The Happy Pill Circus

The Happy Pill Circus

The purveyors of puppety goodness join forces with Northampton's Primate Fiasco, a band of Dixieland proclivities and circus-like abandon. The event is dubbed The Happy Pill Circus, and promises to be a theatrical good time of rare dimension.It's sponsored by...
Northampton: Shreds of Truth

Northampton: Shreds of Truth

For Northampton Mayor Clare Higgins, recent controversy surrounding the shredding of a clerk's notes from a closed-session meeting may ultimately come down to a simple misunderstanding between former City Solicitor Janet Sheppard and the City Council's clerk,...
The Ripple Effect

The Ripple Effect

It is, at the very least, premature to say that Springfield City Councilor Tim Rooke's campaign to stop the School Department from moving into the old federal building on Main Street is making headway; despite the councilor's efforts, City Hall shows no signs...

Imperium Watch: Money, Trapped at the Top

A recovery that may soon show the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on the upswing without a commensurate increase in new jobs: how is that possible?Tight credit is partly responsible, but so is the fact that the top layers of the economy are soaking up the money, not...

Letters: What Do You Think?

I'm writing regarding this year's Valley Advocate Grand Band Slam. In his "A Slammin' Time" article (Aug. 27, 2009), James Heflin writes about what a wealth of music and musicians there are in this Valley, and about how hard it was for the...