News
by Amanda Drane | Jan 7, 2015 | Articles, Featured, News
Northampton — Mary Finn, co-owner of the Optical Studio on Pleasant Street and the building that houses it, is not happy about plans to develop a large affordable housing complex that, if carried through, could dwarf her two-story building. The complex — a $20 million...
by Adair MacKay, Marie Neal, and Eldon Koch | Jan 7, 2015 | Letters from our Readers, News
Hunters: More Humane Than Commercial Farms Some thoughts about a recent letter (“Hunting perpetuates a violent society” Dec. 25, 2014) in response to the Dec. 4, 2014 Between the Lines “Why I Hunt” by Tom Vannah. The letter writer states that you, The Advocate, have a...
by Amanda Drane and Hunter Styles | Jan 7, 2015 | Articles, Featured, News
At the Amherst train station, one of the last waves of home-bound college students stood scattered across the small platform, many for the last time. Amtrak’s Vermonter line has pulled out of Amherst for good, rerouted now through Greenfield, Northampton, and Holyoke....
by Advocate Staff | Jan 7, 2015 | Articles, Featured, News
S c ulptor Marilyn Andrews began making and selling stoneware in 1976, but something changed when she started to work seriously with clay. “I like clay because working with a material that undergoes such radical changes, and working in three dimensions, helps me...
by Kristin Palpini | Jan 7, 2015 | Articles, Between the Lines, Featured, News
After 60-plus years pumping out energy and radioactive waste, the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant is in the process of decommissioning. Protesters have been advocating for the plant’s shutdown since before it opened in the ‘70s, citing the environmental threat...
by James Heflin | Jan 7, 2015 | Articles, Featured, News
Lost on the River (Electromagnetic Recordings/ Harvest Records) What could go wrong? Take a passel of unfinished Bob Dylan songs from the mid-’60s, pass ’em on, put T-Bone Burnett in charge of producing an album, and — best of all — let other folks sing them. Be...
by Caleb Rounds | Jan 7, 2015 | Blogs, News, Talk Dirt to Me
This winter we haven’t gotten enough snow. “Enough” is what allows for cross-country skiing. Even in New Hampshire, where I spent part of the holidays, the snow cover was patchy or absent. We passed a wet hour tubing at a ski resort. The wet snow and underinflated...
by Gary Carra | Dec 24, 2014 | Blogs, News, Nightcrawler
How do you start an interview with a 59-year-old actor who is coming off a year that included (literally) anchoring one of television’s most critically acclaimed series and co-starring in a flatulence-laden, sophomoric smash hit box office comedy weeks before his...
by Amanda Drane
and Hunter Styles | Jan 1, 2015 | Articles, Featured, News
You’re not just going to wake up one day with your dream job — at least that’s what moms have been saying since the very first teenager refused to get off the rock sofa and apply for jobs at the local tar pit. So, at the top of 2015, we take a moment to explore how...
by James Heflin | Dec 24, 2014 | News
I grew up in West Springfield reading the Valley Advocate. Ask Isadora, The Grand Band Slam, back door ads, Dexter, the-hard-as-nails Mayor Albano coverage, sassy reviews, Halos and Horns, Best Of — I read the paper every week. For me, it was a font of cool. Flipping...
by Chris Rohmann | Dec 24, 2014 | News, Stage
In Britain and the Commonwealth, the day after Christmas is celebrated as Boxing Day — traditionally a day for gifts to servants and the poor, now observed as an extra opportunity to recover from the Christmas Day glut. Sandglass Theater’s An Almost Victorian...
by Chris Rohmann | Dec 24, 2014 | News
Two years ago on this page I looked back at the first annual Valley Gives Day, a 24-hour fundraising event for area nonprofits, organized by the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts. The intention was to provide a common platform for local organizations...
by Pete Redington | Jan 1, 2015 | Articles, Featured, News
Eight Track (Strikezone Records) In 1975, guitarist Dave Stryker writes in the liner notes to his recent release Eight Track, he had a 1969 GMC van outfitted with an eight-track player that often required the assistance of a jammed-in matchbook to work. But good music...
by Amanda Drane and Hunter Styles Intro by James Heflin | Jan 1, 2015 | Articles, Featured, News
Every year, the same thing. Otherwise normal people get all bothered about what they hope to accomplish in the coming year. To them I say: give up. Or, if you must go on with this fancy charade, do it right. Don’t resolve to lose some weight. Don’t resolve to write in...
