The Berkshire Edge On-Air - Wednesday September 30, 2020

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.

1. Great Barrington Police are investigating what they are calling a hate crime, the defacement of Macedonia Baptist Church, whose congregation is primarily black:
https://theberkshireedge.com/gb-police-investigating-church-graffiti-incident-as-hate-crime/

2. In the wake of the pandemic and its curtailment of in-person education, the Kellogg Conservation Center has become home to CLuB, or Community Learning in the Berkshires, to provide kids with remote learning sites.
https://theberkshireedge.com/new-club-supports-children-families-with-supervised-remote-learning/

3. We should mention that there are a slew of cool things going on. Here are a few:
Like the Botanical Garden Fall Harvest — reimagined; An Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) discussion with the wife of Elijah Cummings; Community Development Corp. of South Berkshire is holding a fundraiser this Friday featuring a film by Gregory Crewdson, and is being sponsored by Theory Wellness; and let us not forget the incredible pumpkin show at Naumkeag:
https://theberkshireedge.com/bits-elijah-cummings-talk-cdcsb-film-fundraiser-the-incredible-naumkeag-pumpkin-show/
4. And speaking of films, we have a film produced by videographer Tim Newman, portraying a poem by Michael Brady, entitled “And the Actors Came Back” — in response to the closure of cultural institutions due to the  COVID19 pandemic. The poem is read by actress Karen Allen, among others. The film includes interviews with Yo Yo Ma, Joe Thompson at Mass MoCa, Pam Tatge at Jacob’s Pillow, cellist Owen Young, Kelly Vickery, Julianne Boyd, Barrington Stage, among others… the pledge being that the arts are coming back. It’s quite a stirring invitation:
https://theberkshireedge.com/the-actors-came-back/

5.  The toxic PCB contamination of the Housatonic River, from Pittsfield into Connecticut, has still to be resolved, writes our river observer Mickey Friedman who has been studying the proposed remedies … and the likelihood that the river will be decontaminated, without creating a toxic waste dump in the Berkshires. One solution could thermal desorption:https://theberkshireedge.com/adapt-or-dump/

6. And on another environmental front, Great Barrington has reopened three water bottle refill stations (GB on Tap) to reduce the proliferation of plastic water bottles:
https://theberkshireedge.com/gb-now-back-on-tap-towns-three-water-refill-stations-open-once-again/