News
by Advocate Staff | Oct 17, 2016 | Articles, Food + Booze, Leisure, News, Newsletter
Game by Kristin Palpini, Kyle Olsen, Jennifer Levesque, and Hunter Styles In celebration of the Annual Manual — a condensed version of the Advocate’s yearly Best of the Valley Readers’ Poll — we’ve created a board game featuring some of the Best Of...
by Peter Vancini | Oct 17, 2016 | Articles, News
On an unseasonably warm day in late September, Joe Sibilia is roaming the Gasoline Alley mill building complex on Albany Street in Springfield. The 59-year-old is wearing a pair of loose fitting yoga pants and his body and shaved bald head have been tanned to a deep...
by From Our Readers | Oct 17, 2016 | Articles, Letters from our Readers, News, Newsletter
Bad Seeds? Kids and Weed Comments left on “Bad Seeds: Will legal recreational weed lead to more stoned students?” at valleyadvocate.com. Paul Hurteau: Ask a politician if they are pro-choice … Wait for their answer and then ask them about marijuana. Ian James:...
by Chuck Shepherd | Oct 17, 2016 | Articles, News, News of the Weird, Newsletter
John Weigel and Olaf Danielson are engaged in a frenzied battle of “extreme birdwatching,” each hoping to close out 2016 as the new North American champ of the American Birding Association, and a September Smithsonian piece had Weigel ahead, 763 to 759. Danielson is...
by Kristin Palpini | Oct 17, 2016 | Articles, Between the Lines, News, Newsletter
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...
by Hunter Styles | Oct 10, 2016 | Articles, News
What Matters The Meridians symposium at Smith College is all about “celebrating women of color feminist scholarship, art, and activism of the ’80s and ’90s to inspire and embolden us in precarious times.” This season’s keynote speakers are dual forces to...
by Kristin Palpini | Oct 10, 2016 | Articles, News, Newsletter, Wellness
Rachel Desmond had her first smoke when she was 16. For the next six years, marijuana was a big part of her life. “It was easy to get,” she says, sitting outside of the Frost Building at Holyoke Community College, where she is studying. And she says she needed it to...
by Gazette Editorial Board | Oct 10, 2016 | Articles, Between the Lines, News, Newsletter
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...
by From our Readers | Oct 10, 2016 | Articles, Letters from our Readers, News, Newsletter
Vertical Grates a Danger to Cyclists The last part of my bicycle commute from Greenfield to Gill is the Gill-Montague Bridge. I had been enduring black hole potholes, asphalt that was worn down to dirt, and trucks and cars barrelling within feet of me. My vision of...
by Naila Moreira | Oct 10, 2016 | Articles, Columns, Down to Earth, News, Newsletter
Our natural environment needs us now, and the stakes have never been so stark. I’ve been frustrated this election season at how little attention the environment has gotten. In the first presidential debate, moderator Lester Holt didn’t ask a single question about...
by Chuck Shepherd | Oct 10, 2016 | Articles, News, News of the Weird, Newsletter
Large kidney stones typically mean eye-watering pain and sudden urinary blockage until the stone “passes” (often requiring expensive sound-wave treatment to break up a large stone). Michigan State University urologist David Wartinger told The Atlantic in September...
by Hunter Styles | Sep 26, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Music, News, Newsletter
Dar Williams came to the Valley in 1992 to put down roots and start a career. Between then and when she left in 2000, she became a bonafide folk rocker, touring on a wave of good gigs that carried her to a breakout moment in 1996 with Mortal City, an LP that became an...
by Kristin Palpini | Oct 3, 2016 | Articles, News
Marijuana legalization is up for a binding vote on Nov. 8, and people still have a lot of questions about what legal weed would mean for Massachusetts’ residents, economy, and law enforcement. On Thursday, 7 p.m., Oct. 6 at Greenfield Community College, the Valley...
by Kyle Olsen | Sep 26, 2016 | Articles, Arts, News, Newsletter
Jeff Kelley, a Northampton post officer and owner of the Instagram account @postaljeff, scrolls through months of his posts, reaching a series featuring a red phone. He stops at a post with the phone dangling off a tree by the cord, it was photoshopped by another...
