News
by Valley Advocate Editorial | Nov 8, 2007 | News
Not everyone will be celebrating at the grand opening of the new Big Y supermarket in Northampton this week—local labor supporters will be handing out leaflets at the event, in protest of Big Y’s lack of responsiveness to a national workers’ rights...
by Maureen Turner | Nov 15, 2007 | News
Domenic Sarno knew that plenty of people dismissed his campaign for mayor of Springfield as unwinnable. And he was OK with that, he said. "Nobody gave Deval Patrick a shot in hell of winning," he pointed out to the Advocate in an interview last summer....
by Stephanie Kraft | Nov 15, 2007 | News
As Americans find themselves nickeled and dimed about everything from gas to food and housing, it's important to notice that the fee creep is extending to vital forms of reading matter. It may be getting easier and cheaper to hear about Britney's custody...
by Maureen Turner | Nov 15, 2007 | News
Perhaps Springfield voters are of the belief that too much shock isn't good for the system. How else to explain last week's election results, in which they thumbed their nose at "informed" opinion by ousting incumbent Mayor Charlie Ryan for...
by Alan Bisbort | Nov 15, 2007 | News
Let's recall the toys. Let's discipline all those little boys who have been manufacturing them, too, for endangering our lives. It's time the adults were back in charge again. We're tired of lead entering the bodies of our children from Iowa to Iraq....
by Mark Roessler | Nov 20, 2007 | News
The popular spin on Gene Tacy's write-in candidacy for Northampton mayor was that while he was hardly a contender, the competition at least allowed for a healthy debate on the issues. All the same, it's hard to imagine a campaign where the candidates'...
by Eesha Williams | Nov 22, 2007 | News
More than 1,000 students and workers at UMass Amherst marched across campus Nov. 15 through pouring rain and occupied the large building that houses the offices of top UMass officials. They danced in the streets to music from drums and trumpets. Others carried banners...
by Stephanie Kraft | Nov 22, 2007 | News
A public that has been talking to the back of President Bush's head since 2000—that survey after survey has shown is at odds with the president over everything from the war in Iraq to fuel efficiency standards for automobiles—may yet get its own...
by Alan Bisbort | Nov 22, 2007 | News
"It is scarcely credible today that such figures could wield the power to dominate the news, eclipse careers and cause whole industries and institutions to grovel in fear. But indeed they did."No, this isn't me, projecting 25 years into the future,...
by our readers | Nov 22, 2007 | News
Don’t Like Government? Run YourselfI enjoyed Mark Roessler’s take on the Northampton mayoral contest [“Clique-y Hall Wins,” Nov. 15, 2007], and agreed with many of his perceptions regarding certain failings of Mayor Higgins’ last term....
by Tom Vannah | Nov 28, 2007 | News
Last week, on the heels of Election Day, municipal leaders around the state, including Northampton Mayor Clare Higgins and Holyoke Mayor Mike Sullivan, headed to Boston to meet with Gov. Deval Patrick.Press reports about the meeting contained little real news: local...
by Stephanie Kraft | Nov 29, 2007 | News
American corporations get taxpayer-funded services from the U.S. government that have a value almost beyond calculation. From research and development at home that aid the drug and nuclear industries to military and diplomatic assistance for our firms in all parts of...
by Maureen Turner | Nov 29, 2007 | News
This year's batch of letters to Santa are so fraught with danger, they might as well be stuffed with anthrax and smeared with antibiotic-resistant germs. Beware the lead paint-covered Dora backpack, the building set with little magnets that can choke a kid, the...
by Eesha Williams | Nov 29, 2007 | News
Fulflex Field in Brattleboro is an eight-acre field that was used by hundreds of people every year for more than 60 years for softball, soccer, barbecues and frisbee games. All that ended this spring when the owner of the field, the Moore Company of Westerly, R.I.,...
by Alan Bisbort | Nov 29, 2007 | News
While the cat has been away in Iraq, the mice have been at play here in the United States. More like rats than mice, actually, they've set up one of the worst traps in American history. And we are all about to drive right into it. The latest rat trap goes by the...
