The Rogovoy Report 2.5.24

From around the corner to around the globe...

Feb 05, 2024

The Rogovoy Report will very likely be taking a hiatus for one week while I recharge my batteries. The next Report will likely bear the date February 19. Thank you in advance for your understanding and support.

REQUIRED READING

Why Don’t We Teach People How to Parent?

(The Atlantic) - There are just some things you don’t do without preparation. You’re not meant to drive a car without taking lessons and passing a test. You aren’t supposed to scuba dive without certification. You can’t teach — or practice law, or therapy, or cosmetology — without first proving your knowledge. But you can become a parent without any training at all — and that’s a pretty high-stakes position.... The ways that people used to learn parenting have started falling apart, and the alternatives are not accessible enough to fill the gaps left behind. American society hasn’t embraced the idea that child-rearing can or should be taught formally. Meanwhile, many parents are struggling to figure it out for themselves.

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Why can’t white America leave Black children’s hair alone? (The Guardian)

Don’t feel bad about your laundry chair. Why a landing spot for the pile of in-between clothes is vital to every bedroom. (WaPo)

Want safer streets? Paint them. (WaPo)

The case for Trump's disqualification, by Sean Wilentz (NYRB)

What happens, exactly, if Trump is sentenced to prison? (New York)

Robin and Will Curletti, former owners of Fuel Coffee Shop on Main Street in Great Barrington (photo Michael Thomas/courtesy Berkshire Edge)

Fuel Bistro to Reopen with New Owners

(Berkshire Edge) GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. - Nearly five months after husband and wife Will and Robin Curletti put their long-running Fuel Bistro and Coffee Shop for sale, the shop has been purchased by new owners. Elan Merkel, his wife Lydia Merkel, his brother Ron Merkel, and long-time Fuel employee Carol Keuma-Hipwell are the new owners. “We’re trying not to change too much in terms of the feel of the place and its menu," said Elan Merkel. "Fuel has always been a pretty laid-back store and we don’t want to change that."

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Pittsfield café moving to Sarasota (Berkshire Edge)

Owners of troubled Thistle & Mirth hope ‘rebranding’ - with earlier closing hours and new emphasis on dining -- will improve Pittsfield venue’s reputation (iBerkshires)

Pittsfield juice shop The Spot opening second location in Great Barrington (Berkshire Eagle)

Cheshire native Cj Garner is bringing a full-service restaurant back to his hometown. It will be the first sit-down restaurant in Cheshire since Bass Water Grill closed in 2022. (B Eagle)

Seven Hudson Valley chefs, restaurants named James Beard Awards semifinalists, including chef-owner Shaina Loew-Banayan of Cafe Mutton and Mel the Bakery, both of Hudson (ATU)

The Meat Hook — the whole-animal butcher that specializes in pasture-raised, grass-fed meats that first debuted in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, 15 years ago — is opening a shop in Hudson (Eater New York)

Willa replaces 52 Main in Millerton with a language of its own (RI)

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NEWS FROM THE BERKSHIRES

Race Brook Lodge — A Rustic Resort with Historical Roots and a Modern Ethos

(Berkshire Edge) SHEFFIELD, Mass. - Located at the foot of Mount Race in Sheffield, Race Brook Lodge offers lodging, dining, live music, weddings, wellness and yoga retreats, family gatherings, and corporate events. Outside are hiking trails with terrific views from the top of Race Brook Falls and access to the Appalachian Trail. Across the brook is a farm garden that (from spring to fall) grows much of the produce for the on-site restaurant, The Stagecoach Tavern — named for its history as a watering hole for weary travelers along the Hartford-Albany stagecoach route. This combination of nature, history, community engagement, and farm-to-fork food epitomizes what makes the Berkshires unique.

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Some Western Mass. politicians call for GE’s toxic waste removal plan for the Housatonic to hinge on rail, not trucks (WAMC)

School superintendent Dillon on police action against ‘Gender Queer’ book: ‘We’ve worked very hard to try to correct and make amends for what happened... I think we’ve got a ways to go.' (WAMC)

Great Barrington selectboard approves third investigation into ‘Gender Queer’ book incident (B Edge)

Pittsfield project, including new lighting, planting, hopes to put new face on downtown (iBerkshires)

Adams brings on former Pittsfield police chief Wynn to run Greylock Glen project (WAMC)

New director of Great Barrington's Du Bois Freedom Center excited to make dream come true (Berkshire Eagle)

Legendary book editor Marc Jaffe, of Williamstown, dies at 102 (NYT)

Legendary Williams poli-sci professor Kurt Tauber dies at 101; writes own obituary outlining his fascinating life and his devotion to Marxism (B Eagle)

Berkshire author Sonia Pilcer’s ‘transgressive’ Holocaust novel is still stirring debate, 20 years later (JTA)

Condominium complex set to open at former Great Barrington nursing home in July (B Edge)

West Stockbridge ‘skunk’ farm aims to mitigate odors (B Edge)

Tanglewood 2024 season to honor founder Serge Koussevitkzy (Boston Globe)

New Berkshire Museum exhibit addresses controversial sell-off of artworks (WAMC)

NEWS FROM THE HUDSON VALLEY

Banners by Phillip Schwartz at Christ Church (photo by Michael Del Rossi)

Holocaust Artist’s Hudson, N.Y., Exhibition Another Casualty of War

(The Forward) by Seth Rogovoy, HUDSON, N.Y. - An exhibition of Holocaust-themed artworks by Phillip Schwartz had been planned to open a week ago at Hudson Hall in conjunction with International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Six weeks beforehand, the multipurpose arts venue told the artist they needed to add a “Palestinian-Muslim” point of view to the exhibition. “Given the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it would be inappropriate to not include both Jewish and Muslim perspectives,” Hudson Hall executive director Tambra Dillon said. Schwartz felt that the recontextualization of his exhibition in this manner was untenable and a disservice to his work, and he withdrew his work from Hudson Hall. Some of the powerful, awesome work is on view at Christ Church Episcopal through February 11.

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Opposition gathering to Columbia County plan for downtown Hudson eyesore (GoR)

Multiple marijuana dispensaries in Catskill await state retail licensing (HV360)

First OD reversal drug vending machine opens in Hudson (HV360)

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