BERKSHIRE EDGE ON-AIR ROBIN HOOD RADIO

Guided by respected journalistic standards, the principle of fairness, the quest for truth, a commitment to social, economic and environmental justice, and an abiding admiration for the independent spirit of the Berkshires, The Berkshire Edge offers in-depth local news reports and features, perspectives on the arts, wide-ranging commentary, and a comprehensive calendar of events – all written, illustrated, and, in some cases performed, with wit, intelligence, insight and humor.







1. Our feature writer Hannah Van Sickle has written a look at student film makers producing films on local, tough social issues:





2. Bill Shein, ever with his eye on the Great Barrington Airport, has written part 7 of his series examining the operations of this historic — and controversial — feature of South Berkshire County:





3.  An activist group rallied at Park Square in Pittsfield for a better future for Western Massachusetts:





4.  3. The legendary Dream Away Lodge in Becket has reopened under new ownership after being closed for almost three years.  We’re all hoping it will stay the same as before.





5.  This past Sunday we posted the third in a series of salutes to Broadway lyricists in our Anyone for Tennyson column.  This column is devoted to poetry, and the author William Perry reminds us that the best Broadway lyricists should certainly be considered poets.

Guided by respected journalistic standards, the principle of fairness, the quest for truth, a commitment to social, economic and environmental justice, and an abiding admiration for the independent spirit of the Berkshires, The Berkshire Edge offers in-depth local news reports and features, perspectives on the arts, wide-ranging commentary, and a comprehensive calendar of events – all written, illustrated, and, in some cases performed, with wit, intelligence, insight and humor.



1. The controversy over the Great Barrington Airport continues, with the Selectboard hosting a crowded public hearing:



https://theberkshireedge.com/large-turnout-for-airport-special-permit-public-hearing/



2. Meanwhile, in a multipart series our investigative writer Bill Shein has been examining the airport operations, and asking just how busy — and essential — the airport actually is:



https://theberkshireedge.com/the-airport-part-three-how-busy-is-great-barrington-airport/



3. The Great Barrington Selectboard is also examining programs that will support affordable housing — in a community whose real estate values have become increasingly unaffordable:



https://theberkshireedge.com/great-barrington-examines-programs-to-help-with-affordable-housing/



4. Meanwhile, the saga of the moribund Housatonic Water Works continues,



:



https://theberkshireedge.com/an-appraisal-of-the-housatonic-water-works-appraisal/



5. And finally, we should mention that we’ve just published the fourth chapter of our serial novel, “Artificial Insanity,” each chapter written by a different author. This chapter is written by Dan Tawczynski, who runs Taft: Farms and is a published author as well



https://theberkshireedge.com/artificial-insanity-the-novel-chapter-four/

Guided by respected journalistic standards, the principle of fairness, the quest for truth, a commitment to social, economic and environmental justice, and an abiding admiration for the independent spirit of the Berkshires, The Berkshire Edge offers in-depth local news reports and features, perspectives on the arts, wide-ranging commentary, and a comprehensive calendar of events – all written, illustrated, and, in some cases performed, with wit, intelligence, insight and humor.



Here are a few stories from the Edge this week:



1. We have a preview of the Tanglewood summer concerts and events — a schedule which our music writer David Edwards says is extraordinary, in his words, "Unconventional, subversive … exhilarating, hypnotizing, and intensely human”



: https://theberkshireedge.com/tanglewood-learning-institutes-summer-concerts-and-events-could-blow-your-mind/



2. The discussions over next year’s Berkshire Regional School District budget have begun with the district’s staff making a request for a full-time librarian at Muddy Brook Elementary School:



https://theberkshireedge.com/school-district-staff-advocates-for-a-full-time-librarian-at-muddy-brook-elementary/



3. In north Berkshire County John Pitroff has organized Second Chance Composting, collecting surplus food scraps and organic matter, to create a community compost site for gardeners:



https://theberkshireedge.com/john-pitroff-and-second-chance-composting-are-looking-to-make-community-composting-accessible-and-second-nature/



4.  The Berkshire Pride Festival is returning in June in Pittsfield, with a parade and a community celebration at the Common Park:



https://theberkshireedge.com/berkshire-pride-festival-coming-back-in-june/



5. Finally, we have part 2 of our series on the history and current status of the Great Barrington Airport that has come under fire from newly arrived second home residents disturbed by the flight activity:



https://theberkshireedge.com/the-airport-part-two-rick-solans-story-begins-with-robert-wheelers-in-1929/

Guided by respected journalistic standards, the principle of fairness, the quest for truth, a commitment to social, economic and environmental justice, and an abiding admiration for the independent spirit of the Berkshires, The Berkshire Edge offers in-depth local news reports and features, perspectives on the arts, wide-ranging commentary, and a comprehensive calendar of events – all written, illustrated, and, in some cases performed, with wit, intelligence, insight and humor.



