News
Can Small Business Survive in the World of Big Cannabis?
If you can say one thing about the Pioneer Valley, it’s that we love local. We champion and support small business, artists, makers, musicians, farmers, organic food, craft beer and pretty much artisanal anything. My recent expedition to INSA — the adult recreational...
Bizarro Briefs Podcast: Falling bears, dumb beverages, and a septic tank lightning strike
Valley Advocate editor Dave Eisenstadter and Hits 94.3 host Trumpy talk about the week’s weird news in a podcast version of the Valley Advocate’s Bizarro Briefs section. Hear about falling bears, dumb beverages, and a septic tank lightning strike. You can hear more of...
Editorial: Conspiracy theories or not, prison reform is needed
The suicide death in jail of billionaire and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has sparked confusion and outrage across the nation, and many ill-founded conspiracy theories online. Many are rightly worried that Epstein’s rich and powerful associates who may have...
Bizarro Briefs: Ketchup Karma
Ketchup Karma Someone stole a bottle of ketchup from a New Jersey restaurant, and claims to have been immediately wracked by guilt — and bad karma. A few hours after the condiment thief purloined the tomato-y diner staple, someone crashed into their car. In the weeks...
Letters to the Editor: A straw ban could hurt the disabled community
A straw ban could hurt the disabled community In response to “Eliminating the Plastic Straw: Woman gathers support for Northampton ban,” published August 1-7, 2019. I read the article just now and want to say, while I support reducing plastic waste (the effects it...
Bizarro Briefs: If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Eat ‘Em
If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Eat ‘Em Recently, swarms of grasshoppers have invaded Las Vegas, and videos have been posted of the winged creatures flocking around neon lights. One Las Vegas pizzeria is unfazed by the biblical-level calamity, and is serving the little...
Frances Crowe: Now is the time to stop building nuclear weapons
So many lives changed on August 6, 1945, including mine. I was a 26-year-old American married to an aspiring radiologist. I listened to the radio as I ironed our clothes and learned that my country, the United States, had destroyed Hiroshima, Japan, by dropping an...
Walking for a nuclear-free future — for 40 years
Jun Yasuda, known to many as Jun San, has been actively opposing nuclear weapons and nuclear energy for decades, having walked across the country eight times in protest. Born in Japan, Yasuda, 70, now lives in New York State, near the Grafton Peace Pagoda, a Buddhist...
Editorial: Paying Homage to the Nuclear Resistance
Seventy-four years ago this week, the United States did the unconscionable: we dropped nuclear weapons on two cities — Hiroshima and Nagasaki — killing and maiming hundreds of thousands of people, and vastly increasing the rates of cancer and other radiation-linked...
Podcast: Alula Shields talks about banning plastic straws in Northampton
Alula Shields has been collecting signatures to establish a plastic straw ban in Northampton by canvassing and through an online petition. Following a story about her efforts in the Advocate by Jonathan Kermah, editor Dave Eisenstadter sits down with her and discusses...
Letters to the Editor: Undocumented Immigrants Should be Eligible for Driver’s Licenses
Undocumented Immigrants Should be Eligible for Driver’s Licenses At CISA, we are committed to strengthening local farms and to building a fair and just local food economy that serves everyone, including the people who work on farms. The Pew Research Center estimated...
Bizarro Briefs Podcast: Loose yaks, stolen dentures, and hair farms for rich people
Valley Advocate editor Dave Eisenstadter and Hits 94.3 host Trumpy talk about the week’s weird news in a podcast version of the Valley Advocate’s Bizarro Briefs section. Hear about loose yaks, stolen dentures and hair farms for rich people. You can hear more of the...
Eliminating the Plastic Straw: Woman gathers support for Northampton ban
Plastic has been labeled as one of the world’s biggest enemies in the fight against pollution. Before 2017, when China passed the National Sword policy, which effectively banned plastic waste from being imported, the United States and many other nations placed the...
Editorial: Performing at a 24-hour ‘413 Says #ClosetheCamps’ event
For 24 continuous hours this past weekend, musicians, theater groups, comedians, jugglers, kirtan singers, yoga enthusiasts, and a long list of other artists in the Pioneer Valley came together to say, “Close the Camps” along the southwest border, where thousands of...
Bizarro Briefs: Hair farms for the super rich
Hair farms for the super rich Furthering the fight against baldness, scientists have determined that a combination of stem cell growth and 3-D printing may hold the solution to a problem that has long vexed companies trying to make money off of people going bald – how...
