This Weekend at Nova Arts

This week at Nova Arts we are looking forward to celebrating Mardi Gras with the great Folksoul Band and Pointe Noir Cajun Band as they bring the sounds of New Orleans to New England.

Saturday, February 18, Nova Arts is bringing a little piece of Louisiana to the city of Keene with a Mardi Gras Party. The history of this American pastime has influenced Folksoul Band as they bring the sounds of Bourbon Street in its purest form to our venue. The band prides themselves on their creativity and American music inspirations! We also have Vermont's very own Pointe Noir Cajun Band to keep the party going! They specialize in rhythmic dance music with a cajun flare with a lot of their artistic style coming from southwest Louisiana. Doors open at 7:00 with the music starting at 7:30! Tickets are $20; and are available on our website and at the door.

Nova Arts is supported by and under the fiscal sponsorship of Arts Alive, and is supported by the Putnam Foundation and the Osier Fund. Events take place at 48 Emerald St, within Brewbakers Cafe & Terra Nova Coffee. novaarts.org

Wine Country Murder Mystery Dinner & Fundraiser

Be a Detective and Solve the Crime!

Keene, NH: The Montessori Schoolhouse of Cheshire County invites all detectives and want-to-be detectives to solve the mystery of a crime during a three course dinner. Working with The Vermont Theatre Company, The Schoolhouse is holding an interactive theatrical performance on Saturday, March 4, 2023, beginning at 5:30 p.m. It will be held at the Keene Country Club at 755 West Hill Road.

"This will be a fun event that also includes the meal, live music, silent auction and raffle. In between dinner courses, actors from The Vermont Theatre Company will provide clues of a Wine Country crime and guests will try to determine who the culprit is," explains Deb Ganley, Development Coordinator at The Schoolhouse. To add to the fun, a silent auction will be held that includes many gift cards and admission passes as well as a 50/50 raffle.

"We are excited and looking forward to a fun-filled event and at the same time we are happy to support the school for a great cause," says Karthik Gowda, a parent of a student at The Schoolhouse and board member.

"The event will raise funds for scholarships and help with increasing operating costs," says Ganley. Tickets are available at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/murder-mystery-dinner-fundraiser-tickets-514854372287?aff=ebdssbcitybrowse

The Montessori Schoolhouse has provided a safe and peaceful early childhood education for 33 years. It is located at 28 Hurricane Road in Keene. For more information call 603 352-3301 or email at d.ganley.mshocc@gmail.com

Mount Grace Celebrates Goal of $3.5M Raised in The Land Forever Capital Campaign

ATHOL - Patience is a necessary virtue in land trust circles. Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust is celebrating the long road to victory for an ambitious capital campaign. The Land Forever Campaign has raised more than $3.5 million to create an endowment supporting land conservation in central and western Massachusetts, a revolving loan fund to make new projects easier to take on, and upgrades the Mount Grace headquarters at Skyfields Arboretum.

Supporters and volunteers in the campaign gathered last night to celebrate this landmark achievement and to preview what's ahead for Mount Grace this year. Massachusetts State Senator Anne M. Gobi, and previous Mount Grace Executive Director Leigh Youngblood joined current Executive Director Emma Ellsworth on stage to congratulate the community on their persistent effort in reaching this ambitious goal.

"We're so grateful for the generosity of more than 200 community members who donated to ensure the protection, enjoyment, and health of our region," said Executive Director Emma Ellsworth. "With our current legacy of 37,000 acres protected since 1986, Mount Grace is better positioned than ever to meet the challenges of the next 37 years."

Of the $3.5 million, $2 million will go to a strategic endowment fund to ensure Mount Grace's work in perpetuity. Income from this fund will be applied to such varying needs as annual monitoring, managing the transfer of affordable farms where the trust holds options, trail work and sustainable forest management, signage and safety, defending beloved local landscapes from powerful threats, and responding to climate change impacts.

$500,000 will be part of the Leigh Youngblood Conservation Opportunity Fund, in honor of the groundbreaking work accomplished under the leadership of our now-retired Executive Director, so that we can move quickly when land becomes available or is threatened.

Mount Grace has grown frugally in a beautiful donated old farmhouse. The final $1 million will cover funds for repairs, insulation, and other energy and workspace efficiency upgrades at our headquarters, Skyfields Arboretum, as well as paying off Mount Grace's loan on the downtown Orange building that houses the North Quabbin food Co-op and the construction of a new, energy-efficient accessible barn constructed with locally sourced lumber to create meeting and event space and enable us to continue to grow.

Board President David Spackman offered a "heartfelt thank you" to donors, as well as the organization's staff and volunteers. "Without you, the dream that Leigh and Keith [Ross] came up with and nurtured years ago would still be just a dream," he said.

"Mount Grace is really all of you. You're the reason we got here," Spackman said.

