On Saturday the Gazette covered a story regarding the Green Street Cafe and Smith College. Unfortunately I am misquoted in the article, but no matter. In response to the article, "dwight," posted the following comment on Gazette's Talkback.
I don't want to [...]Among the robust commentary offered on issues before the City Council ranging from a Living Wage Resolution to the city's impending purchase of a portion of the Bean Farm property in Florence, numerous city residents spoke during the public comment portion of yesterday's City Council meeting regarding the lingering dispute [...]
Press Release:
GREEN Northampton is starting a free service available immediately to all businesses
and residents in Northampton, GARBAGE AUDITS. GREEN Northampton has formed
teams of auditors to visit homes and offices and give informational and sometimes
excavation-al exploration into garbage, recycling and other collections of objects that need
a destination [...]
Jennifer Hartley sent the following to the Paradise City Forum listserv regarding the potential purchase by the City of Northampton of about forty acres of the Bean Farm in Florence. As of now only three options have been put forth for the land if purchased by the city with Community [...]
Public Input Meetings
Saturday, November 21, 2009, 10:00 am - Noon
Monday, November 23, 2009, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
At the Northampton Senior Center
67 Conz Street,
Northampton, MA
The Housing Partnership and consultant Karen Sunnarborg will present the DRAFT Housing Needs Assessment-the first part of a Housing Strategic Plan for Northampton. Community [...]
The North Street Neighborhood Association (html) has a wealth of coverage regarding local issues. From the proposed Bean Farm purchase by the city for playing fields to the recent Meadowbrook fire to to reclassification of the city's floodplains to the redevelopment of the Three County [...]
With the holiday season upon us visit the Northampton Survival Center online to learn more about how you can help society's neediest to survive.
[...]The Boston Globe reports Nov. 7 on Governor Deval Patrick's cuts to homeless programs which have raised the ire of homeless advocates across the state. It is not yet clear how these cuts will impact services in Northampton, if at all, but it is [...]
From the Western Mass. Jobs With Justice listserv:
NO LAYOFFS! NO TAKEAWAYS! INFORMATIONAL PICKET AT COOLEY DICKINSON HOSPITAL
4-6pm, 30 Locust Street (Rte 9), Northampton. Nurses at Cooley Dickinson hospital--proud members of the Massachusetts Nurses Association, a state-wide union of direct-care nurses--are refusing [...]
Here's an idea for our organic waste. Not that this is right for Northampton, but it is something to think about.
Compost with a Kick
Bokashi is a centuries-old Japanese method of recycling household food waste into all-natural compost. By employing a special culture of yeast and other microorganisms, bokashi is [...]
As I wrote a few entries ago, about 5,000 voters determined the direction this city of 28,000+ should take for the next two years. A little more than fifty percent of Northampton's voters turned out for the Tuesday election, about the same number as the spring override vote. It turned [...]
Dear Friends,
Please help save an important part of our community and our landscape. The Upper Roberts Meadow Reservoir and the Dam located on Chesterfield Road in Florence are slated for removal. This nearly 130-year old dam may be removed as early as the SUMMER of 2010 if we don't [...]
And why the public policy of expanding the landfill does not deal with our waste problem
Guest Editorial by Jesus Leyva
First I want the people reading this article to have a context for understanding where this piece of writing comes from and why I wrote it. I originally [...]
I've been following Northampton Mayor Mary Clare Higgins' campaign print ads in the Gazette with interest. First there is self deprecating irony in referring to Higgins as a crummy mayor in a great city. Then fear is used in appealing to Anybody But Clare (ABC) voters to be careful what [...]
Guest Editorial from Water Not Waste:
The following was submitted to the Daily Hampshire Gazette as a Guest Editorial on October 23rd. As of October 31st, they have chosen not to include it in their election coverage of the Opinion section of the paper.
Shall the City of Northampton expand [...]
