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Sports
High School Football
11-07-09 - Hoosac Valley beats Drury.
More photo's on Monday |
 | Thursday, Nov. 06
Boys' Soccer: State Vocational Championship Game
McCann Tech 3, Keefe Tech 2
Girls' Soccer: State Vocational Championship Game
Blackstone Valley 8, McCann Tech 0 |
Election
Trying to remember who won what and why? All the information is right here. |
Daily Digest
This is Jake
He's been lost in Pittsfield for weeks but frequently sited. He was last seen heading toward the fire station on Peck's Road. He's tired, dirty and needs seizure medication. He's chipped. If you see him, call Julie at 413-537-5616, the vet 24/7 at 413-499-2820 or animal control at 413-448-9700. |
What's Playing
The popular anime character "Astro Boy" searches for acceptance on the big screen.
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ObituariesSales FliersBazaarsNov. 7:
VNA & Hospice, Community Room, North Adams
North Adams Elks
10-4; Nov. 8, 9-2
Crafters, Chinese auction, bake sale
For vendor information, Melanie at 413-743-5562.
Nov. 14
Berkshire Community Church, Richmond
10-4; Crafters, bake sale. Contact Evelyn Goggia at 413-445-5747
Lanesborough Elementary School annual Fall Craft Fair from 10 to 4. Free admission, huge variety of arts and crafts, raffles, food and more. Proceeds go to sixth-grade trip to Cape Cod.
Vendors can contact Deb at 413-738-5349 or debhutton@aol.com or Lori at 413-499-0065 or lorittod@yahoo.com to secure a spot.
Dec. 12-13
North Adams Country Club, crafts 9-4; food from That's a Wrap from 11-2. Contact Sheryl Morehouse at 413-822-3329.
Planning a bazaar this season? Submit information to info@iberkshires.com to have it listed here. |
Related Stories |
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That's Life: In the Grip of Election FeverBy Phyllis McGuire
iBerkshires Columnist
08:05PM / Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Election fever has reached epidemic proportions, striking young and old, celebrities and average people.
Craig Ferguson, host of "The Late, Late Show," which airs on CBS every weeknight, has shown signs of the angst that often accompanies election fever.
Making an entrance on the show the other night, Ferguson frowned and barked, "I'm mad." Veering from his usual style of entertaining viewers with self-deprecating humor, he took to task a number of people involved in the presidential campaigns.
He wanted to know, for instance, why candidates' families are purposely paraded in front of the public if they are supposed to be "off limits."
Ferguson, a Scotsman who was sworn in as an American citizen in February, also berated people who do not vote.
Ferguson's remarks were not directed at me: I have never passed up a chance to exercise my right to vote.
Whether we think of voting as a duty or a privilege, it is a right for which our forefathers fought long and hard to attain, and many of our troops shed blood and died to protect.
 What's this about historic elections? Shirley Chisholm's name was thrown into the ring for the Dems in 1972. And Margaret Chase Smith, below, got the nod from GOP backers in 1964. Neither made it onto the final tickets. |
Women were not accorded the vote until 1920 when the 19th Amendment to the Constitution was adopted, "prohibiting each state and the federal government from denying the vote to any citizen because of that citizen's sex."
In later years, women proved that the "the weaker sex" was a misnomer, campaigning vigorously for seats in the House of Representatives and the Senate. And they proceeded to successfully serve not only as members of Congress, but as members of the cabinet and Supreme Court Justices as well. Now Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is a candidate for vice president on the Republican ticket. If elected, she will be the first woman to hold that office.
Will women who had supported Hillary Clinton in what turned out to be a fruitless bid for the Democratic Party's nomination for president be swayed by gender to cross party lines and vote for Palin? That's a question that has spawned polls, guessestimates and rumors.
There was a time when women typically deferred to the men in their lives in political matters.
My mother voted for certain candidates, because they had won my father's approval. But that changed when my two sisters and I grew old enough to vote and kept abreast of what was happening in the political arena. At home, as we compared candidates' qualifications, their stance on various issues, etc., Mother formed her own opinion of who would do the best job. She discovered she and Father were on different sides of the political spectrum, and she began casting her ballot for the candidate of her choice not Father's.
Father was so far to the right, he would have labeled Bill O'Reilly a liberal. We four women were registered independents who bent a bit to the left. Outnumbered, Father virtually banned the "discussion" of politics at home. I suppose it was a form of self-defense, as our "discussions" sent Father to the medicine cabinet, looking for Tums and aspirins.
My Uncle Charlie, president of a local filmmaker's union, was always eager to talk about politics. He was very knowledgeable, and I found it enlightening to listen to his views.
When we visited Uncle Charlie and dear, sweet Aunt Lillian, she would put the tea kettle on the stove as soon as we arrived. Later, as we sat at the kitchen table, sipping tea and chatting, Uncle Charlie seized any opportunity to interject current political issues.
Once when Mother complained that the price of meat was "ridiculously high," Uncle Charlie remarked that people in the lower-income brackets were unable to "make ends meet. The minimum wage should be increased."
 We women were an attentive audience but Father would invent excuses for leaving the kitchen: "I'm going outside to smoke a cigar," "My back is killing me. I have to stretch out on the sofa."
Here and now, I will not ignore any candidates in this historic election of 2008, because of their sex or the color of their skin. But I will disregard the candidates' sex and race when I am deciding for which one I will vote.
And I am determined to not be distracted by accusations and outrage that emanate from political camps in regard to insignificant matters. I have important matters to ponder, including how each candidate would address such compelling issues as the economy, the energy crisis, the environment, the war on terror, and the safe return of our troops now stationed in Iraq.
In this stage of election fever, I feel as if my head will explode.
There is no known cure for election fever; it just has to run its course. Based on my experience, I believe relief will come on Tuesday, Nov. 4. |
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