Columns

Tim Blagg: Drunken driving remedies

Sunday, May 19, 2013

I wish I could believe that lowering the blood alchohol limit for drunken driving, as has been recommended by the National Transportation Safety Board, would cut the number of fatalities caused by impaired drivers. I can’t. I think that moving the number from 0.08 to 0.05 won’t do any harm, but I doubt … 0

My Turn: Get your motor runnin’

Friday, May 17, 2013

An ordinary woman, fast approaching her 70th birthday, needs to rent a car. She is a sensible sort, preferring safety to style, the familiar to the new. She’d rent a tank if available, something to assure the invincibility of her precious cargo, in the event of, well you know, road lunatics. What happens … 0

In the Arena: Another snag for Lunt

Friday, May 17, 2013

Greenfield Mayor Bill Martin’s efforts to purchase the former Lunt property on Federal Street may have hit another snag. The Greenfield Town Council learned this week that the town’s bond counsel has demanded that the funding vote be retaken and that it pass by a two-thirds majority of the entire council, not just those who happen to be there on the night of … 0

Talkback »
steve castleman wrote:
12:34 PM EST

Addiction is a chronic, progressive brain disease. It's treatable. Perhaps not as successfully as one might like, but on a par with...(full comment)

Treating addiction as an ailment not a crime
will777 wrote:
06:33 PM EST

The taxes on cigarettes have gotten out of control. My wife and I have saved about $2000 a year just buying from...(full comment)

Letter: Cigarette tax
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In the Arena: A very different place

Thursday, April 18, 2013

It was a typical Patriot’s Day weekend in New England, save for a rare, extended Saturday session of the Massachusetts Senate. At issue was a $500 million transportation package that was set to be included in the Senate version of the state budget, a plan that was expected … 0

My Turn: Supporting GCC’s mission

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Among the most satisfying activities of the Greenfield Community College Foundation is awarding scholarships to help GCC students with their educational expenses. The college’s doors are open to all who seek to learn and the costs of attending GCC are less than those of most other colleges and … 0

My Turn: Committed to our trees

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

“But a leaf that lingered brown, Disturbed, I doubt not, by my thought, Comes softly rattling down.” — “A Late Walk”‘ by Robert Frost This winter has laid bare the aging frailties of Greenfield. At least it seems to me that the trees of Greenfield appear to be … 0

My Turn: A backyard revolution

Monday, April 15, 2013

It’s hard to get away from the hard facts of climate change these days. I recently picked up Barbara Kingsolver’s novel, “Flight Behavior,” without knowing anything about it and was thrown into my worst nightmare: a vivid scenario of environmental chaos and death told through a story of … 0

Tim Blagg: Our ride has been hijacked

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Sometimes I wonder how presumably intelligent people can seemingly hold widely divergent information in their brains and selectively quote one set while ignoring the other. Take the Republicans in Congress and the role of public transportation — in … 0

My Turn: Serving our food system

Friday, April 12, 2013

The Franklin Hampshire Regional Employment Board (FHREB) has been working for a number of years to better understand jobs in a sustainable or green economy. We’ve built partnerships with clean energy companies and developed expertise in these occupations, training and industry credentials. This learning curve has been an … 0

In the Arena: Becoming a bigger mess

Thursday, April 11, 2013

I’m no expert on real estate transactions, but if you are planning to buy a property and you wind up banned from setting foot on it, that’s a pretty good indication that things aren’t going well. That is exactly the position Greenfield finds itself following last week’s U.S. … 0

My Turn: Tangled in a wired world

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

“Grandma! Attack!” her 10-year-old grandson commands. Grandma is armed with a small, plastic figurine and two remotes angled at the TV screen. Her figurine is Whirlwind, an elfish, bird-like creature, one of the few without claws, fangs or a bazooka. Her grandson has chosen Flashwing, who is already … 0

Jim Culleny: Education in inertia

Monday, April 8, 2013

I’ve been preoccupied lately by the term “inertia,” which most of us most likely first became aware of in a school science lesson. A classic definition of inertia might be: Inertia is the resistance of any physical object to a change in its state of motion or rest, … 0

Tim Blagg: Avoiding the nightmare

Sunday, April 7, 2013

It’s a nightmare scenario — the kind you see in shoot-em-up movies — that officials all over the world are working to avoid. A terrorist group gets its hands on highly radioactive material and uses it to build some kind of nuclear bomb or a device that scatters … 0

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