by Peter Vancini | Oct 3, 2016 | Articles, News
Massachusetts is among the top five states where bicycle ridership is growing, but it lags in developing the infrastructure to keep riders safe.The lack of bike lanes and trails is a nationwide problem. Massachusetts ranks 15th in the nation for the most bike...
by Peter Vancini | Sep 26, 2016 | Articles, News
The debate over immigration reform isn’t new, but it’s taken center stage in the 2016 presidential campaign. Republican candidate Donald Trump has made it a central part of his campaign and recently made headlines when he vowed to cut funding to so-called “sanctuary...
by Peter Vancini | Sep 26, 2016 | Articles, News, Newsletter, Scene Here
Several dozen protesters gathered this past Friday at Mason Square in Springfield, chanting What Do We Want? Affordable Housing! When Do We Want It? Now! and carrying signs down State Street — through one of the city’s most blighted neighborhoods — to Court Square in...
by Dave Eisenstadter | Sep 26, 2016 | Articles, Between the Lines, News, Newsletter
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...
by Kristin Palpini | Oct 3, 2016 | Articles, Between the Lines, News
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...
by Peter Vancini | Oct 3, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Film, News, Scene Here
More than 100 people stake out a plot of land at Pulaski Park in Northampton on this crisp Wednesday night for an outdoor screening of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. At the event kicking off this year’s Northampton Film Festival, people dress as Luke, Leia, Han, Chewy,...
by From Our Readers | Sep 26, 2016 | Articles, Letters from our Readers, News, Newsletter
Celebrate Immigration I think the people of Northampton and the whole Pioneer Valley should take the lead and turn the arrival of refugees to our area into a celebration. Our country’s founding principles are based on no discrimination. Instead of fearing these...
by Chuck Shepherd | Sep 26, 2016 | Articles, News, News of the Weird, Newsletter
Police and prosecutors in Dallas, appropriately sensitive at having been the site of the 1963 killing of President Kennedy, have apparently taken out their shame on assassination buff Robert Groden. As the Dallas Observer reported in September, Groden has been...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Oct 3, 2016 | Articles, Columns, News, Newsletter, The V-Spot, Wellness
Yana, I need your expertise!I’m a 19-year-old guy in a hetero relationship. I was pleasuring my partner last night and I realized I stopped being present and could not become present again. She picked up on it and, well, I really wanted to be present for it but I...
by From Our Readers | Oct 3, 2016 | Articles, News, Newsletter
In Defense of Robert MosesLena Groeger says that Robert Moses designed public work projects to exclude and isolate specific groups of people [“Discrimination by Design: From health care to toilets to Snapchat; life is designed to benefit certain people,” Sept. 22-28,...
by Kristin Palpini | Sep 19, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Film, News, Newsletter
Northampton Film FestivalSept. 28 – Oct. 2For four days, at locations across Northampton, the modern film festival will be redefined with free public screenings of films, virtual reality experiences, games, and participatory film projects.Tickets are $10 for a...
by Hunter Styles | Sep 19, 2016 | Articles, Featured, News
When she was 37, Edie Daly came out as a lesbian. It was 1974, in the suburbs of New York City. Firmly ensconced in a 17-year marriage to a man, Daly had three children. The woman she fell in love with — a co-worker at a local school — also had a husband and four...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 19, 2016 | Articles, News
Too often, small town bucolic Hadley gets confused for what’s on Route 9. Yes, the congested commercial stretch is the town’s main artery, but not its heart. There’s a lot more going on in Hadley than waiting to get over the Coolidge Bridge at rush hour. Food Hadley...
by Hunter Styles | Sep 19, 2016 | Articles, Arts, News, Newsletter
Scent-sational The North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival markets itself as “the festival that stinks.” So really, how could we resist? But even if sniffing and hefting around bags of aromatic bulbs isn’t your idea of a fun time, there’s still good reason to hike up...
by Kristin Palpini | Sep 19, 2016 | Articles, Between the Lines, News, Newsletter
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...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 19, 2016 | Articles, News, Newsletter, Scene Here
“The mythology is hold your nose and vote for the lesser evil and things will get better. “Lesser evil” politicians have been speaking for us and they are bought and paid for by their corporate influences consisting of “predatory banks, the fossil fuel...
by Naila Moreira | Sep 19, 2016 | Articles, Columns, Down to Earth, Featured, News, Newsletter
I arrive at Book and Plow Farm to find production farmer Tobin Porter-Brown on a tractor, forking a pallet of canvas sacks off a pickup truck. He’s wearing a Book and Plow shirt, khaki shorts and thick boots that will later serve him in better stead than my sandals...
