Two nominated for Williamsburg Select Board

WILLIAMSBURG — Tuesday’s special town caucus yielded two candidates as caucus nominees for the Select Board vacancy created by the death of David Mathers, Town Clerk Brenda Lessard reported in an online post.

The candidates are Richard Kisloski and Paul Wetzel. Lessard stated that Saturday, Nov. 4, would be suggested to the Select Board as the date for an election because there was interest from at least one other person to take out nomination papers to get on the ballot.

Anyone interested in taking out nomination papers to run on the ballot for the Select Board seat may pick them up from the town clerk’s office starting Thursday, between 4:30 and 7 p.m. Nomination papers will be due back by Sept. 16.

ALS walk in Northampton on Sunday

NORTHAMPTON — Hundreds will walk in Look Park on Sunday to raise money for people living with ALS, a fatal disease in the nervous system that weakens the muscles until patients can no longer speak, eat, move or breathe.

Proceeds from the Walk to Defeat ALS will fund the cost of medical equipment and caregivers for people with ALS, while also supporting ALS research and advocacy. Registration is free, and participants can create a personal fundraising page to contribute to the ALS Association of Massachusetts’ $75,000 fundraising goal.

The Ice Bucket Challenge, launched by Massachusetts resident Pete Frates in 2014, increased ALS awareness, but nine years later, ALS remains a terminal illness. Two pharmaceutical companies with FDA-approved ALS treatment drugs will attend the walk, as well as people diagnosed with ALS and their loved ones. Among those personally affected, keynote speaker Christopher Lamoureux will participate alongside his father, who was diagnosed with ALS.

Check-in begins at 10 a.m., and the walk starts at 11:30 a.m. To learn more, visit bit.ly/3PtkJfA.

Odyssey Bookshop relaunches Poetry Book Club

SOUTH HADLEY — After a short hiatus, Odyssey Bookshop will bring back The Poetry Book Club starting Sunday, Sept. 17, at 5:30 p.m., with special guest Lucas de Lima, visiting lecturer in English at Mount Holyoke College and author of “Tropical Sacrifice.”

de Lima will lead the meeting and discuss that book. Copies available at the Odyssey with a 20% discount for those who will attend the book club.

de Lima is a Brazilian-born poet, artist, scholar, and educator. They live in New York City and teach at Mount Holyoke College.

USDA to measure quarterly bee colony loss

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will be collecting information about colony loss in the honey industry throughout the United States. The next Quarterly Colony Loss survey will be conducted during September. This survey collects information about colony inventory and loss from around 500 producers with honeybee colonies in the Northeastern Region of the United States.

“The information from these surveys directly impacts our region’s beekeepers and honey producers,” said King Whetstone, director of the NASS Northeastern Regional Field Office. “Beekeepers and producers can use the survey results when making business plans and marketing decisions. Cooperative Extensions use the data to provide needed outreach and education and State Departments and Agencies of Agriculture use the information to set insurance values,” added Whetstone.

To ensure all survey participants have an opportunity to respond, NASS interviewers will contact producers who do not respond by mail or online to conduct interviews. NASS safeguards the privacy of all respondents and publishes only aggregate data, ensuring that no individual operation or producer can be identified.

Results of these quarterly surveys are published annually in the Honey Bee Colonies report, which will be available on Aug. 1, 2024. These and all NASS reports are available online at nass.usda.gov/Publications. For more information, call the NASS Northeastern Regional Field Office at (800) 498-1518.

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