The Rogovoy Report 12.9.24

From around the corner to around the globe...

Dec 09, 2024

The Case Against Deli Meat

(New York) - Deli meat’s two biggest selling points — its extended shelf life and the convenience of being edible without cooking — make it a great vector for listeria, which can grow in soil, water, and animal poop. Fresh meats we cook at home at temperatures hot enough to kill most bacteria. Deli meats, though, are typically served cold, so when you eat one, you should assume it’s crawling with whatever contaminants it picked up on the long journey from the processing plant to your sandwich. And unlike most bacteria, listeria can live in low temperatures, which means it thrives on foods that are stored in fridges for weeks. It has also been known to leap from one meat to another on deli counters and slicers.

The Mural in the Attic

(Tablet) NORTH ADAMS, Mass. - In 2014, Carol Clingan was researching yahrzeit (memorial) plaques in western Massachusetts when she heard about a rare synagogue mural in North Adams, a small city in the Berkshires settled by Lithuanian Jewish immigrants. For more than a century, this wall mural — painted in 1898 by Noah Levin, a Lithuanian Jewish immigrant artist — had been hidden in the attic of a small wooden apartment building, the original home of the House of Israel, the community’s first synagogue. As a genealogist intent on preserving the Jewish legacy in America, Clingan clearly understood the historical significance of the North Adams “mural in the attic.” She soon set out on a mission to rescue this unique relic from the American-Jewish immigrant world — the oldest of the few remaining synagogue murals in North America. In 2018, the Yiddish Book Center in nearby Amherst, Mass., recognized that the mural would be a welcome and important addition to its immigrant collection. Susan Bronson, executive director of the Yiddish Book Center, said: “This mural represents a beautiful and unique moment in history. We felt that the Yiddish Book Center was an important home for this relic of a Yiddish-speaking, immigrant Jewish community, which found a home not far from where the Yiddish Book Center is now located.”

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Tanglewood Music Center conducting fellow Na'Zir McFadden leading the Boston Symphony Orchestra on Nov. 29 at Symphony Hall (photo Winslow Townson)

For Tanglewood Music Center Conducting Fellows, Leading the BSO Was an ‘Out-of-Body Experience’

(Boston Globe) LENOX, Mass. - The TMC has had a conducting program in place for decades, but its conducting fellows predominantly work with TMC ensembles and shadow the BSO music director or visiting guest conductors when they can. However, that immersion hasn’t usually included public podium time with the BSO itself. Instrumental fellows of the TMC often join the ranks of the BSO for concerts at Tanglewood, but since there’s only one conductor onstage, conducting fellows don’t usually get similar opportunities. When the fellows conduct BSO players, it’s typically for chamber music in Ozawa Hall, which draws smaller crowds. BSO music director Andris Nelsons was named Head of Conducting in Tanglewood in January, but it wasn’t immediately clear what exactly that meant. His sharing a Symphony Hall subscription program with the fellows goes hand-in-hand with that new title, and hopefully such a showcase event will become a fixture on the orchestra’s calendar. Such an opportunity rewards the next generation of conductors for their work, not just with an impressive line for any conducting resume, but also the chance to leave an impression on the BSO’s devoted hometown crowd.

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PS21 inaugural artistic and executive director Elena Siyanko - who transformed the Chatham, N.Y., arts venue into a dynamic presenter of cutting-edge music, dance, and performance - is stepping down (ATU)

Arts organizations will continue forward despite imminent closure of Simon’s Rock Daniel Arts Center (Berkshire Edge)

Joe Donahue of WAMC Northeast Public Radio will be at the Mahaiwe in Great Barrington on Thursday, December 19, to talk with friend, cartoonist, writer, and songwriter Sandra Boynton in a program callled ‘Cows and Holly: Sandra Boynton tries to explain her wild new Christmas album.’ (WAMC)

Community Theatre in Catskill eyes May 2025 reopening (ATU)

Musicians, artists find sanctuary at The Falcon in Marlboro, N.Y. (Daily Freeman)

Impressionism’s 150th anniversary met with big yawn in US museums (Boston Globe)

NEWS FROM THE BERKSHIRES

Residents Form Group to Look at Purchase of Simon’s Rock Campus

(Berkshire Edge) GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. - Less than a month since Bard College announced that it intends to close its Simon’s Rock campus by the end of the spring 2025 semester, community members have formed a group to look at potentially purchasing the campus. Two of the members of the group are Great Barrington residents Peter Most and Steve Picheny. “We’re a bunch of concerned citizens from South County who all want to see what we as a community can do to make the best use of Simon’s Rock,” Picheny said. “We want to see if we can do something that will better the community and take [the closure of the campus] and make it into something good.” Read also, Simon’s Rock Closure: Loss and opportunity (RI)

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GE’s revised plan to transport PCBs from Housatonic River relies less on trucks (NEPM)

’I can’t comprehend how that’s even a possible plan’: Berkshire residents react to revised GE cleanup proposal (WAMC)

Housatonic residents can now receive a $600 reimbursement for water expenses (Berkshire Eagle)

Lenox schools ranked among U.S. News & World Report's best (iBerkshires)

A committee has chosen to pursue construction of a new, three-story Monument High School in Great Barrington (B Eagle)

Stockbridge Munsee tribal leader’s advice: ‘Our culture isn’t for sale’ (B Eagle)

New investor revives stalled Blantyre resort restoration and development project (B Eagle)

Former mayor behind Pittsfield’s new push for supportive housing reflects on the long, tortured road to the project’s groundbreaking (WAMC)

Berkshire Carousel offer needs more community input (iBerkshires)

Recent ICE arrests of Berkshire residents spark debate over immigration detainers and justice for victims (B Eagle)

Lanesborough to mall owners: Pay your taxes (iBerkshires)

Presidential election outcome sparks concern, fear in local LGBTQ+ community members (Berkshire Edge)

NEWS FROM THE HUDSON VALLEY

A glimpse of downtown Catskill (photo David Mcintyre)

Catskill: A Community in Motion

(Chronogram) CATSKILL, N.Y. - The pulse of Catskill is quickening. From the new businesses downtown to an inaugural comedy festival, and a water park where children romped this past summer, you can feel a sense of movement. And while there are roadblocks to maneuver past — one of the most serious being affordable housing — the community continues to push forward.

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Hudson group pushes to replace mayor with city manager (ATU)

Revised law against harassing public officials to go before Hudson Common Council (HV360)

Hudson honors Walthour family with street name dedication (HV360)

Incoming U.S. Rep. Josh Riley joins other political leaders decrying Central Hudson requested rate hikes (Daily Freeman)

Lake Taghkanic State Park to get 152-acre expansion (HV360)

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