At the North Adams City Council meeting on October 13, dozens of local voices stood to oppose the city’s accepting a grant from U.S. Department of Justice that could require North Adams police to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.
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Photo by Roman Iwasiwka
Local news reimagined
You want to know what’s happening in our communities, in Western Massachusetts, in the mountains out past the Connecticut River — forests and lakes, local food, town councils talking about jobs and housing … and the new bagel shop downtown, and a night of poems at the bookstore. You want to meet people around you.
This is local news on the ground. This is storytelling by people, for people — no GenAI, no ‘native advertising,’ no corporate interests, no big tech. We are listening. We’re asking questions, helping people put thoughts into words, understanding the shapes of the ecosystems we live in — we’re making creative spaces, where we can gather and reach out to one another.
We live in a rare place. We have minds at work out here in the country, and minds at play too. I live and write here. I’m a local journalist, so I get to walk behind the scenes and talk with people about what they love. We all want connection — we want to laugh, share ideas, dance barefoot and listen to music on a mountain at night. Come out and explore …
Stories of the week
What it means for all of us to live safe and free
I can hardly imagine how it would feel, to live with the constant fear that everything can vanish … at any moment someone can take your job, or the apartment you’re sharing with a friend. Or your freedom. Or the lives of people you love.
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Photo by Kate Abbott
About Town
Want to know what’s happening in town this weekend? From North Adams to Lenox, we’re seeing a new energy in the Berkshires. Wherever we are, locals are adapting and new voices are coming in. If you’re looking for nightlife or a good cup of coffee, a vintage t-shirt or an artisan fair … take a look through our Berkshire towns.
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Photo by Roman Iwasiwka
Theater and music
We have singer-songwriters, folk and bluegrass legends, emerging composers and Yo-yo Ma … sometimes all of them together. We’re known around the world for the people who come here to play, and they can be global travelers or as local and familiar as the farmer’s market on the corner. Or both. And we can dance to the beat.
FIND ART • MUSIC • THEATERrecent stories
What it means for all of us to live safe and free
I can hardly imagine how it would feel, to live with the constant fear that everything can vanish … at any moment someone can take your job, or the apartment you’re sharing with a friend. Or your freedom. Or the lives of people you love.
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Sunset and golden fall touch Mount Greylock — #BTWnortheast
We walked up the meadow in sunset light. Cloud swept the sky toward the horizon, and the sun gathered an intense gleam on the hem. How long had it been since either of us came up Mount Greylock?
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In a digital age — independent bookstores are growing
Locally owned bookstores are nurturing community, say the owners of Battenkill Books and the Chatham Bookstore — and across the country, against the odds, the number of independent bookstores is rising exponentially.
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For books and writers who stand and speak — #BTWNortheast
In Banned Books Week, I remember Layli Longsoldier — I’ve heard her words at an open mic on a night as warm as this one. She describes a scene in a place near here: a censoring.
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Apples are ripening at the equinox — #BTWNortheast
We were curving along Route 2 past Apex Orchards this week, and the signs for apple picking are out. The season is turning somehow, from husk cherries and plum tomatoes to crisp air and sweet fruit.
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Soaking in the last warm days of summer — #BTWNortheast
For all the conversations I’ve had over the years, with naturalists and conservationists, biologists and ecologists and neighbors who love wildflowers, I don’t know how it would feel to walk through an old-growth forest on the slope above my house.
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