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- Northampton Redoubt
- Northampton DPW
- North Street Neighborhood Association: Keep it Green
- MassLive Northampton Forun
- Tommy Devine
- The Local Buzz: Greg Saulmon and Bill Peters
- Downstreet with Ed Shanahan
- Kirby on the Loose
- The Northamptonist
- Life in the NohoDome by Jim Neil
- Kelsey Flynn dot com
- Only in the Republic of Amherst
- MichaelAnnLand: MichaelAnn Bewsee
- About Amherst
- The Springfield Intruder: Bill Dusty
- Valley Post by Eesha Williams
- Iron Horse Entertainment Group Blog
- The Enviro Show on WXOJ
- On Springfield: Maureen Turner
- Rambling Van Dog
- Mischief Robot
- Berkshire Environmental Action Team
- Hilltown Families
- The Prospect Perspective
Elsewhere…
City Clerk Wendy Mazza Says: License Your Dog Already!
You’ve got to do it by April 1st. Info at this link.
Secretary Ian Bowles hikes into the Conway State Forest
Bowles and a team of biologists from MassWildlife checked out a black bear den today as part of a long-term state-wide bear study. MA Energy and Environmental Affairs.
Narkewicz on Trash: The Bill Dwight Show on WHMP
On Tuesday, Council President David Narkewicz spoke with WHMP’s Bill Dwight about the landfill resolution. audio.
Six MA regional library systems would be merged under Patrick’s plan
Charlie Dietz for WAMC news
Tacy on Dwight Show re Drugs and Sex Discussion SNAFU at Subcommittee
Can you stand it any more? Ward 7 Councilor Gene Tacy appeared on WHMP’s Bill Dwight show on Monday, and defended a recent subcommittee discussion that veered into topics related to drugs, sex, and public access to the wild open spaces. Here’s a link to audio of the show.
Tony Baye Denies Involvement with 12-27-09 Fires: CBS3 Video
CBS3 got footage from inside the courtroom at Monday’s hearing, and interviewed defense lawyers Tom Lesser and David Hoose. CBS3 got at least one detail wrong in their reporting: Baye is not being held at the Northampton Police lockup, but at the Hampshire Jail and House of Correction on Rt. 66.
Bucket loader vote tabled indefinitely
Video of Council discussion on the bucket loader appropriation has been uploaded to the NM Vimeo Channel; here’s the link. Errors were made in the procurement process, Higgins said. Procurement officer Joe Cook, financial director Chris Pile, and Parking Czar Bill Letendre spoke. The council, lacking the 2/3 majority needed for the appropriation, eventually voted to indefinitely table their vote on the fund transfer. Video courtesy of Northampton Community Television.
Tony Baye pleads innocent
Anthony P. Baye is being defended by Northampton lawyers David P. Hoose and Tom Lesser against 2 charges of murder and 42 other charges related to the multiple house and vehicle fires of Dec. 27, 2009. The DA’s office has not as of yet released any discovery materials to defense lawyers, Lesser told reporters after today’s hearing at Hampshire Superior Court.
Daily Collegian livestreaming SGA debate, tune in Monday evening
Promising new media producer Sean Sullivan of the Daily Collegian is out in the field tonight livecasting the UMass Student Government Association debates using simple tools: a laptop, a webcam, and a UStream Channel. Tune in here on Monday evening to watch this event.
The Whole Meeting
For those who asked, here’s video of the entire Feb 22 meeting of the Committee on Social Services and Veterans Affairs. Early in the meeting, Mayor Higgins updated the committee on issues involving public health delivery in the city.
Tony Baye officially charged in Superior Court with 44 counts including murder
22 News WWLP. Details of the Baye indictment here.
Gambling debate could heat up this week
Governor Patrick has been pushing for expanded gambling in Massachusetts since he took office, and House Speaker DeLeo is expected to unveil a proposal.
Cooley Dickinson to open walk-in clinic in Amherst
The Daily Collegian
Mass Medical Society testifies against biomass plants
“Biomass combustion electricity generation plants pose an unacceptable public health risk,” said Northampton’s Dr. Jefferson Dickey in testimony before the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy on Feb. 26 in support of House Bill 4458, “An Act to Limit Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Renewable and Alternative Energy Sources.”
Springfield’s Decade in Murder
Patrick Johnson for MassLive
MIT’s Media Lab moves into $90 million building designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect
Massachusetts, even in the face of economic recession, continues its tradition as a center of global innovation. MIT’s new media lab is designed with “No boundaries, no walls, a flow of interdisciplinary ideas, and plenty of space to build and invent.’’ Great photo and video tour of an amazing building designed to support collaborative research projects. Hiawatha Bray reports for the Boston Globe.
“They’re making a big manhole of this”
Fred Contrada, reporting for MassLive, covers the Social Services Committee “drug powwow.”
Daily Collegian aggregates media coverage of campus sexual assault scandal
Journalism student S. P. Sullivan is Managing Web Editor of the Daily Collegian, UMass Amherst’s daily news publication.
Northampton Food Security Meeting
Help plan for a local food system that provides “abundant, reliable, safe, and nutritious food for its residents in the face of rising fuel costs.” Thursday, March 11, 7 pm; Thornes basement.
Cedar Chest evicted from Thornes Marketplace
Channel 22 News is reporting that Doug Kohl, owner of Thornes Marketplace, has evicted Cedar Chest, an anchor retail tenant in the building
Rt 291 traffic stop yields 1,000 bags of heroin; 3 Pittsfield men arrested
Drug raids across the Berkshires also conducted by police in ongoing investigation.
Lone gunman shoots two police officers at entrance to Pentagon; shooter critically injured
Washington Post w video
Northampton’s Chris Matera featured in Boston Globe
Matera, founder of Massachusetts Forest Watch, speaks for the trees… and is exposing shoddy forestry practices on our public lands.
Stop & Shop workers poised to strike
WWLP Ch 22 News
Survival Center Plans Unveiled
Before going public on Tuesday, the capital campaign had already raised $483,000, more than half of its goal. Story on MassLive.
Supreme Court may strike down local handgun bans
due process clause of the 14th Amendment cited
Stop & Shop negotiations getting worse
A standoff between Stop & Shop and its 40,000 workers continues today. The union said a strike could be imminent. WWLP Ch22 News.
Survival Center to get addition
Mass Live
Jason Vassell Status Hearing Draws Crowd
photo by Amy Bookbinder.
Story on MassLive. Vassell’s lawyers given until March 26 to study files released by DA.
Northampton VA has new director
WAMC News
Bill Newman’s ACLU Minute
On the topic of sex between consenting adults…even when money changes hands. WHMP.
Man smashes car and shop windows with skateboard; is quickly restrained by NPD
by Jason Vanasse and Sky Sutton | Mar 10, 2010 7:11 pm | Comments (0)
Photos by Sky Sutton, words by Hamp Scanner’s Jason Vanasse.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010, 5 p.m., 56*, Dry & Sunny
While at home with my friend we heard a call come across the scanner for a shoplifter at Pop’s Package Store (now located in the former L&H TV and Appliance. RIP Gary.) Reportedly a Hispanic male in his early 20’s roughly 5’8” weighing in at about 175 lbs had taken a $1.50 22 oz. can of Steel Reserve. He told the cashier “I’m taking this,” and on his way out he kicked the glass front door leaving a spidery crack in the glass.
Continue reading ‘Man smashes car and shop windows with skateboard; is quickly restrained by NPD’ »
“Mistakes were made, and I made them”—Parking Commissioner Bill Letendre
by Mary Serreze | Mar 10, 2010 11:19 am | Comments (0)
Bucket loader appropriation fails to gather necessary 2/3 support of City Council
A resolution before Council last Thursday to transfer $134,000 from the Parking Meter Reserve Fund to pay for a John Deere bucket loader for the Parking Division ended in a stalemate.
[Video clip courtesy of Northampton Community Television]
Continue reading ‘“Mistakes were made, and I made them”—Parking Commissioner Bill Letendre’ »
Public Session, Thursday March 4 at Council Chambers
by Mary Serreze | Mar 9, 2010 3:29 pm | Comments (0)
Speakers at public comment session at Council Chambers on March 4 spoke on the bucket loader appropriation, the landfill resolution, the maverick subcommittee sex ads and drugs discussion, and other topics. We know you don’t have anything better to do! About 53 minutes long.
Video clip courtesy of Northampton Community Television.
City Council gives preliminary OK to Coca Cola Tax Break
by David Reid | Mar 7, 2010 8:25 am | Comments (1)
A similar, much larger tax deal fizzled in 1997 when Coke missed promised hiring goals.
NORTHAMPTON – A small but significant property tax break for the Coca-Cola proposed plant expansion here is one giant step closer to reality after the City Council voted 8-0 on a first reading for the measure March 4. A second vote is expected March 18.
Continue reading ‘City Council gives preliminary OK to Coca Cola Tax Break’ »
“Committee on Public Morals” criticized at public session; LaBarge issues statement
by Mary Serreze | Mar 5, 2010 3:53 pm | Comments (11)
Citizen Mary Kasper, speaking at public session at the March 4 meeting of the Northampton City Council, issued a fiery rebuke to the Committee on Social Services and Veterans Affairs. (NCTV video) (Related story on MassLive.)
