News
by Tom Vannah | Sep 25, 2008 | News
As a news organization, the Valley Advocate is rarely nostalgic, rarely sentimental.Sure, we look back at the history of things all the time; one of the advantages of publishing just once a week is that we have the time to research topics deeply, seeking as much...
by Eesha Williams | Oct 2, 2008 | News
In Greenfield, a group of citizens is fighting plans by a Connecticut developer to build a massive store and parking lot on a piece of land that's home to several wetlands. The developer has not said which company would rent the store, which would be bigger than...
by Maureen Turner | Oct 2, 2008 | News
Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno says that his preference for buying a new building for the long-missing Mason Square branch library—rather than taking the old site by eminent domain—is untainted by the base concerns that might guide other, lesser...
by Stephanie Kraft | Oct 2, 2008 | News
The Big Bailout involves not just numbers but people. One of those people is ex-U.S. senator Phil Gramm (R-Texas). This summer, as home foreclosures soared toward a rate unparalleled since the Great Depression, Gramm said that recession in America was...
by Alan Bisbort | Oct 2, 2008 | News
When Sarah Palin, as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, asked the town librarian about banning certain books from the collection, she claimed hers was merely a "policy discussion." Palin told the Anchorage Daily News at the time that this was "about...
by Mark Roessler | Oct 2, 2008 | News
On September 13, Professor Phillip Bess of Notre Dame and his team of urban design students presented their week's worth of design work to a packed house in the Northampton Senior Center. The assignment the Notre Dame graduate students had just completed was to...
by Tom Vannah | Oct 2, 2008 | News
Two years ago, hard on the heels of his election, Gov. Deval Patrick launched a preemptive strike on people like me. I should have seen it coming; he'd used the same tactic in his campaign. To bolster his hopeful "Together-We-Can" message, he created a...
by Advocate Staff | Oct 2, 2008 | News
Panhandler Rules Sparks Passionate Response Bravo, Mark Roessler ["Hey, Noho: Just Ban the Poor," September 4, 2008] and shame, Northampton!I have recently returned from 20 years in the Western Hemisphere's poorest country, Haiti, where there are no food...
by From Our Readers | Oct 9, 2008 | News
The Go-To PaperI read with pleasure your 35th anniversary issue. Congratulations! I particularly liked the story on Jordi Herold, who is responsible for so much good music in the Valley. However, it is ironic that the Advocate no longer publishes Iron Horse ads. The...
by Stephanie Kraft | Oct 9, 2008 | News
The term "commander-in-chief" echoes so often in presidential campaign rhetoric these days that we should stop and think about why that is. The term has always been there; it hasn't always been so omnipresent.In this year's election, it seems most...
by Mark Roessler | Oct 9, 2008 | News
The last time a meeting of the Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) adjourned, back in June, there was still a glimmer of hope that the development on Northampton's Hospital Hill would contain some element that might serve the public.The CAC has been overseeing the...
by Mary Serreze | Oct 9, 2008 | News
Northampton Mayor Clare Higgins has been a strong advocate for the controversial expansion of the city's regional landfill on Glendale Road—or, at least, an advocate for preserving the option. Over the past 10 years, her administration has carefully...
by Paul Shoul | Oct 9, 2008 | News
Life is uncertain in America these days. Everything has been called into question: our sons and daughters are dying in a war that we all know is wrong; the foundations of our financial system are crumbling; our leaders are corrupt and global warming threatens us with...
by Alan Bisbort | Oct 9, 2008 | News
"Our nuclear weaponry here in the U.S. is used as a deterrent. And that's a safe, stable way to use nuclear weaponry." Those were the words of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin in the vice-presidential debate on October 2. Safe. Stable. Those are not words...
by our readers | Oct 9, 2008 | News
Mass AG Takes On NRC In an attempt to make the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board address the issues of safe storage for spent nuclear fuel, and the unthinkable possibilities of an "accident" or a...
by Andrea Burns | Oct 9, 2008 | News
Since the Massachusetts Department of Public Health reported on September 23 that there was no increased cancer risk to people living near the Northampton Municipal Landfill on Glendale Road, Mayor Higgins has stated in the press that people's fears should be...
