News
Backtalk: Independent Media More Reliable Than Mainstream Lemmings
Independent Media for the Win During this past presidential election season mainstream media focused their cameras on an empty podium waiting for Donald Trump to give a speech. They could have broadcast images of Bernie Sanders giving his message to the people but...
Quakers Make Coal Plant Pilgrimage To Fight Fossil Fuels
A religious pilgrimage is taking place to oppose fossil fuel use in New England. Members of the New England Yearly Meeting, a group made up of Quakers from the six New England states, plan to walk 60 to 70 miles the week of July 9 from Schiller Station power plant in...
The Future of Western Mass Music Is Here: Next Wave Stage at Green River Fest
On July 14, attendees of the Green River Festival will get a taste of the future of music in the Valley. The Next Wave Stage will feature a five-band concert with local bands with members ages 18 and younger. As a bonus, anyone 18 and under gets into the festival for...
What’s Next for Weird (Zany) News: An Advocate Chat
The Advocate Chat is a recurring series where the Valley Advocate staff talks about a topic on their minds. The text below has been lightly edited. dave.eisen (Managing Editor Dave Eisenstadter): Last week we got the surprising news that longtime News of the Weird...
Back Talk: With Rep. Neal in Office, Who Needs a Republican?
With Rep. Neal in Office, Who Needs a Republican? Thank you for the excellent article on Representative Richard Neal (“Can Rankled Rural Voters Dethrone Congressman Neal?” June 22-28, 2017). I remember when the state redrew our districts so that Northampton and...
Jossie Valentin: I Just Went to Cuba, and Trump Policy is Wrong
When Donald Trump was making his announcement about reversing steps his predecessor — Barack Obama — took in normalizing relationships with Cuba, Holyoke City Councilor Jossie Valentin had just returned home from a trip to the island to talk with women there....
The News of the Weird Author is Retiring: Here’s a Retrospective
Editors Note: News of the Weird is ending, but we’ll be continuing the tradition at the Advocate, starting our own feature highlighting the oddities we find in the news. Watch for it next week! Weird News is forever, but this is my last “News of the Weird”...
Near-Centenarian Frances Crowe Says Pipeline Threatens Life On Earth
Ninety-eight-year-old peace activist Frances Crowe of Northampton is thinking about the future. That’s why she was arrested last month along with seven other people protesting Tennessee Gas Pipeline’s $93 million 13-mile tri-state Connecticut Expansion Project in...
We Got Our -ERN Back, Now How Bout That $80,000
Four months ago, then-Advocate arts editor Hunter Styles wrote an excellent take-down of the hugely unpopular ad campaign trying to rebrand our region with the name “West Mass.” The heart of it was a list of questions about a dizzying, poorly-thought-out video...
Protesters want Baystate Medical Center to stop killing pigs for surgical training
Over the last 20 years, medical education institutions across the nation have been phasing out the practicing of surgical procedures on live animals, but Baystate Medical Center in Springfield is bucking the trend and keeping it old school. The protest on June 29...
News Of The Weird: Carrier Pigeons Carrying Drugs
Customs officials in Abdali, Kuwait, apprehended a pigeon in May with 178 ketamine pills inside a fabric pocket attached to its back. Update Three weeks ago, News of the Weird touted the “genderless,” extraterrestrial-appearing Hollywood makeup artist known as Vinny...
Summit View Rocks With Trailer Trash
Take in Some Trash Trailer Trash is headlining this Friday’s edition of Summit View’s Pavilion Summer Concert Series. The immensely popular weekly shows at the banquet hall, on Route 5 in Holyoke, are free and open to the public. There’s a BBQ buffet for purchase and...
Long Live the Staycation! Why Leave Western Mass?
Hanging around the house is something we all do, but usually in an unfocused, squished-between-chores-and-obligations sort of way. But when you stay home for vacation, your dwelling can become a sanctuary, free from the day-to-day grind. If you can’t afford to get out...
RISE UP Board Game Is All About Fighting The System
What do you do when the state of the world makes you so angry and/or demoralized that you don’t even want to leave the house? A new board game called Rise Up: The Game of People & Power, and created by former Hampshire College students, is the answer! Rise Up is a...