‘Resisting a Culture that Says I Don’t Belong’: Local joins group of large-bodied women to hike Kilimanjaro
A Franklin County native along with 19 other plus-size women known as the “Curvy Kili Crew” recently hiked one of the largest mountains in the world: Mount Kilimanjaro. For seven days, Eve Bogdanove of Greenfield and her companions traveled the Rongai Route, an...
Letters to the Editor: Support and advice for Alex Morse
Support and advice for Alex Morse In response to “Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse to Challenge Richard Neal for Congress,” published online July 22, 2019, at valleyadvocate.com. Godspeed Alex. Take back something for the rest of us broken folks. — Steve William Lindsey,...
Bizarro Briefs Podcast: Seagull steals dog, asking someone out with a bomb threat, and a port-a-potty disaster
Valley Advocate editor Dave Eisenstadter and Hits 94.3 host Trumpy talk about the week’s weird news in a podcast version of the Valley Advocate’s Bizarro Briefs section. Hear about five guys getting arrested at a Five Guys, why you shouldn’t cut on...
Editorial: It’s So Hot that Iceland Lost a Glacier
In Los Angeles, an all time high temperature of 111 degrees Fahrenheit was recorded. Montreal, Canada, also recorded its all-time high. Death Valley experienced the hottest month ever recorded on Earth, with an average of 108 degrees. Japan set a new national...
Bizarro Briefs: Come Back With My Dog!
Come back with my dog! Many of us have had the experience of getting a slice of pizza or food item snatched from us by a greedy seagull while minding our own business near the beach. Few, however, can say that their pet dog was snatched by the grabby birds. But that’s...
That’s One Small Step for a Band: Bandella, a musical group including astronauts, will play Hawks & Reed on July 27
Half a century ago, humanity took its first step outward into the greater universe around us during the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing. In celebration of that achievement, Bandella, a Houston, Texas-based folk-rock and world acoustic group made up of retired astronauts,...
Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse to Challenge Richard Neal for Congress
HOLYOKE — It’s official: U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Springfield, has a 2020 challenger for his seat in the 1st Congressional District. After months of speculation about his political plans, Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse officially jumped into the race on Monday. He will...
Letters to the Editor: Chicopee Police and online bullying
Chicopee Police and online bullying In response to “Public Information or Public Shaming?: Some say Chicopee Police enable bullying on their Facebook page,” published July 11-17, 2019. Thank you for covering this phenomenon. I have noticed it and it’s not good for...
Bizarro Briefs Podcast: How many people are actually going to show up to this Area 51 raid?
Editor Dave Eisenstadter and Trumpy of Hits 94.3 talk about the weird news of the week, including a proposed raid on Area 51 (are there really aliens there?), a mall sword fight using tiki torches, and a loud fart that reveals the location of someone hiding from...
Two years after failed vote, Greenfield adopts ‘Safe City’ ordinance
The Greenfield City Council adopted a new “Safe City” ordinance on Wednesday night in a 10-3 vote, reversing its stance on a similar ordinance in 2017, which failed in a 6-4 vote. Effective as of its passage, the ordinance prohibits Greenfield officials,...
They’re Kind Of A Big Deal: A few of the Valley’s homegrown rock stars
When he’s not aboard Iron Maiden’s private jet en route to a 50,000-plus stadium gig in South America or Europe, Anthrax guitarist Jonathan Donais says there’s no place he’d rather be than his Easthampton home and “triangle.” “‘The Triangle’ is what I call this little...
Editorial: White Supremacy in the White House
It used to feel worthwhile to list off the terrible things that Donald Trump has done since assuming office in the beginning of 2017 — particularly the examples of his blatant racism. The Advocate did as much in a story at the beginning of 2018 pushing back on when he...
Bizarro Briefs: Let’s All Go to Area 51
Let’s All Go to Area 51 At least a million people have pledged over Facebook to raid the United State Air Force’s Area 51, a highly classified Nevada military base that conspiracy theorists and UFO-ologists claim houses or once housed remains of alien spaceships and...
Microplastics inspire one-man protest (with gas mask) in Easthampton
At least once a week, Jose Mediavilla, a 37-year-old Easthampton resident, stands near a crosswalk median along Main Street holding signs that read, “Microplastics are in our air and food.” He stands there holding the sign for passing cars and pedestrians for hours in...
