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Between the Lines: Sleeping On It
At home, my extended period of recovery is wearing thin. My wife and daughter are happy to have me back, but after nearly a year, they've begun wondering when I'm going to be done healing. Truth is, I was feeling good, caught up on a year's worth of lost...
PVPA and Brick: To Be or Not to Be?
The evening of Tuesday, June 23 saw a vast show of student, staff and parental support for Pioneer Valley Performing Arts (PVPA) High School Executive Director Robert Brick at a 6 p.m. meeting of that institution's board of trustees. The standing-room-only meeting...Letters: What Do You Think?
Unions Can Be CoerciveI'm writing in response to Ronald Rene Patenaude's letter of 25 June 2009 entitled "Nonprofits Bust Unions Too." I'm writing because there are two sides to every coin, and I represent the other side of the argument. When I...The World This Week: Postal Going
Have you noticed anything strange lately about your local post office? For years, one of the big issues in my town was the need for a larger facility to accommodate the popularity of the services offered and the SUVs of customers clogging the tiny parking lot at the...Letters: What Do You Think?
Looking Out for OthersSean F. Werle, Ph.D., states [Letters, July 9, 2009] that he has nothing against unions. Of course he has nothing against them; he has enjoyed the wages and benefits secured by a union contract without having to contribute dues or pay an agency...The World This Week: A Tale of Two Lives
Robert Strange McNamara died last week at age 93. The front-page headline attached to the New York Times obituary (superbly written by Tim Weiner) identified him simply as "Architect of Futile War." That "futile war" was, of course, Vietnam, the...Imperium Watch: School for Scandal
The recent coup that removed Manuel Zelaya as president of Honduras has brought the School of the Americas, now known as WHINSEC (Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation), back into the news. The coup, which brought protest from farmers, unions and...
Sign of the Times
Like many communities, Springfield has an uneasy relationship with the billboards that dot its neighborhoods and ring its highways. To some, the boards are an aesthetic affront, cluttering the visual landscape of a city that already struggles to get outsiders to see...Holyoke: Bashing the Bench
Have you heard that Holyoke police chief Anthony Scott has a bit of a problem with judges?We're going to assume you have. Indeed, unless you've spent the last several years living under a newspaper- and TV-free rock, it would be hard to miss Scott's...Biomass: On the Learning Curve
As the green energy economy takes its first shaky steps, questions arise about what kind of energy is really green. Those are not just intellectual questions. In the Valley, where four new power plants and an expansion of another are currently being proposed,...Imperium Watch: Free Trade and the Amazon
John Perkins wrote the book (literally—it's Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, Plume Books, 2004) on the U.S.'s systematic, government- and corporate-sponsored exploitation of other countries for their natural resources. The recent violence in Peru,...Letters: What Do You Think?
Your Money VotesAs long as money makes the world go 'round, consumers have the power—whether they have $5 to spend when they walk into a store or $100 (see "Household Toxins," July 9, 2009). One thing I have learned in 52 years on this planet is...Between the Lines: We've Heard It All Before
A year and half into a staggering recession, Massachusetts is like a traveler stranded in a desert without food or water, hoping against hope to make it out of the wasteland to an oasis on the distant horizon.Through eyes bleary with heat exhaustion and dehydration,...ImperiumWatch: The Telephone Ring
Sen. John McCain, it seems, has a career-enhancing business that involves advocating for the privatization of telecom companies in Latin America. Still unknown is whether associates of his had anything to do with the recent coup that ousted Manuel Zelaya, president of...Between the Lines: Farewell to Foley
This fall's election was guaranteed to bring some major changes to the Springfield City Council, thanks to the long overdue introduction of ward representation. But mixing things up even more are the announcements—some expected, some surprising—by a...
The “Right of Way” Guy
Last week, while driving through his hometown of Holyoke and giving me a windshield tour of the city's historic neighborhoods, by chance Craig Della Penna spotted a tour bus parked next to the former passenger rail station. Without a second thought, he did a...The World This Week: Rice a Rickey
This Sunday, July 26, the fearsome hitter Jim Rice, who played his entire 16-year career with the Boston Red Sox, will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. Joining Rice will be Rickey Henderson, the all-time stolen base leader who seemed to...
Bridge Salvation
Massachusetts is blessed with many magnificent bridges crossing the Connecticut River.In Springfield, there's the Memorial Bridge with its towering sconces perched upon mighty white pillars. In Northampton, the Calvin Coolidge Bridge's Art Deco eagles welcome...Between the Lines: Small-Ball Apathy
Oh, look, the sales tax in Massachusetts is about to jump 25 percent. On August 1, the sales tax will rise from 5 percent, where it's been for the last 34 years, to 6.25 percent.Funny thing: although I'm a journalist who pays a fair amount of attention to...Northampton: Going Around in Circles
From his window in the offices of Northampton's Look Park, Ray Ellerbrook has a bird's eye view of Route 9, directly in front of the park—and he doesn't like what he sees.Cars speed by on the road, the main route for drivers traveling between...Letters: What Do You Think?