Go See: Ghosts of Industry by Catherine Gibbs
Familiar Forgotten Places Catherine Gibbs picked a ubiquitous, but faded piece of local history for her exhibit at the Elusie Gallery in Easthampton: Mill buildings and train yards. Though not as much is manufactured here anymore, not that long ago people in places...
Back Talk: Congressman Neal Needs A Progressive Challenger
Readers Respond to Story on Congressman Neal Several readers wrote in about our cover story on rural and progressive activist dissatisfaction of Congressman Richard Neal [“Can Rankled Rural Voters Dethrone Congressman Neal?” June 22-28, 2017]. Here are some of the...
O Cannabis!: Mass. Politicians Want to Charge How Much For An Eighth?
The battle over how recreational marijuana will be taxed and managed in Massachusetts will come to a head Friday. Gov. Charlie Baker has said he wants a bill on his desk by June 30 in order to allow enough time for retailers to apply for marijuana sales licenses and...
Are Dems Doomed? An Advocate Chat
The Advocate Chat is a recurring series where the Valley Advocate staff talks about a topic on their minds. The text below has been lightly edited. kristinpalpini (Editor-in-Chief Kristin Palpini): I’m pumped! Let’s talk Dems and Reps, donkeys and...
Can Rankled Rural Voters Dethrone Congressman Neal?
When Sara Weinberger moved from her longtime community of Northampton to neighboring Easthampton three years ago, she mostly loved it. The worst part, she said, was changing congressional districts — going from being represented by Worcester Democrat James McGovern to...
Springfield Church To Offer Physical Sanctuary to Undocumented Immigrants
Faith leaders from six churches in Springfield have formed a “sanctuary network,” to provide shelter to undocumented immigrants in response to increasingly aggressive deportation tactics from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE), including waiting...
How To Cut Unemployment — No, Really
Whether you’re a 20-something fresh out of college looking for work or near retirement age and can’t find a job at your skill level, the trials and tribulations of unemployment are very real. It’s an issue that most people face in their adult lives and an age old...
News of the Weird: Sipping Cappuccino With Rats
Already, trendy restaurants have offered customers dining experiences amidst roaming cats (and in one bold experiment, owls), but the art house San Francisco Dungeon has planned a two-day (July 1 and 8) experimental “Rat Cafe” for those who feel their coffee or tea is...
Django This Weekend: You’ve Never Heard an Accordion Rock Like This (w/vid)
Hot Gypsy Jazz Northampton’s annual Django in June is a week-long bonanza of Gypsy jazz workshops, concerts, and jamming with artists from across the globe. The event celebrates the musical stylings of Django Reinhardt. The music has been described as hot jazz or...
What Was That All About? Weird Weed Maneuvers in the State House
By Kristin Palpini The late-Wednesday delay of the House vote on recreational marijuana legislation signals politicians are taking weed — and the up-coming weed tax — seriously. The House bill would have levied up to a 28 percent tax rate on recreational...
Go: Revelations on Picasso’s Passion at The Clark
Pablo Picasso often painted himself as a bull. A fan of attending bullfights in his native Spain, the Cubist master saw himself as the hulking beast with big muscles, wild eyes, and swinging genitalia. In a piece now on view at The Clark in Williamstown, Large...
Rock, Paper, Scissors, NO Dynamite: Turners Falls to Unveil New Public Art
The Art of Rock, Paper, Scissors Take part in celebrating the newest sculpture in downtown Turners Falls — Rock, Paper, Scissors, a new work by artist Tim de Christopher. Christopher’s work was selected last spring as an addition to Avenue A from 30 proposals...
Easthampton Couple Builds Garden — And Relationship — Based On What They Can Find
The way Faith Manning Enuol tells it, she went to work one afternoon, and when she returned, the garden she was building with her husband Rich Enuol tripled in size. In actuality, Rich spent the day foraging for materials, finding everything they needed — including...
Rally for ‘God-Given Right’ to Guns Planned for Belchertown
By Chris Goudreau “America’s Toughest Sheriff” Joe Arpaio — the controversial right wing former sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, who is known for placing prisoners in tents under temperatures in excess of 100 degrees, forcing inmates to wear pink underwear, and...
Franklin County Pride is On; Holyoke Has Month of LGBTQIA Events
Across the country celebrations are taking place for national Pride month, and the Pioneer Valley is no exception. Franklin County and the city of Holyoke are hosting events to bring together the LGBTQIA community. This year marks the return of Franklin Country Pride,...