Here are a few stories from the Edge this week:



1.  The Housatonic River has received a federal designation as a Wild and Scenic River, thereby further protecting the river and its immediate surroundings:



https://theberkshireedge.com/housatonic-river-receives-wild-scenic-designation/-



2. True to its progressive credentials, Pittsfield hosted a demonstration commemorating the 50 year anniversary of Roe v. Wade, now that the court has reversed itself, allowing states to determine the legality of the procedure:



https://theberkshireedge.com/pittsfield-residents-commemorate-the-50-year-anniversary-of-the-roe-v-wade-decision/



3. In a review of the state of the Berkshire economy, 1Berkshire cited the introduction of east-west passenger rail service through Pittsfield … giving hope to the business community that a more robust rail service could be restored from Pittsfield south through Great Barrington and Connecticut to New York City:





4. In her “dateline Stockbridge” column Carol Owens has summoned the soul of Stockbridge, depicting the community as still governed by traditional but vanishing old-time values:



https://theberkshireedge.com/dateline-stockbridge-in-stockbridge-history-still-informs-contemporary-decisions/



5. And finally, what’s in a name? The two southern Berkshire regional school districts are stalled in their effort to merge simply because school officials can’t decide on a name for the enlarged district:



https://theberkshireedge.com/regional-school-district-agreement-taking-longer-than-anticipated-committee-cant-agree-to-merged-districts-name/

1. A Berkshire-based musician and music producer has been nominated for a grammy:https://theberkshireedge.com/berkshire-based-musician-and-producer-nominated-for-grammy/



2. We have been developing a lively new business section on Mondays, called Business Monday!.  Over the last couple of weeks, we have posted several profiles of local businesses. 



This week, we looked at a 24-year-old resident of Ashley Falls named Lily Geiger who spend her COVID isolation inventing a non-alcoholic aperitif called Fiore  (Italian for flower)which she is marketing through her new company called Figlia (Italian for daughter), and she’s off to a strong start.





3. Also for Business Monday, we ran a story a couple of weeks ago about Guido’s Fresh Marketplace, and about how the younger generation is taking over.





4. And our business section has a regular feature called Adventures in Retail, which looks at interesting products for sale in stores in the Berkshires.  Recently our columnist reported that you can find wold-class croissants at Pixie Boulangerie in Great Barrington, and we show how they’re made.





5. Our local celebrity Karen Allen, star of the Indiana Jones movies and owner of Karen Allen Fiber Arts in Great Barrington produced a film based on an adaptation of a Carson McCullers short story, and the film is now available to stream.  It was made in the Berkshires:





6. Our Edge weather reporter Nick Diller analyzed the weather for December, which he found to be a crazy month that couldn’t make up its mind. Overall, 15 days had above average temperatures and 13 had below. 





7. And finally, there’s a fight developing over the prospect of a new car dealership on Route 7 in Lenox.  An automobile dealership wants to buy the site now owned by the Different Drummer kitchen retail store plus an adjacent parcel, and turn them into offices, a car service center and a parking lot where test drives will presumably originate.  The neighbors are fighting it.

1. The Eight Town Regional School District Planning Board has received a state grant to study the merger of Berkshire Hills and Southern Berkshire school districts:





And there will be a public meeting about he proposed merger January 21 to explain the progress toward the school district merger:





2. Meanwhile, the Tri-Town health board is warning residents about the continuing pandemic threat, especially with a new variant spreading abroad:





3. Berkshire County has a new District Attorney — Timothy Shugrue, who has replaced Andrea Harrington and has started his term in office:





4. Our historian Gary Leveille writes a reminiscence of the snow trains that would bring skiers from the city to the Berkshires:





5. And finally, in her column Woman on the Verge, Sarah Wright discusses the Rachel Maddow’s new “Ultra” podcast — Maddow, by the way, is part of what you might call the “Greater” Berkshires, since she lives in Northampton: