Stories from surrounding communities, closest first.
Lakeville Journal · Chatham, NY
Nearby: Chatham, NYFALLS VILLAGE — Is popcorn really corn? Young Region One students put their knowledge of farms and food to the test during a visit from author, environmentalist and educator Nancy Castaldo on Friday, Nov. 6. Castaldo held three sessions at Housatonic Valley Regional High School, beginning with children in pre-K through second grade. A Chatham, New York, resident who has written about 25 books on environmental subjects for young readers, Castaldo opened her “Good Farms = Good Food” presentation by describing the working farms she passed on her drive to Connecticut. “I saw one that had animals called alpacas,” she said. “And another one with cows.” She introduced the children to different kinds of farms, drawing them into the discussion with a series of true-or-false questions about where food comes from. “People eat most of the corn grown in the U.S. How many think that’s true?” she asked. A handful of children raised their hands.
The Berkshire Edge · Catskill, NY
Nearby: Catskill, NYDarlin’ Bridge Street Theatre in Catskill, N.Y. Written by Michelle Carter Directed by Katy Early “You are really important.” In this world-premiere production of Michelle Carter’s “Darlin’,” it is clear that some additional work needs to be done before a perfect performance is viable. There is much that is good in this show, but a few things are confusing and feel incomplete. At the center of the play is the relationship between a single mother and her daughter. The daughter is still only a very young teenager, with lots of room to grow. The actress in this role also plays her own grandmother, and this provides half of the confusion that reigns here. There is also a man in the play who does many things, including straightforward narration, which makes little sense as that is not his principal role in the play. It provokes the question: Who is he, and why is he saying these things, and to whom?
Lakeville Journal · Great Barrington, MA
Nearby: Great Barrington, MAGREAT BARRINGTON — Climbers of all ages and ability levels filled Berkshire Boulders on Friday, Nov. 6, as the new rock climbing gym celebrated its grand opening just north of downtown on Route 7. As the crowd began to build at 4 p.m., founder Nick Friedman said it was gratifying to see the long-planned project finally open to the public. “It’s a bit surreal but it feels good,” he said. “It’s this idea that’s been percolating in climbers’ minds for decades.” The type of climbing on offer is bouldering — a short but often powerful and technical form of the sport, usually practiced on walls less than about 14 feet tall. Mats cushion falls, and climbers use no harnesses or ropes. Beginners need only a pair of climbing shoes and some chalk, available to rent for $7, making bouldering a popular entry point to the sport. In addition to climbing, the gym offers a fitness room with exercise equipment, a shower, and a back porch and picnic tables overlooking the Housatonic River valley.
Lakeville Journal · Great Barrington, MA
Nearby: Great Barrington, MANow celebrating 40 years, Cowboy Junkies will perform Saturday, Nov. 14, at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. The band is celebrating its long career with a triple-vinyl retrospective album called “Open to Beauty,” featuring a selection of songs from 2000 onward, including material from its most recent release, “Such Ferocious Beauty.” Initially, the band was inspired by the dark, spacious qualities of post-punk and goth groups such as Siouxsie and the Banshees and Joy Division. But the musicians soon settled on an organic, rootsy country-blues sound with hints of psychedelia. Their hushed sound developed from playing quietly in their garage rehearsal space so as not to disturb their neighbors. Formed in 1985, the band made a huge impact on the indie rock scene with its second album, “The Trinity Session,” recorded with a single ambisonic microphone at the Church of the Holy Trinity in Toronto.
Lakeville Journal · Sheffield, MA
Nearby: Sheffield, MASubway stations may seem unlikely places to encounter the divine, but amid the rumble of trains, the crush of commuters and the cavernous underground passageways, Salisbury artist Mike Selbach finds moments of unexpected beauty. In “Subway Saints,” his solo exhibition opening Thursday, Nov. 12 at the Warren Family Gallery at Berkshire School in Sheffield, Massachusetts, Selbach transforms ordinary commuters and familiar transit spaces into sacred moments. Through carved, two-sided wooden sculptures and expressive woodcut prints of New York City subway stations, Selbach captures both the individuality of the people who pass through these spaces and the shared experience of moving through the city. His work draws on decades of experience in sculpture and printmaking, with a distinct focus on the expressive possibilities of wood.
