The Berkshire Edge LLC is a locally owned, regional publication. Our goal is to provide – regularly and in depth – content that truly reflects the life, interests and aspirations of this unusually rich and vibrant community.
Guided by respected journalistic standards, the principle of fairness, the quest for truth, a commitment to social, economic and environmental justice, and an abiding admiration for the independent spirit of the Berkshires, The Berkshire Edge offers in-depth local news reports and features, perspectives on the arts, wide-ranging commentary, and a comprehensive calendar of events – all written, illustrated, and, in some cases performed, with wit, intelligence, insight and humor.
This week we talk about:
1. Monument Mountain senior Sophie Shron has earned accolades and an award from Scholastic for leading the creation of murals honoring the life of W.E.B. Du Bois, with a team of students from Railroad Street Youth Project. The murals, mounted on the Railroad Street alleyway and the Triplex Cinema, celebrate the Great Barrington-born Du Bois, author and founder of the NAACP. The murals are celebrate the 150th anniversary of Du Bois’ birth.
2. The Great Barrington marijuana wars. The town Selectboard and Planning Commission are fighting over which board has authority over the citing of marijuana cultivation and retail locations. One proposal is to grow pot in the empty mills in Housatonic.
3. Climate Michael Mann urges students to speak out on the risks to the planet posed by climate change:
4. Speaking of Railroad Street Youth Project, the organization is offering training sessions, in partnership with the Center for Motivation and Change, for parents who are concerned about their kids being at risk from addiction.
5. The saga of Mumbet a k a Elizabeth Freeman, a slave who won her freedom in Sheffield, Massachusetts, is being filmed at the historic Col. Ashley house in Sheffield:
6. Students from Simon’s Rock will be marching from the Mason Library in Great Barrington to Town Hall on Friday, April 20, the anniversary of the Columbine shooting and in support of students nationwide demonstrating against gun violence and the prevalence of guns in American society. Students are making a difference, and on Sunday afternoon, at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, filmmaker and Oscar winner Bobby Houston screened his powerful documentary, ‘The Children’s March,’ depicting events in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963 when thousands of students, led by Martin Luther King Jr., walked out of school to protest segregation. They were met with violent behavior from the police, directed by Chief Bull Connor. But their demonstration helped change the course of history, leading to school integration.
7. But students were already on the march in Great Barrington, as elsewhere, in the local March for Science:
