Issue: April 2014
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Oil pipelines on wheels — Risks increase on region’s rail lines
Risks increase on region’s rail lines as traffic through Albany port grows By TRACY FRISCHContributing writer While environmental groups have made opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline in the Midwest a cause célèbre over the past five years, rolling pipelines of oil have quietly been established in a lot of communities closer to home. read more
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For a locally grown Passover
‘Vermatzah’ links ancient traditions, contemporary tastes By STACEY MORRISContributing writer MIDDLETOWN SPRINGS, Vt. Micro-bakers Julie Sperling and Doug Freilich have enjoyed a decade of commercial and critical success for their organic, fire-baked Naga Bakehouse breads, but in the past few years they’ve also been developing a seasonal product for Passover. They call it Vermatzah. read more
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Mass. weighs immigrant driver’s licenses
Backers say change would boost safety, help foreign workers By DAVID SCRIBNERContributing writer Nestor Vazquez, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico who has lived in the United States for seven years, would love to have a Massachusetts driver’s license. But Vazquez, who lives in Springfield and works for a company in Connecticut, can’t get a read more
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A new model for saving farmland
Investor group plans agricultural center in Columbia County By JOHN TOWNESContributing writer COPAKE, N.Y.A large tract of open land in the central hamlet of Copake, once the proposed site of a controversial affordable-housing development, has now been earmarked for preservation as working farmland. The 122-acre property, a short distance off Route 22 and just read more
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Rediscovering a Latin American epic
Local press plans new translation of Neruda’s ‘Canto General’ By ALEX ELVINContributing writer NORTH ADAMS, Mass.An independent press in the Berkshires is preparing to publish the first English translation in more than 20 years of Pablo Neruda’s epic “Canto General.” First published in its current form in 1950, Neruda’s ode to the people and read more
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In lieu of plastic, mushrooms
Cambridge mycologist helps company develop fungi-based products By EVAN LAWRENCEContributing writer CAMBRIDGE, N.Y.Sue Van Hook is convinced that fungi hold one of the keys to saving the planet from choking on plastic. A professional mycologist and a retired Skidmore College senior teaching associate, Van Hook has embarked on a new career as chief mycologist read more
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Theater festival goes urban
Berkshire Fringe finds new home in Pittsfield arts district By STACEY MORRISContributing writer PITTSFIELD, Mass.After nine years of producing cutting-edge summer theater in Great Barrington, The Berkshire Fringe will celebrate its 10th anniversary in August at a new home in Pittsfield’s Upstreet arts district. From its new urban base at the Shire City Sanctuary, read more
