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Around Town

Hot EMTs spotted at Serio’s

by Mary Serreze | Feb 28, 2010 6:28 pm | Comments (2)

Northampton’s Finest, at Serio’s Market for lunch. ‘Cause everybody’s got to eat.

cute emt 3

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The Running Man of Baye Pond

by Sky Sutton | Feb 25, 2010 3:51 pm | Comments (6)


When the bodies of four local men were discovered in the woods and ponds of Northampton, Massachusetts during the spring of 2009, I wanted to find out more. My crew of adventurers, along with local, state and environmental police, a mysterious visitor, and the men from Tent City all helped to fill in the blanks. Who was the dead man found floating in Baye Pond?

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Last Day at Smitty’s

by Mary Serreze | Feb 14, 2010 6:10 pm | Comments (0)

Big pancakes, families, two television stations, and Smitty himself. A bittersweet morning at the heart of Bay State as the Village Store on Riverside Drive cranked up the grill for the last time. Here’s the ABC 40 report.
smitty
pancake

HampScanner Twitter Feed Launched

by Mary Serreze | Feb 4, 2010 9:30 am | Comments (0)

Much has been made, in new media circles, of the idea of “crowdsourcing” the news. In Northampton, a growing number of citizen reporters maintain twitter feeds—and post, in real time, from a cellphone or laptop, what they see, hear, or discover.

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Saving the News: McChesney and Nichols to Speak

by Mary Serreze | Feb 1, 2010 10:55 am | Comments (0)

University of Illinois Professor Robert McChesney. Photo by Brian L. Stauffer.

Robert McChesney and John Nichols will speak about their new book — The Death and Life of American Journalism — at the University of Massachusetts’ Goodell Building this evening at 5 p.m.

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Arson Benefits Galore

by Mary Serreze | Jan 21, 2010 2:41 pm | Comments (0)

Arts and Entertainment Editor Vincent Bator reports on upcoming arson benefit events at the Academy of Music, the Rendevous in Turners Falls, the Sierra Grille, and at William Baczek Fine Arts. Read More…

The Night Paradise Burned

by Sky Sutton | Jan 14, 2010 2:12 pm | Comments (2)

“An arrest comes quickly. Some people wonder if it came too quickly. I’m stunned to hear the name Anthony Baye on the radio. I don’t believe it. I must’ve heard that wrong. I run out for a paper. I call my Grandmother.”market st northampton night of fires

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Volkmann, Ghiselin, Ford, and More: Start Anew on the Hotel Project

by Press Release | Jan 8, 2010 7:38 am | Comments (2)

Hmm. It’s easy for Mayor Higgins to ignore the young and artsy Hoopers Against the Hilton (Die Hilton Die!!! on YouTube), but when Northampton’s boomer-gen good-government crowd takes a stand, watch out. Former City Councilor Alex Ghiselin, former Mayor Mary Ford, Zoning Revision Committee Chairperson Joel Russell, and more are asking city officials to stop extending deadlines to the developer of the the proposed downtown Hilton Garden Inn and to “develop a process for determining how the land can best be used and designed based on good practices and full public participation.”

Read their call to action, dated January 7, 2010, below the fold.

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Purple Bags and the Strong Arm of the Law

by Mary Serreze | Jan 7, 2010 10:56 pm | Comments (1)

We started seeing them in Northampton neighborhoods last fall—the purple plastic bags. The bags contain an advertising supplement distributed by The Springfield Republican. Problem is, the distribution has been willy-nilly. The bags seem to have been shot from a roving potato gun. The bags are everywhere—in the street, on sidewalks, in driveways, peeking out of old snowbanks, and embedded in the dirt beneath foundation plantings.

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Meet the Press: An Occasional Series

by Mary Serreze | Jan 7, 2010 4:32 pm | Comments (1)

Who are the people who bring you the news? There are a lot of good reporters covering Northampton and the region. Here’s James Lowe from the Daily Hampshire Gazette, waiting outside of Courtroom 1 at Hampshire District Court….

Images from a Vigil

by Paul Shoul | Jan 3, 2010 11:48 am | Comments (0)


“I knew Paulie and Paul [Yeskie]—they were my late husband’s uncle,” Bernadette Giblin told the crowd. “They were citizens of Northampton; they lived by the river… They were both tremendous builders— Paul Senior a bricklayer, and young Paul a casketmaker… in the past week we have also come to learn how they were builders of relationships.”

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Vigil for Paul and Paulie Yeskie

by Mary Serreze | Jan 3, 2010 9:49 am | Comments (0)

Video courtesy of North Street Neighborhood Association.