by Gwynne Dyer | Oct 9, 2008 | News
This is not the Crash of 1929 revisited, and we are not heading into a second Great Depression. No developed country this time around is going to face the 25 percent unemployment rate that the United States experienced in the 1930s."Capitalists can buy themselves...
by Tom Vannah | Oct 15, 2008 | News
Northampton's proposal to expand its landfill over a portion of the Barnes Aquifer has become a controversial and contentious issue. While the most vocal opposition may come from residents who live near the landfill, the decision to expand it or not will have much...
by Advocate Staff and Readers | Oct 15, 2008 | News
In November, 2005, Michael Bissonnette won a landslide victory over former Mayor Richard Goyette, just one week after Goyette was arrested on federal extortion charges.Bissonnette, a well-known local attorney, has been a member of the Democratic State Committee since...
by Advocate Staff and Readers | Oct 15, 2008 | News
Mary Clare Higgins, a Democrat, was elected to her first term as mayor of Northampton in November, 1999. An openly lesbian mayor, the city's first, Higgins was elected to a fifth two-year term in November, 2007. Before becoming mayor, Higgins worked in early...
by Advocate Staff and Readers | Oct 15, 2008 | News
Michael J. Sullivan, Jr. became Holyoke's mayor in 1999, defeating incumbent Mayor Daniel Szostkiewicz, whom Sullivan criticized for failing to deal with rampant corruption in the Holyoke Police Department and for allowing an expanded quarrying operation on Mt....
by Advocate Staff and Readers | Oct 15, 2008 | News
Christine Forgey was elected Greenfield's first mayor in June, 2003. Her tenure has been marked by her heavy-handed but so far unsuccessful effort to clear the way for big-box retail development on the French King Highway.In 2004, in support of a non-binding...
by Advocate Staff and Readers | Oct 15, 2008 | News
Domenic J. Sarno was elected mayor of Springfield in November, 2007, defeating incumbent mayor Charles Ryan. Sarno, a former city councilor, built his campaign on criticisms of Ryan's handling of city finances during a period in which, thanks to the staggering...
by Advocate Staff and Readers | Oct 15, 2008 | News
Liberal Democrat Ellen Story was elected to the state House of Representatives in 1991, representing Massachusetts 3rd Hampshire District, consisting of Amherst and Granby.Under the long rule of former House Speaker Tom Finneran, whose election as Speaker she opposed,...
by Advocate Staff and Readers | Oct 15, 2008 | News
Stephen J. Buoniconti was elected to the state Senate in 2004, following four years in the state House of Representatives. He ran for state rep in 2000, criticizing former House Speaker Tom Finneran, who had become increasingly unpopular with voters as well as other...
by Advocate Staff and Readers | Oct 15, 2008 | News
Cheryl Coakley-Rivera began her political career as Cheryl Rivera, running successfully for the state House of Representatives in 1998, following the death of Anthony M. Scibelli, who had held the seat for 40 years.Coakley-Rivera represents the 10th Hampden district...
by Advocate Staff and Readers | Oct 15, 2008 | News
Stan Rosenberg was first elected to the Massachusetts Senate in 1990, following four years in the state House of Representatives. In 1990, Rosenberg won a special election for the state Senate seat being vacated by Congressman-elect John Olver, for whom Rosenberg had...
by Advocate Staff and Readers | Oct 15, 2008 | News
Democrat Steve Kulik was elected to the state House of Representatives in 1992, representing one of the state's most rural districts, comprising Conway, Deerfield, Leverett, Montague, New Salem, Shutesbury, Sunderland, Wendell and Whately in Franklin County and...
by Advocate Staff and Readers | Oct 15, 2008 | News
Democrat John Olver was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1991, in a special election to replace Congressman Silvio Conte, who died just one month after taking office for his 17th term. Olver represents Massachusetts's 1st congressional...
by Kendra Thurlow | Oct 16, 2008 | News
For the past 13 years, every fall independent filmmakers have descended on Northampton to take part in the Northampton Independent Film Festival (NIFF). Armed with their documentaries, shorts and feature-length films, they showcase and discuss their work in an...
