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BArT to Host Salvadoran Poet and Literary Activist

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ADAMS, Mass. — BArT Charter Public School is hosting poet and activist Javier Zamora as a part of their Creative Leaders in Residence program (CLRP). 
 
CLRP brings voices to BArT to share their work through lectures, performances, or readings with our students and the community. Connecting BArT and its students to the world and the world to the School is an important part of the BArT ethos.
 
In addition to spending time with BArT students in a number of their classes during 3 school days, Mr. Zamora will deliver a public performance at 7:00pm on Thursday, Sept. 30, 2021 via Zoom. 
 
That performance, "BArT Presents: Javier Zamora," is free and open to the public; pre-registration is required. Register by clicking here or by visiting the News & Events page at www.BArTcharter.org. Any questions should be directed to leah.thompson@BArTcharter.org.
 
Javier Zamora was born in La Herradura, El Salvador in 1990. His father fled El Salvador when he was a year old, and his mother when he was about to turn five. Both parents' migrations were caused by the Salvadoran Civil War (1980-1992).
 
In 1999, Javier migrated through Guatemala, Mexico, and eventually through the Sonoran Desert. After a coyote abandoned his group in Oaxaca, Javier managed to make it to Arizona with the aid of other migrants. 
 
His first full-length collection, Unaccompanied (Copper Canyon Press, September 2017), explores how immigration and the civil war have impacted his family.
 
Zamora was a 2018-2019 Radcliffe Fellow at Harvard University and holds fellowships from CantoMundo, Colgate University (Olive B. O'Connor), MacDowell, Macondo, the National Endowment for the Arts, Poetry Foundation (Ruth Lilly), Stanford University (Stegner), and Yaddo. He is the recipient of a 2017 Lannan Literary Fellowship, the 2017 Narrative Prize, and the 2016 Barnes & Noble Writer for Writers Award for his work in the Undocupoets Campaign.
 
Zamora's visit to BArT is supported by the Charles H. Hall Foundation, the Cultural Council of Northern Berkshire, and the George H. and Jane A. Mifflin Memorial Fund.
 
 
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Adams Parts Ways With Police Chief

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
ADAMS, Mass. — The town has parted ways with its police chief. 
 
K. Scott Kelley "is no longer employed by the Town of Adams," according to interim Town Administrator Holli Jayko. 
 
The Board of Selectmen voted on Sept. 8 to put the police chief on a paid leave of absence but town officials have declined to answer repeated questions about the nature of the absence other than to clarify it was not a "suspension."
 
His departure follows an executive session held by the Selectmen last Wednesday to discuss a personnel matter other than professional competence, including health or discipline, or dismissal. 
 
A request for further information on whether Kelley's leaving was through resignation or termination was not provided, or whether his contract had been paid out. 
 
"The Town does not comment on personnel matters and will have no further comment on this matter at this time," responded Selectmen Chair John Duval via email on Friday. 
 
Kelley, who moved here to take the post of chief in 2021, has reportedly sold his home. 
 
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