By Kurt Kruger June 11, 2014 In late March, 1999, I traveled to Tyumen, Siberia with my — now former — wife to adopt a baby boy. It was and remains the greatest thing I have ever done. Traveling to…
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Falafels R Us
By David Scribner December 16, 2013 Last month, I went to Israel on what I thought was a two-week leave of absence from The Berkshire Record. I was with Americans for Peace Now, and we were learning about the potential…
Burning issue: The firehouse sale
By David Scribner December 6, 2013 The firehouse, the bloody old Castle Street firehouse in Great Barrington. And the town’s 21-month struggle to sell the 120-year-old historic structure. Aren’t you just sick and tired of this story? It’s like the…
Benefit dinner to support the needy
December 2, 2013 By David Scribner There are a number of unheralded heroes in Great Barrington. One of them is Michael Ballon, owner of and chef at the Castle Street Café. So when he asked me to help get out…
Good news, bad news for BHRSD
November 25, 2013 By David Scribner Hard as it may be for some to believe, the Berkshire Hills Regional School District is about to save taxpayers money. A modest amount to be sure – only $1.7 million – a drop…
It’s Time To Act
February 16, 2013 By Mickey Friedman Rather than act, the Great Barrington Selectboard decided to discuss guns and gun violence. We Americans like to discuss/argue about everything. But some arguments defy resolution. Like the argument about abortion and women’s rights.…
Digging in the Dark
February 7, 2013 By Mickey Friedman When last we spoke I was selling old CDs, used books, and desperately organizing a bake sale to raise the five hundred bucks to buy the second half of the still Not For Public…
Great Barrington and the Arming of America
February 7, 2013 By David Scribner Political fortitude appears to be in short supply among the members of the Great Barrington Board of Selectmen. Shortly after the horrific killing of 20 Newtown, Connecticut elementary school children – mostly first graders…
And Even More Cheese
December 31, 2012 By Mickey Friedman We’re supposed to celebrate another great moment in the life and times of The Best Small Town in America. So many good things: The clean-up of the toxic New England Log Homes site; another…
The Best Town Manager We Ever Had
October 22, 2012 By Mickey Friedman Like icebergs, only a small portion of what goes on in a small town is visible. So much of what really happens, happens beneath the surface. The Great Barrington Selectboard finally acted on what…
The River: It Ain’t Over
October 2, 2012 By Mickey Friedman A loyal reader admonished me recently: “You haven’t written about the River in a while!” Sometimes thinking about the thirty year fight for a PCB cleanup makes me want to go to sleep for…
Hard Times High
August 25, 2012 By Mickey Friedman In the old days, doing nothing cost you nothing. And there was a big difference between doing nothing and doing something. Somehow, now, doing nothing costs forty-two million dollars. I know squat about building…