Take 'Em Down, Brown I have much respect for Jack Brown's discerning film reviews, and applaud the fearlessness with which he countered the hyperbolic regard for Sacha Baron Cohen's ambush-style brand of satire in his recent Advocate takedown of Bruno...Letters: What Do You Think?
Keep Government Out of Health InsuranceWhy do Republicans really oppose government-run health care? There are three main reasons. First is enormous cost, and inefficiency and waste that accompanies such a system. Republicans understand that there is no such thing as a...The World This Week: The Bomb Will Bring Us Together
What would you say if I told you that your city is targeted by a missile carrying a nuclear warhead? Chances are 1) better than you'd care to think that this may be so; and 2) you'd be a bit concerned, if not steamed, by this. The bomb no longer has to be...Imperium Watch: Income Gap, Power Gap
Almost one-third of wages and salaries paid in the U.S. goes to executives, according to the Wall Street Journal. "Executives and other highly compensated employees," according to the WSJ, received nearly $2.1 trillion of a total of $6.4 trillion paid in...Between the Lines: The Conversational Governor
Last week, Gov. Deval Patrick dropped by the Daily Hampshire Gazette's Northampton offices, where the Valley Advocate is also headquartered, for a meeting with the Gazette's editorial board. Gazette editor Larry Parnass invited me to join in; when my turn...Springfield: Off to the Races
While Springfield has had its share of exciting mayoral elections in recent years—the re-emergence of former Mayor Charlie Ryan, who took back the seat in 2003; Ryan's surprising loss four years later to Domenic Sarno, the current incumbent—City...Between the Lines: Dom's Dog War
From the moment Springfield Republican reporter Stephanie Barry christened it "Wienergate," the battle between hot dog vendor John Verducci and the Sarno administration has proved irresistible to punsters and word-play aficionados across the city, with the...Letters: What Do You Think?
Save New World TheaterI am writing in response to the announcement of the planned suspension of New World Theater [Art in Paradise, August 6, 2009]. The University of Massachusetts has been my neighbor since I entered first grade at Mark's Meadow Elementary in...The World This Week: Booked Up
On many Saturday mornings, I load the trunk of my car with whatever used books have piled up in my basement and drive to Whitlock's in Woodbridge or Niantic Book Barn in Niantic or, if I get a really early start, to the Pioneer Valley to visit Valley Books in...Imperium Watch: Ringing Up Cash for Clunkers
President Obama's biggest common-touch coup to date is the Cash for Clunkers program, which was so popular that instead of running until fall, it crashed like a speeding SUV into its original limit of $1 billion within a week. On the environmental side, the early...
Springfield Library: Better Late Than Never
A government land-taking is invariably sticky business, filled with the drama of angry landowners, threats of litigation, nervous politicians.That's certainly the case in Springfield, where the city appears poised—perhaps—to use its power of eminent...Candidates Tussle Over COPS Money
Springfield City Councilor and mayoral hopeful Bud Williams is taking a swing at incumbent Domenic Sarno over his administration's decision not to apply for a U.S. Department of Justice grant earmarked for the hiring of police officers.The money—from the...Growing Democracy in the Orchard
Springfield is a city of neighborhoods, of distinct communities with their own histories and cultures. Nowhere, perhaps, is that more evident than in Indian Orchard, a neighborhood so self-defined that it can seem like its own municipality.From its perch in the...Letters: What Do You Think?
Two letters [in the Aug. 6 issue] expressed opposition to health care reform, stating that a "government-run" program will be too costly and wasteful. This country now has government-run health care systems—Medicare, Medicaid, Veterans' Assistance...Terror Suspects Can Buy Guns
One government agency that's worth all we pay to support it and more is the Government Accountability Office, known by those who love it and those who hate it as the GAO. The latest inconvenient truth to come from the GAO is that over the past five years, 1,000...The World This Week: A “Lucky” Break
Daytime summer camp through the local Parks and Recreation Department—what could be more wholesome? My son has done week-long stints at this camp twice each summer for the past three years. Your kids have gone to similar camps and/or will go in the future. And...Between the Lines: Civility, Sponsored by GE
Most of the way through Billy Bragg's July 31 performance at Northampton's Calvin Theater, someone in the balcony urged the folk singer to stop lecturing and start singing. Bragg had taken a few minutes to introduce a song. Doing so, he urged his audience to...Senior Food Program in Crisis
Among the casualties of the devastating cuts in the fiscal 2010 state budget was a local program that provided fresh, local produce to low-income seniors.The Senior FarmShare program, established by Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture in 2004, has provided...Crazy About Health Care
In a decade or two, we'll look back on the conflagration that's currently passing for healthcare debate with the softening of years. These events will no doubt look different depending on one's political proclivities. That's always somewhat...
