Always vote, consider a run for office and subscribe to a newspaper even if there's a way to finagle a free read.

Those were among the pieces of wisdom that author and Atlantic Monthly national correspondent James Fallows doled out to thousands of students and their families during his commencement address at the University of Vermont Sunday morning.

Oh, and one more thing. "Get in the habit of being happy," Fallows told the UVM class of 2017.

The city of Burlington is moving full speed ahead to promote bike transportation, and projects are taking shape across the city.

This week, the city will paint new advisory bike lanes near the entrance to Oakledge Park in Burlington's South End. The city also announced plans last week for a bike-share program scheduled to begin later this summer.

The projects are included in the city's bike and pedestrian master plan, which the city council adopted last month.

The Pine Street Deli closed early on Wednesday, its final day in business. By 3 p.m., the coolers were empty, the shelves were bare and even the bread had been snatched up by a surge of customers who dropped by a final time.

Employee Taylor Courville gestured toward the coolers. "All we have left is cream and beer," he said.

The Alvanos family has owned the popular sandwich shop and convenience store on the corner of Pine Street and Flynn Avenue for 11 years. The building is to be demolished and replaced by a new one with 30 studio and one-bedroom apartments.

It's been a four-year process to design the new building and secure permits, said Michael Alvanos, who helps run the deli. The closing of the family operation wasn't particularly emotional, Alvanos said. "We have a lot more work to do," he said with a shrug.

The building will have two commercial spaces on the first floor. Alvanos said he hopes to have a restaurant, but couldn't say for sure if he'd reopen Pine Street Deli.

Demolition is scheduled to begin in early June, he said.
The deli is owned by Alvanos' parents, George and Christine Alvanos. The family previously operated the Parkway Diner near Burlington International Airport. Michael Alvanos, his brother Evan, and Taylor Courville also own the Guilty Plate Diner in Colchester.

"We wanted to design ourselves a project that we feel will support all the great things going on on Pine Street," said Alvanos, who also works as an architect for JRMA Design Studio.

This project would help the restaurant owners make ends meet, Alvanos said. He called the housing options in Burlington "anemic" and said the development would allow the family to diversify its sources of income.

Alvanos sees the development as a way to strengthen his family's ties to the South End. He grew up in the area, as did his mother. "We have a great strong connection to this area," Alvanos said. "We want to put something here that's going to last a long time."

An undocumented Migrant Justice advocate arrested in Burlington has been sent back to Mexico. Cesar Alex Carrillo, 23, accepted a "voluntary departure order" and took a plane out of the U.S. on Monday, according to his attorney, Matt Cameron.

Carrillo, who was arrested by ICE agents in March, fought to get a voluntary departure in lieu of formal deportation as a way of maximizing his chances of returning to the U.S., Cameron told Seven Days. A judge approved the agreement May 1, said Migrant Justice spokesperson Will Lambek.*

It made for "the best possible scenario," Cameron said, because a voluntary departure does not carry the tarnish of a deportation. Carrillo hopes to get legal clearance to return to Vermont by the end of the year — though the process may take longer, Cameron added.

Carrillo's wife, Lymarie Deida, 21, and his 4-year-old daughter Solmarie, are both U.S. citizens. They are scraping together money to join Carrillo in Mexico in the coming weeks, said Lambek. Carrillo hails from the Mexican city of Tabasco, though Lambek said he did not know where the family would live.

A man suspected of stealing computers last year from Burlington College after it had closed down will not face criminal prosecution, Burlington Police Chief Brandon del Pozo said.

Federal authorities are continuing to investigate a land deal brokered by former Burlington College president Jane O'Meara Sanders, the wife of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). News of that investigation broke last week, and has led to renewed interest in the unsolved burglary.

Police responded to a break-in at the college that occurred on either July 24 or July 25. It was two months after the school had closed due to financial difficulties stemming in part from the purchase of its North Avenue campus.

There was no sign of forced entry and the door had likely been left unlocked, Burlington police officers said in an affidavit. Additionally, someone had disabled security cameras.

Several offices had been vandalized, and water had been poured on some computer servers. "In numerous offices, items were tipped over and damaged," police records say. "Computer monitors and computers were thrown about the rooms."

The college's main server, roughly 15-20 Macintosh computers and the school's Ford van were missing. Some records of students from Israel had been taken as well.

A college representative told police that "several things were odd about the burglary," the records say. "She stated she felt like an individual would have to know the keys to the van were kept in her office in order to locate the keys."

