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Environment

Young moose trots through downtown Easthampton

Sunday, May 19, 2013

EASTHAMPTON — Jaws dropped and heads turned Saturday when a young moose trotted through backyards and down sidestreets in the area of Holyoke and Clark streets for about half an hour just after noon. Though police and neighbors said the moose was not fully grown, photographs and videos taken by residents show that the leggy animal was as tall as … 0

This April 28, 2013 photo released by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution shows a robotic device being deployed to detect red tide in the Gulf of Maine. Red tide monitoring is going high-tech with a robotic “laboratory in a can.” A garbage can-sized canister was deployed in late April in the ocean waters off southern Maine to collect and transmit data about toxin-producing algae blooms, known as red tides, that show up in the Gulf of Maine each spring.(AP Photo/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution & Northeastern University, Isaac Rosenthal)

Red tide monitor set adrift in Gulf of Maine

Sunday, May 19, 2013

PORTLAND, Maine — Red tide monitoring is going high-tech with a robotic “laboratory in a can.” A garbage can-size canister was deployed in late April in the ocean waters off southern Maine to collect and transmit data about toxin-producing algae blooms, known as red tides, that show up in the Gulf of Maine … 0

These solar shingles are from Dow Powerhouse. PHOTO BY TAI VIINIKKA/FLICKR

Earth Talk: Considering solar shingles in the Northeast

Friday, May 17, 2013

Dear EarthTalk: I’m getting my roof redone and have heard about solar shingles. Are they practical for the Northeast? — John Denson, Glastonbury, Conn. Solar shingles are photovoltaic cells designed to look like and integrate with conventional asphalt roof shingles. First commercially available in 2005, solar shingles were much more costly than traditional … 0

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Local Photography »
Samantha Manitsas of Belchertown pitches to South Hadley Monday at Beech Grounds in South Hadley. JERREY ROBERTS Samantha Manitsas leads Belchertown comeback
From left, Alyssa Kuhn, 13, left, Bobby Peterson, 14, Sam Rilpelle, 13, Ashlyn Finnessey, 13, Tess McNamara, 12, Taylor Perrault, 13 and Katie Cole, 13, all students with JFK Middle School chorus teacher Steve Hinks,, sing while washing cars Sunday on King Street in Northampton to raise money for the chorus scholarship fund. SARAH CROSBY A little help from my friends
Father Bill Hamilton is sworn in as police department chaplain Wednesday at the Easthampton Public Safety Complex. SARAH CROSBY Rev. William Hamilton first Easthampton police chaplain
Other Local News
Gougeons lone bidder for Florence Community Center
From News »
Bryan Lombardi new principal at Northampton High School 
From News »
Samantha Manitsas leads Belchertown comeback
From Sports »
Amherst Regional senior diver Michael Hixon qualifies for World Championship
From Sports »
Editorial: Northampton floats flexible zoning
From Opinion »
Katharine Gratwick Baker & Peter Titleman: Forging Palestinian friendships - On the work of Mohammed Sawalha
From Opinion »
Around Easthampton: Family rallies to help one in need
From Living »
Healthy living: Getting back to exercise as summer nears
From Living »
Art People: Julia Mintz | filmmaker
From Arts & Entertainment »
Tuned in
From Arts & Entertainment »

Holyoke fish elevator open for Mother’s Day visitors

Thursday, May 9, 2013

HOLYOKE — The Robert E. Barrett Fishway at Holyoke Dam opens for its annual viewing season this week with special activities Sunday that for some local families have become a Mother’s Day ritual. The fishway will give out free carnations to mothers who visit the facility Sunday. In … 0

Scratch-and-sniff cards prompt natural gas scare

Thursday, May 9, 2013

GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) — Those scratch-and-sniff cards the energy company sends to customers to teach them to recognize the artificial smell added to natural gas? Turns out they work pretty well. Energy West general manager Nick Bohr tells the Great Falls Tribune that workers recently discarded several … 0

State plan to lift moratorium on trash incinerators eyed cautiously in Valley

Thursday, May 16, 2013

NORTHAMPTON — Among the thousands of comments logged in opposition to the idea of lifting a 23-year moratorium on new trash incinerators in Massachusetts was one from Mayor David J. Narkewicz. In a Feb. 25 letter to the state Department of Environmental Protection, Narkewicz expressed his “very strong … 0

In this April 22, 2013 photo, fisherman Desmond Augustin stands on a breakwater of old tires and driftwood that local residents fashioned to try and protect their fishing village in Telegraph, Grenada. The people along this vulnerable stretch of eastern Grenada have been watching the sea eat away at their shoreline in recent decades, a result of destructive practices such as sand mining and a ferocious storm surge made worse by climate change, according to researchers with the U.S.-based Nature Conservancy, who have helped locals map the extent of coastal erosion. (AP Photo/David McFadden)

Encroaching sea already a threat in Caribbean

Thursday, May 16, 2013

TELESCOPE, Grenada — The old coastal road in this fishing village at the eastern edge of Grenada sits under a couple of feet of murky saltwater, which regularly surges past a hastily-erected breakwater of truck tires and bundles … 0

A box of preserved cicadas, including emerging insects and molted exoskeletons, in storage at the Smithsonian Institution's Museum Support Center in Camp Springs, Md. on Tuesday, April 23, 2013. A brood of cicadas are expected to emerge this spring in the Washington area. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Billions of cicadas to emerge after 17 years underground

Thursday, May 16, 2013

WASHINGTON — Any day now, billions of cicadas with bulging red eyes will crawl out of the earth after 17 years underground and overrun the East Coast. The insects will arrive in such numbers that people from North … 0

Hawaii's coral reefs are threatened by rising ocean levels, overfishing and other factors, experts say. iSTOCKPHOTO

Earth Talk: Greenwashing explained; coral reefs in danger

Sunday, May 5, 2013

Dear EarthTalk: I hear the term “greenwashing” a lot these days but am still not sure exactly what it means. Can you enlighten? — Ruth Markell, Indianapolis In essence, greenwashing involves falsely conveying to consumers that a given … 0

PHOTO COURTESY OF U.S. FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE A mountain bluebird

Bird sightings: Long list of arrivals

Sunday, May 5, 2013

The Audubon Society has reported a variety of recent bird sightings in western Massachusetts. The list of newly arriving songbirds is very long. It includes crested flycatchers, warbling vireos, wood thrushes, catbirds, 10 species of warblers, rose-breasted grosbeaks, … 0

Heading outdoors

Sunday, May 5, 2013

∎  The Great Garlic Mustard Muster — The Westfield River Invasive Species Partnership hosts invasive garlic mustard removal in: Chester, today, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. (meet at the Chester Railway Station); Cummington, Sunday, 10 a.m.-noon (meet at the Bryant Homestead); Cummington, Thursday, 9:30-12 (meet at the Bryant Homestead); Westhampton, … 0

Valley Views Local photographers aim their cameras outdoors

Sunday, May 5, 2013

DUCKLINGS ON A LOG Station Road, South Amherst Photograph and text by Anne E. Ely of South Hadley Looking over the bank one day while walking the rail trail off Station Road in South Amherst, I spotted these … 0

Nuclear Regulatory Commission hears concerns about oversight of Vermont Yankee  

Thursday, May 16, 2013

VERNON, Vt. — The Nuclear Regulatory Commission was both praised and condemned this week by local residents for its oversight of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. At the plant’s annual assessment meeting, Yankee was described as meeting all of the safety requirements established by the NRC, but … 0

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