News
by Amanda Drane | Oct 1, 2014 | News
Three male 20-somethings walk into a CVS. All three immediately double back and walk out, murmuring about what this country is coming to and who CVS thinks they are. Why? In a sudden move, CVS stopped selling tobacco products at the beginning of September—a...
by Hunter Styles | Oct 8, 2014 | News
On the day Ben Glushein opened Port MA, his new Main Street clothing store, he received a small potted cactus. The cactus came from the home goods store Kestrel on Masonic Street, owned and run by Eliza Jane Bradley, where it was bought by Kristin Kelly, the owner of...
by Jeff Jackson | Oct 8, 2014 | News
Love Is Here To Stay (Subliminal Sounds) In recent years, a treasure trove of previously unheard electronic music from the 1960s and ’70s has been newly released. The latest discovery is Love Is Here To Stay by Swedish instrumentalist Bo Anders Persson....
by Tom Vannah | Oct 8, 2014 | News
At first, I was just irritated. Traffic happens. It’s a bummer, but what are you going do? Just take a deep breath, turn up the stereo, try to think about something pleasant. After more than four months, my patience is worn thin. By my rough calculations,...
by Amanda Drane | Oct 8, 2014 | News
The Massachusetts Land Court recently reinstated Palmer Renewable Energy’s permit to construct a wood-burning power plant on the existing Palmer Paving Corporation property in East Springfield—the latest move in a seven-year chess game between the...
by John O?Neil | Oct 15, 2014 | News
There’s a new kind of money. It’s in the air, its electrical impulses flowing from your smartphone or your laptop to other smartphones or laptops. There are no fees, no banks, no regulators. To an outsider or newbie, Bitcoin can sound shady and hard to...
by Tom Vannah | Oct 15, 2014 | News
Spensley Rickert helps a customer mash two bales of straw into the back of an economy-sized hatchback and turns to greet me. “Top o’ the mornin’ to you,” Rickert says, spreading his arms as if to present me with the spectacular day it’s...
by James Heflin | Oct 15, 2014 | News
It’s one of those days that only happens in the fall—clouds tumble over each other, the first colonies of fallen leaves edge the road, and the sun breaks through now and then to gild the farm fields. It’s surprisingly warm, and the road stretching...
by Advocate Readers | Oct 15, 2014 | News
Trees for the Future Regarding your coverage of Palmer Renewable Energy’s plan to build a biomass plant in Springfield (“The Burning Question,” Oct. 9): John Bos, a “climate change columnist” needs to do his homework. Any true...
by Advocate Readers | Oct 15, 2014 | News
Thanks for Sharing A sincere thanks to all those who took the trouble to screw the cap tightly onto their soda/water/liquor bottle before tossing it aside or leaving it upon the bank as you drove/biked/walked/boated along the shores and waters of the Connecticut, the...
by Tom Vannah | Oct 22, 2014 | News
By the time Bill Clinton rolled into Worcester last week to stump for Martha Coakley, the 2014 gubernatorial race was already a dull affair. While polls since Labor Day show it to be very close—a real nail-biter if seen solely as a horse race—the contest...
by Hunter Styles | Oct 22, 2014 | News
Clancy Kaye spent the past 32 years working as a mechanic at the Mt. Tom coal plant. On June 2, he and his 27 coworkers heard the news: the plant would close on Oct. 1. Kaye, 53, lives on a quiet cul-de-sac in Holyoke. He’s the kind of guy who can strike up a...
by Amanda Drane | Oct 22, 2014 | News
In a pre-calculus class that began at 7:35 a.m., honors students at Springfield’s Renaissance School were learning how to find the periods, phase shifts, and amplitudes on a graphed equation. But first, they needed to peel their eyes open. Teacher Rebecca...
by Jeffrey Good | Oct 22, 2014 | News
In Ferguson, protesters rise up over allegations of police brutality and the ravages of American racism. In Keene last weekend, rioters rose up over their right to be … stupid. In a beer-soaked contretemps to the New Hampshire city’s family-oriented...
by John O?Neil | Oct 22, 2014 | News
Walk into Diemand Farm, a collection of buildings sitting atop one of Wendell’s green, rolling hills, and an Open sign greets you from the front window of the farm’s small diner. The smell of brewing coffee and freshly baked scones fills the air. The food...