Worthy Beer Fest in Springfield Saturday
Are You Worthy? Yes, yes you are — if you’re 21 or over. The Worthy is back, ya’ll, and sudsier than ever for this year’s outdoors craft beer showcase. The Springfield brewfest, in the city’s most entertaining neighborhood: Worthington Street, is going down Saturday...
News Of The Weird: Creepy House For Sale
Brantford, Ontario, real estate agent Kyle Jansink, speaking for unidentified sellers, said he accepted the challenge of selling a meticulously maintained home “as is” — still packed with the sellers’ clown-related items (dolls, miniatures, porcelain statues,...
The V-Spot: How To Be Curvy And Confident
Hi Yana! I’m a chubby cis-woman in my late 20s. I lately worked through struggling with my body image and relationship to food while healing from years of disordered eating. I’ve been doing really well lately, but sadly one of the things that used to trigger my eating...
Should You Give Money to Panhandlers?
When a Holyoke City Councilor said, at a public meeting, “Don’t feed the animals,” in regard to homeless panhandlers, I figured I had a good idea for a fiery column defending people who beg for a living. It is vile to call any person an “animal” in a dehumanizing way...
Back Talk: Death by Hoes and the Curious Case of the Disappearing Signs
Disappearing Signs in Easthampton Say a Lot In times like these it is more important than ever to focus attention on fair and equal access to freedom of expression. For the past two weeks, I have been witness to what seems to be the twice illicit removal of a Black...
More Than Half of Springfield’s Unemployed Don’t Qualify for Casino Jobs
Radames Lopez is a 24-year-old lifelong Holyoke resident with a six month old daughter. He’s unemployed and every day is a struggle to find work because of his felony criminal record. “They’re not going to call me back … I can’t even go into the Army even if I want to...
Forgotten: Springfield’s Black History Is Nowhere In Sight
Springfield, Massachusetts, was a big abolitionist hub during the days of the Underground Railroad — not that many people know this. When talking about Massachusetts history, Western Mass isn’t well represented in historical texts — they’re more focused on Boston. And...
News Of The Weird: Worshiping Hadley Grass
Reverence for the lineage of asparagus continues in epic yearly Anglican church festivities in Worcester, England, where in April celebrants obtained a special blessing for the vegetable by local priests as a costumed asparagus pranced through the street praising the...
Share The Road — With A Horse
If you think riding a horse along a road in New England harkens back to the distant past with horse and buggies, think again. On Saturday, June 10, horse riders will take to the roads for the 6th Annual “Share The Road – Horses Paved The Way” event in the...
Springfield Advocacy Group Disappointed By Updated Police In School Deal
Despite unanimous approval at the Springfield School Committee’s May 18 meeting for a revised memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Springfield Public Schools and the Springfield Police Department, advocacy group Neighbor to Neighbor thinks the new document does...
Back Talk: Reader comments on marijuana, climate change, and addiction
Sticky Green Thumbs A few responses to the May 25-31, 2017 O, Cannabis column: “Growing Your Own Weed In Massachusetts: A How-To Guide” Editor’s Note: Marty Klein was quoted in the article for his growing expertise. A slight clarification re: number of plants allowed....
Boston Just Got A Free College Plan. Can Western Mass, Too?
Republican Gov. Charlie Baker just announced a low-income, free-tuition program for the city of Boston that sounds like it came from the progressive wing of the Democratic party. Four years of college education in Massachusetts public colleges without tuition or...
Now Fulfilling The Provisions of the Paris Agreement Is Up To Us
It probably shouldn’t have been a surprise. Donald Trump ran a campaign based on denying climate science, so his Thursday announcement that he would be pulling out of the international climate agreement represents a promise fulfilled. But the advantage of having a...
New Springfield Drug Court Offers Addicts An Alternative To Prison
It looks like a normal courtroom, but once a week, Courtroom 10 in Hampden District Court hosts a legal session that is anything but typical. Rather than be shamed from the bench for crimes committed, a group of recovering addicts speaks to a judge eye-to-eye and...
News Of The Weird: The Economics Of Asteroid Mining
Goldman Sachs analyst Noah Poponak’s 98-page paper (leaked to Business Insider in April) touted the wealth obtainable by capturing the platinum reputed to be in asteroids. The costs to mine the stone (rockets, launch expenses, etc.) might have dropped recently to...