The Ward 6 Neighborhood Association and Water Not Waste sponsored a City Councilor At-Large debate this week at Finn-Ryan Road School.
Video courtesy North Street Neighborhood Association.
See more campaign videos and coverage at North Street Neighborhood Association and NorthamptonMedia.com.
[...]~
Above is a video of the Daily Hampshire Gazette sponsored Northampton Mayoral debate held recently at JFK Middle School in Florence courtesy North Street Neighborhood Association.
A new front was opened by Mayoral Candidate Michael Bardsley when he was given an opportunity to ask the incumbent [...]
Mayoral candidate Michael Bardsley has released the following: Report on Environmental Issues PDF
[...]~
On his show Friday, October 23 WHMP radio show host Bill Dwight takes issue with another local political candidate. If you recall in a scathing email he attacked among others At-Large City Council Candidate Kathy Silva on September [...]
Press Release:
Northampton Mayoral Candidate Mary Clare Higgins to be interviewed this Friday (Oct. 23) on the Bread & Roses Show.
For a lively, provocative interview with candidate Clare Higgins with challenging questions on her mayoral record as she runs a hotly-contested race for reelection, tune in to the [...]
With the public’s attention diverted this past spring by the Proposition 2 ½ override initiative, Northampton’s Mayor Mary Clare Higgins successfully proposed creating a new Office of Community and Economic Development and has nominated her Economic Development Coordinator, Teri Anderson, to serve as its head. The City Council recently approved [...]
According to the Hampshire County Registry of Deeds, the City of Northampton has purchased another property abutting the Glendale Road landfill. Recorded Tuesday, October 20, the property was transferred from Michael and Lillian Fedora to the city for the amount of $600 thousand. The Quitclaim deed states the property contains, [...]
On Monday October 19 I discovered a message on my answering machine from Northampton's Ward 2 City Councilor Paul Spector. In his message he asked me to give him a call, so I did.
Our conversation lasted but a few minutes. He said he reads Redoubt and generally appreciates the research [...]
From the North Street Neighborhood Association.
Partial transcript of Mimi Odgers addressing the Northampton City Council during public comment period:
"[On] the mayor's website, in her issues column, it states about the landfill expansion... 'We have studied the air and ground water issues and found [...]Find the keys to solving your family history questions at the Forbes Library's Genealogy "lock-in"
Thursday October 22, 2009 6-9 PM
In honor of Family History Month, join Forbes Library staff for an exclusive after hours opportunity to access the Hampshire Room for Local History, the Genealogy Reference collection, microfilm [...]
Former Northampton resident Emily Mew is now living in Camoapa, Nicaragua. She recently sent this request for help. Monetary donations can be made at the Sunrise Foundation link below. They are also looking for donations of specific materials which can be viewed at the Hogarluceros.blogspot link below.
Dear friends [...]
Ward 4 Northampton Neighborhood Association
Monday - October 26 – 6:00 to 9:00
Forbes Library - Community Room
Drop by for as long as you like. Arrive early for a slice of pizza and a beverage.
Meet your neighbors. Meet the City Council candidates. Make a friend. Connect.
This is [...]
Former Mayor Mary Ford and activist Frances Crowe have endorsed Michael Bardsley for Mayor of Northampton the Bardsley campaign is reporting on its website. In addition Bardsley has picked up the endorsement of the Massachusetts United Auto Workers Union. Read the story at MichaelBardsley.com.
Earlier [...]
Photo courtesy Ken Mitchell
Friday, Oct. 16 from 5-7 pm in the Green Street Cafe Parking Lot which can be accessed via Arnold Avenue. Rain date is Saturday, Oct. 17 from 1-3 pm. Plans call for art, poetry, music, food, drink, politicians and bells.
The following is a guest editorial/letter [...]
Recently Health Care reform supporters took to the steps of Northampton's City Hall.
Below Noam Chomsky speaks on United States Health Care reform.
