Between the Lines
Between the Lines: Losing Our Rights, So Write
Online ads for an upcoming Hulu adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s 1985 book The Handmaid’s Tale got me thinking: it’s really about time I read this classic dystopian novel.The story takes place in a near-future New England. A militia of religious conservatives take over...
Between the Lines: Love in the Time of Climate Change
At the bottom of the stairwell behind my apartment building, a baby stroller sat for weeks. Every time I carried a laundry basket down the back steps, I had an opportunity to read the cardboard sign strapped to the side of the stroller. In rigid capital letters...
Between the Lines: Is Science Under Attack?
The Trump administration’s order that all presentations and publications by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency be vetted by political appointees before their release to the public sent a shot of pain down my neck.Doug Ericksen, the EPA’s communications director...
Between the Lines: What Do You Expect From Holyoke?
The first time I watched “Holyoke High Fight! Stop Violence,” I expected to see a video of a couple kids beating on each other or a message from a parent-teacher association pleading for peace.“Couple high school kids from Holyoke,” said an email from a colleague who...
Between the Lines: VOTE, Should the Capitol Take Down This Painting of Police as Pigs?
A painting depicting police officers as feral pigs has been ordered removed from the Capitol after months of controversy and a tug of war over whether the art should be on display. What do you think? As I write this on Monday, Donald Trump is yet to be sworn in as...
Between the Lines: Our 2017 Wish List
Our annual December Halos and Horns issue of the paper, which sums up staffers’ thoughts on who in the Valley (and the world) has been naughty and nice for the past year, only allows us to look backward. But with a new year rolled out before us, Advocate writers...
Between the Lines: Updates on Some of 2016’s Big Stories – Detox, Pipelines, and Gun Rights
Some topics are too rich to write about just once. For all the people wondering, “What ever happened to …?” this week’s column features updates on issues I’ve written about in this space before. If you’ve got a topic from this column in mind that you’d like to see...
Between the Lines: A neo-Nazi by any other name … calling the ‘alt-right’ what it really is
The marketing teams of white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups have been busy. Rather than give up their hateful views — misogyny, racism, anti-Semitism — they’re trying to scrub themselves clean of the stink by adopting another name — the “alt-right.”As the New York...
Between the Lines: Pentagon says it wastes $125 billion, plans to continue
Good news, everyone! The U.S. just found $125 billion in surplus funds. Can you believe it? This money can help with education, scientific research, health insurance, elder care, space exploration, repairs on the nation’s crumbling bridges, improvements to our...
Between the Lines: How to Spot Fake News
There is nothing more cynical than fake news. The entire concept is to play readers for suckers, manipulating the foundation of reality in exchange for cash or furthering of what is likely a heinous agenda.And the people hosting and spreading fake news online — the...
BTL: The North Dakota Pipeline Protest Asks What’s More Valuable, Water or Oil?
Protesters clumped together like Gore-Tex penguins on the North Dakota, bridge.On Nov. 18, hundreds of people congregated at Backwater Bridge, in the path of Dakota Access Pipeline construction, to pray — and if their prayers happened to get in the way of an oil...
Between the Lines: Make Trump King — Seriously
Every morning at Buckingham Palace, Queen Elizabeth II’s first order of business is to meet with her hairdresser. She drinks from bone china, eats breakfast served by footmen in tailcoats, wanders the grounds, and reads fan mail. Throughout the day, people bow. People...
Between the Lines: One Nation Under Trump?
Hillary Clinton voters: It’s time to get on with it. Donald Trump is our next president, whether we like it or not, and the great American experiment in democracy is going to continue. Please, stop protesting the free and fair election of Donald Trump and petitioning...
Between the Lines: What Might Have Been
Editor’s Note: As an American woman who believes that words matter, I feel like I matter a little less today. Below is the editorial I was planning to run to applaud the first female president of the U.S., Hillary Clinton. It seems poignant to publish it, still. To...
Extra Credit on the Charter School Question: Follow the Money
At some point over the past few weeks, each of the four Nov. 8 state ballot measures stirred up mixed feelings in me (yes, even the weed one). But no issue had me more conflicted than Question 2, which proposes to authorize the state Board of Elementary and Secondary...