by James Heflin | Dec 24, 2014 | News
A booming drumroll thunders off the walls. Six student drummers, seated in a row at one end of the dance studio, bang out powerful waves of sound. They watch as 10 more students rehearse a fast-paced dance together in the center of the room. This is the Wofa African...
by Advocate Staff | Aug 22, 2007 | News
Not so long ago I spent four and a half years as a college student, which would have been an even four if I hadn’t been cursed with considerably lacking mathematical skills. By the end of the time I spent as an undergrad, I somehow managed to master the art of...
by Amanda Drane | Dec 24, 2014 | Articles, Featured, News
As medical marijuana takes root across the nation, there’s been one major obstacle for the field to flourish: the federal government. That all changed last week when Congress passed legislation prohibiting the Drug Enforcement Agency from arresting and prosecuting...
by Advocate Staff | Aug 22, 2007 | News
Trust me, I used to be a professor. Or, really, an adjunct, but don’t worry about the difference. It doesn’t much matter to students. Except that adjuncts are more bitter than your average professor by a good 200 percent, thanks to being the...
by Pete Redington | Dec 24, 2014 | News
Aaron Dwight Stephens was born in Connecticut in 1831. As a young man, he ran away to join the army and served in the Mexican War — until he was sent to jail for threatening the life of an officer. Stephens escaped from prison, however, and relocated to the Kansas...
by Advocate Staff | Aug 22, 2007 | News
We heard they were serving ice cream. So we decided to make the trek from our dorm in the southwest living area of UMass-Amherst up the hill to frat row. One of the eight houses—four have since been torn down—on frat row in Amherst, the Iota Gamma Upsilon...
by Warren Johnston | Dec 24, 2014 | News
Mionetto Prosecco Brut Treviso, Italy, $10.95-15.99 Jaume Serra Cristalino, Brut, Cava Penedes, Spain. $6.95-11.99 Before classes began my freshman year of college, an older friend took me out one night to celebrate, and we bought a couple of bottles each of some...
by Advocate Staff | Jan 3, 2007 | News
His Side of the StoryWeddings, it’s true, are generally the “bride’s day.” The role of some grooms is to be scarce until it’s time to show up, then not piddle on the rug. Perhaps I was fortunate—my bride didn’t seem to think I...
by James Heflin | Dec 24, 2014 | News
Sexual harassment cover was offensive I found the cover image of your recent issue (“Sexual Harassment: Part of the Job?” Dec. 11, 2014) so offensive and indecent that I curbed my vehicle and immediately returned it to the distribution box. I assume the issue will...
by Advocate Staff | Jan 5, 2007 | News
When Margie and Reggie Cole chose November 11, 2006 as their wedding day, they faced several challenges, not the least of which was time. Margie didn’t start planning the wedding, didn’t even book the reception hall, until two months before the chosen...
by James Heflin | Dec 24, 2014 | Articles, Featured, News
1850 — Marijuana is added to the U.S. Pharmacopeia. The Pharmacopeia was a public standards-setting authority for all types of medicines. According to the book’s authors, marijuana can be used to treat neuralgia, tetanus, typhus, cholera, rabies, dysentery,...
by Advocate Staff | Jan 5, 2007 | News
For a soon-to be bride, walking into your local flower shop can be a daunting experience. In the window there are hundreds of floral combinations and designs; roses, dahlias, tulips, hyacinths, lilacs, bouquets, centerpieces, corsages, boutonnieres. The crimson red of...
by James Heflin | Dec 24, 2014 | News
Rivers Roads & Bridges (independent) Country music long ago jettisoned the Western swing half of its moniker and it has pretty much left its rural roots as well. These days, much of it is really just middle-of-the-road rock and roll fronted by dudes and dudettes...
by Advocate Staff | Jan 8, 2007 | News
Wherever you travel in the Caribbean, it’s likely you’ll see rum cake on restaurant menus and tempting arrays of packaged rum cakes in gift shops. The appeal is obvious. This is cake with a kick. It’s luscious. It’s almost indestructible in...
by Advocate Staff | Jan 9, 2007 | News
Amy & Danielle CloughThe limo broke down, it poured rain, the photographer ripped the train on Danielle’s dress, but none of that mattered. The skies cleared, our family and friends wept with joy and a rainbow appeared. We were married.Margaret Rooks &...
