More on the Beast
Thank you for your recent article ("Mountain Power," Jan. 14, 2010) revealing the heart-warming history of Berkshire East. As a California native, I grew up skiing Tahoe Donner's local mountain in Truckee and have many blissful childhood memories of that small family resort. Four years ago I moved to Northampton and, somewhat hesitantly and at my wife's inspiration, took to a pair of skis again for the first time in 12 years. Savvy to the area and a fabulous skier herself, my wife pointed us towards Berkshire East and we have never looked back. After a few seasons of learning carving turns and debunking the West Coast myth that East Coast skiing is only short, steep and icy, I have reconnected with a passion and I attribute much of this to the mountain and staff at Berkshire East. From my very first moments there I experienced the "magic" that was described in your article and that is so clearly evident on the faces of many of the skiers that I have met at the Beast. As the parents of a newborn, the prospect of introducing our daughter to skiing at Berkshire East is wonderful and I look forward to the day when I will chase her graceful contrails down the slopes of War Dance. My sincere gratitude to the Schaefers for their commitment to family, community and sustainability.
Jason Sarouhan
Northampton
Tom Vannah nails it in his excellent January 14 article about the Schaefer family and Berkshire East. He quotes the coroner's report that cites "poor air quality—air pollution—as a primary contributing factor in Elissa Henderson's death." "The air quality was very bad that April," Vannah writes, "the result of a high pollen count and pollution from big coal-fired electric plants blowing in from the west and getting trapped in the river valleys of New England—a common occurrence to this day."
In two sentences Vannah makes public one of the hard-to-swallow facts that biomass opponents hate to acknowledge—that coal-fired power plants cause much more harmful impacts upon the local, national and international air quality than any wood-burning power plant could possibly cause.
A case in point is Connecticut's legal victory that required two coal-fired power plants operated by FirstEnergy Corporation in Shadyside, Ohio to either shut down the plants or meet air emission control requirements. FirstEnergy chose to convert to biomass after settling the lawsuit filed by Connecticut's attorney general Richard Blumenthal (now running to replace Sen. Christopher Dodd) and other parties that sued the company "for failing to clean up plants whose harmful emissions are carried by the prevailing winds to Connecticut and other states." Biomass is replacing coal entirely, or being used as part of the fuel mix in coal-fired plants, throughout the country.
This is not the blog-based Internet "science" biomass opponents love to cite but pesky facts that contradict rigidly held beliefs.
John Bos, Public Information Officer
Russell Biomass LLC
Going west out of Greenfield on the Mohawk Trail, one can see the solar panels on Hall Tavern Farm and Zoar Outdoor and the wind generator coming to Berkshire East will be a great addition. We are lucky to live in such a beautiful area with so many locally owned, independent businesses that take such good care of where we all call home.
Daniel Finn
LocalFirst.org
Give Back Mason Square Library
It is time to return the Mason Square Branch Library to the people of Springfield. As a citizen and a resident of the McKnight Neighborhood, I appeal to Mayor Domenic Sarno to move with all due speed to ensure that the Springfield Urban League vacates the library building at 765 State Street. I have been assured that the mayor has every intention of doing so.
The Urban League was officially notified on September 18, 2009 of the eminent domain taking of the library property by the City of Springfield. The City of Springfield assigned a certified relocation specialist to help the Urban League move to another location, as required by law. By law the Urban League has had four full months to remove itself from the property. That time period was up on January 18, 2010.
The citizens of Springfield, and particularly the citizens of the Mason Square neighborhoods, are entitled to have their neighborhood branch library back and we need to know that the city administration is aggressively pursuing the turnover of the property from the Urban League to the City of Springfield.
The deed to the property has been transferred to the City; the Springfield Urban League is now merely a tenant, but it appears that Henry Thomas, CEO of the Urban League, seems to be unwilling to obey the law and move along. What's the holdup?
I have asked the City Council to do everything they can to keep the process moving and to help keep the public informed of the progress. President [Jose] Tosado assigned a committee to stay on top of it, which Ward 4 Councilor E. Henry Twiggs has agreed to chair. Both Twiggs and Ward 3 Councilor Melvin Edwards, who together represent the neighborhoods in the Mason Square area, have said they will make sure the library is returned to service as soon as possible. I hope the rest of the City Council is on board, since this affects the entire city of Springfield.
Let's get the Mason Square Library back in full service for this most deserving and—so far—patient community of 26,000 souls.
Kathryn A. Wright
Springfield
Drug "Reform"
Kudos to Maureen Turner for her comprehensive story on a problem one can find with most elections today… Will the real drug reform candidate please stand? All too often our system on both sides is rife with pro-drug war politicians so outwardly blind to the greatest American social tragedy since slavery for fear of being criticized as too soft on drugs and crime. There is a candidate on the horizon that will speak truth to power and move us as a nation toward that promise of science, not ideologies. His name is Gov. Gary Johnson (Republican), former New Mexico governor. He is proof you can debate drug reform and also be a viable candidate. With Johnson setting a precedent, more will drop the charade that only proves to be job security for law enforcement and a guarantee we need more prisons and laws, none of which is based in science or supported by any drug commission of the last century.
Peter Christopher
Hurdle Mills, N.C.
Editors' note: Last week in our article "The DIY Big-Bank Bustup," the Move Your Money website was incorrectly noted as www.moveyourmoney.com. It is www.moveyourmoney.info.
