Month: July 2011

Lennoxx: More & More & More

Editor’s Note: This is the story here in the Berkshires that will not die. A small town with big dreams, Lenox MA,, the summer home of the Boston Symphony’s Tanglewood, has once again looked to a big city for aid.…

Of Red Crows, Train Crashes, and the Open Internet

Mickey Friedman July 29, 2011 New evidence of the age-old battle between open and closed, freedom and control, takes us from the U.S.A. to China and home again. The spirit of Red Crow, and a million permutations of Red Crow…

Local/Schmocal – Debt/Schmebt

By Mickey Friedman and the Red Crow Economic News Team™ July 27, 2011 Our crack Red Crow Economic News Team™ has been busily at work trying to come up with a new definition of “local.” The local debate has been…

Ed May Calls Third Strike on Gary O’Brien’s Roger Road

By David Scribner July 27, 2011 GREAT BARRINGTON – For the third time in the last seven months, Gary O’Brien’s landscaping and construction operation on Roger Road has been found to be in violation of the town’s residential zoning bylaws…

Of Kids, Toxic Chemicals, the EPA, and Industry

July 26, 2011 By Mickey Friedman According to a new report by Arthur A. Elkins, Jr. and his Office of Inspector General at the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), EPA’s own “Voluntary Children’s Chemical Evaluation Program” (VCCEP) did not…

EPA: Moving Ahead with Housatonic River Cleanup Process

July 14, 2011 Mickey Friedman The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today signaled its intention to proceed as scheduled with its plans to present cleanup options for the Housatonic River to EPA’s National Remedy Review Board (NRRB). The EPA had recently…

Of TV, Torchwood, and Lauren Ambrose

July 14, 2011 Camille LeCrow First off, I have to say I’m exceedingly grateful that the Starz network has opted to give us back “Torchwood,” and thrilled that Great Barrington’s own Lauren Ambrose has joined the cast. I am one…

The PCB Wars: The Commonwealth et al vs. EPA

By Mickey Friedman July 11, 2011 What do Massachusetts Congressman John Olver, Sen. Scott Brown, General Electric, and officials at the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs all have in common? Together, they’re doing their best to influence the Environmental…

Scribner: The GB Library, The Trustees & Their Memo

By David Scribner July 7, 2011 The Great Barrington Library Trustees, meeting in emergency session, have reiterated their right to name the next library director. They took this action in spite of the fact that the town charter considers the…

George Wislocki: Goodbye Berkshire Bank

July 3, 2011 Editor’s Note: The cleanup of the Housatonic River has reached a critical phase. You may remember that in 2000, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the City of Pittsfield negotiated a consent…

Time to Take The Tourists

By Mickey Friedman July 3, 2011 Editor’s Note: We at Red Crow want to make it clear how much some of us like cats. And remind you of our Poetic License when we say there’s more than one way to…