It's a big news week in Vermont with the long-awaited launch of the state's health care exchange. We've got stories about that and more in this week's Seven Days.

• Republican political operative Darcie Johnston is devoted to stopping health care reform in Vermont. How's it going?
• No dancing in Burlington restaurants? A puritanical "rule" in the Queen City could be overhauled soon.
• In this week's Fair Game: Vermont pols rail against the federal shutdown, Vermont Health Connect launches, Leahy wines and dines some big-bucks donors and the Free Press sells its HQ.
• In the cover story, Paula Routly profiles Captain Richard Phillips, the Underhill merchant mariner whose ordeal with Somali pirates is the subject of a new Tom Hanks film, Captain Phillips. The real captain is back in the same waters where he was taken hostage in 2009.

Read these stories and more in print, online or on our iOS app.

Cover photo of Captain Phillips by Oliver Parini