Award-Winning Journal Includes Two Local Authors

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RICHMOND, Mass. — Upstreet, the literary journal named the bronze medal winner in the anthologies category of the 2009 Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY), includes two local authors in its award-winning fourth issue.

Karen Chase founded and ran the Camel River Writing Center at her home in Lenox from 1991 to 2004. She has taught at The Frost Place and has been a Rockefeller Bellagio Fellow. Her work has appeared in the Norton anthologies, Billy Collins’s Poetry 180, The New Yorker, Gettysburg Review, and The Yale Review. Her first book of poems, Kazimierz Square, was shortlisted by ForeWord Magazine as Best Indie Poetry Book of 2000. Her second collection, BEAR, was released in May 2008. Her nonfiction book, Land of Stone: Breaking Silence through Poetry (Wayne State University Press, 2007) was named a Bronze Medal winner in the category of psychology/mental health by the judges of the 2008 Independent Publishers Book Awards. Two of her poems, “The Hint” and “Ursa Major,” appear in upstreet number four.

Frank Tempone, a fiction writer and essayist, is the founder of Word Street, the Pittsfield drop-in tutoring and writing center. He has been a secondary school teacher for fourteen years. He holds an MFA in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts, and his work has appeared in Another Chicago Magazine, McSweeney's Internet Tendency, 580 Split, and other publications. He was Fiction Editor for upstreet number one, and Prose Editor for number two, and conducted the author interview for both issues. He lives in Dalton. His personal essay/memoir, “Everlasting,” appears in upstreet number four.

upstreet is produced annually by Ledgetop Publishing of Richmond, which was founded four and a half years ago by editor and publisher Vivian Dorsel. Each issue contains fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and an author interview. The fifth issue of upstreet will be available at the end of June 2009.
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Lanesborough Town Meeting to Vote Budget, Bylaws & Vehicle Purchases

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — Tuesday's annual town meeting includes a $14 million operating budget, new short-term rentals, accessory dwelling units and sign bylaws, and free cash article appropriations.

Voters will gather at Lanesborough Elementary School on June 9 at 6 p.m. to decide on 20 warrant articles.

The fiscal 2027 budget is up a little over 10 percent. Some of the main increases are the Mount Greylock Regional School District and McCann Technical School: the McCann assessment is up more than 30 percent based on factors including enrollment and the school renovation project, and Mount Greylock's is up 11 percent.

Article 11 is for the town to vote to approve from free cash the sum of $16,298.48 for the McCann Technical School roof and window replacement project so as not to impact the budget. Article 3 is  appropriate $7,586,284 for Mount Greylock Regional School assessment.

Another notable increase was in life and health insurance, showing an increase of about 26 percent.

Ambulance Director Jen Weber is planning 24-hour coverage, which means more staff and a hike in her budget. One of the articles asks the town to appropriate $234,100 to operate the Ambulance Enterprise Fund for salaries and expenses.

Many town departments are looking for new vehicles. The Fire Department is looking to replace its outdated 1996 fire engine. There are two articles related to the truck at a total of $813,366. Article 12 would transfer $225,000 from free cash into the Fire Truck Stabilization Fund; Article 13 would transfer $605,000 from the fund and authorize the borrowing of $208,366.08.

The total includes a $100,000 contingency cost to cover any additional costs if a 2026 model-year chassis cannot be secured before new emissions standards go into effect in 2027.

The board at its last meeting moved the $225,000 transfer to come before the borrowing article, changing the stabilization number. If the $225,000 is not voted on, then they will amend the next article's number on the floor, subtracting the $225,000. This shows the borrowing number significantly lower.

Article 17 asks for the transfer of $80,000 from free cash to replace a police cruiser.

Police Chief Rob Derksen's aim is to replace one vehicle every other year, meaning the oldest vehicle gets replaced about every 10 years. 

He stressed that if delayed this year, the town may have to double up in a future year to get back on schedule, and that paying later usually costs more. The article will ask for $80,000 from free cash, the vehicles used to be funded by the BHRD.

Lastly, the Highway Department is looking to replace a 2014 International dump truck that will be a total of $330,000 and will take two to three years to receive.

Money will be used from last year's approval of $250,000 from free cash for the replacement of a 2012 highway front-end loader that was underspent $49,261. Town meeting is being asked to approve  a transfer of $53,274.85 from free cash and the use of $227,464 from funds from the Sale of Town Real Estate to fund the balance.

Other free cash proposals include $1,200 to purchase software to support tracking and ongoing maintenance schedules of town-owned vehicles; $42,000 for the replacement of the Highway Department's storage shed roof, $200,000 to reduce the tax levy.

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