by From Our Readers | Sep 19, 2016 | Articles, Letters from our Readers, News, Newsletter
Gratitude’s Nice, Affordable Healthcare is BetterThis past Grandparents Day some grandparents across our nation might get a telephone call or a note from a loved one. It is more important to focus on more crucial issues facing older Americans.Retirement and how to...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Sep 19, 2016 | Articles, Columns, News, Newsletter, The V-Spot
Editor’s Note: Sexual trauma addressed in this week’s column.Hi Yana,I really appreciate your column and the work that you do. I have a really embarrassing sex problem. I was sexually abused throughout various parts of my life, starting in my childhood and going into...
by Peter Vancini | Sep 13, 2016 | Articles, Featured, Leisure, News, Newsletter
Call of the wild At the edge of a shady green grove in Hadley, light streams through the forest canopy in thin shafts. It speckles the grassy floor below, where three large birds of prey sit awkwardly, tethered with thin leather straps to their short wooden perches....
by Peter Vancini | Sep 12, 2016 | Articles, News
On August 29, new Federal Aviation Administration rules governing the commercial use of small unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, took effect nationwide. Part 107, as it’s known, represents the inaugural effort by the FAA to regulate the commercial use of airspace by...
by Kristin Palpini | Sep 12, 2016 | Articles, Between the Lines, News
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...
by Chuck Shepherd | Sep 12, 2016 | Articles, News, News of the Weird
The upscale clothier Barneys New York recently introduced $585 “Distressed Superstar Sneakers” from the high-end brand Golden Goose that were purposely designed to look scuffed, well-worn and cobbled-together, as if they were shoes recovered from a...
by Kristin Palpini | Sep 13, 2016 | Articles, Nerding Out, News, Newsletter
SCIENCE! It’s all around us, particularly in the Valley where members of the Knowledge Corridor continue to bang out some heady innovation. Check out what they’ve been up to lately: 14 Patents for UMass: In 2015, the state’s flagship university in Amherst received 14...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 12, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Letters from our Readers, News, Newsletter
Editorial Art Did you know Cinemadope columnist Jack Brown is also a talented illustrator? See his Trump campaign poster and more Brown art at jackjohnbrown.com. The Rich Get Richer If you ask enough people in our community if they’re able to sustain...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 7, 2016 | Articles, News
Facebook Here are some comments in response to an expert from “Between the Lines: In Defense of Safe Spaces,” we posted on our Facebook page with the quote: “It’s a blessing to be somewhere — even if it’s just for an hour — where women can talk about rape culture...
by Kristin Palpini | Sep 6, 2016 | Articles, News
With 75 percent of Western Massachusetts experiencing drought conditions, it’s beyond time to take water restriction and conservation seriously. As of press time, 16 Pioneer Valley communities are experiencing residential water use restrictions — the strictest being...
by Hunter Styles | Sep 6, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Between the Lines, Featured, News, Newsletter
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...
by Kristin Palpini | Sep 6, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Featured, News, Newsletter, Scene Here
From six directions, cars attempt to drive through the intersection at Conz and Pleasant streets in Northampton. It’s 88 degrees and the dirt kicked up by heavy machinery sticks to sweat, giving everyone a dirty looking tan. The Route 5 entryway to Paradise City is...
by Chuck Shepherd | Sep 6, 2016 | Articles, Featured, News, News of the Weird, Newsletter
The recently concluded Olympics included a few of the more obscure athletic endeavors — such as dressage for horses and steeplechase for humans — but U.S. colleges compete in even less-heralded “sports,” such as wood chopping, rock climbing, fishing, and broomball....
by Kristin Palpini | Aug 30, 2016 | Articles, College Survival Guide, News, Newsletter
You’ve checked into your dorm and met your roommate, scoped out the campus and located the halls where you’ll have your first classes. It’s time to get off campus and explore this new place called the Pioneer Valley where you’ll likely be spending the next four years...
by Peter Vancini | Aug 29, 2016 | Articles, Food + Booze, Leisure, News, Newsletter, Wellness
A guide to summer cocktails from the garden It’s hard to imagine a better way to top off an afternoon in the garden than by settling into a lawn chair with a refreshing summer cocktail and admiring your work. Even better if you can actually harvest a few ingredients...
