Congress to Discontinue Extra SNAP Benefits after March
The end of the pandemic-era program means the loss of millions of dollars of direct aid for the state’s poorest residents. By Brian Zayatz Beginning in March, recipients of Supplemental Nutritional...
View ArticleThe Shoestring Participates in Local News Shoptalk Conference
Co-editor Brian Zayatz traveled to Eden Prairie, MN to convene with fellow nonprofit outlets. By Brian Zayatz Late last year, The Shoestring advisory board member Alice Dreger, founder of Michigan’s...
View ArticleCOVID-19 Turned the Valley’s Music Scene on its Head
Three years later, musicians and supporters are finding new normals. This article is part of our series, The Long March 2020, looking back on three years of the COVID-19 pandemic in western Mass. For...
View ArticleSee Something, Say Something #20
By Brian Zayatz See Something, Say Something is The Shoestring’s long dormant media criticism column, which recent events have compelled us to revive. We critique media because we hope that someday...
View ArticleNipped in the Bud: May Freeze Damaged Region’s Fruit Crop
In the days leading up to May 17, fruit growers across New England watched weather predictions with alarm as temperatures threatened to plunge well below freezing that night. There is little that can...
View ArticleEp 16: “I Have Space in My Life”: Remembering the era of COVID spending with...
As a follow up to our written series, The Long March 2020, editor Brian Zayatz speaks with Hadley musician Michael Hanson about the ways stimulus checks and expanded unemployment impacted both of...
View ArticleThe Shoestring Radio Review #1
“I really like to listen to radio because it’s what takes me to the place. If I listen to music on my computer, I could take it to China and it would be the same music. But if I turned on the radio in...
View ArticleREVIEW: Ruth Garbus’s Ode to Ephemerality
I have long contended that Ruth Garbus is the best songwriter active in – or near – western Massachusetts. And yet, for the last five years or so I have been unable to send friends my favorite songs...
View ArticleSee Something, Say Something #21
The Berkshire Eagle’s local angle on the violence presently unfolding in occupied Palestine replicates many of the perennial issues with coverage of Palestine in the United States. Under the headline...
View ArticleTwo Months On, Palestine Solidarity Actions Continue Across Western Mass
When Hannah Moushabeck woke up on Sunday morning, she found it difficult to get out of bed. The Israeli military had just resumed its massive bombing campaign in Gaza, and pouring rain promised to...
View ArticleThe Shoestring Joins Peer Outlets Calling for Direct Funding of Newsrooms
Last week, The Shoestring joined fellow member outlets of the Alliance for Nonprofit News Outlets in issuing a letter to Press Forward, the coalition of foundations planning on “reinvigorating local...
View ArticleActivists Occupy Rep. McGovern’s Office Calling for End to Israel Military Aid
NORTHAMPTON — On Wednesday afternoon, Nick Mottern stepped out into the sunlight on Pleasant Street. A friend and fellow activist, who had just arrived for a rally about to take place, asked him how...
View ArticleAfter Violent Arrests, UMass Pro-Palestine Protestors Seek Chancellor’s Ouster
By Dusty Christensen. Reporting by Christensen, Shelby Lee, and Brian Zayatz. This piece has been updated to add a more recent statement from University of Massachusetts Amherst Chancellor Javier...
View ArticleUMass Drops Request for Felony Charges Against Palestine Protestors
The University of Massachusetts Amherst Police Department has withdrawn its attempt to charge two pro-Palestine activists on campus with felony riot charges and other offenses. Last Thursday, The...
View ArticleSee Something, Say Something #22: Fact Checking the Gazette
See Something, Say Something is The Shoestring’s media criticism column. We critique media because producing journalism is a powerful act — one that has the potential to harm as much as to help. As...
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Northampton “Recovery Camp” Slated for Eviction
NORTHAMPTON — On Wednesday morning, a familiar scene played out at the end of Cooke Avenue, near the Fitzgerald Lake trailhead. Portable tables overflowed with baked goods, bagged teas and hot water,...
View ArticleNorthampton Delays Eviction of “Moose Camp” Amid Protest
On Monday, the city of Northampton declined to evict 10 people living outside at Fitzgerald Lake after about 60 people gathered to show support for their campsite, which they’ve dubbed Moose Camp....
View ArticleAfter the Sweep, a New Start
As temperatures soared into the 80s on Tuesday, Ty Nichols was thinking of winter. After the city forced them to vacate a campsite near the Fitzgerald Lake trailhead, Nichols and others from the...
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