Residents meet with Republican newspaper rep over unwanted Extra
by Vincent Bator | Mar 5, 2010 2:31 pm | Comments (6)
Area residents had banded together on Facebook against the unpopular purple-bagged advertising supplement
(Sandra Rubin of ACI (left) and Ed Gaiser (right) of the Springfield Republican meet with Cindy Bow, Jean-Pierre Pasche, Lynzi Wildheart and Heather McLean)
Continue reading ‘Residents meet with Republican newspaper rep over unwanted Extra’ »
Council to BPW: “terminate” action on landfill expansion and make closure plan
by Mary Serreze | Mar 5, 2010 7:57 am | Comments (1)
Landfill foes prevailed last night in their bid to amend one key word in an order, introduced by Councilors Narkewicz and Schwartz, that addresses the topic of Northampton’s waste management future. The resolution, as passed on first reading, now calls for the Board of Public Works to “terminate” rather than “suspend” landfill expansion activity in order to engage in a public planning process about Northampton’s waste future.
Continue reading ‘Council to BPW: “terminate” action on landfill expansion and make closure plan’ »
Landfill resolution before City Council
by Mary Serreze | Mar 4, 2010 10:40 am | Comments (0)
City Council President David Narkewicz (photo) and Ward 4 Councilor Pamela Schwartz will introduce a resolution at Council tonight which advises the Board of Public Works (BPW) to suspend further action on expanding the city’s regional landfill. The resolution calls for a public planning planning process to determine how Northampton will manage its solid waste when the current landfill cells will be closed and capped, which DPW staffers estimate will happen sometime in 2011 or 2012.
Continue reading ‘Landfill resolution before City Council’ »
Ward 3 Councilor Angela Plassmann defends her anti-pot crusade
by Guest Columnist | Mar 1, 2010 2:19 pm | Comments (16)
Ward 3 City Councilor Angela Plassmann has asked Northampton Media to publish an entry from her website where she defends her bid to raise fines for public marijuana use in the Paradise City. A video clip of a Social Services and Veterans Affairs committee meeting where Councilors Plassmann, Tacy, and LaBarge discuss not only pot fines but a smorgasbord of law-and-order issues is making the rounds on the web, and has drawn a lot of criticism and commentary.
Here’s Plassman’s response:
Continue reading ‘Ward 3 Councilor Angela Plassmann defends her anti-pot crusade’ »
Drug Sniffing Dogs, Gating the Meadows, etc…Comments?
by Mary Serreze | Feb 27, 2010 10:10 pm | Comments (41)
NM recently uploaded this video to our Vimeo Channel. It shows the City Council Committee on Social Services and Veterans Affairs discussing a range of issues including pot smoking, escort ads in the Valley Advocate, and public access to Northampton’s Great Meadows. It’s drawn a lot of attention and commentary on both the MassLive Northampton forum and on Facebook. Time to bring it back home. Readers, what do you think? Please keep comments civil and focused on the issues. Thank you—MCS.
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Northampton Media
Mary Serreze, Publisher .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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Northampton Media was founded in September of 2009, just in time to cover a contentious local election. The idea was founded at the Haymarket Cafe over a series of discussions that involved a moving collection of new media creators and bloggers, including Paolo Mastrangelo, Mike Kirby, Adam Cohen, Bill Densmore, and others. A road trip to New Haven to meet with Paul Bass, founder of the New Haven Independent, served as an inspiration to create a local news site that focuses on news from Northampton, Massachusetts.
Startup funding for web development was made possible by a grant from Adam Cohen. Paul Bass offered NM 501©(3) fiscal sponsorship through the Online Journalism Project. Serreze, working with SmartPill Design in New Haven, launched the enterprise. Serreze, as publisher and editor of the site, is fully responsible for all content and maintains fierce editorial independence from all financial donors, sponsors, and advertisers.
In December of 2009, NM broadened its base of support by asking for individual donations from a diverse collection of local news fans. Thanks to dozens of people who sent donations, we’ve been able to retain the services of Easthampton-based web developer April Francis. We’ll be relaunching soon with an exciting new site template that will support custom advertising solutions.
Northampton Media is a web-based news organization publishing at http://www.northamptonmedia.com. We endeavor to provide a one-stop-shopping location for fans of Northampton-centric news, and feature original reporting as well as links to the best content being produced by a host of local and regional media outlets. We’ll stick to the issues, refrain from personal attack, and get both sides of the story.
We believe in the nimble, street-level approach to collecting the news—no cubicles here. Using simple tools—cameras, audio recorders, and laptops—we’re building a low-overhead, high-energy, 21st-century news organization.