee for governor, has run since she announced her bid for the top office in March. Her style stands in stark contrast to the more conventional approach to campaigning favored by incumbent Republican governor Phil Scott, a 25-year veteran of Vermont politics. With just days until Election Day, polls show that Scott and Janoo are in a tight race. The most recent survey, published on October 27 by nonprofit State Navigate, shows Scott leading Janoo by three points, 49 percent to 46 percent, with three percent of voters undecided. buff.ly/jAlRsoD

Have you made a plan to vote? See who's on the ballot in your area. buff.ly/MKGbY2n

In Vermont food news: The family-owned Burlington Bagel Bakery will add a fifth location, in St. Albans, by the end of 2026. And after just over a year, Westford’s country store has closed its doors. buff.ly/5gnXNID

As aging morticians retire, private equity firms are quietly buying up local funeral homes. buff.ly/TdtuzJo

How much has average rainfall increased in Vermont since 1900? Take this week's News Quiz: buff.ly/driYWay

In 2015, Alejandro Bergad and Jacob Goldstein cofounded what would become Sunsoil, a Hardwick company that grows, processes and sells organic, hemp-derived products. The new company burned down an old shed on its property to make room for a new, large barn for drying hemp — and within a few years had become a major manufacturer of cannabidiol, or CBD, wellness supplements. Its certified-organic products are sold in 2,500 stores nationwide and through direct-to-consumer marketing. But Sunsoil could soon see its business razed, as it and other CBD companies face the biggest threat to their livelihood since Congress legalized hemp production in 2018. A new federal law, scheduled to take effect on December 11, closes a legal loophole that inadvertently allowed hemp companies to sell products that contain intoxicating tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, with few, if any, restrictions or oversight. THC is the primary component of cannabis that induces a user’s high and the one that distinguishes recreational weed from CBD and hemp products. With a deadline looming, Vermont’s hemp businesses are weighing whether to stay the course — or reformulate their products by stripping them of THC completely. buff.ly/0EhptRH

This week's cover story: U.S.-Canada Tensions Threaten Vermont Border Towns’ Historic Ties Communities and residents in northern Vermont and Québec have long enjoyed close relationships. Those bonds are coming undone. buff.ly/DLbZN9q