News
by Tom Vannah | Aug 13, 2013 | News
As a Red Sox fan, I’d revile Yankee third baseman Alex Rodriguez whether or not he used performance-enhancing drugs. I don’t like much of anything about the Yankees, but Rodriguez stands out as one of most odious characters ever to don the New York...
by Advocate readers | Aug 28, 2013 | News
United Against Biomass The Valley Advocate barely covered the Greenfield biomass story, but here you are, writing as though there is a divided opinion in Greenfield (“Biomass Plan for Greenfield Cancelled,” Aug. 15). Eighty-four percent of the voters in...
by Advocate Staff | Aug 13, 2013 | News
Should Massachusetts pass a law requiring that genetically engineered food products be labeled as such?
by Tom Vannah | Sep 3, 2013 | News
The connections that exist between the communities of the Valley are vital to the region’s future—vital to its prosperity, to its quality of life, to its sustainability. If school kids in Springfield stopped participating in annual sports jamborees in...
by Advocate Staff | Aug 14, 2013 | News
Northfield Drive-In Still a Summer Star A drive-in theater has been saved for the Valley and the nation. After nearly 400 cars piled in to the Northfield Drive-In on Saturday night, August 3, the owner has announced that the theater will not be closing at the end of...
by Advocate Staff | Aug 14, 2013 | News
Biomass Plan for Greenfield Cancelled By Stephanie Kraft As the dust settles from the battle over the Pioneer Renewable Energy biomass plant proposed for Greenfield, local opinion is still divided over the effect of the apparent demise of the project. Pioneer...
by Advocate staff | Sep 3, 2013 | News
Battle Lines Drawn in War Over Walmart By Maureen Turner Walmart has yet to submit to Holyoke city officials plans for its proposed store in the city. But opponents of the project are already reaching out to City Hall to express their deep concerns about the...
by Advocate staff | Sep 3, 2013 | News
What the Kids Are Reading These Days Required summer reading for 9th graders at Springfield’s Commonwealth Academy: White Teeth (Zadie Smith), Paradise Lost (John Milton), The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger), King Lear (William Shakespeare), The...
by Cathy Young | Aug 16, 2013 | News
Never mind the “war on women:” according to growing numbers of activists and authors, it’s males in modern Western society who are under siege and whose rights need defending. Is this the next frontier for gender justice or a woman-hating backlash?...
by Advocate staff | Sep 3, 2013 | News
Holyoke is the latest city to consider extending its mayoral term to four years. Do you think mayors should serve longer terms, to allow them more time to accomplish things off the campaign trail, or shorter terms, to keep them more accountable to voters?
by Tom Vannah | Aug 20, 2013 | News
It was folly to think we’d ever see the tolls come down on the MassPike. But if the denizens of Beacon Hill are determined to keep picking motorists’ pockets to pay for a road that was paid off decades ago, it would have been nice of them to at least let a...
by Advocate readers | Sep 4, 2013 | News
Warren Is No Cruz I must disagree with the comparisons between Elizabeth Warren and Ted Cruz (“Check This Reality,” Aug. 8). Let me start by saying I am a supporter of Sen. Warren and allergic to Ted Cruz. However, I think the “conflict with the...
by Advocate staff | Aug 20, 2013 | News
Talking Trash at the Statehouse By Erin McDaniel More than 30 years after the hotly opposed passage of the Massachusetts Bottle Bill, advocates on both sides of the issue are still arguing about its proper application amid a changing beverage market. The...
by by Caleb Rounds | Sep 4, 2013 | News
I’ve changed my mind about Roundup more than once. When I first began learning about the production of food and the use of pesticides and herbicides, I had what can only be described as a knee-jerk reaction against “chemicals.” After returning to...
by Advocate readers | Aug 20, 2013 | News
Where Are the G-Men of Yore? When I was a boy, the world seemed to be a different place. Sometimes I think it is because I was young and naïve, and other times I think it was just easier to determine good from evil. The FBI was one of those agencies that seemed...
by Tom Vannah | Sep 10, 2013 | News
I like to be a good neighbor—not overly involved day to day, but if you need a cup of sugar or a hand with the ladder, just ask. I won’t let my dog or my chickens wander in your yard or scratch up your gardens and I won’t let my house guests pee in...
by Stephanie Kraft | Aug 20, 2013 | News
Cyborg roaches. Fish that glow in the dark. Mice with Alzheimer’s. Goats with pharmaceuticals in their milk. These aren’t images from a sci-fi comic book; they’re being bred as you read. Some of these novel genetically engineered creatures are being...
by Advocate staff | Sep 10, 2013 | News
Anti-Casino and Clean Elections Questions Fail to Make Ballot; Minimum Wage and Sales Tax Questions Advance By Maureen Turner Activists involved in a number of important issues were disappointed last week when Attorney General Martha Coakley announced that...
by Advocate Staff | Aug 20, 2013 | News
Should the Massachusetts Legislature repeal its recently instituted tax on computer services?
by Advocate staff | Sep 10, 2013 | News
Up in Arms About Computer Service Tax To raise more money for transportation in Massachusetts, the Legislature voted for a sales tax on computer services that came into effect July 31. The 6.25 percent increase in the cost of those services has caused some confusion...
by Advocate staff | Aug 20, 2013 | News
Take Ticket, Pay Toll After a 17-year toll holiday, it appears that Western Mass. drivers will again be lining up to hand out money at the booths along the Mass Pike between the Valley and West Stockbridge as of October 15. The change is mandated under the...
by Advocate staff | Sep 10, 2013 | News
Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno has called for a moratorium on new refugees in Springfield, saying that the city has become a “dumping” ground for the U.S. State Department’s resettlement program. Should the State Department pay heed to Sarno’s...
by Jerold Duquette | Aug 21, 2013 | News
While the news that state senator Mike Knapik (R-Holyoke) would be leaving the legislature to accept a post at Westfield State University may have been of particular interest to the senator’s Western Mass. constituents (to say nothing of those interested in...
by Advocate readers | Sep 11, 2013 | News
The Real Terrorists As we observe the 12th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and other sites, I believe we’re fighting the wrong war on terror. The horror and destruction we’re heading for will be unimaginably worse than what...
by Tom Vannah | Aug 28, 2013 | News
Like a majority of Massachusetts voters, I supported Question 3 in November. The ballot initiative, which passed by an incredible 2 to 1 margin, legalized medical marijuana in Massachusetts. State government has found ways to frustrate the wishes of voters before;...
by Advocate staff | Sep 11, 2013 | News
Should the Massachusetts Legislature repeal the law that applies the 6.25 percent sales tax to computer services?
by Advocate staff | Aug 28, 2013 | News
Track Your Local Dollars You know that spending your money locally is good for the Valley’s economy. But do you know just how good? Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture, or CISA, has developed a nifty tool to help measure just how much of your grocery...
by Advocate staff | Sep 17, 2013 | News
An Eighth Wonder of the World? The Great Pyramid of Giza. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon. The Lighthouse of Alexandria. MassMoCA? The main problem with the Seven Wonders of the World is that there has never been an eighth one. Thankfully, that will change with this...
by Clive Thompson | Aug 28, 2013 | News
So you can’t wait for a self-driving car to take away the drudgery of driving? Me neither! But consider this scenario, recently posed by neuroscientist Gary Marcus: Your car is on a narrow bridge when a school bus veers into your lane. Should your self-driving...
by Advocate staff | Sep 17, 2013 | News
Casino Projects Now One-for-Two, With One Vote to Go By Maureen Turner West Springfield voters offered up an important reminder last week: in that famously mismatched battle, it was David who defeated Goliath. In this case, the Goliath was Hard Rock, the giant...
by Tom Vannah | Sep 17, 2013 | News
I wondered how Deval Patrick would deal with mounting criticism for his surprising and unpopular move to tax computer services in Massachusetts. I have to admit, I never thought he’d just admit it was a mistake and join the chorus demanding repeal. But...
by Jack Clarke | Sep 17, 2013 | News
October 29 marks the one-year anniversary of Superstorm Sandy. The cost of the largest Atlantic hurricane ever was the tragic loss of 159 human lives and $68 billion in damage. Experts predict 10 Sandy-like storms by the end of the century, and chances are the Bay...
by Rob Weir | Sep 18, 2013 | News
Call it the story that won’t die. A 2012 Gallup Poll purported to reveal that New Englanders are the least religious of all Americans, with Vermonters leading the non-churched pack and Bay Staters checking in at number four. This data has been endlessly...
by by Bob Bady | Sep 18, 2013 | News
The 1933 movie King Kong ends with a message that resonates when you ponder what brought Entergy to decide to close the Vermont Yankee nuclear power reactor next year: King Kong escapes from his captors and, clutching Ann Darrow, climbs to the top of New...
by Byline | Sep 24, 2013 | News
Coakley Tries Her Luck Again, This Time for Governor’s Office By Maureen Turner Last week, on the day Attorney General Martha Coakley announced her candidacy for governor, a report by the Associated Press noted the “curse” that plagued five...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 24, 2013 | News
The cow passersby feed to help the homeless has quickly become a fixture on North Pleasant Street in Amherst. Sculptor Kamil Peters created the cow, which honors the logo of Counterfeit Cow Productions, a film company that has released a film about homelessness in...
by Advocate readers | Sep 24, 2013 | News
Gallup Overlooked Twelve-Step Spirituality The Gallup Poll figures discussed in the article “About Those Irreligious New Englanders” (Sept. 19, 2013) do indeed deserve a closer look, as Rob Weir stated. I do not question the accuracy of the information in...
by Advocate staff | Sep 24, 2013 | News
Should electronic cigarettes be regulated by the federal government?
by Tom Vannah | Sep 25, 2013 | News
Last week I spent a few days in central Maine, where I took my golden retriever for some training. While I had a great time with a bunch of my hunting buddies—both the two- and four-legged varieties—I also absorbed an extra dose of the kind of regional...
by Tadeusz Wysocki | Sep 25, 2013 | News
Our soil is being degraded, and our actions may be killing it. In growing regions like California, we commonly sterilize soil to eradicate diseases, blights and insects. When soil is sterilized, sometimes all its life is destroyed. Constant planting of the same crops...
by Advocate staff | Oct 1, 2013 | News
DA’s Nomination Sparks Speculation About 2014 Election By Maureen Turner Last week’s news that Hampden District Attorney Mark Mastroianni has been nominated for a federal judgeship wasn’t a big surprise; the DA had acknowledged last summer...
by Advocate staff | Oct 1, 2013 | News
Groups Join Forces for First Upper Valley Gun Buyback A fifty-dollar gift card for each shotgun, handgun or rifle, and two $50 gift cards for each assault weapon, will be distributed by the Northwestern District Attorney’s office to people who bring in their...
by Advocate readers | Oct 1, 2013 | News
Weir Mischaracterized Westboro Baptist Church It was with great interest that I read Rob Weir’s coverage of the 2012 Gallup Poll on religiosity in the United States [“Faith in New England,” September 19, 2013]. While I appreciate Weir’s...
by Advocate staff | Oct 1, 2013 | News
Should the use of high-stakes testing (MCAS or PARCC) as a requirement for high school graduation in Massachusetts be stopped?
by Tom Vannah | Oct 2, 2013 | News
As the United Nations’ bleak report on global climate change made headlines last week, I was already brooding on a related matter. The immediate threat to my local environment—the many largely undeveloped tracts of wooded, hilly land around my home in...