Between Too Far and Not Far Enough
Like many Democratic legislators, U.S. Rep. Richard Neal of Springfield has had to contend with his share of conservative hecklers as he's worked his way through his district trying to drum up support for the Obama administration's healthcare reform plans....Imperium Watch: A Hard Time to Be Dead
The current economic troubles have spawned pictures of streets lined with foreclosed houses, growing homeless populations and people camped out waiting for free exams at health care fairs. Now a new image embodying the current economic difficulties has surfaced in the...Getting Hurt in Europe
When I was in college, I traveled to Europe several times. On three occasions I came into close and personal contact with the health care systems of Britain and the Netherlands, and I've never forgotten how profoundly different the experiences were from anything...The World This Week: Miss Conception
Octomom will not go gently into the good night of obscurity. When Nadya Suleman, aka Octomom, gave birth to octuplets on Jan. 26, she became a poster girl for American excess. Already a mother of six, she sought, and was provided, fertility treatments so she could...The Right Move?
The Springfield School Department's central office, at 195 State St., is a handsome old building, but hardly hospitable to modern working conditions. Built at the turn of the last century, the building is run down, with an old elevator that reportedly makes some...Letters: What Do You Think?
I feel sorry for Conor Hennessey (Letters, August 6, 2009) because I just had a free dinner given by the wonderful people of the Greenfield Farmer's Market. But then again, events like that could send us "down the slippery road of collectivism," to quote...Between the Lines: The Right Question
If the Northampton City Council cares what residents think, it will reject the direction taken last week by three of its members in sponsoring a non-binding ballot question about the city's plans to expand its municipal landfill. A working draft of a possible...For Whose Prosperity?
Lately I seem to keep getting spam emails from “Patients United Now,” brought to me by the Americans for Prosperity Foundation. The emails they send promote scare-tactic lobbying and advertising based on flimsy doomsday scenarios in which they foretell...Whole Foods Boycott Grows
The Western Mass. Single Payer Network and Western Mass. Jobs with Justice have thrown their support behind a national boycott of Whole Foods.The boycott was sparked by a recent op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal by Whole Foods CEO John Mackey, which sounds a very...
“Wake Up, America, Peekskill Did!”
On September 4, 1949, 60 years ago this Labor Day weekend, as they were leaving an outdoor holiday concert, the folk singers who wrote "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" and "This Land is Your Land" were part of a crowd ambushed by an angry mob....ImperiumWatch: Dr. O and the Caduceus of Fire
At press time, tensions in the battle over health care reform were pulling to the max in every direction. As one estimate warned that health insurance would cost nearly twice as much in 2020 as in 2008, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) was saying that the president might...Between the Lines: A Long, Hard Fight
To look at the final numbers, it's hard to imagine that there was ever anything to worry about: last Monday, the Springfield City Council unanimously voted to take the former Mason Square library building, at 765 State St., by eminent domain.In fact, the outcome...
Northampton's Hidden Reservoir
The Upper Roberts Meadow Reservoir is a hidden gem. Hugging the north side of Chesterfield Road, a couple of miles uphill and upstream from the popular Musante Beach swimming area in Leeds, the six-acre pond supports a variety of wildlife, including blue heron,...Kennedy: This Favorite Son
It may not be true that we’ll never see his like again, but we don’t see it at the moment. Ted Kennedy took a lot with him when he died. He wasn’t a perfect man. His enemies still mutter the word “Chappaquiddick,” and there’s no...The World This Week: A Tale of Two Senators
Now that the "Lion of the Senate" has roared for the last time, the jungle of Congress will get back to business as usual: selling out the American people. The tributes to Ted Kennedy in the last week from across the political spectrum have been impressive...Between the Lines: A Voice for the Neighborhoods
When I asked Carol Lewis-Caulton to name her proudest moment from the two years she served on the Springfield City Council, I wondered if she'd choose one of the higher-profile issues she'd been involved in. Her work to make the Springfield Library and Museums...Letters: What Do You Think?
Push the Single-Payer BillAs our health care crisis only deepens, as more and more of our money goes to rapacious insurance companies (who believe in redistribution of wealth only insofar as all of it goes to them), it is clear that only some form of a single-payer...The World This Week: This Living Fear
Though I would like to think my country was better than this, it's clear that many Americans hate President Barack Obama for the color of his skin. Many more—though there's some overlap—hate him for being a "socialist" or...
In Your Face
In case you haven't noticed, 3D movies are making a comeback. Again.Since the start of the year, at least 14 new 3D movies have been slated for release from all the major Hollywood studios. It seemed that every week during the summer a new stereoscopic feature hit...Letters: What Do You Think?
Bis in the ERTo Alan Bisbort: I've been meaning to write for months now to say how much I enjoy reading your column every week. You have such a great way of distilling all the rhetoric around us into a cogent point accessible to any reasonable person of any...E-Edition
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