Arts & Life
Sounds Local: New year, new releases: Local artists release singles ahead of buzzed-about new albums
By SHERYL HUNTER
With a new year comes new music, and 2024 looks like it will be an excellent year for both recordings and live music. Now that the holidays are over, some local musicians have dropped new singles in recent weeks as they gear up for full-length...
Speaking of Nature: Drama at the feeders: The arrival of winter means the arrival of some foul-weather friends
By BILL DANIELSON
It appears as though winter has finally arrived. November and December (most of which is technically autumn) were very mild and all through the Christmas break the high temperatures were consistently above freezing. This resulted in little to no snow...
Northampton’s new poet laureate lives in Greenfield: Franny Choi is 10th person to hold title
By STEVE PFARRER
NORTHAMPTON — After a delay caused in part by the pandemic, the city has a new poet laureate.Franny Choi, who was nominated last year for a Massachusetts Book Award, has written for the New York Times and the Atlantic, and been interviewed on NPR, has...
Hitting it big for wrong reasons: In ‘American Fiction’ at Amherst Cinema, writer’s pastiche hailed as authentic
By STEVE PFARRER
Though it had only an initial limited theatrical release, and did not appear until December, “American Fiction” has already popped up on a number of critics’ “best films of 2023” lists, and the movie has been nominated for a slew of awards.The buzz is...
Valley Bounty: Farming in a winter wonderland: Lombrico Farm in Whately coaxes fresh produce from soil year-round
By JACOB NELSON
‘The best carrots you’ll ever eat are picked in January or February,” says Erik Debbink, owner of Lombrico Farm in Whately. In the dead of winter, their sweetness shines through.Lombrico Farms is one of a growing number of local farms working hard to...
Faith Matters: The gospel according to baseball: It is never too late for each of us to have a great 9th inning
By BISHOP DOUG FISHER
As you are reading this column, we are 35 days away from the official start of Major League Baseball’s Spring Training.So it is only fitting that I begin this column with a couple of inspirational baseball stories.Growing up in the 1960s, like many...
Focus on Your Health: Where and how to donate blood: Baystate to host monthly blood drives in Greenfield
By ANITA FRITZ
January is National Blood Donor Month, and beginning Jan. 17, the Baystate Blood Donor Program at Baystate Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield will be hosting monthly blood drives. Throughout the year, Baystate Franklin invites and encourages people...
When greed takes over: Greenfield writer pens ‘a cautionary tale for all ages’
By TINKY WEISBLAT
The Green Palmers ChronicleBy Jon HuerAustin Macauley PublishersReaders of Jon Huer’s commentary in this newspaper may be surprised to see a slightly different side of the Greenfield writer in “The Green Palmers Chronicle.” Huer calls the novel “a...
Sounds Local: From the Balkans to Jamaica: Inaugural klezmer and reggae events happening in Franklin County this Saturday
By SHERYL HUNTER
On Saturday night, Jan. 20, at 7:30 p.m., the Montague Center Common Hall will host a special concert and workshop featuring music from Eastern Europe and the Balkans.Orkestar Banitsa and Myrtle Street Klezmer, local bands who play different styles of...
In the kitchen with Fannie Farmer: A brief history of the ‘Mother of Level Measurements’
By TINKY WEISBLAT
Like many American home cooks, I own more cookbooks than I can use.Over the years, hand-me-downs from family members, birthday gifts, and impulse purchases have brought more than 100 volumes to my kitchen shelves.When I decide to try preparing a dish...
Art inspired by nature’s relationships: Montague resident shares artworks and tidbits about our natural world
By EVELINE MACDOUGALL
Contra dance enthusiasts and Montague May Day fans may recognize today’s guest star as Jeanne Weintraub, while people who met the Montague resident following her marriage to Chris Mason — whose sustainability and alternative energy work merits a...
A cheery chalk surprise: Deerfield resident creates driveway art to uplift students and families each week
By CHRIS LARABEE
As Deerfield Elementary School students and their families walk, drive or take the bus to school every Friday morning this school year, they can often expect a chalky surprise just steps from the building.Like clockwork — except on nasty weather days...
‘A People’s History of Colrain’: Library produces new podcast to tell local stories
By BELLA LEVAVI
The Griswold Memorial Library is getting local people to tell their own stories in their recently launched podcast, “A People’s History of Colrain.” “We are trying to collect local history in people’s own voices,” explained Griswold Memorial Library...
Sounds Local: Dancing into the new year: Zydeco dance fest returns to Hawks & Reed this Sunday
By SHERYL HUNTER
For local musician Michael Pattavina, hosting a dance festival during Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend has become a tradition that started 20 years ago and continues to this day.This year, he is hosting a mid-winter and Zydeco dance fest at Hawks &...
‘A world of enchantment and sorcery’ awaits ‘The Tempest’ audiences in Turners Falls
By BELLA LEVAVI
The Young Shakespeare Players East theater program promises to transport audiences to “a world of enchantment and sorcery” during four performances of William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” next weekend.The play, which lasts two hours and 45 minutes,...
Sounds Local: Trae Sheehan kicks off residency at Element Brewing
By SHERYL HUNTER
Singer-songwriter Trae Sheehan is new to performing here in Franklin County, but that’s about to change. After living in Nashville for a few years, Sheehan moved to the Berkshires this past September. A devoted road warrior, he has played hundreds of...
Following his guiding star: The Rev. Doug McGonagle, a former astrophysicist, explores mysterious Star of Bethlehem in new book
By MARY BYRNE
About 20 years ago, the Rev. Doug McGonagle — a former astrophysicist — discovered a book by the late astronomer Michael Molnar that explored the mystery of the Star of Bethlehem, also known as the star that guided the three wise men to baby Jesus,...
Sounds Local: John, Paul, George and Pamela: Means performs all 17 tracks of “Abbey Road,” solo and acoustically, this Saturday at Hawks & Reed
By SHERYL HUNTER
When “Abbey Road” by the Beatles celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2019, guitarist/singer/songwriter Pamela Means decided to perform the album solo and acoustically in honor of the occasion.Of course, that meant learning all 17 songs from the classic...
The Shelburne Artisans Co-Op celebrates 25 years: Artist-owned space welcomes new members to join
By BELLA LEVAVI
For the past quarter century, artists have been owning where they sell their work right in the heart of the village.The Shelburne Artisans Co-Op is celebrating its silver anniversary this year, marking the opening of its doors 25 years ago. “Looking...
Wheeler Mansion to host haunted house
By DOMENIC POLI
You’ve possibly known a haunted house to be held in a school or an armory. But how about one inside a 15,000-square-foot Gilded Age brick mansion built for a sewing machine millionaire’s wife and eventually owned by a Masonic sisterhood called the...
Your Daily Puzzles
An approachable redesign to a classic. Explore our "hints."
A quick daily flip. Finally, someone cracked the code on digital jigsaw puzzles.
Chess but with chaos: Every day is a unique, wacky board.
Word search but as a strategy game. Clearing the board feels really good.
Align the letters in just the right way to spell a word. And then more words.