by Stephanie Kraft | Oct 8, 2013 | News
The UMass system was becoming a very big player in the biosciences market even before the state and federal governments pumped in over $100 million during the last year for life science facilities for the state university. That input included $95 million for labs at...
by Maureen Turner | Oct 8, 2013 | News
Last month, Attorney General Martha Coakley ruled that a proposed 2014 ballot question that sought to make casinos illegal in Massachusetts was unconstitutional. But proponents of the question were not about to take no for an answer. The ballot initiative was the work...
by Tom Vannah | Oct 8, 2013 | News
When the federal government officially shut down just after midnight on Tuesday morning, Oct. 1, I was still awake, tossing and turning and worrying about all the things middle-class people with children to feed, clothe and educate and elderly parents to care for...
by Douglas Amy | Oct 8, 2013 | News
The Republican Party is escalating its attack on science. We are already used to a certain level of GOP hostility toward science. It routinely denies the validity of any scientific findings that contradict its political or religious biases. Global warming?...
by Advocate staff | Oct 8, 2013 | News
All Foxed Up Don’t like that your guys forced a government shutdown to avoid the looming specter of widespread health care coverage? Well, if you’re Fox News, there’s an easy solution to all that unseemliness. “Shutdown” is just so...
by Advocate staff | Oct 8, 2013 | News
Boys on Tape Open mics catch Holyoke city councilors discussing alternatives to Walmart, the perils of garlic and the appeal of pregnant women. By Maureen Turner There’s an old adage about the power of the media—never pick a fight with a man who buys ink...
by Advocate readers | Oct 9, 2013 | News
More About “Irreligious New Englanders” I am a life member of the American Humanist Association who takes issue with the entire subtextual frame of reference in Rob Weir’s “About Those Irreligious New Englanders” (September 19, 2013). The...
by Tom Vannah | Oct 15, 2013 | News
It was the call you never want to get, the call that comes at night, wakes you up, forces you abruptly out of your fog. I heard my sister’s voice and I knew something was wrong right away. She started out strong, but three words in, she lost her breath. She was...
by Advocate Staff | Oct 15, 2013 | News
No Ordinances, No Raise Activists push Mayor Sarno on anti-foreclosure regulations. by Maureen Turner It’s been more than two years since the Springfield City Council approved unanimously a pair of ordinances designed to address the problems caused by the high...
by Stephanie Kraft | Oct 15, 2013 | News
In the Valley and across the state, the bugs have still not been worked out of the Department of Unemployment Assistance’s new Web-based unemployment benefits system, and the nightmare of nonpayment is continuing for many applicants. Even worse, some are being...
by Advocate staff | Oct 15, 2013 | News
Remembering the Bread and Roses Strike In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the city of Lawrence was a flourishing center of the textile industry. But that success came on the backs of unskilled immigrant workers, the majority of them young women and girls, who...
by by Jack Kittredge | Oct 15, 2013 | News
This year has been a banner year for citizen activists concerned about Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) in our food. Beginning with the narrow 51 percent to 49 percent defeat of a ballot initiative calling for statewide labeling in California last fall, activist...
by Advocate readers | Oct 16, 2013 | News
Forget It, Fearmongers: GMOs Are Safe In his recent op-ed (“Why Label GMOs in Our Food?”, October 10, 2013), Jack Kittredge engages in the same shady, scientifically illiterate tactics that have unfortunately become a halmark of the anti-GMO movement. The...
by Advocate readers | Oct 22, 2013 | News
Where’s the Outrage Against Casinos? I empathize with Tom Vannah’s article about his favorite fishing spot being off limits due to the rising population in his town (“Crowd Control,” October 1, 2013). I live in Palmer. I have to live every day...
by by Advocate staff | Oct 22, 2013 | News
Bottle Bill Backers Press On By Maureen Turner It’s understandable that even the most ardent supporters might be feeling a bit of bottle-bill fatigue; for more than a decade, environmental groups and other activists have been fighting to get the bill expanded...
