The leaves are falling off the trees — time to break out the hot chocolate and sit down with this week's winter preview issue of Seven Days. It includes a trip to the Putney theme park/timewarp Santa's Land, as well as these news and politics stories: 

• The state incentivizes homeowners to put in renewable energy installations such as solar panels that feed power back into the grid. But some small, local utility companies don't want any more.
• Can ski resorts be sued when skiers and snowboarders are hurt on the slopes?
• Ever been to a members-only ski area as exclusive as a posh country club? That's what you'll find these days at Haystack in West Dover.
• In Fair Game: Gov. Peter Shumlin pooh-poohs the federal shutdown (then flies to D.C.), Vermont Health Connect gets off to a slow start and a newspaper editor gets fired in the NEK.

Get this week's issue in print, online or on the iOS app.

Cover illustration by Sean Metcalf