Paul and Paulie Yeskie, an 81-year-old man and his 39-year-old mentally disabled son, died when their 17 Fair Street home was set on fire on Decemeber 27. Late Saturday afternoon, as the sun was going down, a group gathered in front of the First Churches at 129 Main Street in Northampton to memorialize the lives of the Yeskies. Bernadette Giblin, whose late husband was nephew to the elder Yeskie, spoke.

New Year’s Eve in Northampton

by Guest Columnist | Jan 2, 2010 9:05 pm | Comments (0)

Video by Jim Neil. Neil blogs at Life in the NohoDome.

Saint Mary’s to Stay Open Through Epiphany

by Mary Serreze | Jan 1, 2010 1:46 am | Comments (0)

A letter dated November 4, 2009, from The Most Reverend Timothy A. McDonnell, Bishop of Springfield, to Father William Hamilton and the parishioners of St. Mary’s Church on Elm Street, delivered the news: the Sacred Heart Church on King Street will house a new, consolidated parish, and the grand church known as St. Mary’s will close. Final Mass will be said on January 3, 2010, the Feast of the Epiphany. The new parish will come into existence on Monday, January 4.

O’Donnell wrote that on All Souls Day, he received a report on three Northampton Catholic churches outlining necessary repairs as well as parking and accessibility considerations. After consulting with Diocesan officials, a decision was made to reverse an earlier decision that would have consolidated the parish at St. Mary’s and closed Sacred Heart instead.

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First Night Northampton: Stay Safe and Have Fun

by Guest Columnist | Dec 31, 2009 6:51 pm | Comments (0)

Extra Extra

Randolph Fire Chief’s comments not protected by First Amendment

Fire Chief talked to press about inadequate funding after fatal fire; appeals court sides with town of Randolph. The Boston Globe.

Kennebunkport ME sued over public access to Goose Rocks Beach

Homeowners claim property rights in landmark court case; town invokes colonial law; beachgoers organize on Facebook.

Landmark Chicopee eatery for sale

Sharkey’s is for sale. Will a buyer save this gastronomic landmark from turning into a parking lot?

Cape Wind before Interior Secretary Salazar

Advisory Committee on Historic Preservation to take public comment

Inside Holyoke’s Victory Theater

Mark Roessler for the Valley Advocate

Fast Company profiles Cisco/Holyoke Deal

The Holyoke deal is significant in that it represents Cisco’s first attempt to rewire an existing city rather than simply build one from scratch.

Hamp girls’ indoor track team awesomely fast

Four Northampton girls set Div III meet record in 4×4, finishing with a blazing 4:01.75.

Postponed: Zoning Revisions Committee public forum; new date TBA

The city’s Zoning Revisions Committee, in informal partnership with the Northampton Area Chamber of Commerce, has been working for months to come up with a plan for updating local land use regulations. “We welcome suggestions on how to improve the transparency of the process and increase public awareness and participation,” writes ZRC chair Joel Russell. Wednesday, February 24, 7 PM at the JFK Middle School.

Portrait of Arnie Gunderson

Expert witness on the nuclear industry; whistle-blower, advisor to the Vermont legislature

Close Vermont Yankee: Burlington Free Press

Lead editorial cites “misinformation provided by Entergy officials under oath.”

Governor wants to free towns from Quinn Bill obigations

Police unions, meanwhile, are mobilizing to protect the full reach of the benefit. Mass Municipal Association News.

VegaWatt powers restaurants from cooking oil

Worcester Telegram profiles a local inventor

Coyotes? Wolves? Coywolves?

The Boston Globe

MA state pension system headed for trainwreck

Pew Center on the States: MA’s liability more than 1/3 unfunded

Andrea Donlon on the VT Yankee Tritiium Leak

WRSI’s Monte Belmonte interviews Andrea Donlon, Connecticut River steward, on the Vt Yankee tritium leak

Holyoke City Council calls for state EPR program

“Extended Producer Responsibility” would shift burden of product disposal costs to manufacturers

Mercury in Massachusetts

Maureen Turner for the Valley Advocate

Midweek Politics gets syndication deal

Northampton-based independent radio producer David Pakman places his show with Keller Broadcasting

Law partners Mike Ryan and B.J. Plante featured in Gazette

Former District Court Judge W. Michael Ryan opens private practice with long-time colleague

WAMC’s Charlie Dietz on the Massachusetts Wind Siting Bill

An issue over wind power and state versus local control