Brief thoughts on some of the events making news around Franklin County and the North Quabbin area:
Plenty of things can be written about this season’s presidential campaign. But we do find it interesting that as one travels around, there aren’t the usual number of campaign signs on lawns and elsewhere. We also aren’t seeing a whole lot of bumper stickers as compared to past elections. Is this a reflection of the 2016 campaign or a trend of a different sort? If there’s one benefit, however, it may be that there will be fewer signs lingering for days after the election.
We think a recent effort by the Greenfield Tree Committee to better inform the public about various trees and the environmental benefits they provide is a good one. A program called i-Tree, developed using U.S. Forest Service data, can provide people information about how a particular Greenfield tree traps carbon dioxide or filters rainwater. And each of the trees, 25 different varieties, has a sign tied to it, to give a pedestrian strolling by a chance to learn more, including the cost of replacing it. Just another way that Greenfield proves it’s a tree community.
We’re glad to see electric car charging stations that were in the Miles Street parking lot, next to the Energy Park, are now in the Town Hall lot. This past August, the Miles Street station was vandalized. As a press release from Mayor William Martin’s office indicated, the move puts them in a more central location with more security. And having better security should help protect these valuable assets from further vandalism.
The news that a Boston-based investment firm has bought the hydroelectric dams and facilities along the Deerfield and Connecticut rivers from TransCanada isn’t a surprise, in that it’s been publicly known that TransCanada wanted to shed itself of these properties. What we don’t know is the type of corporate owner ArcLight Capital Partners will be going forward with these 13 facilities, which include recreational land in a three-state region. The region will find out once the deal is signed and approved by regulators.
But we welcome ArcLight to the community.
We like the approach that fifth-grade teacher Jackie Chase takes in educating her Gill students about food via the farm-to-table route. The lesson involves a monthly farm visit and having people from the Gill Tavern talk about recipes and cooking and plenty of hands-on work. Good job.
Recorder photographer Matt Burkhartt’s account of his apartment building catching on fire in the wee hours of the morning last weekend was a good read. Thankfully, most people won’t have to experience this kind of dramatic event. The fire was quickly stopped before it harmed many apartments and an unconscious man was rescued. But it should serve as an important reminder, once again, of the value of working fire and smoke detectors and alarms.