FROM OTHER SOURCES ( #4). NEWS AND FEATURES FOR AND ABOUT AMHERST
Editor’s Note: “From Other Sources” offers links to articles that might be of interest to Amherst readers. We will update this section every other week, emphasizing different timely topics from edition to edition. We have now added a tag for “From Other Sources” so that you can easily find all previous editions/links. Simply click the “From Other Sources” tag from the tag menu at the bottom of the page.
ENVIRONMENT/ENERGY
A New Report from Environment Massachusetts Profiled Innovative Programs in Amherst, Northampton, Holyoke and Other Pioneer Valley Communities. (7/24/19) by Paul Tuthill. A report released this week by Environment Massachusetts Research and Policy Center profiled innovative programs undertaken in Amherst, Northampton, Holyoke and other communities. (from WAMC).
HOUSING
Editorial: Rift Puts Amherst Homeless Shelter in Limbo (7/22/19). The current rift at Craig’s Doors officially began less than two months ago — though the full-time staff say negotiations began months earlier — when Executive Director Jade Lovett and managers Kerry Brock and Aidan Novo sent a letter to the shelter’s board of directors with a list of demands that they feel are necessary to improve operations. (from The Daily Hampshire Gazette).
Unused Parking Spots Driving Up The Cost of Housing. (7/24/19) by Andy Metzger.
…the council determined that during the peak-demand period – overnight on weeknights in the fall, winter, and spring – only about 70 percent of parking supplied by residential developments was being used. (from Commonwealth Magazine)
PLANNING
The Public Hates Planners But It Doesn’t Have to Be That Way. (11/6/17) by Austin Maitland. In a country built on private property rights, how did we arrive at a point where the public genuinely fears the power of a branch of local government? (from Strong Towns).
EDUCATION/SCHOOLS
Amherst Town Manager Wants to Wait on Crocker Farm School Study. (7/17/19). by Scott Merzbach. In the months leading up to the decision from the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA), Town Manager Paul Bockelman said he is reluctant to spend up to $40,000 on a feasibility study for the remaining elementary school, Crocker Farm, even though this is included in the capital plan recently approved by the Town Council. (from The Daily Hampshire Gazette).
Amherst Schools Receive $10K grant from Southern Poverty Law Center (7/xx/19) by Scott Merzbach. (7/22/19) by Greta Jochem. Amherst Public Schools have received a $10,000 grant from the Southern Poverty Law Center to bring its civic literacy and organizing education to more classrooms in the coming school year. (from The Daily Hampshire Gazette).
MA Budget Deal Underfunds Public Colleges, Hikes Student Fees. (7/23/19) by Phenom.
The FY2020 state budget deal passed on July 22 underfunds our public colleges and universities, will force increases in tuition and fees for tens of thousands of students across the state, and ignores decades of state funding cuts that have caused Massachusetts to have the fastest growing public college costs in the country… (from Phenom Update)
RESISTANCE
Six Ways to Fight Resistance Fatigue (7/26/19) by Erika Heidewald.
Many activists have adapted the phrase to say that resistance is not a marathon, it’s a relay race. We don’t all need to be running constantly or we’ll get burnt out. Take the baton for a while and do your part, then pass it to someone else while you recuperate. (from Global Comment)
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