Belchertown Family Rallies To Help Opioid Addicted Son
Jill Panto knows Narcan. She’s been trained in how to administer it. She has organized Narcan trainings for her community in Belchertown. By now, she could probably teach people herself how to use the life-saving opiate overdose reversal drug, a key weapon in the...
Western Mass Missed Connections: Snow White and the dwarves
The Missed Connections forum on Craigslist is a wasteland of terrible poetry, dick pics, and whining, but among the detritus are some truly fascinating, funny, and occasionally sweet entries. The following are highlights from the Western Mass Missed Connections forum,...
Working Against Bad Political Actors Is Not Bias — It’s Journalism
Well, it has happened again. Another person who appears to be a sociopath caught in an act of hatred has been elevated to a position of power in our government. And this despite what we must call an alleged (though it was caught on tape and corroborated at the scene)...
Back Talk: Life Is More Than ‘Get Them Fat Stacks’
I started talking with a customer the other day at work. He was looking for something in the store, not sure if we had it, he may have got something else. I was in the middle of something, not in the mood to make small talk. But we started to chat. We kind of butted...
Growing Your Own Weed In Massachusetts: A How-To Guide
With Memorial Day weekend on the horizon, many people with green thumbs are preparing to put their saplings and seeds into the ground — the beginnings of this season’s garden. It’s usually the same old stuff: tomatoes, green beans, peppers, berries, carrots. But this...
Born-Again Buildings: Turning Churches Into Places To Live
Liza King, 66, and Rick Neumann, 71, of Brattleboro, are about to fulfill what has felt like their lifelong ambition. On June 1, after nearly 20 years, they will move into their church sanctuary. “Their” church, by the way, doesn’t mean the church to which they...
Between The Lines: Trans Allies Needed More Than Ever
Last week I interviewed an organizer with the “I’ll Go With You” campaign, which sells buttons trans allies can wear to show they are willing to go into a public restroom with a trans man or woman to help keep them safe. That may seem like an extraordinary step to...
Bringing New Life to Old Things
It’s surprising what you can create from seemingly broken or time weathered objects. From Brattleboro to Palmer artisans are doing just that whether it’s creating human-shaped sculptures from colored pencils wired together or a Victorian inspired lamp made from a...
Back Talk: Why I Marched For Science
Why I Marched for Science In 1970, we celebrated the first Earth Day. I remember it vividly as a college student at the University of Michigan. The energy of the first Earth Day, focused on the alarming rate of deterioration of our environment, helped lead to landmark...
News of the Weird: Speed Bumps For Fast Walkers
Officials in charge of a Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal heritage site recently installed “speed bumps,” similar to those familiar to Americans driving residential streets — but on a pedestrian walkway, with row upon row of risers to resemble a washboard. A Western...
The Dizzying And Oh-So-Satisfying Downfall of Trump: An Advocate Chat
The Advocate Chat is a recurring series in which staff members tackle a topic in the news or otherwise of interest. The text below has been lightly edited. dave.eisen (Managing Editor Dave Eisenstadter): It’s the return of the AdvoChat!!! kristinpalpini...
Remembering the Turners Falls Massacre, Saturday
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to reflect the proper date of the remembrance ceremony: Saturday; and provide more info on where the event will take place. The Great Falls Massacre One of the bloodiest battles during the viscous King Philips War — a...
Local Yemeni Student Wins National Award For Aid Work In Home Country
Protecting children from Al Qaeda and Houthi militias. Persuading boys against joining militant groups. Aiding children traumatized by violence, abduction, and rape. These are some of the things accomplished by 30-year-old Fadia Najib Thabet of Yemen while working as...
News of the Weird: Hello, My Name is Isis Harambe
The word “Isis” arrived in Western dialogue only after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, as an acronym for the Islamic State, and the Swahili word “Harambe” was known to almost no one until May 2016 when the gorilla “Harambe” (named via a local contest) was put down by a...
Addiction Response Milestone: Spike In Local ODs Non-Fatal
An unprecedented cluster of drug overdoses in Northampton late last month tested the city’s first responders. Their preparation — including training in the use of Narcan — helped prevent any fatalities. As the abuse of prescription and illegal opioids continues to...E-Edition
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