Editor’s Note: Welcome to our letters to the editor page. Here you’ll find reader comments on Advocate articles and other news. We collect readers’ opinions from emails, letters, Facebook comments, and comments to valleyadvocate.com. Want to get in on this? Email deisen@valleyadvocate.com and put “BackTalk” or “letter to the editor” in the subject.
Eric Suher solutions
In response to “Between the Lines: How do you Solve a Problem Like Eric Suher?” published June 27 – July 3.
IHEG is no longer relevant. DSP Shows has taken everyone from Richard Thompson to Gordon Lightfoot to Dweezil Zappa away from IHEG booking. They are losing all their return performers one by one to other agents, DSP Shows being the most obvious. You can now enjoy a performance at The Academy of Music without the absurd security of the Calvin, which is a dump. Signature Sounds is doing their thing also. Worst case scenario one might have to drive to Infinity Hall in Hartford and see an act there where they have a state-of-the-art sound system and a staff that treats people well. Eric no longer has a monopoly. That ended a few years ago. Additionally Gateway City Arts and Hawks & Reed have inherited Iron Horse/Pearl Street acts like X, the Jam, Sebadoh, Dino Jr., Adrian Belew, Johnny A. The Wailers, etc…. — more venues with great sound systems and a comfortable environment.
— Samantha Wood, Facebook comment
Gateway City Arts has been a fantastic substitute for his arguably shitty venues. Getting great local acts and bigger known acts as well. Every show I’ve played there has been consistently fantastic. Great food, great staff, great sound.
— Evan White, Facebook comment
I watched a background singer named Sun faint from heat exhaustion during a Blackalicious show downstairs at Pearl Street some time during the early ’00s.
— El Keter Ben Tzadik, Facebook comment
Kick him out of town.
— Cinamon Blair, Facebook comment
The appropriate people should take responsibility for properties they acquire… sort of like people who take animals and don’t take care of them.
— Maria MacDonald, Facebook comment
Make punishment fit the crime
In response to “Between the Lines: A Focus on Some Good Political News,” published June 13-19, 2019.
In the June 13-19 issue of “Between the Lines,” the article discusses the pros and cons of the death penalty. I have discussed this over the years with many, and think I have a solution of sorts. To “scare” a would-be perpetrator of committing homicide, the law should become exactly as it reads: “life in prison.” That to me would mean the individual would then go to a cell and stay there! No interaction with fellow cell mates, no television, no sports, no nothing but the absolute basics!
Is this inhumane? I suppose so. But then again, was it not the same inhumanity that got them there in the first place? I’ve witnessed this first-hand as my father was a prisoner for many years when I was young (for non-heinous crimes). The system is too lax! Today, folks who just don’t care, or look at it as a way off the streets, and a roof over their head, and three squares a day, will probably do anything to escape that life.
I suggest this only for the most “horrible of crimes” with “absolute proof” beyond any doubt i.e. multiple witnesses etc. to be instituted! Also, this way should somehow someone be found innocent, as several have by the use of DNA, etc…, they will be set free and non dead, probably with compensation. If you kill someone, you deserve to rot in a cell and nothing more! We don’t need you back in society unless you are truly innocent.
— Jeff Jaycox, Springfield
Stop the logging
In response to “Hey, DCR, Leave Those Trees Alone,” published April 11-17, 2019.
Wendell State Forest Alliance (WSFA), a group that is fighting against logging on the publicly owned Wendell State Forest believes the logging will likely start soon at this forest. The loggers began installing gates on Carlton Road and Dirth Road this week. James Thornley, a spokesperson for the group says that the installation of the gates is a sign that logging will soon begin. The loggers would not spend money to have the gates installed if they were not about to commence cutting. The logging plans will take down 88 acres of 110-year-old oak trees. In December 2018, the group trained people on how to use non-violent civil disobedience. Please contact State Senator Jo Comerford (Jo.Comerford@masenate.gov) and Representative Susannah Whipps (Susannah.Whipps@mahouse.gov) to save this state forest from logging. For more information, go to www.restore.org, www.savemassforests.com, or email wsfa1@yahoo.com.Please also urge your state senator and state representative to support Bill H. 897 and Bill H. 853.
— Miriam Kurland, Williamstown