by our readers | Nov 29, 2007 | News
How Terrorists WinDuring the Democratic debate on CNN, they flashed a question—I’m paraphrasing from memory—“What is more important, backing an ally in the war on terror or sticking to democratic ideals?” This is an inane question. If we...
by Stephanie Kraft | Dec 5, 2007 | News
The developer of the proposed billion-dollar casino resort in Palmer is being sued for a total of more than a quarter of a million dollars by three companies who claim that he refused to pay them for preliminary work on the development. Northeast Realty Associates,...
by Maureen Turner | Dec 5, 2007 | News
That will a certain local supermarket executive get in his stocking this Christmas? Local union activists hope it’s a big switch. Don D’Amour, CEO of Big Y supermarkets, has achieved the dubious honor of being one of four nominees to be Mass. Jobs with...
by our readers | Dec 5, 2007 | News
Nafta AlleyThanks for publishing Alan Bisbort’s piece on the “Super Corridor” monster highway plan for the U.S.-Canada-Mexico being forced down our throats by the two main corporate-owned political parties, “The Demo-publicans”...
by Stephanie Kraft | Dec 6, 2007 | News
It's not so worrisome that Jane Harman, U.S. Representative from California's 36th District, filed a bill called the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007. The times are such that somebody was bound to file a bill like this....
by Gary Ginsberg | Dec 6, 2007 | News
There is a Grinch out there trying to steal Christmas, and he lives in the People's Republic of China. While Dr. Seuss' Grinch stole all the toys, this new Grinch has merely contaminated them. Gloomily, we face the reality that 80 percent of U.S. toys are made...
by Bob Weiss | Dec 6, 2007 | News
There's a trail at Jiminy Peak ski area in Hancock called "West Way." On most days, if you hold your arms out straight while you're skiing or riding down the trail, you will nearly stop because of the force of the sustained northwest wind. Jiminy...
by Daryl LaFleur | Dec 6, 2007 | News
Florence resident Doris Montgomery recently lost her health insurance eligibility with the City of Northampton after having served Northampton’s school children for 18 years as a cafeteria worker. Montgomery left her city job in 2002 at the age of 50 due to...
by Alan Bisbort | Dec 12, 2007 | News
Stick a fork in Rudy Giuliani. He's done. His shadow, Bernard Kerik, has also been done for two years, but he is so corrupt it has yet to register in his reptilian mind. Together this charmless pair will sink into the New York City sleaze, settling somewhere near...
by Alan Bisbort | Dec 13, 2007 | News
Freedom requires religion. Mitt Romney said this. It was the signature line in his recent highly-touted speech. This was the much anticipated speech in which the former Massachusetts governor was expected to assure Americans that, as our president, he would respect...
by Tom Vannah | Dec 13, 2007 | News
In the first week of September, 2001, the big story for the Valley Advocate was the mayor's race in Springfield between incumbent Michael Albano and challenger Paul Caron, a well-respected state representative at the time.Caron, a progressive, good-government...
by Stephanie Kraft | Dec 13, 2007 | News
Last week saw the release of a National Intelligence Estimate concluding that Iran hasn't had an active nuclear weapons program since 2003. The NIE undercuts the rationale for the belligerent attitude toward Iran on the parts of President Bush and Vice President...
by our readers | Dec 13, 2007 | News
In Defense of MAPI agree with Stephanie Kraft [“Welfare Kings,” Nov. 29, 2007] that we should be outraged when our tax dollars are used to help corporations take jobs overseas. However, Market Access Program (MAP) is definitely not one of those instances....
by Valley Advocate Editorial | Dec 20, 2007 | News
Horns As the region's homeless people hunker down for another cold winter, let's remember, with a big fat set of horns, Frankie Keough, the supposed "friend of the homeless" who kicked off 2007 pleading guilty to 13 public corruption counts,...
by Stephanie Kraft | Dec 20, 2007 | News
Here's a twist on an old winter carol: "I saw three ships come sailing in…." And what was in those ships? Heating oil for from Venezuela for poor, freezing Americans. A Merry Christmas from our friend Hugo Chavez. Last week, just after the gift...
