By David Scribner August 26, 2011 GREAT BARRINGTON – With misgivings and trepidation, the Board of Selectmen has approved a 2012 tax rate of $13.12 per $1,000 evaluation, an increase of 7.9 percent over last year. If there is silver…
Remember When Communities Cared
By Mickey Friedman August 25, 2011 It’s been the best and worst of times for Lenox. Smidley, Crump and Crump’s innovative ad campaign: “Lennoxx: We’re More Than We Were; We’re More Than You Expect; And We’re More Than You Imagine”…
A New Vision for Old New England Log Homes
By David Scribner August 24, 2011 GREAT BARRINGTON – Next month, when crews begin to demolish the remaining buildings on the badly contaminated property at the foot of Bridge Street once owned by New England Log Homes, the first step…
Riots, Tweets, and Zero Tolerance: 4 Years in Jail
By Mickey Friedman August 16, 2011 Interesting new developments from the riots across the sea. Amidst the calls to curtail the use of social media – and the arrests of a few Facebook posters and Blackberry instant messengers for incitement…
London Calling Again & Again
By Mickey Friedman August 13, 2011 In the early summer of 2010, Bruce Springsteen came to London town and offered up a stirring version of The Clash’s “London’s Calling” to a Hyde Park filled to the brim with adoring fans.…
The Rising: A Fishable, Swimmable Rising Pond
By Mickey Friedman August 12, 2011 GE sees Rising Pond and sees a PCB dump. I see Rising Pond and I see a gem, the cornerstone of a renewed and restored Housatonic, Massachusetts. I see people fishing on the banks,…
Conflicting Ideas for the EPA Remedy Review Board
By Mickey Friedman August 5, 2011 EPA Region One officials responsible for the GE/Housatonic River site spent two days on July 27-28, 2011 presenting a cleanup plan for “The Rest of the River” to the agency’s National Remedy Review Board…
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…