by Tom Vannah | Oct 29, 2014 | News
Next week, Massachusetts voters will have the historic opportunity to push back against the cynicism that has kept the prospect of casino gaming alive here for more than two decades. By voting yes on Question 3, a plurality of voters can put the casino genie back in...
by Advocate Readers | Oct 29, 2014 | News
Yes Means No to Casinos You’ve probably seen the ads funded by out-of-state casino money making grand promises for Massachusetts. Some of the ads don’t even mention the word casino. These ads also talk about only one side of ledger, and history has told us...
by Amanda Drane | Oct 29, 2014 | News
The throngs of drunken college students who disrupted neighborhoods and clashed with cops in Amherst last spring and in Keene more recently came not just from those college towns but from campuses across the Northeast. And no wonder: Social media megaphones like...
by Advocate Readers | Oct 29, 2014 | News
Diemand Farm: Finest Kind Regarding your piece on the Diemand farm last week (“Farming Outside the Cage,” Oct. 16): As family farmers, we’ve met of a lot of others over the years. The Diemands are, for sure, among the finest kind, respected for their...
by Hunter Styles | Nov 5, 2014 | News
The officers in the parking lot make a circle when Sergeant John Delaney pulls up in his cruiser. “There he is,” one says. “The gatekeeper of the Orchard.” Delaney didn’t choose this nickname, but his roots in Indian Orchard run deep. He...
by James Heflin | Nov 5, 2014 | News
Walk into Northampton Coffee these days, and you’re greeted by a weird sight. Beside the expected contraptions—espresso machine, big grinder, vast coffee urns—something new and strange lurks. It’s a vision that could make Dr. Frankenstein take...
by Amanda Drane and Hunter Styles | Nov 5, 2014 | News
The handwritten sign at Christina Weibel’s feet reads: “Please help this stereotyped sober soul survivor with daily struggle.” “People ask me what that means,” she says. “I tell them that drugs and alcohol tried to suck up my soul,...
by Amanda Drane | Nov 5, 2014 | News
Just west of Rytuba Pumpkin Farm on Bay Road in Hadley, neon orange construction signs offer a festive forewarning. Just around the bend, a sea of a different shade of orange comes into view. When I open the car door, the smell of soil nearly overwhelms me. The row of...
by Tom Vannah | Nov 5, 2014 | News
Tom Menino had a big, fat, warm handshake. A hulking guy in his prime, he likely could have crushed your hand if he’d wanted to, but instead he just smothered it. The first time I met the late mayor of Boston was in 1993. He was President of the Boston City...
by Pete Redington | Nov 12, 2014 | News
T he University of Massachusetts recently announced a new contract extension for men’s basketball coach Derek Kellogg, who, with an annual salary of $994,500, is set to become the highest paid state employee in the Commonwealth. The new contract comes...
by Advocate Readers | Nov 12, 2014 | News
Boycott the Casino Massachusetts has been a leader in the past. The Bay State was a close second after Vermont to outlaw slavery in 1779, the first state with marriage equality as of 2004, but alas, not the first state to say “no” to casinos. We are now...
by Pete Redington | Nov 12, 2014 | News
Abandoned cars sit sprawled out in a patch of woods in Pelham. Windshields smashed in, windows missing, headlights gone, metallic bodies rusted and decaying; they lie motionless, a demented traffic jam on that slow but inevitable road of erosion back to the earth. One...
by James Heflin | Nov 12, 2014 | News
In the 1996 movie Swingers, two guys, yelling and pumping their fists with excitement, set out for Las Vegas from Los Angeles. At first, they chant, “Vegas, baby! Vegas!” As the drive wears on and on, their excitement slips right out the window. Even then,...
by Advocate Readers | Nov 12, 2014 | News
Unfair to Keene State In response to Jeffery Good’s article about the riots at Keene State College (“Recreational Rioting,” Oct. 22), I would like to say that I have a son who is a senior at Keene State, and he, as well as many other students at the...
by Chris Rohmann | Nov 19, 2014 | News
The first line in Ranjit Bolt’s adaptation of Aristophanes’ Lysistrata is “Where the fuck are these women?” Which tells us right away that this is no “faithful” translation of what is perhaps the world’s oldest sex farce as...