by Peter Vancini | Aug 29, 2016 | Articles, News, Newsletter, Wellness
If you caught much of the Rio Olympics this summer, you may have noticed a blitz of sports beverage commercials featuring Olympic athletes like boxer Shakur Stevenson swilling fluorescent blue Powerade, or Usain Bolt and Serena Williams pushing Gatorade. Aside from a...
by Kristin Palpini | Aug 29, 2016 | Articles, College Survival Guide, News
In the Valley, where you can’t throw a hacky sack without hitting a campus, September means back to college. Keep scrolling down for infographs.The value of a college degree can be debated — among people who have earned them, more than 80 percent say it was a great...
by Peter Vancini | Aug 29, 2016 | Articles, News, Scene Here
It’s human nature to want to see just how far an idea can be pushed. Take Slide the City for instance, the 1,000-foot slip-and-slide that transformed Appleton Street into a lazy river for the Celebrate Holyoke festival this past weekend. It’s easy to imagine...
by Kristin Palpini | Aug 29, 2016 | Articles, Between the Lines, College Survival Guide, News, Newsletter
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...
by Advocate Staff | Aug 29, 2016 | Articles, Letters from our Readers, News, Newsletter
Avoid GMOs; go organic Farmers have increased their pesticide use on GMO crops three-fold compared to standard conventional use; that’s enough reason to avoid GMOs (“Vermont’s Short-Lived GMO Experiment” Aug. 11-17, 2016). Most GMOs (genetically modified organisms)...
by Chuck Shepherd | Aug 29, 2016 | Articles, News, News of the Weird, Newsletter
The phenomenal Japanese singer Hatsune Miku — 100 million YouTube hits — is coming off of a sold-out, 10-city North American concert tour with high-energy audiences — blocks-long lines to get in; raucous crowd participation; hefty souvenir sales — except that “she”...
by Amanda Drane | Aug 29, 2016 | Articles, Columns, News, Newsletter, Third Eye Roaming, Wellness
Mindfulness, or the practice of being completely aware of everything happening in the present moment, can serve as the path to a peaceful world. That person in your life attacking you? Perhaps it is because they are threatened by you. That man who sexually harasses...
by Amanda Drane | Aug 22, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Featured, News, Newsletter
It was so hot and humid inside Pearl Street Nightclub during a metal show earlier this month that the ceiling was beading up with condensation and raining sweat onto the crowd.The sweltering experience spurred nearly 200 people to voice outrage on social media, and...
by Kristin Palpini | Aug 22, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Music, News, Newsletter, Scene Here
The old familiar smell of hundreds of people’s body odors mingles with the dust kicking up under our feet and the marijuana smoke hanging low in the air to form that perfect outdoor concert aroma at Mountain Park in Holyoke Saturday.Turkuaz, each member head to toe in...
by Kristin Palpini | Aug 22, 2016 | Articles, Columns, Featured, News, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
At a concert — years ago — I was dancing in the front row when the familiar aroma of bright piney buds wafted by. It didn’t take long to find the source; a friendly gorilla finger was passing down the line. A sweaty dude in the neon pink knit cap exhaled a big...
by Chuck Shepherd | Aug 22, 2016 | Articles, Featured, News, News of the Weird, Newsletter
India has supposedly outlawed the “baby-tossing” religious test popular among Hindus and Muslims in rural villages in Maharashtra and Karnataka states, but a July New York Times report suggested that parents were still allowing surrogates to drop their...
by Larry Parnass | Aug 22, 2016 | Articles, Between the Lines, News, Newsletter
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...
by From Our Readers | Aug 22, 2016 | Articles, Letters from our Readers, News, Newsletter
We’re Back, Iraq Recent headlines announcing more U.S. troops to Iraq made me feel like the character in Bill Murray’s movie Groundhog Day, and with good reason … The politicians in Washington have been duped into believing that more violence will solve the problem...
by Peter Vancini | Aug 15, 2016 | Articles, News
Above a gray storefront on the corner of Sumner Avenue and Dickinson Street at the X in Springfield hangs a sign that reads, in leafy green letters, “Potco: Everything that goes in the POT…” Yes, “pot” is indeed written in all caps and followed by an ellipsis,...
