The Rogovoy Report 4.22.24

From around the corner to around the globe...

Apr 23, 2024

How the Suburbs Became a Trap

(TNR) - Instead of launching residents into steady upward mobility or at least stability, the suburbs now send many families into a state of constant questioning: Will they be able to remain in their homes, or will their towns price them out with property tax hikes? Will their children be boosted up by their teachers and principals or torn down? Will creative and dedicated educators have enough funding and political support to realize their visions, or will they be forced to disappoint their young charges? The uncertainty and the constant dread that conditions might worsen defines the new suburban landscape as solidly as a run-down Cape Cod.

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Why so many American leaders are advancing a new kind of nihilism (The Atlantic)

Is Donald Trump on drugs? If not, he should be. (The Nation)

Prosecutors in California excluded Jewish and Black jurors, records suggest (The Guardian)

MASS MoCA to Open Jeffrey Gibson Installation This Fall

(Boston Globe) NORTH ADAMS, Mass. - Jeffrey Gibson, the artist named the official representative of the United States at the 2024 Venice Biennale, has another really big show in store. MASS MoCA will open Gibson’s “Power Full Because We’re Different,” a new installation commissioned by the museum, on November 2. Gibson’s project will occupy the museum’s massive Building 5. Gibson, who is a member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and of Cherokee descent, is the first Native American artist to represent the United States at the Biennale, a once-every-two-years event that is arguably the most prominent and significant contemporary art event in the world.

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18th annual Pittsfield CityJazz Festival returns with concerts by Brandon Goldberg, Marcus Roberts (Berkshire Eagle)

A survey of summer art exhibitions (RI)

Less is less for 2024 theater summer season (WAMC)

Michael Lindsay-Hogg art exhibit and film screening in Hudson (Chronogram)

She ain’t no Dylan Thomas or Patti Smith, this ain’t her ‘Blood on the Tracks,’ but Taylor Swift certainly ain’t no ‘modern idiot’ either (Forward)

At age 74, the Boss swaps athleticism for gravitas (EIB)

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NEWS FROM THE BERKSHIRES

Antisemitic incidents in the Berkshires and Massachusetts in 2023 soared, according to reports collected by the Anti-Defamation League. Close to half of all incidents nationwide occurred after Oct. 7.

Antisemitic Incidents Soared in the Berkshires in 2023

(Berkshire Eagle) by Heather Bellow, GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — The number of incidents deemed antisemitic that were reported to the Anti-Defamation League in 2023 were the highest ever recorded in Berkshire County — and across the state. Seventeen reports were made last year about incidents across the Berkshires, including bomb threats at synagogues, a swastika and antisemitic comments drawn in a boys bathroom stall at Monument Mountain Regional High School; antisemitic slurs repeatedly hurled at a Jewish teacher at Nessacus Regional Middle School in Dalton,; and swastikas and anti-LGBTQ+ slurs targeting a student at Lenox Memorial Middle and High School. Massachusetts ranked fifth-highest in the U.S. for the number of reports last year.

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Faculty adviser to student group lauds anti-Israel protests at Williams College (Williams Record)

Birth of a Nation marked the rise of the new Ku Klux Klan in Berkshire County (Berkshire Eagle)

Trans business owners set up shop in Williamstown and create a welcoming space for community (B Eagle)

Williams College receives anonymous $25m gift to support projects (iBerkshires)

Berkshire DA opens investigation into Miss Hall’s School sex abuse allegations (WAMC)

Few incumbents being challenged at ballot box in Great Barrington next month (Berkshire Edge)

Activist and entrepreneur Ari Zorn running for open Select Board seat in Egremont (Berkshire Eagle)

Former Wheatleigh employees win settlement in ‘wage theft’ lawsuit (B Eagle)

Stockbridge eyes housing plan to add 25 'affordable' homes over next five years (B Edge)

GE seeks to move Lee remediation lawsuit to federal court (B Edge)

Memorial Day Parade organizers in Great Barrington predict "somber" event this year (B Edge)

Downtown Pittsfield parking study favors parallel, not angular, parking (iBerkshires)

NEWS FROM THE HUDSON VALLEY

Attorney General Warns Town Its Zoning Regs Appear to Thwart Jewish Developers

(ATU) — The state attorney general’s office is warning the leaders of a Sullivan County town that zoning regulations they adopted last year for “places of worship” may be discriminatory because they appear to have been designed to block a large development project proposed by Hasidic Orthodox Jews. The plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit, two limited liability companies and Rabbi Mordechai Halberstam and Rose Halberstam, allege the town’s zoning laws were amended specifically to block them from being able to develop the property — which has the project name “Lost Lake Resort” — because they intend to have Jewish residents live there. They said the town also raised their property assessment and increased development fees to dissuade them from developing the site.

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Molinaro, Ryan call on EPA to pursue additional remediation as release of third five-year review of Hudson River cleanup nears (WAMC)

Democrats far outpace Republicans in 19th, 18th Congressional District fundraising (Daily Freeman)

Democrat Paula Collins seeks to unseat incumbent Republican Elise Stefanik (WAMC)

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