by Hunter Styles | Nov 19, 2014 | News
Glance at Michelle, Aimee, Micah and Ian on the street and you might assume they’re two straight couples — or two gay couples. But they’re all going home together. That home is a large, sunny house in the Forest Park neighborhood of Springfield....
by Hunter Styles | Nov 19, 2014 | News
Finding someone who is single and interesting is challenging enough. Throw in the poly requirement and the search for love takes on a whole new twist. So regular poly meet-ups were born. Online, in living rooms and at happy hours, meet-ups are being hosted so members...
by Hunter Styles | Nov 19, 2014 | News
In 2001, Justin Cascio was living with his dominatrix girlfriend in Brooklyn when he met Kevin Collins, who was also living with a girlfriend. They had a lot in common. Justin and Kevin were both transitioning from female to male. And they were both polyamorous. Life...
by Tom Vannah | Nov 19, 2014 | News
W hen I was in my first job out of college, I went out drinking one night with my supervisor, a vice president of sales and marketing in the Hartford-based property and casualty insurance company where we worked. As the beer flowed, our conversation turned inevitably...
by Advocate readers | Nov 19, 2014 | News
Military flights! The fighter jets are from Barnes in Westfield. The transport is stationed at Westover. These pilots need to constantly fly to keep their skills honed razor sharp. They can’t do that sitting in an armchair simulator. In a real event these pilots...
by Amanda Drane | Nov 19, 2014 | News
On September 2, Mike Samson, bass player for the band EasyBaby, was riding his motorcycle from Norwich to Middletown down Connecticut’s Route 66. It was a beautiful day—and possibly the last one Samson will spend on a bike. As Samson drove through East...
by Kristin Palpini | Nov 29, 2014 | News
We’ve all been there: Sitting at your desk waiting forever for an email to open, or counting up the seconds it’s taking Netflix to stream that new Trailer Park Boys special — Can you believe it’s taking this long? Waiting for the Internet to...
by Hunter Styles | Nov 29, 2014 | News
Need a hand with something in Northampton? Andrew Bombard is the guy you call. If that sounds a little vague, just look at his business card: “Jack of all trades, master of four.” When asked about it, Bombard, 50, just grins. “Those would be kissing...
by Chris Rohmann | Nov 29, 2014 | News
The annual performance of Sandglass Theater’s signature work is more than a tradition. Autumn Portraits captures the very spirit of this bittersweet season with a series of poignant cameos portraying moments in the “autumn” of life. Eric Bass has...
by Amanda Drane | Nov 29, 2014 | News
If there were a doyen of Valley nightlife, it would probably be Big Rick. If you’ve been dancing in Northampton, chances are you’ve seen Rick Gifford. A fixture since the ’80s, the 51-year-old Gifford is well-known at local hotspots for working it on...
by Kristin Bezio | Nov 29, 2014 | News
Since late August, a group of gamers has been waging an online war against women. In those few months, developers, journalists and critics in the gaming industry have been “driven out” — of the industry, offline and even literally out of their homes....
by Hunter Styles | Nov 29, 2014 | News
The Nov. 4, vote against Ballot Question 3 and the Repeal the Casino Deal movement locked in a promising future for MGM Springfield, which plans to break ground on its downtown casino complex before the end of the calendar year. But the future is less clear for many...
by Amanda Drane | Nov 29, 2014 | News
Outside the John W. Olver Transit Center in Greenfield, a bus has arrived and is emanating a sound like a jackhammer tearing up cement. The bus’ door is malfunctioning; it appears something is caught in its tracks. The woman driving the bus is able to pull on...
by Advocate staff | Nov 29, 2014 | News
Amanda Drane, reporter Thank you, Mimmo’s in Northampton, for offering colossal, $3 pizza slices. For $6, my cravings for saucy pizza awesomeness are (a little too) satisfied. I’ve been eating your pizza for years and I have yet to get over the...
by Pete Redington | Dec 3, 2014 | News
About a mile past the X on Route 83, after Donut Dip and Pasquale’s Restaurant and Tavern, just over the Springfield city line into East Longmeadow, next to the Pride gas station, is Competitive Edge Ski & Bike. It’s not the typical location for a ski...