by Mark Roessler | Dec 20, 2007 | News
You know you're in trouble when your mayor, city councilors and city planner start responding to questions by prattling on about how good they think debate and dissent is for a healthy democracy instead of describing their positions (much less defending them), or...
by Alan Bisbort | Dec 20, 2007 | News
I was going to write about the global warming conference in Bali but, like the world's climate, the plans changed. Besides, the conference did not provide much grist for the word mill. Like contestants on an international version of Survivor, delegates from around...
by our readers | Dec 20, 2007 | News
Not Best PracticesThe initial citizens' initiative Best Practices Resolution was an honest and worthwhile attempt to review the rules and regulations which have allowed Northampton governors to ignore their responsibility to represent the best interests of their...
by Maureen Turner | Dec 20, 2007 | News
When news broke earlier this year that WGGB, the ABC television affiliate based in Springfield, was being sold, employees say the reaction around the station was generally positive.WGGB had been owned by Sinclair Broadcasting, a Maryland-based corporation with more...
by Mark Roessler | Dec 26, 2007 | News
It appears that at least 30 minutes of the December 6, 2007 Northampton City Council meeting were staged and deliberations were conducted in bad faith, with the vote's outcome prearranged. During that time, the Council voted to amend a resolution they'd only...
by our readers | Dec 26, 2007 | News
Don’t Blame NaderIn “Bali Low” [Dec. 20, 2007], Alan Bisbort asserts that “Ralph Nader… threw the [2000] election to Bush.” I would like to challenge the premise of his assertion on several statistical and electoral grounds. These...
by Stephanie Kraft | Dec 26, 2007 | News
Before the presidential election of 2004, the Advocate Newspapers ran a short weekly feature entitled Ejection ’04, which offered a reason a week why the country needed to oust George Bush from the White House. Though Bush was the target, the writers of Ejection...
by Salim Muwakki | Dec 27, 2007 | News
Deepening class conflict within the black community has produced some interesting symptoms. Every Saturday, black protesters march around the Washington, D.C. home of Black Entertainment Television President and CEO Debra Lee, demanding that the network stop airing...
by Stephanie Kraft | Dec 27, 2007 | News
The U.S.'s system of checks and balances is under seige, but it was still lurching along late in December as the Supreme Court disappointed the White House with a ruling in a crack case. In a 7-2 decision, the justices said judges did not have to stick to federal...
by Alan Bisbort | Dec 27, 2007 | News
After a year of national misrule and global misery, I badly needed to end 2007 on an up beat. I found that grace note through sculptor Bill Kent (pictured), whom one art critic has called "the greatest living carver of wood in the world." I am honored to...
by David Weigel | Dec 27, 2007 | News
You probably missed it, but there already was an “idea primary” in the 2008 election. It lasted two weeks and nobody won. In September, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) strolled into a Congressional Black Caucus forum, belted “Brooklyn’s in the...
by Alan Bisbort | Dec 28, 2007 | News
During national campaign seasons, it has been a longstanding American tradition to flood the media with ads and bury voters under an avalanche of fundraising mail. Once upon a time, these ploys were used to tout the positive virtues of candidates. In recent years,...
by Stephanie Kraft | Dec 28, 2007 | News
As the war in Iraq drags toward the end of its fifth year, it's worth it to ponder what the first President Bush and his adviser Brent Scowcroft wrote in 1998 about why the elder Bush didn't push the first Gulf War into Iraq:"While we hoped that popular...
by our readers | Dec 28, 2007 | News
A set of horns goes to the Advocate for not being a friend to animals. I was appalled to see that you suggested live pet rabbits as a last minute gift idea for the holidays (Gift Guide, "Last-Minute Gift Ideas," Dec. 20, 2007). A pet rabbit is a serious,...
by Jenny Stamos | Dec 28, 2007 | News
Surprise! Cholesterol isn't all bad. Your body uses it to make hormones, vitamin D, and substances that aid digestion. But that doesn't mean you should make a run for the bacon. That's because your body makes all the cholesterol it needs on its own,...
by Susan J. Douglas | Dec 28, 2007 | News
My daughter is a freshman in college and is learning a lot, including how to manage her money. Recently she got a powerful initiation into the predatory practices of banks—a lesson more and more of us are learning each month. She miscalculated and thought she...
by Stanton Peele | Jan 9, 2008 | News
In his 1996 autobiography Dreams from My Father, presidential candidate Barack Obama admitted using alcohol and drugs in high school. Obama was unusually frank compared with Bill Clinton and George W. Bush—to name just two politicians reputed to have used drugs....
by Stephanie Kraft | Jan 10, 2008 | News
This week Imperium Watch juxtaposes two news items that connect a few dots on the global warming front. Here's the first, from Agence France-Presse:"The 'shocking' record loss of Arctic sea ice was Canada's top weather event in 2007, Canada's...
by Maureen Turner | Jan 10, 2008 | News
Talk about raining on a parade: instead of celebrating the fact that the city managed to end the last fiscal year with a $30 million budget surplus—following a $17 million surplus the year before—Springfield officials are instead scrambling to figure out...
by Maureen Turner | Jan 10, 2008 | News
In the three and a half years since I've been following Richard Sitcha's case, I admit to maintaining a low-level—and uncharacteristic—degree of optimism that things would turn out all right for him.In 2001, the Cameroon native had come to the U.S....
by our readers | Jan 10, 2008 | News
Pro-Life Not Just StylishIt sounds like Ann Lewinson [Film: “She’s Having a Baby,” Dec. 27, 2007] is disappointed that Juno did not abort her baby in the new, critically acclaimed comedy (“It’s no coincidence there have been two comedies...
by Natalia Muñoz | Jan 10, 2008 | News
These days were born from the Civil Rights movement. In an American-as-apple-pie, history-making display of e pluribus unum, the Democratic debate in New Hampshire last week featured Barack Obama, Bill Richardson, Hillary Clinton and John Edwards. It was as inspiring...
by Maureen Turner | Jan 10, 2008 | News
It's a new day in Springfield—sort of.Inauguration ceremonies, like the one held Monday at City Hall, are, by custom, dripping with the rhetoric of change, of new beginnings, fresh starts, glistening opportunities. That rhetoric has particular resonance in...
by Laura Holland | Jan 10, 2008 | News
Proposals (Not Yet Programs) for Public Higher Education * Free Community College in MassachusettsGovernor Deval Patrick proposed free community college as part of his 10-year plan when he announced the Readiness Project, his commission on public education. The Board...
by Mark Roessler | Jan 10, 2008 | News
When the design for the Hilton Garden Inn was first revealed this spring, Wayne Feiden, Northampton City Planning Director, quickly sought to reassure residents upset by its lackluster appearance. He published computer-rendered images of what the hotel would look like...
by Laura Holland | Jan 10, 2008 | News
To low- and middle-income families, higher education may seem a necessity that is priced like a luxury and entangled in loans and subsequent debt. How can undergraduates avoid being indentured by student loans? Amherst College has one solution: a new financial aid...
by Alan Bisbort | Jan 16, 2008 | News
Barack Obama's and Mike Huckabee's victories at the Iowa caucuses last week provided some sweet relief if for no other reason than that they screwed up the mainstream media's pre-written script for 2008. From the New York Times to Fox News, from the New...
by From Our Readers | Jan 16, 2008 | News
Abortion SemanticsI'm writing in response to Tim Grant’s letter, “Pro-Life Not Just Stylish” (Jan. 10, 2008). First, I’m forever amused by the way those who like to label themselves conservative cling to certain simplistic mantras like...
by Kendra Thurlow | Jan 17, 2008 | News
Kissing your spouse in public earned you a few hours in the stockade and a faceful of rotten fruit in Puritan-era Massachusetts. Regulated by a colonial blue law that is no longer enforced, public displays of affection were one of many things banned in the 17th...
by Stephanie Kraft | Jan 17, 2008 | News
As everyone gets ready for the political Super Bowl of the presidential primaries, it's worth it to take a moment out for a quick study in the kind of disaster capitalism (a phrase made famous by author Naomi Klein) that's changing the landscape in important...
