It's not uncommon for school administrators to resign under mysterious circumstances. As an education reporter, I've come to accept the fact that no matter how juicy the rumors flying around about the reasons for a resignation, it's often hard to substantiate them. Even when an Agency of Education investigation uncovers wrongdoing, the findings are often shrouded in secrecy and the educator is allowed to slink off quietly.
Lenora Travis first called Seven Days because she wanted somebody to write about the VFW. The club had made a deal to sell its headquarters on South Winooski Avenue in Burlington to the Champlain Housing Trust, which would redevelop the property into affordable housing while including a new, smaller space for the club.
When Seven Days decided to produce a Québec Issue this year, I was looking forward to heading north to eat a day's worth of meals in Montréal with maybe a brief sidebar list of past favorites. Somehow, one day turned into three after friends of publisher Paula Routly suggested I chat with Marie Comtois, a native Montréaler, who they said knew the city and its restaurant scene intimately.
I ruptured a disc in my back shoveling snow at the end of 2022, and it took me months – months! – to upgrade from my usual doctor to a back specialist. After a few weeks of visits and plenty of needles in my back, I was finally on the mend. Then, as I was getting ready to leave my fancy new doctor's office, I let slip: "Hey, so I'm working on this story, and I'm going to take this dude to Great Escape. He's sort of obsessed with roller coasters."
It's bad to lie in a job interview. It's especially bad to lie during a job interview when the lie is that you meet the basic requirements of the job and, in fact, you do not. But in my defense, I really wanted to intern at Seven Days.