By James Kent Perhaps you’ve seen it as you drive along Route 7. In an abandoned lot next to Godnick’s on the corner of 259 N Main St. in Rutland City, erected atop a leftover sign from a long-shuttered mini golf course, a Trump/Vance election sign is affixed overhead. Even those with a cursory knowledge…

By James Kent Below-freezing temperatures and icy snow conditions couldn’t deter 50 supporters from across New England from gathering at the Green Mountain National Forest Service building in Mendon on Jan. 11. Their goal: to halt the Telephone Gap Integrated Resources project, which proposes logging 11,000 acres, including 800 acres of rare old-growth forests, and…

By James Kent As the new year begins, business owners must maintain their safety standards as they review goals for 2025. In Rutland and Windsor counties, Marble Valley Fire’s fire safety equipment and services positively impact these efforts. Marble Valley Fire’s owner Mike Roy’s commitment to fire safety is deeply rooted in his extensive background…

When a musical bio-pic like “A Complete Unknown” comes along, movie red flags always rise. Are we going to get another cookie-cutter, a paint-by-numbers retelling of a famous musician, lined with “magical moments” of inspiration behind the music numbers we know so well, heightened by a performance that is more mime than realistic by an…

South Korea’s limited series, “Squid Game,” became a national sensation when it debuted in the U.S. in the fall of 2021. Its combination of hyper-violence and reality show meets “The Hunger Games” proved the perfect blend of entertainment for an audience still dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic and feeling that life’s many challenges placed their…

Director Robert Eggers’ re-imagining of F.W. Murnau’s 1922 silent classic “Nosferatu,” which itself was a thinly disguised ripoff of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula,” sneaked into theaters Christmas Day, just in the nick of time to give all the Goth kids nighttime refuge from all the family holiday parties, to sink their teeth into some counter-programming. For…

By James Kent Soup Dog, a cozy seasonal eatery nestled behind Domenic’s Pizzeria near the Killington ski resort, has been warming up the slopes for three winters now, and its kettles are ready to fill bellies with soup for its fourth season. Run by Matt Buck, a former commercial photographer turned soup artisan, Soup Dog…

By James Kent On its website, the newly renovated Grey Bonnet Inn boasts an array of amenities: a restaurant serving breakfast and dinner, an on-site bar, a game room, a seasonal outdoor pool, premium rooms, and executive suites. With Killington and Pico buzzing with winter activity, one might expect the Grey Bonnet’s return to include…

As 2024 draws to a close, it would seem fitting to offer up a top-ten best-film list and maybe throw in a worst-of-the-year list, too. However, I live in Vermont, which is not a large market for the film industry, and we hardly have any theaters in the state where new films can be seen,…

In keeping with the spirit of the holiday season, I found it only fitting to review some current holiday film offerings. The biggest holiday movie offering of the season, at least in terms of cast and Hollywood budget expenditures, is the Rock vehicle “Red One.” It’s streaming now on Amazon Prime after a less-than-stellar box…

By James Kent There is exciting news in the culinary world. The Rutland area has two new eating destinations with Latin-inspired flavors that will expand palates and stuff tummies with delicious treats from regions such as Peru, Venezuela, and Argentina.  Pao Pao is a Peruvian restaurant that opened on Dec. 6 at 124 Woodstock Ave.…

Mac Steel’s Tyrannosaurus Rex, T-Rextroyer, donned a festive holiday look as he watched over Route 7 in Rutland on Friday, Dec. 13, accompanied by others.

Jacques Audiard’s musical thriller can’t achieve its lofty ambitions but still offers more than most films Acclaimed French film director Jacques Audiard delivered one of the best crime films of the past 20 years in 2009’s “A Prophet.” Audiard returns to the crime world once more, but this time, he travels from the French prison…

Travel along Pleasant Street in West Rutland, and you’ll come across this well-decorated home, which invites visitors to drive along an entranceway through an enchanted scene that loops back around to Pleasant Street. 

By James Kent RUTLAND—On Sunday afternoon, Dec. 8, the Paramount Theatre filled wall-to-wall with people ready to usher in the holidays with the annual tradition of a “Holiday Pops” concert performed by the Vermont Symphony Orchestra. Conductor José Daniel Flores-Caraballo and his 100-plus musicians and chorus singers set the tone in this two-hour performance that…