Sunday, June 22, 2025

News and Ideas Worth Sharing

Kateri Kosek

Kateri Kosek grew up in the Hudson Valley but has lived in or near the Berkshires for over a decade. She is the author of American Eclipse, winner of the Three Mile Harbor Press Poetry Book Award, and a chapbook, Vernal. Her poetry and essays have appeared in Orion, Creative Nonfiction, Northern Woodlands Magazine, Berkshire Magazine, and many literary journals. She teaches college English, and as a lifelong birder, has worked locally surveying bird populations for Green Berkshires and Aton Forest. More at katerikosek.com.

written articles

Honoring a local hero: Sheffield unveils sign denoting the Brigadier General John G. Barnard Memorial Highway

“One of the roads in West Point is named Barnard Loop,” said Lieutenant General Steven Gilland, “but today he gets an entire highway named in his honor, which I think is much more appropriate for a leader of his stature."

Undermountain Elementary part of Scholastic literacy launch, in effort to put rural schools on the map

Seventy percent of children in the U.S. don’t read proficiently in third grade. “But what we know at Scholastic from kids’ and family reading reports is when kids choose their own books, they read more,” its Chief Impact officer Judy Newman told The Edge.

‘Rescue Berkshires Wildlife’ to hold meeting on SGARs, the rodenticides responsible for numerous secondary poisonings in wildlife and pets

Heather Packard and Mass Audubon are hoping to “build a movement across the state,” and they decided that focusing on grassroots-level organizing and local regulations would be more effective.

Southern Berkshire Regional School District receives selective state grant to develop clean energy curriculum

“I think there's going to be a lot of passion and excitement around this opportunity,” Superintendent Dr. Beth Regulbuto shared. “When kids have a passion for something, they're more apt to take it on. So we're really excited to set them free on this and see what they're going to come up with.”

Sheffield’s recently established disc golf course is a hidden gem

“The Rocks at Sheffield Park” is the only disc-golf course in South County, and the only one in the Berkshires that is both open every day and free to play, according to the disc-golf app UDisc.

To honor the Stockbridge-Munsee, Stockbridge dedicates new signage bearing the Mohican word ‘Wa’thatinik’

The Stockbridge-Munsee band of Mohicans called themselves “People of the Waters that are Never Still,” and they called this place “Wa’thatinik,” meaning “the Land Beyond the Mountains.”

Race Brook Lodge to host Alash, masters of Tuvan throat singing

The three members of Alash, Bady-Dorzhu Ondar, Ayan-ool Sam, and Ayan Shirizhik, were trained in traditional Tuvan music since childhood and studied at Kyzyl Arts College just as Tuva was beginning to open up to the West.

With the 100th episode of “Barnaby Druthers” airing Sept. 22, audio theater is alive and well at WBCR

J. Timothy Quirk, the Torrington-based writer of “Barnaby Druthers,” describes the show as a “cozy mystery,” where there might be a murder, but there is nothing “particularly graphic”—in the tradition of BBC mystery shows, which Quirk always liked.

Milk snakes, whippoorwills, and underwings: Berkshire Community College hosts the 15th Berkshire BioBlitz

Why hold a BioBlitz? “To celebrate the breadth and beauty of biodiversity in the Berkshires,” says Brittany Ebeling of BEAT, “and to instill a sense of stewardship and appreciation for the magic and mystery of nature.”

For wildlife, for human health, for the wonder of the night sky, concern—and action—around light pollution is building in the Berkshires

“Dark sky” campaigns to reign in light pollution are gaining traction across the country—and in the Berkshires.

‘Voices in Food Equity’ panelists celebrate food, address food insecurity in the Berkshires

A big theme of the panel discussion was reducing the stigma around food insecurity, from helping people negotiate using WIC at farmers markets to delivering food to people’s homes as some pantries are doing.

Sheffield resident Wanda Houston brings Elizabeth ‘Mumbet’ Freeman to life at Sheffield ceremony and community conversation

On August 21, 1781, Elizabeth Freeman gained her freedom by simply suing for it, and two years later, Massachusetts became the first state in the nation to ban slavery, based on her precedent-setting case.

August exhibit at the Lee Library pays meticulous homage to Lee of the 1950s

Viewers will be transported back to a time when most of the streets in Lee were still gravel outside of the thriving downtown.

Lauren Groff talks about book banning, Florida, and the inspiration behind her latest novel in a sold-out appearance at The Mount

Groff grew up in Cooperstown, N.Y., a hamlet of less than 2,000 people, which she called “the best training for a novelist you can possibly get.” Florida, she said, gave her “the tremendous gift of feeling like an absolute outsider.

Democratic candidates for state representative in the 3rd Berkshire District discuss climate, open space, tech jobs at Sheffield forum

The predominant theme of the concerns expressed by residents, and echoed by the candidates, was preserving the environmental, aesthetic, and economic integrity of the Berkshires, despite its limited state representation.
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