by From Our Readers | Oct 16, 2008 | News
More on Noho PanhandlingNorthampton does not have an extensive social support system. Funding has been cut, and there are not enough beds in the shelter system. Much of the shelter system is draconian and condescending, and the slightest infraction can send someone...
by Alan Bisbort | Oct 16, 2008 | News
My brother's grave in Georgia is covered by pine needles and cones, thick magnolia leaves and grenade-like magnolia seedpods. As I lie here next to it and think about him, yellowjackets hover around my head and tiny black ants crawl through the sparsely vegetated...
by Tom Sturm | Oct 16, 2008 | News
Dear Secretary Paulson: In light of the fact that the federal government has decided to buy up all the bad debt and devalued investments out there, I would like to offer my own toxic assets for purchase:1,000+ Comic Book Collection: Despite having paid top dollar for...
by Chris Rohmann | Oct 16, 2008 | News
Some political friends of mine say there's no practical difference between the two major parties. But there is at least one clear defining distinction. The Democrats want to maximize voter participation, and the Republicans want to suppress it. This year, the...
by Tom Vannah | Oct 16, 2008 | News
Who's the mayor of, say, Chicopee?Yes, it's Michael Bissonnette. But who's he?Goodbye to those readers who don't give a shit. To the rest of you, welcome. We need your help.Below you will find a cursory answer to the Mike Bissonnette question and...
by Advocate Staff | Oct 16, 2008 | News
In this uncertain time, when the next direction this country, its policies and its economy will take is yet to be decided, it's important to at least be informed about the local involvement opportunities. Jefferson wrote in 1789, "…whenever the people...
by Tom Vannah | Oct 16, 2008 | News
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health, swamped with calls from concerned Valley residents, has warned the City of Northampton against trumpeting a recent MDPH study as evidence that the city's landfill poses no threat to public health."That's why...
by Advocate Staff and Readers | Oct 16, 2008 | News
Democrat Richie Neal has represented Massachusetts' 2nd congressional district since 1989. Neal was mayor of Springfield from 1984 to 1989.One of the first Democrats in Congress to criticize President Bush's war strategy, Neal made his mark during the Clinton...
by Stephanie Kraft | Oct 23, 2008 | News
A wave of foreclosures combined with a presidential election is a nearly perfect storm, an evil coincidence that might cause multitudes of people in foreclosure to lose their votes. In Michigan, Macomb County Republican Party chair James Carabelli reportedly said that...
by From Our Readers | Oct 23, 2008 | News
The short list of unregulated fiscal policies currently ignored in Congress includes: bankruptcy laws shredded to force individuals into an unending cycle of debt; balloon mortgage rates with no curbs on abuse; interest rates ranging from 24 percent up to 34 percent...
by Alan Bisbort | Oct 23, 2008 | News
"So let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late."—Bob Dylan, "All Along the Watchtower"From the start, the only thing that could win Election 2008 for the Republicans was tragedy or chicanery, or a combination of the two. The...
by Eesha Williams | Oct 23, 2008 | News
The Nuclear Free Jubilee, a parade and rally to close the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant, is set for Saturday, Oct. 25 in Brattleboro. Nerissa and Katryna Nields, about whom the Washington Post has written, "Their harmonies are tight, their spirits...
by Maureen Turner | Oct 23, 2008 | News
Last week, a group of local police chiefs, district attorneys and sheriffs gathered outside West Springfield High to warn of the dire consequences they insist will result if Massachusetts voters decide next month to amend the state marijuana laws."Ballot Question...
by Tom Vannah | Oct 30, 2008 | News
Like a lot of people in the Valley—and, if TV ratings are to be believed, a lot of people around the nation—I've been getting a lot of my news lately from Rachel Maddow and her colleagues at MSNBC. As uplifting as MSNBC's coverage has been for...
by Mark Roessler | Oct 30, 2008 | News
Last Wednesday, October 22, the Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) met for the third time this year to discuss plans for the northernmost part of the development where the historic Northampton State Hospital once stood. Before them was a proposal for an additional...
