How many citizens voted at the last town election? How many will vote at the town meeting? Town meeting is quaint AND irrevocably broken.
A holistic approach to town zoning is far preferable. Selectively passing one or two of the failed Planning Board's proposed zoning changes amounts to spot zoning. All related articles should be tabled or voted down.
Here is something to consider if you think the GR proposals, at minimum, are harmless. If you own land that can be divided into two or more now buildable parcels, guess what? Your property taxes will be jacked up because now, your property is "more valuable!" Voila!
These ill-thought out zoning changes have actually sucked the life out of any new real ideas as to how to create affordable housing in "The Village Beautiful." Sadly, instead, all our energy has been wasted on debating these ill-advised Planning Board proposals!
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Williams Grads Told: Be Kind to 'What Is Strange Within You'
By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — After describing herself as neither a speech writer nor a public speaker, Williams College Commencement speaker Cécile McLorin Salvant said that she watched "millions" of similar addresses when figuring out what she would say to the school's Class of 2026.
"I watched Valerie Jarrett's commencement speech from last year here at Williams, and it was so incredibly inspiring," Salvant said. "It was great, but, after watching, I felt like I had even less I wanted to say.
"And then I thought: What if I just showed up here as myself? I have spent so much of my life looking at what other people are doing and trying to fit myself into that, but I don't really fit. And I know you don't really fit, and, actually, I've been most rewarded when I remembered that and when I've honored that."
Salvant said that graduation day is a good time for the graduates to think about what drives them and trust themselves to find a path.
"We're so often looking at what everyone else is doing, distracting ourselves from our own desires and our own idiosyncrasies, and the result is that we get a little more mean, a little less understanding of others, a little more stingy, a little less kind," Salvant said. "So what I'm advocating for, ultimately, is a kindness that goes both ways. That kindness toward yourself, toward what is strange within you, is that same kindness with which you can meet the people in the world around you, and you can keep giving that kindness both ways, even when you think you have none left to give."
And, with that, the three-time Grammy winner and MacArthur fellow told the crowd that she was going to be true to her self, launching into a stirring a cappella rendition of West Side Story's "Somewhere," composed by longtime Tanglewood fixture Leonard Bernstein with lyrics by Williams alum Stephen Sondheim.
Salvant was one of a handful speakers who took a turn at the podium at the school's 237th Commencement Exercises.
Cassidy Flynn scattered five hits in a complete-game effort in the circle as Lenox upset top-seeded Hoosac Valley, 3-2, in the quarter-finals of the Division 5 State Tournament. click for more
Brayden Durant struck out seven and walked one in a complete-game effort on the mound Saturday to pitch the Drury baseball team to a 6-0 win over Keefe Tech in the quarter-finals of the Division 5 State Tournament at Joe Wolfe Field. click for more
The Massachusetts fire marshal came to town Saturday to congratulate the local Fire District and the taxpayers of Williamstown for the "amazing" station they have built on Main Street. click for more