Rockland Review News · Florida, MA
Nearby: Florida, MAFlorida voters approved a sweeping property tax cut on Tuesday, and the margin was thinner than the headline suggests. Amendment 3, which raises the homestead exemption from $50,000 to $150,000 in 2027 and then to $250,000 in 2028, cleared the 60% threshold with exactly 62%, according to WLRN. Two points of slack is not a mandate. It is a win that squeaked. Why should Rockland County readers care about a Florida ballot measure? Because the argument that decided it — homeowner relief versus the services property taxes pay for — is the same argument every town board here faces every budget season, just compressed into one dramatic vote. The result is a live experiment in what happens when a community slashes its own revenue base on purpose. The early warnings came from the people who run the services. What did Florida actually vote for?
Lakeville Journal · North Canaan, CT
Nearby: North Canaan, CTNORTHWEST CORNER — Libraries provide much more than books nowadays, and eligible Connecticut residents now have another resource available. All six libraries in the Region One school district are participating in Laptop ConneCT, a program that allows eligible residents to borrow laptops for long-term use. “It’s terrific,” said Meg Sher, executive director of the D.M. Hunt Library in Falls Village. “We’ve already given out two.” Laura Moran, director of the Douglas Library in North Canaan, spoke enthusiastically about the program, saying it has particularly benefited people over 65. “They are able to use it for such things as telehealth,” she said. “They are finding it easier to read because of a larger screen and keyboard than on their phones.” Each library has received an allocation of laptops through the statewide program. The Dell Pro 16 laptops run Windows and have built-in cameras for video calls, online classes, virtual doctor appointments and more.
Lakeville Journal · North Canaan, CT
Nearby: North Canaan, CT“I think art is the thing that allows us to feel there’s something in the universe that loves us,” said painter Peter Cusack in his new studio, a mid-19th-century stone church on Main Street in North Canaan. For Cusack, art has always been a way of reaching toward something beyond the physical world. That sensibility runs through “Eternal: New, Recent, and Near Distant Paintings,” his upcoming exhibition in the church, a setting that seems an improbably good fit. Cusack recently moved his painting practice from Torrington into the former church at 58 Main Street. The move came about somewhat unexpectedly, after a change in ownership made his previous studio untenable. “At first I thought it was just gonna be too much,” Cusack said. When he first saw it, the building still looked unmistakably like a church, with its vaulted ceiling, stained glass and architectural details intact. It had served as a place of worship for generations before closing roughly 12 years ago.
Lakeville Journal · Sharon, CT
Nearby: Sharon, CTSHARON — The median sale price of a single-family home in Sharon reached $710,000 for the 12 months ending Oct. 31. The median, which excludes condominiums, was 16% higher than the $610,000 recorded for the 12 months ending Oct. 31, 2025, and 5% above the $677,500 recorded for the corresponding period in 2024. Sharon’s record 12-month median was $880,000, which was for the year ending August 2024. Single-family home sales totaled 33 for the 12 months ending Oct. 31, down from 37 for the same period in 2025 and 40 in 2024. The town’s highest 12-month sales volume was 87, recorded for the 12 months ending in May 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Annual sales over the past decade have typically ranged from 30 to 60. Housing inventory was up in early November, with 33 homes listed for sale, including one condominium. Of those, 13 had asking prices above $1 million and 11 were listed below the $710,000 median sale price.
Lakeville Journal · Sharon, CT
Nearby: Sharon, CTSHARON — Residents can honor loved ones while supporting local emergency responders through two holiday fundraisers: the Sharon Fire Department Ladies Auxiliary’s annual Memory Tree and the ambulance squad’s “Lights of Love” display on the town Green. The auxiliary is accepting $5 donations for ornaments bearing the names of family members, friends and loved ones. The Memory Tree will be displayed at Town Hall from Nov. 25 through Dec. 31. Tina Pitcher, an auxiliary member and Sharon’s town secretary, said she proposed the fundraiser in 2014 after Sharon Hospital stopped offering a memory tree. The auxiliary uses proceeds from the tree and other fundraisers, including bunco games, to help meet equipment needs at the fire department and ambulance squad, Pitcher said. The group has four or five members who also provide food and coffee to firefighters and other emergency responders at incident scenes.
Daily Hampshire Gazette · Westhampton, MA
Nearby: Westhampton, MAWesthampton has 47 miles of road and two Highway Department employees to take care of them. That math is at the center of a growing debate at Select Board meetings, fueled by a resident’s push to widen Spruce Hill Road, neighbors’ complaints about the condition of Northwest Road and an unannounced repaving of Hooker Road. The disputes have sparked accusations of micromanagement and questions about oversight, all while the town, after two failed overrides this year, continues to struggle financially. Heading into fiscal 2027, the town cut one of four Highway Department positions, along with funding for road materials. The overrides would have restored the position. With another position vacant, that leaves one crew member and Superintendent Bill Jablonski, who did not respond to requests for comment for this article, left to cover every road in town.