Letters to the Editor: Reactions to refugees at the border
Historical examples appropriate in border discussion In response to “Between the Lines: A Moral and Humanitarian Crisis at the Border,” published July 4-10, 2019. Hello, Dave. My family background is similar to yours. My parents and grandparents were refugees from...
Bizarro Briefs Podcast: A popular Japanese poop museum, a late-night pizza walker, and waking up at your own funeral (July 9)
Valley Advocate editor Dave Eisenstadter and Hits 94.3 DJ Trumpy talk about the weird news of the week. Bizarro Briefs this week can be read at https://valleyadvocate.com/2019/07/10/bizarro-briefs-do-starfish-have-butts/. Listen here: You can hear more of the Valley...
Public Information or Public Shaming?: Some say Chicopee Police enable bullying on their Facebook page
Springfield resident and Holyoke community organizer Jacqueline Velez said she no longer feels safe in her home after an action by the Chicopee Police: they posted her address on their Facebook page, along with her son’s mugshot. Velez’s son, who lives in her home,...
Editorial: Greenfield gets another shot at a Safe City Ordinance – Don’t blow it
It’s back. Greenfield’s “Safe City Ordinance,” which was voted down in a 6-4 vote in 2017, has been proposed once again by City Councilor Karen “Rudy” Renaud. The ordinance, which would prohibit city officials from asking about a person’s immigration status or to take...
Bizarro Briefs: Do Starfish have Butts?
Do starfish have butts? A sea star at an aquarium in California has gone viral after a photo of the starfish was shared showing it as seeming to have large assets on its lower half. Although it looks like the starfish has a butt, marine wildlife experts at the...
Valley music staple F. Alex Johnson says ‘goodbye for now’
In October of 1991, guitarist and singer-songwriter F. Alex Johnson moved to the Pioneer Valley from Fall River to be part of the strong musical community. In the here and now, almost three decades later, Johnson is a mainstay in the Valley music scene. He’s played...
From the Valley to the Border: Sickening news on the treatment of migrants inspiring locals to travel down to help
Sharon Lehmann, 69, was watching the news on TV at her home in Granby more than a month ago and saw a story about militia groups aiming guns at migrant families. She turned to her partner, Audrey Walker, 66, and said, “I can’t watch this. I just can’t do this anymore....
Bizarro Briefs: UFO abduction memorialized
UFO abduction memorialized There’s now a historical landmark in Pascagoula, Mississippi, where two men claimed to be abducted by aliens near a river in southern Mississippi in 1973. The two men were said to have been on the shores of the Pascagoula River when aliens...
Editorial: A moral and humanitarian crisis at the border
Independence Day is here again — the 243rd anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. But as we celebrate the foundation of this country, it is difficult to ignore the human rights abuses being perpetrated in its name on our southern border. The...
Letters to the Editor: Three reasons not to put a biomass burning plant in Springfield, and what to do about it
Three reasons not to put a biomass burning plant in Springfield, and what to do about it In response to “Biomass isn’t Clean Energy: Springfield activists blast state plan at hearing,” published June 13-19, 2019. The state Department of Energy Resources (DOER) has its...
Editorial: How do you solve a problem like Eric Suher?
Last week, New England Public Radio published a report quoting multiple former employees of the Iron Horse Entertainment Group (IHEG) alleging labor violations, including improper payroll deductions (also known as wage theft), late paychecks, and failure to post...
Bizarro Briefs: Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Seal
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Seal Researchers in Scotland have taught three gray seals to sing songs like “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” and the theme to “Star Wars.” Scientists at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland raised the trio of seals from birth in order to...
Bizarro Briefs Podcast 6/26/19: Weird news from the week
Dave and Trumpy talk about this week’s weird news — stories about disembodied toes, Bill Cosby’s prison lecture series, bringing your daughter to a crime spree, and multiple stories about poop. Listen here: You can hear previous episodes of the...
Letters from Our Readers: Poetry by Connolly Ryan
Poetry by Connolly Ryan To an Unidentified Sunset Soloist I can’t see who it is singing her little heart out, perseverating her sweet head off, up in the attic of a red maple tree, but whoever it is belting it out like that, like there is no known limit to the...
Yoga in Jail: Hampden County program offers release in pre-release center
Dori Digenti does not know the criminal histories of her yoga students at the Hampden County Pre-Release Center. “To me, they’re participants in a yoga class,” said the founder and owner of Breathing Space Yoga & Mindfulness Studio in Holyoke. “They’re just who...
