Issue: June 2012
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Next step for health care
With coverage nearly universal, Mass. looks to cut costs, push prevention By CRAIG IDLEBROOK Contributing writer NORTH ADAMS, Mass. From his second-floor office on the campus of North Adams Regional Hospital, Chip Joffe-Halpern has a unique vantage point from which to watch the course of health care reform in Massachusetts. As executive director of Ecu-Health… read more
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Activists push new strategy on biotech crops
Vermont labeling law stalls as attention shifts to California By TRACY FRISCH Contributing writer On an April weeknight in Montpelier, the Vermont House Agriculture Committee held a public hearing on a bill to require labeling of foods containing genetically engineered ingredients. To the surprise of even the bill’s supporters, more than 400 people showed up.… read more
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Family’s sideline grows into full-time farm
Roadside vegetable stand in ‘70s set stage for multi-generational business By STACEY MORRIS Contributing writer ARGYLE, N.Y. Some family businesses are planned in advance, with every last detail crafted before being put into motion; others unfold by happenstance and evolve naturally over time. The latter has been the pattern at Butternut Ridge Farm. The farm… read more
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Confronting a painful past
Berkshires artist leads as new group takes aim at sex trafficking By JOHN TOWNES Contributing writer LENOX, Mass. It’s a long way from Jeanet Ingalls’ early experiences of extreme poverty, violence and sexual abuse as a “street kid” in the Philippines four decades ago to her life as a mother, fitness trainer and artist in… read more
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Extravagant structure, uncertain future
Board seeks new direction for North Bennington’s Victorian jewel By EVAN LAWRENCE Contributing writer NORTH BENNINGTON, Vt. The Park-McCullough House, one of Vermont’s architectural treasures, has fallen on hard times. The 35-room, Second-Empire-style mansion, set on 200 acres near the center of North Bennington, has in recent decades operated as a museum and served as… read more