Between the Lines: Are the Elections Rigged?
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has spent the last several months asserting that the Nov. 8 election will be rigged against him.He doesn’t have any evidence to support this claim — except for all the polls that say the real estate developer and reality...
BTL: Seeing Is Believing, Springfield needs to release police video
Video footage has emerged in court proceedings that defense attorneys say shows Springfield Police Det. Gregg A. Bigda threatening two teenage suspects in an encounter last winter. According to local media reports, the lawyers who obtained the videos said they show...
Between the Lines: Valley Series Exposes Poor Treatment of Immigrant Workers
The dream of America, for most immigrants, is the dream of a better standard of living, earned through hard work in a country where employment laws apply to all regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation — or immigration status.Equal treatment is a cherished...
Between the Lines: E-ZPass and the Impending Robot Takeover
I’m soon going to have to decide if a pull towards convenience outweighs my fear of a total robot takeover of the world as we know it. I may get an E-ZPass transponder. The decision should be made simpler by the fact that the state of Massachusetts isn’t...
Between the Lines: Domestic Violence in the Next Tent Over
A few weeks ago I was at a campground when I heard something going on in the adjacent tent: a woman’s voice softly saying “ow” and “you hit me,” and every now and then a muffled grunt from a man. I was alone and I froze, hoping things wouldn’t escalate. They didn’t. I...
Between the Lines: Get Serious and Vote
Good God, please vote in November. If you are not yet registered, and you’re a Massachusetts resident, you have until Oct. 19 to get your registry card at any Town Hall, Registry of Motor Vehicles, or government office that provides public assistance. You can also...
BTL: UMass Labor Center Lessons, Academic Disneylands Must Go
The American workforce is at a crossroads. Shaken to its foundation by the Great Recession, the economy is slowly rebuilding — and we’re making some seriously wrong moves. Over the last 30 years, the number of people in labor unions has decreased by half. U.S. CEOs...
Between the Lines: Democracy Stalled? Send in the Clowns
On Aug. 21, before a month-long hiatus for HBO’s Last Week Tonight, host John Oliver spent five minutes highlighting the similarities between Donald Trump, a “racist voodoo doll made of discarded cat hair,” and the protagonist of a 1996 children’s book called The Kid...
Between the Lines: In Defense of Safe Spaces
The University of Chicago may have sent one of the most bizarre and shady freshmen welcome letters I’ve ever seen, when they mailed the missives to the class of 2020 last week.The main thrust of the letter isn’t to welcome but to put freshmen on notice that the...
Between the Lines: Can Citizens’ Review Cure Ballot Voters’ Blind Spots?
In the American legal system, we trust citizens on juries to decide matters of life and death. But before jurors exercise that power, they put in the time, sitting through testimony and debating the merits of a case. Few jurors complain. Justice demands they sift...
Between the Lines: Amherst, We Need to Talk
Another summer, another superintendent for Amherst public schools. Since 2000, the school district has been under the guidance of five superintendents — six if you double count the husband-wife team that ran the schools for under a year. This isn’t normal, and it...
Between the Lines: Building on Lies, Trump’s Plans for Mexico
This morning I somehow ended up in the scant “positions” section of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s campaign website on the “Pay for the Wall” page, hoping to settle in my mind once and for all exactly how The Donald...
Between the Lines: ‘At Least He Let Me Go’ A woman’s life on the streets
Julia is standing at one of the I-91 intersections in Holyoke after hitchhiking down from Vermont. On the back of her cardboard sign is a small, hand-written phone number.Some guy in a truck gave it to her, she says. He says he has a moving company and to give him a...
Between the Lines: With Guns, Feelings of Safety Trump Actual Safety
At 1 p.m. on a weekday in Chicopee earlier this month, a 15-year-old boy accompanied by two friends was allegedly banging so hard on the triple pane window of a stranger’s door that it broke the first of three layers of glass. The youth never made it through the door,...
Between the Lines: A Rebar River Runs Through It
More than 100 yards of industrial concrete waste along the Connecticut River along Route 47 in Hadley is going to be removed, thanks to an anonymous phone call.Earlier this month, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued an enforcement order against...
Between the Lines: Catching Up With Old Beefs, Part II
Some topics are too rich to write about just once — and this column seeks to tackle a lot of them. For all the people wondering, “What ever happened to …?” this week’s column — part two in a two-part series — is full of updates on issues I’ve written about in this...
Between the Lines: Catching Up With Old Beefs, gun control, Gerena, and higher-ed grifters
News writers are constantly looking for new topics, fresh angles, scoops, and shenanigans to expose — and once we’ve done that work, it’s on to the next new thing. Because there is always a new issue, catastrophe, trend, or serious question to analyze, journalists and...
Between the Lines: The GOP Problem, Mass Cash and Massacres
People say you can’t put a price on life, but Republicans certainly have. Ted Cruz (R-TX) thinks 100 human lives are worth about $159,800.Marco Rubio (R) doesn’t put as high a value on people, selling out the public for just $44,480. But at least...
Between the Lines: New Beginnings
When we set out to reinvigorate the Valley Advocate a little more than a year ago, we had some goals in mind. We wanted to bring our venerable newspaper back to its roots: alternative stories, for alternative people — and some mainstream folks who are still cool. We...
Between the Lines: Nothing to See Here? Pharmaceutical prices skyrocket
Usually, when you buy something, you know the price before you step up to the register. Most of us have a pretty good bead on how much a gallon of milk is and who has the best prices on gas, but when it comes to pharmaceutical drugs, everyone’s standing before the...
Between the Lines: Report a Crime, Risk Deportation
Massachusetts State Troopers can now detain for 48 hours people suspected of being in the country illegally — allowing federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) enough time to show up, arrest the person on federal charges, and begin deportation...
Between the Lines: Allies, Give Money, Support — and Silence
There are a lot of allies living in the Pioneer Valley — we’re a woke bunch.The Valley is home to many people who are allies of the LGBTQ community, Black Lives Matter, feminists, workers’ rights and social justice causes, people with disabilities or mental illness,...
Between the Lines: If You’re Defending Columbus, You’re Not Paying Attention
Here are some things that, if you do them, should disqualify you from ever having a national holiday in your honor:Driving civilizations that once consisted of millions of people to near-extinction through starvation and murder;Enslaving people to force them to work...
Between the Lines: Art Should Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable
Last October, I sat among hundreds of Springfield public students in the dark of the downtown venue CityStage. We had gathered for a touring performance, created by Double Edge Theatre of Ashfield, called The Grand Parade (of the 20th Century). It was a delightfully...
Between the Lines: Are Students in Springfield Risking Their Health for an Education?
Hundreds of Springfield children spend seven hours a day, five days a week, nine months out of the year at German Gerena Community School, which may or may not have a severe mold problem, depending on who you ask.According to parents and community leaders, including...
Between the Lines: Can Longmeadow Ban ‘Assault Weapons?’
Longmeadow residents have the opportunity this week to ban all assault-style weapons and large capacity magazines from their town. Residents at Town Meeting will vote on 31 articles Tuesday, May 10, including three that deal with gun ownership. The proposed measures...
Between the Lines: Is For-Profit Higher Ed Rigged?
One of the benefits of living in Massachusetts is enjoying a swell of liberal pride when one of our politicians takes a stand for the people. It’s why we elected Liz Warren and Ted Kennedy, Barney Frank and Silvio O. Conte (yes, he was a Republican, but with a soft...
Best of the Valley: The Intangibles
In this week’s Advocate, you’ll find the winners of our annual Best Of the Valley Readers’ Poll, a who’s who and what’s what of the top people, places, and businesses Western Mass and Southern Vermont have to offer. Thank you to everyone who voted. We can’t produce...
The Panama Papers or How to Hide Millions
Have you heard about the Panama Papers? The largest leak to the media ever … that is getting little attention in the media. This is surprising because so far the Panama Papers have revealed a blueprint of how the wealthy and elite hide their money from taxation...
