Sunday, March 22, 2026

News and Ideas Worth Sharing

Terry Cowgill

Terry Cowgill is a journalist in the Berkshires and northwest Connecticut. He is the retired managing editor of The Edge, serving from 2017 to 2022. Terry is also a longtime political columnist for CTNewsJunkie, an award-winning media outlet that covers the Connecticut state government. A resident of Lakeville, Connecticut, Terry is a graduate of Bishop's University (Canada) and earned a master's degree in humanities from Wesleyan University. Follow Terry on Twitter @terrycowgill or email him at thenews@hotmail.com.

written articles

Great Barrington first responders honored by State Police

First responders learned that a 76-year-old bedridden man was in the home on Dresser Avenue that was ablaze. Due to their bravery the man was rescued.

SBRSD budget in limbo: Egremonters want their school back

If district taxpayers refuse to authorize spending for the school district, the state has an elaborate system to ensure the district's continued operation.

Veterans’ graves book now available for viewing at Mason Library

The Great Barrington book includes fascinating details about many of the veterans, from the Revolutionary War through 1938, along with illustrations of each gravestone, and a locator map for each grave.

Airport co-owner surprises everyone: ‘I don’t want a special permit’

Monday's hearing looked as if it would be a barnburner, with neighboring property owners ready to oppose the airport's proposed addition of three new hangars, and another nearby property owner poised to suggest the airport was responsible for poisoning his drinking water.

Lee, Lenox, and lieutenant governor jubilant about shared services pact

The goals of the Community Compact are to improve town and school services, and provide tax relief, while maintaining each town’s identity and sense of local control.

Vowing to be heard in court, pipeline protesters disappointed in judge’s leniency

"This is obviously fear of a trial. We want our day in court to talk about both the immorality and illegality of what's going on ... we want a trial." --- Vivienne Simon of the Sugar Shack Alliance

Yet again, the town tries to sell the dormant Housatonic School

An independent study submitted to the town in 2012 by a building consultant found that any developer looking to renovate the school is facing a liability of at least $850,000 in required remediation of just the asbestos and lead paint hazards.

In with the new: McGurn ousts Flynn in Egremont; Moffat suffers double defeat in West Stockbridge

Flynn, a former member of the Southern Berkshire Regional School Committee who has become embroiled in a battle over whether to keep the South Egremont School open, lost by more than anyone expected to McGurn, a retired business school dean who has never held elected office in the town, by a margin of 343-112.

Lively races (with intrigue) in South County town elections

"If I was ever going to run [again], I believe in letting voters know in advance. As if there isn't enough fake news." -- Former Sheffield Selectman Rene Wood

Citing empathy with Egremont, Monterey sends SBRSD budget to districtwide defeat

Monterey's "future probably lies in leaving the district," not only because of the town's dissatisfaction with Southern Berkshire but because 46 percent of the town's students are choicing out to other districts anyway. -- Kenn Basler, chair of Monterey Board of Selectmen

Solar panel regulations, BHRSD and town budgets sail through Great Barrington Town Meeting

Perhaps the surprise of the night was how easily Great Barrington's share of the Berkshire Hills Regional School District passed.

Otis State Forest pipeline protesters arrested and charged by State Police

"In the face of ongoing climate change, it is crystal clear that [our] responsibility [to protect the earth] requires us to reject all fossil fuel infrastructure construction, no matter how small or large the project may be." -- Irvine Sobleman of Northampton, a member of the Sugar Shack Alliance

By overwhelming margin, Great Barrington adopts ‘trust policy’ for immigrants

"Living in fear is the not the quality of a welcoming and safe community — it is instead the very essence of a totalitarian state. A community in which any of our members live in fear is not the kind of community that any of us, regardless of political affiliation, I am sure, want Great Barrington to be." -- Housatonic resident Anne O’Dwyer

Driver named in fatal crosswalk crash; no charges filed yet

The driver involved in the fatal crash that killed 78-year-old Gillian Seidl was Edward Carl Liebenow of 8 Dewey Way in Sheffield.

Immigration, zoning, CPA highlight Great Barrington Annual Town Meeting

The town's proposed policy says the Police Department will treat undocumented citizens like everyone else and will not be an arm of ICE (the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency).

GE still plans to dump PCBs in the Berkshires, environmentalists warn

GE has formally objected to EPA’s final cleanup remedy, challenging the agency’s directive to transport and dispose of the PCB waste to an off-site facility.
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