by Maureen Turner | Oct 30, 2008 | News
Here's what's happened since the Springfield Towing Alliance got the news, late last month, that the City of Springfield was terminating its contract to handle all police-ordered towing in the city:STA has held a press conference criticizing an extensive...
by Alan Bisbort | Oct 30, 2008 | News
Contrary to all indications otherwise, Sarah Palin is not an idiot. Oh, you bet, she says things that indicate her brain may at times resemble a vast windblown tundra, but she's smart as a whip in ways I will demonstrate below. Don't forget, she was, until two...
by Stephanie Kraft | Oct 30, 2008 | News
Voters head into next week's election after seeing exceptional threats to our democracy, from increased government surveillance to challenges to the right to vote. But some threats to the electoral system come from us. One is voting a single issue rather than...
by Tom Vannah | Oct 30, 2008 | News
Holyoke School Superintendent Eduardo Carballo is getting a raise and Holyoke Mayor Mike Sullivan isn't happy about it.Sullivan doesn't begrudge Carballo some kind of cost of living adjustment, but he doesn't think he should get 4 percent and he...
by Tom Vannah | Nov 6, 2008 | News
You, dear reader, are way ahead of us this time. As we put together this week's Valley Advocate, we have absolutely no idea how Tuesday's election turned out. You, of course, saw it happen—whatever it was. As you read this, you're a day or two into...
by Alan Bisbort | Nov 6, 2008 | News
As I write this, I do not know who has been elected President of the United States. My deadline falls on Monday and though, like most Americans, I can't wait for this campaign to end, I am not gifted with clairvoyance. This much I do know: since about mid-2005, I...
by Stephanie Kraft | Nov 6, 2008 | News
With the election over, it's time to look at the growing global food crisis. Longterm, the U.S. needs to help mitigate climate change, which is aggravating that problem by contributing to water shortages and desertification. Sooner, we need to change the equation...
by Mark Roessler | Nov 6, 2008 | News
Holyoke's largest and most impressive park has all but disappeared. It's still there, but you need to know where to look for it. If you've spent any significant part of your life in the Valley, chances are you've driven through the park dozens—if...
by From Our Readers | Nov 6, 2008 | News
I believe in a free press. I also believe in fair and unprejudiced reporting. Having a picture of Barack Obama only on the cover of your Oct. 30th edition with the headline "Vote!" leads me to believe you want us to vote for Obama. Fine—but is that...
by Sarah Feldberg | Nov 6, 2008 | News
During the past year or two, various sources—from special interest groups and green-living guides to ads for water filter manufacturers—have vocally criticized North American consumers' reliance on bottled water. Initiatives like the Food and Water...
by Mark Roessler | Nov 6, 2008 | News
Part of the Citizens Advisory Committee's stated mission in redeveloping Hospital Hill has been to provide a memorial commemorating the Northampton State Hospital and its 150-year history on the site. To this end a subcommittee was formed, and in May, 2007, it...
by Maureen Turner | Nov 11, 2008 | News
The revelation last week of a secret agreement reached during the sale of Springfield's Mason Square library probably shouldn't have come as such a big surprise.After all, the sale of the library was cloaked in secrecy and bad faith from the start. In 2003,...
by Tom Sturm | Nov 13, 2008 | News
As I read through the Election Day links posted at Pollster.com before the election was decided—when for a moment it looked as if perhaps irregularities, problems with voting machines and other GOP shenanigans could throw the nation into legal and political hell...
by Mark Roessler | Nov 13, 2008 | News
Though all indications are positive, only time will tell whether Barack Obama will be the president so many hope he can be. Even if the change he promises comes quickly and dramatically to Washington, it is unlikely the ripple effect of his actions will be felt in the...
by Alan Bisbort | Nov 13, 2008 | News
In November, 2006, when the Republican Party lost full control of Congress, I suggested that gloating was not in order. After all, George W. Bush was still in the White House and Dick Cheney was still pulling his strings. I'd wanted to switch on the TV so I could...