Editorial: Pioneering a Journalism Support Model in the Pioneer Valley
I was on a hike with a friend and former colleague in 2012 when I first seriously considered the idea the Advocate is now undertaking. As we talked, it didn’t take us long to get to our frustrations that so many journalistic organizations were on shaky financial...
Bizarro Briefs: Definitely not “Saved by the Bell”
Definitely not “Saved by the Bell” A man from Vermont learned that looking up clips from 1990s sitcom “Saved by the Bell” and driving on the open road don’t exactly mix. The man sideswiped a police car while trying to find an episode of the TV show on the internet....
Introducing: The Bizarro Briefs Podcast
Since the retirement of longtime “News of the Weird” columnist Chuck Shepherd, the Advocate has done “Bizarro Briefs,” our own collection of weekly weird news we find. Thanks to a partnership with Trumpy from Hits 94.3, with a similar...
Letters to the Editor: Burn biomass for the sake of the forest
Burn biomass for the sake of the forest In response to “‘Biomass Isn’t Clean Energy’: Springfield activists blast state plan at hearing,” published June 6 at valleyadvocate.com (see page 6). I’m Mike Leonard, Consulting Forester, North Quabbin Forestry. I have a BS...
Is Drag Really Just a Drag?: A Q&A with local genderflux drag performer Hors D’oeuvres
The month of June means that it’s officially LGBTQ+ Pride Season, with pride marches moving across the country from the east to the west coasts of the U.S. Here in our humble rainbow Valley, we got started early with Northampton’s pride march and event on May 4,...
Editorial: A Focus on Some Good Political News
Often this space is used to chide lawmakers for cowardice, stupidity, greed, or cruelty … and rightly so. But every so often, politicians get it right, and it’s important that we celebrate those times as well as bring attention to when our leaders fall short. So below...
Bizarro Briefs: A Cervine Intruder
A cervine intruder It was a tense moment for an eastern Texas woman. She realized that her Lufkin home had been illegally entered when she heard glass breaking, so she went to hide in a closet and called police. Police decided to surround the house after learning the...
Letters to the Editor: ‘Everyone should march for climate, for justice, and for women’s rights’
‘Everyone should march for climate, for justice, and for women’s rights’ In response to “Between the Lines: Looking to the Unexpected on Climate Change Solutions,” published May 30 – June 5, 2019. Here on the eve of my 65th birthday it seemed appropriate to send...
‘Biomass Isn’t Clean Energy’: Springfield activists blast state plan at hearing
Activists, elected officials, and concerned residents packed a June 5 Department of Energy Resources (DOER) hearing in Springfield on a state plan to open up state renewable energy subsidies to plants that burn biomass — mostly wood chips, wood pellets, and other wood...
Western Mass Beer Week is Back! Here’s what’s happening
In the Advocate’s monthly craft beer column The Beerhunter, I keep my finger on the pulse of local craft beer business. The column began in 2014. From day one, I had plenty of little dramas and lucky breaks to cover, from small-business zoning woes to creative...
Bizarro Briefs: Swooping to the Rescue
Swooping to the rescue The robot-controlled cameras that film us at all times waiting for us to mess up so we can be fined or arrested have spawned a new genre of Bizarro Brief: the bird photobomb as savior. One such 1984-like surveillance device in western Germany...
‘Stupid and Irresponsible’: Activists speak out against burning biomass in Springfield
Around 2009, Palmer Renewable Energy planned to create a $150 million 42-megawatt biomass energy plant in East Springfield at 1000 Page Blvd., a project that local environmental activists thought was scrapped two years ago. Now, a decade since the plant was proposed,...
Podcast: Maureen O’Reilly on the Holyoke Care Center college programs and trash buster John Coughlin
We’re relaunching the Valley Advocate Podcast! Last year, we had a good run partnering with Amherst Media to produce video podcasts. Now we’re back both with audio-only and video versions! Up first is guest Maureen O’Reilly, who talks about her...
Letters to the Editor: Abortion Should Not Be Law of the Land
Abortion Should Not Be Law of the Land In response to “If It’s Not Your Body, It’s Not Your Business,” published May 23-29, 2019. I have never responded to any of the numerous far left pieces I read in the Advocate but this one demands a rebuttal. Ms. Levesque states...
Editorial: Just Impeach Him Already!!
Honestly, I was not among those who thought the Mueller report would ignite impeachment proceedings to remove Donald Trump from the presidency. I did follow along with sickening dismay at news reports of Trump’s efforts to obstruct the investigation, but I doubted...E-Edition
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