Comerford Debuts Legislative Agenda for 2023-2024 Session

Comerford's "Toward the Future" agenda is 65 bills focused on health care, climate, education, and more

(BOSTON, MA) - Senator Jo Comerford (D-Northampton) has launched "Toward the Future," her team's legislative agenda for the 2023-2024 session. "We're releasing this on Valentine's Day because policy is one of the love languages I speak on behalf of our district and its people," noted Comerford.

Comerford filed 65 bills centered around eight focus areas: education; energy, environment, and agriculture; equity; families; health and health care; housing, infrastructure, and tax reform; rights, democracy, and transparency; and veterans.

"Every bill has a story behind it--a human story that transcends the policy details turned into legalese," said Comerford. "Taken as a whole, these transformative bills reflect a mosaic of hopes and concerns of our region--permeated with a focus on equity and justice in its many dimensions."

Comerford will also partner with House colleagues on home rule petitions, which are bills filed on behalf of a specific municipality. To date, eight home rule petitions have been filed for municipalities in the Hampshire, Franklin, Worcester district.

To learn more about the bills Comerford and her team filed, please see below or visit her website at: https://senatorjocomerford.org/legislation/.

Comerford Appointed to Chair Higher Education Committee

Also appointed to leadership positions on Ways and Means, Agriculture Committees

(BOSTON, MA) - Senator Jo Comerford (D-Northampton) was appointed today to serve as the Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Higher Education for the 2023-2024 legislative session. Comerford was also appointed as Vice Chair of the newly created Joint Committee on Agriculture, as Assistant Vice Chair of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, and as a member of the:

Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies,
Senate Committee on Global Warming and Climate Change,
Senate Committee on Rules,
Joint Committee on Racial Equity, Civil Rights and Inclusion.

"I'm tremendously excited to dig into the work of the Joint Committee on Higher Education," said Comerford. "It's time for an historic re-investment in public higher education. Time for free community college. I very much look forward to working with my House Co-Chair and colleagues, with our institutions of higher education, with advocates and researchers, and with current and future students."

Comerford has served as Chair of the Joint Committee on Public Health and as the Vice Chair of the Joint Committee on Higher Education for the past two sessions. Last session, Comerford also chaired the Joint Committee on COVID-19 and Emergency Preparedness and Management.

The Committee on Ways and Means has primary responsibility for the state's $43 billion budget and reviews all bills concerning tax and spending policy. The Committee on Ways and Means will hold hearings on the Governor's fiscal year 2024 budget once it has been filed.

"It's crucial for the Hampshire, Franklin, Worcester district to have strong representation on Ways and Means," noted Comerford. "This position will allow my team and I to expand on the regional equity work we've been doing since taking office."

For the complete list of Comerford's Appointments, Committees, and Caucuses, please click here.

State rules Environmental Impact Report required for proposed Gardner sludge landfill expansion

The state's new Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) has ruled that the City of Gardner must submit an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for its proposed sludge landfill expansion. The ruling comes after a public comment period that ended January 31st. The Environmental Notification Form (ENF) Certificate, signed by Rebecca Tepper and dated February 10th, was posted February 14th on the webpage of the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) office, which coordinated the project review process.

The landfill site is located close to public and private drinking water wells in Gardner and Templeton, and to the Otter River, the main tributary to the Millers River, which flows into the Connecticut River, New England's largest river. The Millers River Watershed Council (MRWC), Gardner Clean Air and the Connecticut River Conservancy (CRC) were among the groups submitting comments; all are members of the Coalition for a Sustainable Alternative to the Gardner Sludge Landfill Expansion (Coalition), which was formed by MRWC in 2021 and includes nine local, regional and statewide environmental organizations.

"This is a tremendous victory for the people of Gardner, the surrounding environment and the watershed," said Ivan Ussach, MRWC's long-time director. "MRWC and Gardner Clean Air have been advocating for a more serious look at alternatives since 2016," he added. Alan Rousseau of Gardner Clean Air said, "Requiring an EIR was GCA's goal. We want clean air and water in Gardner and to protect Gardner from yet another landfill expansion."

A total of 29 comments, some detailed and some brief, were submitted by Gardner and Templeton residents, the state's Department of Environmental Protection (MADEP), the Coalition and others.

Tepper's 15-page ruling is part of a 108-page document that includes all the comments submitted through the MEPA process. Issues of particular concern, she noted, "include a desire for the City to evaluate alternatives to the continued operation of the landfill; odor and air quality impacts, including greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; potential for contamination of groundwater, including drinking water supplies; alteration of wetlands, wildlife habitat and recreational open space; and impacts to environmental justice (EJ) populations." MADEP's seven-page comment letter raised several issues, including capping the existing landfill sections prior to expansion, constructing the landfill in phases, and implementing a gas collection system.

In addition, Tepper noted, the Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) must include a comprehensive response to comments on the ENF that specifically address each issue raised in every comment letter submitted to the MEPA office. The DEIR should establish a public involvement plan to engage nearby EJ populations and the City should hold at least one public information meeting about the project before filing the DEIR.