greylocknews

Marijuana youth sentencing opponents plan Sunda prayer vigil

David Scribner, former editor of The Berkshire Eagle and a correspondent
for the Hill Country Observer monthly reports that a group of more than
seven clergy from all over Berkshire County have organized to hold a
prayer vigil at the courthouse in Pittsfield on Sunday (Apri 2) at 2 p.m.
Scribner reports the intention of this interfaith prayer vigil is "to
provide an opportunity to transcend the purely political and allow people
with differing views to come together with an affirmative aim." Scribner
says members of the clergy will lead the vigil with prayers and words of
support for Mitchell Lawrence, his family and the families of others
involved in cases like this. And also, for those involved in the
community, in law enforcement and in the justice system, in the hope that
these and other cases like these will be handled with wisdom and mercy."

BACKGROUND: http://www.jointogether.org/news/yourturn/announcements/2006/18-year-old-mass-boy.html http://passing-drug-test.blogspot.com/2006/02/you-be-judge-of-capeless-strategy.html http://www.mpp.org/MA/news/10097.mpp http://www.pot-times.com/july16/undercover-drug-buys-described.htm

Ex-Eagle editor pens extensive piece on DA Capless

Former Berkshire Eagle Editor David Scribner has posted on his weblog a lengthy piece of writing about Berkshire County District Attorney David Capeless. It's written in a magazine style and makes judgements about
Capeless' handling of prosecutions for drug offenses. The piece appears to be a rewrite of a similar writing Scribner has done for the Hill Country Observer monthly. But its all the more interesting now that Capeless has
announced he is seeking re-election. Will Capeless respond? Will a challenger emerge? (UPDATE: Yes, defense lawyer Judith Knight announced she is running against Capeless). Scribner headlines his opinion this way: "Vengeance is mine: Saga of a fanatical prosecutor who is destroying young Berkshire lives." Here's a link to it:  http://www.scribbyworld.com/news45.shtml

wwShould there be an "impeach Bush" article on Williamstown warrant?

/wShould there be an "impeach bush" article on the Williamstown Town Meeting
warrant in May? What to do you think?

See: linkname: Bid to Give Bush the Boot URL: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0311-05.htm

Pioneering CSA farm sold for $427K to new farmers in deal to preserve it forever as a community agricultural resource

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. - March 18, 2006 -- A remarkable transition which promises to keep community-based agriculture growing in South Williamstown forever has been completed with the sale for $427,000 of the historic Caretaker Farm to new farmers and a local land trust.

"It will be an actively working farm affordable to the farmers in perpetuity - for conservation, recycling and diversity," Caretaker co-founder Samuel W. Smith, 70, declared on Saturday. Smith and his wife, Elizabeth V., 68, who have nurtured the 35-acre vegetable farm since 1969, left on Saturday to visit a daughter in France after a long-delayed legal closing. It involved four attorneys, two land trusts, 12 adults -- and one 2-year-old -- gathered on Friday around and under a Williamstown Savings Bank conference table. The new owners and farmer are Bridget Spann and Don Zasada - and their 2-year-old daughter, Gabriela.

The Smiths are intellectual and practical pioneers of a growing phenomenon -- so-called "community-supported agriculture" (CSA), in which local participants contribute an annual membership fee and in turn get generous allocations of farm-grown food crops through the year. Caretaker Farm, with 225 households each purchasing a share of farm-grown food for around $550 a year, is one of the "earliest and most notable [U.S.] experiments" of this approach, according to Bill McKibben, the Vermont author of the bestselling book, "The End of Nature." McKibben will speak at the First Congregational Church in Williamstown at 8 p..m. on April 28 on "Caretaker Farm: Case Study for a Deep Economy" -- a reference to the title of his current book project. He his honorary chairman of the "Campaign for Caretaker: Standing on Common Ground," which will raise $239,000 to complete the transaction.

FULL STORY: http://www.newshare.com/caretaker/

Ware says she'll run for vacant Nuciforo senate seat after Nuciforo goes for registry of deeds

The news on Friday that Andrea F. Nuciforo Jr. has decided not seek re-election to the Massachusetts Senate from the First Berkshire District is likely to lead to a lively contest in November. The first candidate may be former Williamstown selectperson Margaret J. Ware. Ware, who is also a state Democratic committeewoman, told GreylockNews.com she decided to run as soon as she heard that Nuciforo had decided to abandon the State House and instead run for Pittsfield registrar of deeds. That's because incumbent Mary K. O'Brien is retiring. Ware is currently community-services director at Elder Services of Berkshire County. Her husband, Robert, is a Williamstown attorney. She's a 1971 graduate of Mount Holyoke College. She has her own blog and has posted her announcement there. Nuciforo bio: http://www.vote-smart.org/bio.php?can_id=BS040158

When politicians exchange email and post to blogs do they violate open-meeting laws?

A North Adams, Mass., law firm has provided an advisory letter to the city councilor in the community of 14,000 residents, essentially say they do not violate the Massachusetts Open Meeting Act when they exchange posts on weblogs. Attorney John B. DeRosa writes in a Feb. 24, 2006 letter that so long as the the exchanges are not deliberative and are not executed with the intent of circumventing the law, they are probably lawful.  The letter is significant because open-meeting laws in most states were written before popular use of the Internet and there has been little case law on the subject. The North Adams Transcript covered the letter and issue.

Download weblogs-and-open-records-02-24-06.htm

A place for pre-school children to learn and socialize -- supported by parents: Little Red Schoolhouse

One of the enduring cycles of small-town life is the way children-centered non-profit institutions are sustained by successive waves of parents. South Williamstown's Little Red Schoolhouse is one example and the current crop of parents seems especially good at getting the word out about the pre-school's offerings and benefits. On Monday, March 13, the parent-lead school is holding an open house to recruit new little students. For details, click to the news release by Angela Cardinali.