[...]HOLYOKE RANGE MEMORIAL
When: Sunday, September 13th from 6-8PM.
Where: Village Hill Northampton, Route 66 Sidewalk
Come see the sunlight shine on the Holyoke Range as the sunset glows to the west.
Take one last look at the magnificent view of the entire [...]
The three candidates for the Ward 7 City Councilor position, Gene Tacy, Deb Jacobs and George Russell, will participate in a forum to be held at the Leeds Grammar School on Wednesday September 9 at 7:00 p.m. The Florence Business and Civic Association and the Leeds Civic Association are co-hosts [...]
Fear is an intersting thing. Fear can make people act irrationally or heroically and in some cases maybe both. When it comes to politics, fear is no less an influence than money or ego. When it comes to the Michael Bardsley mayoral campaign I've noticed fear mongering permeating from his [...]
Took a day trip recently to New York City. Toward the end of the day we visited Ground Zero. It was the first time I've been there after the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center attacks. The site is pretty well cleaned up and reconstruction is well under way. You [...]
That's what 50,000 tons per year equals after 28 years, the projected life of the proposed expansion.
Below the BPW + City Council joint conference committee discuss city landfill question.
Video courtesy North Street Neighborhood Association
Ran across this the other day on Masslive's anonymous Northampton forum regarding the city's contract with Am B Care. Whoever you are, thanks for sharing.
In the interest of being honest and open, let me first disclose that I am an employee of Am B Care Ambulance service. [...]
Ho hum, we see that public records were indeed destroyed by Northampton's clerk of the city council, apparently at the behest of Northampton's former city solicitor Janet Sheppard or at least with her knowledge. In a moment that could be classified as Rumsfeldian, Sheppard [...]
Those who can afford to reside in the Northampton area enjoy a fine quality of life for the most part. With natural resources abounding people flock here to live and enjoy the amenities which include ample drinking water and convenient trash disposal. But what if a natural or humanmade disaster [...]
I met Mr. LaBarge when I was a kid. He visited my home in North Hatfield to, "work on the pipes," he said. He was there to install a new kitchen faucet. "Ish," short for Ish Kabibble, as he was known, was an all around fix-it man [...]
The following was sent to me by the owners of the Green Street Cafe in response to a recent blog I posted.
Daryl: We would love to lay to rest the issue of the closing of the cafe in 2007. The reason the cafe was closed was building code [...]
A few days prior to the recent July 30 special city council meeting regarding a citizens' intitiative to place a nonbinding public opinion advisory question before the voters the Daily Hampshire Gazette's editors presented the public its own red herring by running an editorial suggesting the City Council transfer its [...]
This source of funds could benefit some recent activities in the city, like refuse recycling at the landfill, the Barrett Street Marsh beaver woes, the Bleiman land gift or the preservation of the North Street wetlands among others. I’m sure the Broad Brook Coalition and the Friends of Northampton Trails [...]
Some recent scuttlebutt going around the city concerns a potential violation of the state's Public Records laws. It is alleged that public records pertaining to the executive sessions on the landfill settlements were destroyed, before the meeting minutes of said sessions were accepted by the city council.
Excerpts from [...]Well Northampton Mayor Mary Clare Higgins finally got her way--the state has approved a local option meals tax of .75% or seventy-five cents tax on a one hundred dollar meal. Higgins has made this one of the hallmarks of her administration. Going back half a decade or more she has [...]
The following material is from Water Not Waste's website. WNW is a new citizens' group committed to preserving the quality of the Barnes Aquifer in Western Massachusetts. They oppose the expansion of the Northampton Landfill over this aquifer. Their current priority is getting a [...]
Leeds, Baystate and Florence
July 27 at 7 PM at the Florence Civic Center next to Lilly Library.
The Northampton Design Forum, in cooperation with the Baystate Village Association, Florence Civic and Business Association and the Leeds Civic Association is sponsoring a public forum at the Florence Civic Center. [...]
