News
by Lisa Gosselin | Feb 19, 2014 | News
“I’d love to move to Vermont and start a company here,” the snowboarder from Saratoga, N.Y. sighed as we shared a chairlift in Stowe. That was nine years ago. Chris Kaiser, who went on to found Vermont Peanut Butter, moved to Stowe in 2005, started...
by Tom Vannah | Mar 19, 2014 | News
Northampton? Progressive? Chris Matera mocks the idea, at least when it comes to the environment and the city’s stewardship of public lands, including its water supply and the watershed that feeds it. “How can a ‘progressive,’ relatively...
by Pete Redington | Feb 19, 2014 | News
Greg Saulmon walks past his pickup truck, and I follow. Down from the Route 116 bridge, back behind Levreault’s Garage and its big, barking, Rottweiler-looking dog, past the sound of an engine that gets louder and louder and louder until we can no longer talk...
by Douglas Amy | Mar 19, 2014 | News
Poverty is again on the political agenda in America. And one of the most persistent myths surrounding this issue is that the best way to reduce poverty is to increase equal opportunity. Many liberals and conservatives believe, for instance, that if the poor had much...
by Michael Carolan | Feb 19, 2014 | News
Like many who saw him perform, I won’t soon forget Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman. Not because I saw him on Broadway in a performance that drove me to tears. Nor because I show one of his movies to my students at the university where I teach....
by Stephanie Kraft | Mar 19, 2014 | News
When the Saturday a week before St. Patrick’s Day is also the first mild day after weeks of freezing cold, what do you get in a college town like Amherst? Some call it a party. Some call it a riot. In the sunny mid-afternoon, the Advocate observed that the...
by Stephanie Kraft | Feb 19, 2014 | News
Even more than racism, sexism—men’s and women’s—is hard to identify in ourselves. It’s conditioned into us even earlier than racism and class prejudices; it’s woven more tightly into our egos; and our first consciousness that...
by Advocate staff | Mar 26, 2014 | News
Water, Water, Everywhere March 22 was World Water Day, an international day of activism to promote water safety and sanitation. This week, the citizens’ sustainability group Greening Greenfield hosts a Water Weekend’s worth of films focused on threats to...
by Advocate staff | Feb 26, 2014 | News
Efforts to Limit Restraints on Pregnant Inmates Move Forward By Maureen Turner A proposal that would ban the use of shackles on pregnant prisoners in Massachusetts took an important step toward becoming law last week, when the legislative Joint Committee on Public...
by Stephanie Kraft | Mar 26, 2014 | News
Last year, two powerful men left lasting marks on public higher education in Massachusetts, and the events that pitted them against each other are still playing out. Evan Dobelle, who left his post as president of Westfield State University after running up hundreds...
by Tom Vannah | Feb 26, 2014 | News
The hacks have spoken. Northampton will get no casino mitigation money, and neither will Hampden—no chance for appeal. I am hardly surprised by this recent decision by the state Gaming Commission. Now that we’re down to the final stages of its selection of...
by Advocate staff | Mar 26, 2014 | News
After Eight Years, GMO Labeling Bill Makes Headway By Stephanie Kraft A GMO labeling bill first filed by state representative Ellen Story (D-Amherst) eight years ago, and co-sponsored by Rep. John Scibak (D-South Hadley), has been reported out of the state...
by by Advocate readers | Feb 26, 2014 | News
Skeptical of Case Against Tsarnaev In regard to letters in support of Attorney General Eric Holder’s decision to seek the death penalty in the case against alleged Boston Marathon bomber Dzokhar Tsarnaev, I have an idea: How about skipping a trial and just...
by Advocate readers | Mar 26, 2014 | News
Who’s Delusional, Gannon? Joe Gannon’s confused and pejorative attack (Letters: “Conspiracies and Actual Conspiracies,” March 13, 2014) on the skepticism of letter writer Charlotte Burns with regard to the government’s Boston Marathon...
by Ted Rall | Feb 26, 2014 | News
Politicians get called to account for their broken promises. So, too, should their celebrity supporters. When boldface names convince the hoi polloi to punch the chads that put their favorite candidates into positions of power, they must assume responsibility when...