by Advocate Staff | Jan 9, 2007 | News
ACCOMMODATIONSHADLEY Hampton Inn. 24 Bay Rd. 586-4851 www.pvhg.comHOLYOKEYankee Pedlar. 1866 Northampton St. 532-9494 www.yankeepedlar.comLUDLOWComfort Inn. 321 Center St. 589-9300 www.choicehotels.com/hotel/ma116NORTHAMPTONClarion Hotel & Conference Center. 1...
by Laurie Loisel | Dec 24, 2014 | Articles, Featured, News
When state Sen. Stanley Rosenberg was named chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee in 1996, he said time would tell whether the job would be the pinnacle of his career or just a step on the ladder. If, as is widely expected, he is elected next month to be...
by James Heflin | Dec 24, 2014 | Articles, Featured, News
This weekend, Wisconsin native-turned Valley local Jeffrey Foucault (pictured left) and his partner Kris Delmhorst (pictured right) co-headline a benefit concert for the Franklin Land Trust to support the non-profit organization’s fight against the proposed...
by Jack Brown | Dec 24, 2014 | Articles, Featured, News
The musical has always been an important part of the filmmaking world. In the earlier days of film, when crowds were more likely to be familiar with singing stars of the stage, a flimsy story could be propped up with a handful of winning tunes. Think of the...
by Eric Goldscheider | Jun 21, 2007 | News
Kathy LeMay says that if you don't "feel horrible" about the injustices of the world and the grinding hardships so many people on the planet are compelled to endure, then you aren't paying attention. Feelings of "shame, guilt and anger"...
by Advocate Staff | Jun 21, 2007 | News
Green Street and BeyondAfter reading Robert Tobey's article "Ghosts of Green Street" (May 10, 2007), I remembered that 66 Green Street was also a "really nice place to live" for hundreds of lesbians who originally moved here from around the...
by Maureen Turner | Jun 21, 2007 | News
Reducing Springfield's crime rate has been on Dom Sarno's mind a lot these days; it's the cornerstone issue of his campaign to unseat Mayor Charlie Ryan this fall.Last week, it became personal for Sarno. Late one evening, while waiting to pick up her son...
by Alan Bisbort | Jun 21, 2007 | News
Americans are, by their own self-description, a religious people. Ninety percent claim belief in God, 70 percent claim membership in a denomination of an organized religion, 38 percent claim to be "committed Christians."More Americans believe in angels than...
by Kendra Thurlow | Jun 21, 2007 | News
The smell of mothballs may have been the first thing to stir public reaction, but as the remediation of the former Bay State Gas facility in Northampton continues, city residents look ahead—some with grave reservations—at a proposal to erect a 100-room...
by Mark Roessler | Jun 22, 2007 | News
In an interview with Tom Vannah last week on WHMP, Mayor Clare Higgins admitted the plan for the new Hilton in downtown Northampton was unimpressive, calling it "modest." Earlier, on the same program, city planner Wayne Feiden insisted that what will be the...
by Alan Bisbort | Jun 28, 2007 | News
Stick a fork in them. They are done. "They" are anyone involved with the Bush administration. Bush is at 26% approval rating; only Nixon, prior to resigning, was lower (there's still time, George!). Cheney is unhinged, claiming he's a fourth branch...
by James Heflin | Jun 28, 2007 | News
In the Bush era, with graduates of Pat Robertson's university packing the Justice Department, holy rollers fighting the teaching of evolution, and Supreme Court justices mistaking their robes for clerical garb, surely the population of right wing evangelicals is...
by Radley Balko | Jun 28, 2007 | News
In May, Brian Kelly of Carlisle, Pa., was riding with a friend when the car he was in was pulled over by a local police officer. Kelly, an amateur videographer, had his video camera with him and decided to record the traffic stop. The officer who pulled over the...
by From our readers... | Jun 28, 2007 | News
The U.S. and the WorldI am grateful to the Advocate for running my piece, "A Look Back at Kosovo: The legacy of so-called 'humanitarian intervention,'" June 7, 2007. Some additional points should be made. First, the U.S. and Germany had been covertly...
by Advocate Staff | Jun 28, 2007 | News
You may have seen the signs as you drive through Florence. The signs hang in store windows, on the sides of buildings, blaring in big block letters: Resist. The one-word message comes from a grassroots movement growing in Florence that was started by Todd Sienkiewicz,...