On July 26, police in Troy, N.Y. found the missing van after it crashed through a fence. They arrested Brett H. Seglem, who had allegedly been driving, according to police documents. Passengers in the van told police that they met Seglem in nearby Albany and he offered to drive them to Philadelphia. In the van, he bragged to them that he had stolen the vehicle and computers from Burlington College, according to police documents.

The computers were found inside the crashed van, along with some Burlington College banners. But the server was not recovered, according to police documents.

Police found a sign that read, "Traveling Broke & Hungry."

In an interview, del Pozo said that the Chittenden County State's Attorney's Office twice declined to prosecute Seglem for the alleged burglary, citing a lack of evidence.

Reached in New Jersey, Seglem's mother, Joanne Seglem, told Seven Days that her son is a drug addict who has struggled for years. She declined to discuss the case. Brett Seglem could not be located for comment.

An associate of Seglem's told police that he had been squatting last summer in an unused college building in the Burlington area, according to the affidavit.

VTDigger.org first reported details of the burglary in September.

Ali Dieng claimed victory Thursday at Burlington's Ward 7 Democratic caucus, earning the chance to represent the party in a special election for an open city council seat in the New North End.

Dieng earned 76 votes to win easily, defeating Chris Trombly and Lorraine Carter-Lovejoy. Trombly received 15 votes and Carter-Lovejoy got 12, according to Steve McIntyre, vice chair of the Burlington Democratic Party and a Ward 7 resident.

Dieng, a 35-year-old West Africa native, will face off against Republican Vince Dober in the special election, which will be held on June 27. Other candidates may yet throw their hats in the ring — the filing deadline to run is May 22.

A historic Burlington building owned by the Bove family near their now-closed Italian eatery has racked up 38 code violations.

But real estate developer and pasta sauce company co-owner Rick Bove says a fix is on the menu. He's asked all tenants of the red brick building at the corner of Pearl and George streets to move by June 1 so he can renovate the property.

Bove said he delayed making repairs at 3-11 George Street because of a $500,000 top-to-bottom renovation set to start shortly on the one-time domicile of General George J. Stannard, a Civil War hero.

More recently, the two-story building has been the subject of numerous skirmishes with the city over upkeep.

A diverse crowd filled the Unitarian Church in Burlington Monday to memorialize Matt Young, a beloved local credited with starting the city's street outreach team to provide services to members of the community who slipped through the cracks.

Young, who would have turned 69 on Monday, died from cancer on March 23. City officials, social workers, members of the homeless population, coworkers and business owners filled the pews and trickled into the church balconies to express appreciation for a man who helped so many. Community members described him as a fixture in Burlington who could inevitably be found strolling down Church Street, baseball cap turned backward, eager to strike up a conversation with anyone who crossed his path.

"He was an avid observer of human nature and humanity" who could relate to people "of any societal class and any emotional or mental state," said Tammy Boudah, who worked with Young on the street outreach team for 15 years. "His starting point for any interaction is 'What's going on for this person? What is this person experiencing?'"

Two more New North End residents have stepped up to run for Burlington's open city council seat. Chris Trombly and Lorraine Carter-Lovejoy will vie for the Democratic nomination to fill the Ward 7 seat that will be vacated in June by Tom Ayres.

Trombly and Carter-Lovejoy join Ali Dieng and Republican Vince Dober as candidates in the special election scheduled for June 27.

A Democratic caucus is scheduled for May 4. Dieng, an independent, has said he'll try to win the Dem's endorsement.

Trombly declared his candidacy Wednesday in a press release. The 37-year-old serves on the steering committee of the Wards 4 and 7 Neighborhood Planning Assembly and works as vice president of loan operations at People's United Bank.

From his popcorn stand on Church Street in Burlington, Paul Buschner has seen people walk by with all their belongings on their backs.

Three times, Buschner has paid for new birth certificates or IDs for homeless people whose belongings were stolen. In the 15 years that Buschner has operated his A-Maize-ing Kettle Korn cart, he's spoken with people who have lost prescription medication, important documents and other personal items.

Now, the New North End resident is spearheading a project to construct 40 secure lockers where the homeless could safely store their belongings for free. Buschner's still finalizing the cost estimates, but figures the total will come in between $5,000 and $10,000 for building materials, locks and possibly a security camera.

Buschner hopes to have the lockers completed in downtown Burlington by midsummer.

"I see people burdened by their stuff," Buschner said. "They can't go to the doctor's, can't go grocery shopping, can't get into the store with a big backpack." Lockers would help "give them some dignity and security."