Students associate 1776 with the American Revolution. But that’s only part of the story, according to author Ray Raphael.
Raphael’s book “The Spirit of ’74: How the American Revolution Began” focuses on sixteen months between the Boston Tea Party and Lexington and Concord. He says in this new narrative, Worcester native Timothy Bigelow was important.
Click the audio player above to hear Raphael’s conversation with New England Public Radio’s Carrie Healy.
Our summer fiction series continues with “The Return,” a novel about a gambling addict, his family and the mafia – looking for payback. It’s based in Revere, Massachusetts – the hometown of author Roland Merullo, who now lives in the hills of Hampshire County. Merullo says he’s been writing seriously for thirty-seven years.
Listen to Merullo’s interview with New England Public Radio’s Carrie Healy by clicking on the audio player above.
The Springfield Catholic Diocese announced this week that Saint Mark School in Pittsfield will close after school lets out for the summer. But that’s not the only downsizing the diocese has done in recent years. Over 60 western Massachusetts parishes have shut down since 2000, as church attendance declined.
Monsignor John Bonzagni is the director of pastoral planning for the diocese. Last week, a Vatican court ruled the diocese can de-consecrate and sell two churches in the region – one in Holyoke, another in Northampton. Bonzagni estimates about a dozen vacated church buildings remain unsold in the region. I asked him what happens to a church once it’s empty.
To hear my conversation with Monsignor John Bonzagni, click on the audio player above.
This week, the private group that’s bidding to host the 2024 summer Olympics in Boston released more details of its proposal. The group’s leaders have focused on the bid’s compactness and low cost. They’ve also said the bid won’t take any public money beyond existing public transit projects already in the works. Smith College sports economist Andrew Zimbalist has studied the economics of Olympic host cities. He says he doubts a Boston bid can stay within budget.
Zimbalist’s new book is Circus Maximus: The Economic Gamble Behind Hosting The Olympics and World Cup.
We’ve requested an interview with the leadership of Boston 2024. We hope to bring you that conversation soon.
To hear the interview with Andrew Zimbalist, click on the audio player above.
The Connecticut Department of Transportation distributed road salt this week to more than 40 communities who were facing a shortage. The supply problem caused Gov. Dannel Malloy to declare a state of emergency last week. It’s been a different story for cities and towns in western Massachusetts.
As soon as he heard about a possible lack of available road salt to treat snowy and icy roadways, Northampton, Massachusetts Public Works Director Ned Huntley took a preventative measure.
“We placed an order for 700 tons as soon as we heard there might be a shortage coming,” Huntley says.
And the city received all of that shortly after Huntley placed the order.
A number of cities and towns in western Massachusetts say they have plenty of salt on hand and deliveries have been arriving on a regular basis. John Morrill is the highway chief for the town of Monson. He says about 15 years ago several neighboring communities decided to put their salt contracts out to bid together.
“I asked a couple of other towns, the next thing I know everybody else is falling into place with us because the salt, at the time, the rates had gone up so high. They were almost over a $100 a ton, now we got it back down to $57, $58 a ton,” Morrill says.
Morrill says he just placed an order on Friday, and the salt was there by Monday.
Since last March, a local Quaker group has been banned from visiting a Northampton, Massachusetts high school to lobby students against joining the military. Now, both sides are talking to each other.
The controversy is over a proposed school policy at Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School. Under the draft being considered by the school’s trustees, only colleges and employers would be permitted to visit the campus. The local American Friends Service Committee says the policy would effectively ban the group from coming to the school. Since last March, the AFSC has been banned from visiting Smith Vocational to lobby students against joining the military.
The American Civil Liberties Union weighed in on the issue, saying they have constitutional concerns. Bill Newman is the director of the Western Massachusetts ACLU. “By banning AFSC, [Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School] is putting its very heavy thumb on the scale in favor of military recruiters and is engaging in viewpoint discrimination,” says Newman.
A spokesperson for Smith Vocational denied an interview request, saying conversations with the A-F-S-C are ongoing. Jeff Napolitano, the group’s director, says he’s hopeful his members will be allowed to return to the school.
This story was written and reported by David Chang.