by Phil Maymin | Jul 3, 2007 | News
Ron Paul is not your typical Republican presidential candidate, and that's unfortunate for the Grand Ol' Party. He's the only one of 10 GOP candidates who opposed the war in Iraq and he's the only one who opposed the Patriot Act. Even Hillary Clinton...
by Valley Editorial | Jul 3, 2007 | News
It seemed to everyone in Britain and the U.S. that when the American president said “Jump,” all British Prime Minister Tony Blair could say was, “How high, George?” But if you remember Blair on planes to just about everywhere doing Bush’s...
by Natalia Muñoz | Jul 3, 2007 | News
Within 48 hours after the U.S. Senate voted to resume debate on the immigration bill, they let it die because paralyzing fear rather than visionary reason ruled. The impasse was much like the walls the lawmakers fund along the U.S.-Mexico border. While presidential...
by Joshua Micah Marshall | Jul 5, 2007 | News
The other day, Newsday broke what should be a highly damaging story about former New York mayor and current presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani. It turns out that Giuliani was originally one of the members of the congressionally chartered Iraq Study Group (aka the...
by Alan Bisbort | Jul 5, 2007 | News
George W. Bush turns 61 next week. What do you give a man who has everything but a brain, a heart and courage? The "director's cut" DVD of The Wizard of Oz? His wife—the Good Witch of the Midland—has used the occasion of her husband's...
by Terry Allen | Jul 5, 2007 | News
If a country executes people who murder close up with guns or knives, it should also put to death officials and executives who kill at a polite distance by knowingly approving and selling lethal products. For all its image as the world's high executioner state,...
by Valley Editorial | Jul 5, 2007 | News
Springfield won’t have Phil Puccia to kick around anymore. Late last week, the executive director of the city’s Finance Control Board announced that he’ll be leaving his post later this month.The fervent wishes of some critics notwithstanding, Puccia...
by Natalia Muñoz | Jul 5, 2007 | News
Within 48 hours after the U.S. Senate voted to resume debate on the immigration bill, they let it die because paralyzing fear rather than visionary reason ruled. The impasse was much like the walls the lawmakers fund along the U.S.-Mexico border. While presidential...
by Tom Sturm | Jul 5, 2007 | News
Anyone who was a small child in the '70s remembers the doomsayers who terrified us all with their talk of the "Killer Bees," which were supposedly closing in on us in huge, blot-out-the-sky swarms from the wild jungles of South America. Though these...
by Daniel Akst | Jul 12, 2007 | News
If you're a guy of a certain age, chances are you wouldn't think of hitting the gym without a jockstrap. For the uninitiated, the item known more formally as an "athletic supporter" consists of an elasticized waistband and leg straps connected to a...
by Peter Keough | Jul 12, 2007 | News
About 500 excited fans are waiting for him beyond the curtain at the Palace Theatre in Manchester, N.H. for a discussion of his film SiCKO, which is also selling out every screening in New York, where it just opened. But Michael Moore seems a little down on himself....
by Ted Rall | Jul 12, 2007 | News
Some people are just cheap. Others are playing the odds, reasoning that paying for doctors and prescription medications on an ad hoc basis will prove cheaper than the $500-plus per month they'd have to shell out for health insurance. But most of America's 47...
by Maureen Turner | Jul 12, 2007 | News
It began with the pigeon poop, which for years had accumulated on the fourth floor of Springfield's South End Community Center. Officials reportedly knew about the problem at the city-owned building but believed the mess didn't pose any risk, since the floor...
by Advocate Staff | Jul 12, 2007 | News
Ad Lib(ertarian)Thanks for the feature ["The Book on Paul," June 28, 2007] depicting Ron Paul, "not your typical Republican presidential candidate." I wonder if Phil Maymin ever saw the movie About a Boy, in which the lead character, played by Hugh...
by Stephanie Kraft | Jul 12, 2007 | News
Massachusetts has just begun an historic experiment in health care coverage. As of July 1—just two days after the nationwide opening of SiCKO—everyone 18 or over in the state was supposed to have health insurance or face possible loss of their personal...
by Chris Lehmann | Jul 12, 2007 | News
[Editor's Note: This is a longer version of the same editorial that appeared in the print edition.] Amnesty lives, after all. A week after the conservative base of the G.O.P. rallied to block the Senate’s plan for comprehensive immigration reform,...