by Maureen Turner | Mar 26, 2014 | News
The protracted battle between Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno and a group of city councilors over the leadership of the Springfield Police Department came to an end last week—or, at least, a temporary halt. On March 19, Sarno announced that he had selected SPD...
by Maureen Turner | Feb 26, 2014 | News
Massachusetts’ top court last week ruled against Springfield resident Bill Pepin, the vice president and general manager at WWLP, in a case that pitted property rights against environmental protections. Pepin and his wife, Marlene, filed the lawsuit against the...
by Lois Ahrens | Mar 26, 2014 | News
In Massachusetts, more than 5,000 women and men are jailed pretrial because they can’t make bail. They have been convicted of nothing. In February, at Framingham prison, 43 percent of women incarcerated there were awating trial. In October, 2013 at the Chicopee...
by Ed Collins | Feb 26, 2014 | News
The time is long overdue to raise the minimum wage in Massachusetts. The state Senate last year passed a bill that would increase the minimum wage over time from the current $8 per hour up to $11 per hour. It would also increase the minimum wage for so...
by Maureen Turner | Mar 26, 2014 | News
Late last year, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont set progressive hearts fluttering when he floated the idea that he might run for president (see “Bernie in 2016?”, Dec. 17, 2013, www.valleyadvocate.com). In a number of recent interviews, Sanders—a...
by Advocate staff | Feb 26, 2014 | News
Mass. Low Wage Workers Take a Hit The recession and its aftermath were especially rough on low-wage workers—and in Massachusetts, they’ve fared particularly poorly, according to figures recently released by the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington, D.C....
by Brooke Norton | Mar 26, 2014 | News
Whether they have a television or not, I encourage parents to discuss fact versus fiction in the media with their kids. Billboards, advertisements, photographs, blogs, magazines, video clips, and pornography are all accessible forms of media that kids can see without...
by Tom Vannah | Mar 4, 2014 | News
Will he or won’t he? Our governor likes to keep us guessing. And we media wags are only too happy to help him keep the question in the news: will Deval Patrick run for president? “Maybe, maybe,” he told reporters last week, when asked if he could...
by Advocate staff | Apr 2, 2014 | News
Not Your Mother’s Bartok The musicians of Bella’s Bartok are purveyors of a highly danceable brand of pop that borrows from many a direction and incorporates everything from mandolin and horns to accordion and unhinged facial hair. Theirs is a...
by Advocate staff | Mar 4, 2014 | News
The Casino Question: Round and Round She Goes By Maureen Turner The people of Revere have spoken—again. And yes, they really do want a casino. Last week, voters in that North Shore community approved Mohegan Sun’s $1.3 billion casino proposal for Suffolk...
by Advocate readers | Apr 2, 2014 | News
Blarney Blowout Underscores Bad Policing Regarding Stephanie Kraft’s article “The Blowout and the Blarney” (March 20, 2014), I only know what I have read about [the Blowout], but it looks like the mainstream media have blamed UMass for it simply...
by Tom Vannah | Apr 2, 2014 | News
Spring, I am sure, will be extra sweet this year. When it finally comes, that is—when the valleys here slowly turn from dull grays and browns to vibrant greens and yellows dabbed with every color in the rainbow, and the rivers turn from slate to sparkling blue....
by Maureen Turner | Apr 2, 2014 | News
Last week—St. Patrick’s Day, specifically—marked the seventh anniversary of the day Larry Kelley launched his blog, Only in the Republic of Amherst. Over those seven years, Kelley has become a force to be reckoned with, thanks to his mix of...
by Advocate staff | Apr 2, 2014 | News
By the Numbers 103: The number of megawatts of wind power now installed in Massachusetts, up from 3 megawatts in 2007. Last month, the state approved 12 new contracts for on-shore wind power from Maine and New Hampshire that will add a total of 409 megawatts to the...
by Advocate staff | Apr 2, 2014 | News
Nuke Workers Didn’t Wait for Bomb Squad By Stephanie Kraft In November, workers at the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant came across an unidentified object in the shipping and receiving area called the South Forty: a short length of pipe capped at both ends....
