Tag: Massachusetts

  • Issue:

    Small theaters struggle to convert before film reels disappear

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    By THOMAS DIMOPOULOS Contributing writer   “Wait a minute! Wait a minute! You ain’t heard nothin’ yet.” The movie industry is arguably experiencing its biggest technological revolution since Al Jolson spoke those first words, in “The Jazz Singer,” to usher in the era of the talkies in 1927. By the end this year, the major read more

    Small theaters struggle to convert before film reels disappear
  • Issue:

    Mercury threat persists, studies show

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    Health risks linger in region despite cuts in emissions By CRAIG IDLEBROOK Contributing writer   Despite tougher pollution standards that have led to a sharp reduction nationally in emissions of airborne mercury, several new studies suggest that high concentrations of the toxic heavy metal are persisting in the environment and continuing to pose a health read more

    Mercury threat persists, studies show
  • Issue:

    Town green for a localvore era

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    Owners aim to turn old fairgrounds into center for local agriculture By DAVID SCRIBNER Contributing writer   GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass.At the town’s southern gateway on U.S. Route 7 lies the derelict Great Barrington Fairgrounds, a complex of ramshackle stables and barns, an overgrown racetrack with vine-shrouded stewards’ towers, a crumbling grandstand, and ticket booths encased read more

    Town green for a localvore era
  • Issue:

    Flavored by a colorful past

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    Lodge’s owner works to keep ambience of ‘70s folk music hangout By JOHN TOWNES Contributing writer BECKET, Mass.When Daniel Osman bought The Dream Away Lodge in 1997, he became the caretaker of a special corner of Berkshire County lore. The Dream Away is a 110-seat restaurant, lounge and music venue that has been operating since read more

    Flavored by a colorful past
  • Issue:

    Take a sip, feel the heat

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    By STACEY MORRIS Contributing writer PITTSFIELD, MASS. Dana St. Pierre recalled a recent experience at the Honest Weight Food Co-op Food Fair in Albany. There were dozens of vendors with booths set up along the lake in Washington Park selling edible delights ranging from homemade soups and grass-fed beef sliders to cupcakes and homemade peanut read more

    Take a sip, feel the heat
  • Issue:

    Bound by cotton — region’s forgotten role in slave trade

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    Historian, artist detail region’s forgotten role in slave trade By EVAN LAWRENCE Contributing writer NORTH ADAMS, Mass. Most Northerners assume that slavery was a Southern issue, and that the main role of people in upstate New York and New England was to help slaves flee to freedom in Canada and to muster troops to fight read more

    Bound by cotton — region’s forgotten role in slave trade
  • Issue:

    A butcher shop for local meats

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    By STACEY MORRIS Contributing writer GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. As the dinner hour approached on a recent Thursday evening, the foot traffic at The Meat Market began to increase. Some customers milled about at the front of the store, peering into glass cases for a closer look at the goods: tasso ham, a loin of roast read more

    A butcher shop for local meats
  • Issue:

    EPA tries to navigate conflicting demands on Housatonic cleanup

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    EPA tries to navigate conflicting demands on Housatonic cleanup By DAVID SCRIBNER Contributing writer   PITTSFIELD, Mass.Twelve years ago this month, General Electric Co. signed a consent decree with state and federal environmental agencies under which it agreed to clean up PCB pollution in the Housatonic River, setting the stage for the dredging of 1.5 read more

    EPA tries to navigate conflicting demands on Housatonic cleanup
  • Issue:

    CSA movement builds communities one farm at a time

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    By CRAIG IDLEBROOK Contributing writer   EGREMONT, Mass. On a quiet road just off Route 23 is Indian Line Farm, a place where agricultural history was made. Not that you would know it. The only marking to distinguish the farm is a small sign on the mailbox. It was here in 1985 that farmers Robyn read more

    CSA movement builds communities one farm at a time
  • Issue:

    Art school extends its reach

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    IS183 goes off campus to public schools, downtown Pittsfield By JOHN TOWNES Contributing writer STOCKBRIDGE, Mass.Over the past two decades, IS183 Art School of the Berkshires has become well known for the classes and workshops it offers at the historic Citizens Hall building in the village of Interlaken. But the nonprofit art school also has read more

    Art school extends its reach