Berkshires - Reason Gone Mad (Page 2)

The Unlikeliest Museum

Against all odds, Ralph Nader’s American Museum of Tort Law in Winsted, Connecticut, educates visitors about the law and their rights.

By Bill Shein

/ 8 May 2024

How you can help The Argus

With the launch of voluntary paid subscriptions, you can help make this work possible.

By Bill Shein

/ 7 Apr 2024

NOTED: Letter from Florence

The birthplace of the Renaissance confronts a housing and identity crisis fueled by short-term rentals.

By Bill Shein

/ 23 Mar 2024

A view of the Duomo di Firenze from the Boboli Gardens in Florence's Oltrarno district.

In Great Barrington, a tale of two sidewalks

Without the Select Board’s knowledge, town officials secured a million-dollar state grant to aid a developer’s struggling luxury housing project and pay for a landscaped “pedestrian walkway.” Meanwhile, across town, safe sidewalks for low-income residents remain elusive and unfunded.

By Bill Shein

/ 8 Mar 2024

In Great Barrington, a tale of two sidewalks

BOOK SEARCH: Twelve scenes from a narrative

Great Barrington police overstepped with their determined quest to find a copy of "Gender Queer" at Du Bois Middle School. But the full story of what happened that day, and why, is more complicated.

By Bill Shein

/ 8 Feb 2024

BOOK SEARCH: Twelve scenes from a narrative

Argus survey highlights readers' desire for in-depth and investigative reporting

Affordable housing, government transparency, and economic development flagged as issues of concern.

By Bill Shein

/ 17 Jan 2024

As Great Barrington Airport ignores some special-permit conditions, the town's government takes no action

Some requirements related to the environment, taxes, emergency response, and others remain unmet—highlighting zoning-enforcement challenges in the Berkshires.

By Bill Shein

/ 22 Dec 2023

As Great Barrington Airport ignores some special-permit conditions, the town's government takes no action

NOTED: In Alford, a vote to cloud transparency is defended with ‘raised voices’

Another small-town Select Board votes to end hybrid in-person-and-remote participation for its meetings. Two members didn't like a question about their decision.

By Bill Shein

/ 15 Dec 2023

NOTED: In Alford, a vote to cloud transparency is defended with ‘raised voices’

Mason Library gets its 'Beauty Day'

With help from a trio of interior designers, and funding from the nonprofit Friends of Great Barrington Libraries, the downtown library's historic reading room gets a worthy overhaul.

By Bill Shein

/ 12 Dec 2023

FOLLOW UP (Part Two): Nearly two years on, a 'landscape hotel' is rising at Egremont's Prospect Lake

Long-sought parking and lake access for Egremont residents are both connected to an agreement for dam-repair funds. Whether—and how—that will work, and what it will mean in practice, is complicated.

By Bill Shein

/ 8 Dec 2023

FOLLOW UP (Part Two): Nearly two years on, a 'landscape hotel' is rising at Egremont's Prospect Lake

FOLLOW UP (Part One): Nearly two years on, a 'landscape hotel' is rising at Egremont's Prospect Lake

At the former campground, a zoning disagreement is escalating while questions linger about public parking, lake access, and vital dam repairs. An occupancy-tax windfall is also on the horizon.

By Bill Shein

/ 30 Nov 2023

FOLLOW UP (Part One): Nearly two years on, a 'landscape hotel' is rising at Egremont's Prospect Lake

Land Court case against Great Barrington and its airport is withdrawn

A few questions remain, but the airport now has some legal protection against neighbors' complaints that it has sought since 2017.

By Bill Shein

/ 1 Jun 2023

Land Court case against Great Barrington and its airport is withdrawn