by Mark Roessler | Apr 9, 2014 | News
When documentary filmmaker Larry Hott asked me if he might borrow some of my Frederick Law Olmsted books, I was both honored and a bit protective. I’ve known and enjoyed the many documentaries Hott and his partner Diane Garey—also his co-producer, editor...
by Maureen Turner | Apr 9, 2014 | News
In February, the Federal Communications Commission put into effect new regulations limiting how much prisoners can be charged for phone calls. Under the new rules, interstate phone calls by prisoners are capped at 21 cents for debit calls and 25 cents per minute for...
by Advocate staff | Apr 9, 2014 | News
What’s a “GMO,” Anyway? It’s one of the greatest difficulties for consumers these days: basic elements in our lives, from cars to computers to food, require more and more technical, highly specialized knowledge to understand. As controversy...
by Advocate staff | Apr 9, 2014 | News
Fisher Fights to Get on GOP Gubernatorial Ballot By Maureen Turner While a field of five Democrats continues to battle to become their party’s gubernatorial nominee this fall, Charlie Baker has enjoyed the certainty of being the sole name on the Republican...
by Maureen Turner | Apr 9, 2014 | News
Several years ago, faced with the imminent closing of their town’s elementary school, a group of Worthington families took a bold step: they formed their own independent school. Now they’ve launched a major fundraising campaign, seeking to raise $300,000...
by Ted Rall | Apr 9, 2014 | News
As I waited for the body of a man who jumped in front of my train to be cleared from the tracks—less than a week before another train I was riding struck a suicide victim—it occurred to me that (a) I should check whether suicide rates are increasing due to...
by James Heflin | Apr 9, 2014 | News
It’s A Girl (Spirithouse) Lux Deluxe used to be known primarily for their unusual combination of youth and ability to play. The band formed in 2009, so its members have hardly become elder statesmen—they’ve still got the same lean energy and earnest...
by by Kitty Callaghan | Apr 9, 2014 | News
As a housing attorney in a legal aid program, I have represented many low-wage workers on the brink of being evicted because they could not pay their rent. To stop the eviction, tenants usually had to pay their current rent plus a monthly payment on the back rent....
by Advocate readers | Apr 9, 2014 | News
Black and White Call the Kettle Gray Elliot Tarry would like me to seem the bullying, deluded one (“Who’s Delusional, Gannon?”, Letters, March 27, 2014) while he should appear part of the skeptical cognoscenti, the wise shepherds who would lead sheep...
by Advocate staff | Apr 16, 2014 | News
By the Numbers 35 percent: The amount by which spending per student-athlete rose at community colleges between academic years 2003-2004 and 2010-2011, while per capita spending on other students declined 25 percent: The amount by which spending per student-athlete...
by by Advocate readers | Apr 30, 2014 | News
Sidewalks? No! I was furious to hear about new sidewalks along Route 9. I’m tired of the “Commonwealth” wasting my hard earned tax money on things that I don’t use. Why should I have to pay for sidewalks that are only going to be used nine...
by Stephanie Kraft | Apr 16, 2014 | News
To some, it’s a piece of decaying infrastructure that’s probably not worth the cost of repair and maintenance. Or they may not be aware of it at all. To others, it’s the linchpin of a small environmental paradise: a winding 70-acre lake under a...
by Ethan Gilsdorf | Apr 30, 2014 | News
2014 has already given us three momentous milestones in technology. There was the 30th anniversary of the Macintosh personal computer back in January. Then came the 10th birthday of Facebook in February. March celebrated 25 years since the beginning of the World Wide...
by Mark Roessler | Apr 16, 2014 | News
To the casual customer it might not seem likely, but a copy shop can be one of the most intense places to work. Early in my career, I spent several years as a budding graphic designer working in a series of New England copy shops. While I did my desktop publishing...
by Advocate staff | Apr 30, 2014 | News
Amid Calls for More Gas Pipeline, Activists Dig In By Stephanie Kraft Conflict is brewing between opponents of the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. project planned for Western Massachusetts and state and federal officials who want to see more natural gas infrastructure in...