by James Heflin | Dec 3, 2014 | News
If the parents were planets, the kids were mad moons, orbiting and careening as excitement rattled their frames. It’s a phenomenon you can often see at the toy-shop end of South Deerfield’s Yankee Candle. But on a recent Saturday, a line stretched from...
by Tom Vannah | Dec 3, 2014 | News
So far this fall, I’ve spent approximately 75 hours in the woods of Maine trying to kill a deer. I spent at least that much time hunting during Maine’s rifle season last year and I came home empty-handed. Starting this week, I’ll spend time in my...
by Amanda Drane | Dec 3, 2014 | News
As winter’s first swells swirl in, you’re likely breaking out the humidifiers and heating pads and thinking about how best to bolster your immune system for the season. We’ve all heard about flu shots and DayQuil, but there’s a lot more you can...
by Amanda Drane | Dec 3, 2014 | News
In the category of: Why wasn’t this already a thing? Massachusetts recently became the first state in the nation to require health care facilities and insurance providers make cost-of-service estimates available to patients in advance of undergoing medical...
by Hunter Styles | Dec 3, 2014 | News
The bookstore is full of tiny books on tiny shelves, with titles inked finely onto covers and spines. The detail in this diorama — a scale model by Williamsburg artist Judith Abraham, aka Iris Bloom — is impressive, and the art gallery visitors standing...
by Hunter Styles | Dec 10, 2014 | News
The site of the Springfield casino won’t look like anything much until 2015, but eight neighboring communities saw a tangible advance this past Friday in the form of cold hard cash. MGM distributed nearly $2 million to nearby communities as the first installment...
by Pete Redington | Dec 10, 2014 | News
As media members from The Republican, the Daily Hampshire Gazette, ABC 40 Springfield, and CBS 3 Springfield waited under a wintry noonday sun, 200 students walked out of class to the applause of a handful of older activists and gathered at the entrance to Amherst...
by Tom Vannah | Dec 10, 2014 | News
Mike winced when I winced. “Not good. You’re a mess,” he said, his thumb probing the collection of muscles and tendons that comprise my rotator cuff. After working over my shoulder, decorating the upper right side of my body in blue physio tape, Mike...
by Amanda Drane | Dec 10, 2014 | News
Early in her career in the restaurant and bar industry, Felicia Lundquist’s boss said something to her that — unlike his earlier rude comments — she just couldn’t brush off. On that night, Lundquist and a few co-workers were wrapping up their...
by Hunter Styles | Dec 10, 2014 | News
Aubretia “Windy” Edick wears her Walmart story. She often sports the distinctive blue vest worn by all store employees, and a large badge announces her name in capital letters. But layered on top of her standard ensemble are buttons and pins. One reads,...
by Tom Vannah | Dec 10, 2014 | News
During the ascent to the top of Berkshire East Mountain resort’s new rollercoaster, the Thunderbolt, a man has plenty of time to study the steep incline of the longest alpine coaster track in North America — and the jagged, vertiginous underlying terrain....
by Hunter Styles | Dec 18, 2014 | News
Getting kids to eat their veggies ain’t easy. But it’s even harder when you’re serving soggy samples from a thawed-out block of greens. For the first four years of operations at the Western Mass Food Processing Center, that’s about as good as...
by Tom Vannah | Dec 18, 2014 | News
When I came to the Valley Advocate in the late spring of 1995, I had the overwhelming sense that I was coming home. And it was a homecoming of sorts. I’d spent important years of my youth in the Pioneer Valley, had gone to nursery school and kindergarten in the...
by Amanda Drane | Dec 18, 2014 | News
Every day between 7 and 9 a.m., the self-proclaimed “Outlook Farm gang” gathers. Mismatching tables and chairs, along with a wrap-around wooden countertop, form the meeting ground. Wooden walls give way to caged, country-style windows, and a portrait of...
by Advocate Readers | Dec 18, 2014 | News
Moving to make way for MGM? Don’t forget about Holyoke Very interesting article (Raising the Stakes: Springfield’s South End businesses relocate to make way for MGM, Nov. 8, 2014), but it didn’t go far enough. MGM, the city of Springfield, and the...
