Bill Shein is the founder and editor of The Berkshire Argus, a new publication that provides in-depth, long-form reporting. (https://www.berkshireargus.com).
Email: billshein [ahtt] outlook.com
"In a troubled age when people were breathlessly choosing largely irrelevant hills to proverbially die on, something about the roundabout debate took the similarly proverbial cake."
When you-know-what-hits the fan, you should consider having each of these items for your survival kit to make it through the new-and-improved modern apocolypse.
Discussion about the two bylaws on Monday night will surely focus on the effectiveness and potential impacts of each proposal, and if they’ll do what proponents say they will. Bill Shein offers a recap of all that's happened so far.
Sometimes lost in the conversation is that it’s not only service-industry workers caught in the housing-market vise. Even those earning substantial salaries, such as doctors and nurses, today face extremely high costs for housing in the region.
In Part 2 of his four-part series on the short-term-rental debate and local housing issues, Bill Shein profiles some of those opposed to limiting STRs and investigates an alternate bylaw they've put forward.
In the first of a four-part series, Bill Shein takes a deep dive into Great Barrington Selectboard conflicts-of-interest, the laws surrounding them, and the letter which brought them to light.
SCENE: A large, unadorned, low-ceilinged room in the basement of the Supreme Court. Several dozen folding plastic chairs are positioned in a large circle on the smooth, cement floor. A single, naked lightbulb hangs in the middle, giving off a sickly yellow light and buzzing disconcertingly.
Carefully pick up your pile of assorted papers, carry it outside, and lay it on the ground. Douse the pile with lighter fluid and set it ablaze. In anywhere from 19–53 seconds the psychic weight of all this paper will vanish and your home will be instantly cleaner. GREAT JOB! Let’s keep going.
While there are no metrics to measure and compare such things, it’s possible this Ukrainian stamp release has received more news coverage, and more attention, than any other, and with good reason.
We’re tab hoarders. We click “Open link in new tab” repeatedly, our hunger to multitask and acquire knowledge piled on top of knowledge is never satiated.
Particularly exciting are exoplanets that exist in the “Goldilocks zone,” which means they’re in a temperature range that’s neither too hot nor too cold, where water can be liquid, the planetary core contains at least 72 percent breakfast porridge, and the surface is populated by talking bears.
Do you want to worry about your missing pet until your hair turns gray and falls out? To gnaw all 10 of your fingers to the bone with anxiety? Do you like having digestive acid dissolve your entire stomach with stress? Then definitely DON'T get a GPS pet tracker.
Beyond the STR debate, this matter raises an important question: What's the point of Disclosure of Appearance of Conflict of Interest filings if they are not immediately, and by statute or local policy, made public in a way that's useful to the community?
The Ukraine crisis is evidence that coordinated, rapid, international action is possible to meet urgent threats. Climate change is one of the threats that can and should be tackled through global cooperation.