by James Heflin | Apr 16, 2014 | News
High Sky (independent) Phil DaRosa used to play with Valley band Bathtub Mary. These days, he’s back where he grew up, on Martha’s Vineyard, making music with his band Dukes County Love Affair. The latest EP from that group reveals some highly...
by Maureen Turner | Apr 30, 2014 | News
Are Massachusetts residents turning against the prospect of casino gambling in the commonwealth? That depends on whom you ask. Polling numbers present a complicated picture: In a February Suffolk University poll of likely voters, respondents said they approved of...
by Pete Redington | Apr 16, 2014 | News
Derrick Gordon sat behind a table in the corner of a room in the basement of the Mullins Center, fielding (to mix a sports metaphor) questions. At a table 10 feet from Gordon, his former roommate Tyler Bergantino chatted with reporters. Across the room, UMass athletic...
by Stephanie Kraft | Apr 30, 2014 | News
Cut those low-hanging branches. Find the path your electrical service takes to reach your house. That’s what the Leverett broadband committee is telling its residents now that construction is about to begin on the town’s broadband network. “We expect...
by Tom Vannah | Apr 16, 2014 | News
It must have been a grand morning for most of the runners. Save some pre-race jitters and whatever last-minute scrambling it took to get to the starting line in Hopkinton, the hardest part—the months of training—was over. Waking to clear skies and cool...
by Deb Markowitz | Apr 30, 2014 | News
There was more good news this month for Vermont, with unemployment numbers reaching a low of 4 percent and Vermonters ranking first in the nation for eating vegetables and getting exercise. It’s no surprise to us. At the Agency of Natural Resources, we are...
by Advocate readers | Apr 16, 2014 | News
Rules to Grow By I’m a farmer. I care about the environment and depend on it to produce healthy, nutritious crops. Sales of my crops can be easily damaged by food safety scares resulting from someone cutting corners—I understand the need for regulation....
by James Heflin | Apr 30, 2014 | News
Brass Tacks (Clang!) In The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the entry for planet Earth reads “Mostly harmless.” In some respects, that’s the operative phrase for the latest from NRBQ, if perhaps without so much dismissiveness. The...
by Steve Hussey | Apr 16, 2014 | News
Dwight Eisenhower warned the country in 1959 that reckless defense spending would create a “military-industrial complex” in which the tail of industry wags the dog of policy. He has been proven devastatingly correct. Now, starting with No Child Left Behind...
by Maureen Turner | May 7, 2014 | News
How badly do the candidates running to be Massachusetts’ next governor want the job? For some, badly enough to sink serious amounts of their own money into their campaigns—in some cases, hundreds of thousands of dollars. Massachusetts campaign finance law...
by Advocate staff | Apr 16, 2014 | News
Displaced Students Envision a New, Green School By Maureen Turner Students at Springfield’s St. Michael’s Academy know more about construction than any middle-schoolers ought to: after all, it’s been a topic of great concern to the school...
by Tom Vannah | May 7, 2014 | News
Deval Patrick’s public statements about the troubled state Department of Children and Families on balance strike me as not only defensive, but defiant. When he said last week, for example, that the agency’s failures stem from a lack of computer...
by Advocate readers | Apr 23, 2014 | News
Gannon’s House of Cards On the one-year anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombing and lockdown, the ACLU has filed a lawsuit against the FBI demanding the release of documents and facts surrounding the FBI’s involvement before and after the tragedy....
by Advocate readers | May 7, 2014 | News
Berwick’s Progressive, Not “Dangerous” I object to the headline of your recent profile of gubernatorial candidate Don Berwick (The “Dangerous” Democrat, April 24). What an irresponsible title for this article! Don Berwick is a progressive...
by Maureen Turner | Apr 23, 2014 | News
Last month, when state Rep. Cheryl Coakley-Rivera (D-Springfield) announced that she was leaving her seat for a job in the Hampden Superior Court Clerk’s office, Sal Circosta decided to jump into the race to succeed her. A month later, Circosta has changed his...