Between the Lines: Load Time – Push Play on Hilltown Broadband
If you think of Internet speed as a flying mode of transportation, most of us are on a rocket with broadband while many people living in the Hilltowns are stuck riding a roofless biplane, aka DSL.If you’ve never heard of DSL, or the shrieking grating noise a computer...
Between the Lines: Suicide’s Shameful Stigma
Suicide is the epitome of hopelessness. It’s a last resort for people who believe that there is no chance of life improving. Options for help can seem unavailable or unfathomable.If there is an antidote for suicide, we have yet to find it. But we can be fairly certain...
Indignant in Short: Bathroom Bill, East Longmeadow, and Snakes
There was a lot in the news this past week that made my blood boil and eyes bulge. While driving in my car, yelling back at NPR’s coverage of the latest violent flare up at a Trump rally incited by the old circus barker, I realized there might not be enough room in...
Between the Lines: No Room for Biomass in Clean Energy Future
Back in the early 2000s, most people thought biomass power plants seemed like an excellent renewable resource, but now we know better. Burning excess construction materials and/or wood scraps and pellets — the typical “mass” in biomass — releases an unhealthy level of...
Between the Lines: Get Community into the Springfield Community Police Review Board
With public pressure and frustration mounting, last week Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno said he would take steps to improve communication between residents and the city’s Community Police Hearing Board. The board provides a crucial forum in which people from the...
BTL: What People Are Saying About the Advocate
The Valley Advocate recently conducted a reader poll and the results are in. Thank you to the hundreds of readers who took the time to fill out or mail in feedback about the paper’s past, present, and future. We also learned a bit more about who Advocate readers are...
Between the Lines: An Unpalatable Plan to Starve the Poor
D rug testing people before providing them with food assistance has nothing to do with saving states money and everything to do with humiliating illegal substance users. Massachusetts is not among the seven or so states that require some or all low-income residents to...
Between the Lines: Congress Keeps Killing Conversation on Race in America
Every congressional session U.S. Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) files H.R. 40, a bill to study the impact of slavery on the nation. And every congressional session it dies in committee. That’s where the tenth submission of this bill, filed in January of last year, is...
Between the Lines: Objectively, Albano Is a Bad Choice for Sheriff
Mike Albano is Western Mass’ perennial candidate. A member of the Governor’s Council — but more famously the mayor of Springfield, from 1995 to 2004 — Albano has amassed a following and developed a political acumen that has kept him on the short list most years for a...
Between the Lines: Don’t Screw the Pooch
I have a confession to make, people — I own a pit bull. Phew! I’ve been hemming and hawing over whether or not to outright say that for weeks. Because the consequences are indeed scary. As a disclaimer: if anyone tries to take my dog-son away we’ll go on the run...
Between the Lines: Burning Over Bernie & Hillary
Last week, I wrote a column, “Hillary Clinton is the Real Revolution” about why I will cast my vote for Clinton over Bernie Sanders in the March primary. An immensely qualified candidate, Clinton also has the advantage of being a woman, which allows her to bring a...
Between the Lines: Hillary Clinton is the Real Revolution
With many people in the U.S. prepared to bomb the fictional land of Agrabah, plus a full-on conservative war against women, the Affordable Care Act under siege and a fragile economy, America needs Hillary Clinton to be the next president. The former senator and...
Between the Lines: If This Is Reform, You Can Keep It
Massachusetts has some of the most ineffective and restrictive public information laws in the country. Data that is published online in most U.S. states is difficult to access in Massachusetts. For example, Massachusetts is one of a handful of states in the nation...
Between the Lines: Bruised Students, What is going on at the Peck School in Holyoke?
In December the Boston-based Disability Law Center rocked the Valley with a report about alleged physical and psychological abuse suffered by students at the Peck School in Holyoke. In the report, the protection and advocacy agency details a number of disturbing...
Between the Lines: The Advocate’s Wish List for 2016
We wish for: -Donald Trump to go the hell away before he ruins our country. -an additional bridge between Northampton and Hadley. Coolidge just can’t take it anymore. -a use for pennies. (New rule: if you can’t use it to pay a parking meter, get rid of it.) -more...E-Edition
Best Of 2024
Readers Choice 2024
