Mary Carey

ADAMS — Hard times and failed dreams aren’t new in the North Berkshire town of Adams. Since 1940, the picturesque hamlet has lost nearly one-third of its population as its paper and textile mills have moved out or closed, leaving Adams without an economic base. But the state government has tried to help the town […]

Great Barrington, for the most part, has kept up with the times. A former textile mill-based community on the banks of the Housatonic River, it has developed a vibrant downtown in recent years. Tourists flock there for dinner and the movies before and after going to the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in Stockbridge and Tanglewood […]

Before he stepped down to become clerk magistrate of Ware District Court in May after nearly 27 years in the State House, Democratic state Rep. William P. Nagle of Northampton hadn’t faced a serious challenger in 20 years. That made his 1st Hampshire District seat seem safe to hand down to his longtime aide, Peter […]

After 27 years commuting from the Pioneer Valley, Bill Nagle left the State House and his position as House majority leader without a word, let alone the traditional farewell speech. “Part of it was, I came so close to becoming Speaker. It’s very difficult to walk out the door after all those years,” he says. […]

Pittsfield is often considered the farthest-flung outpost from Boston in the state, but the Berkshire County seat has nothing on its tiny neighbor to the west. Indeed, the only way to get to Hancock town center from Pittsfield is to drive west into New York State, winding around some mountains, then head back east into […]

HOLLAND–It is a quaint, wooded town of 2,300, nestled between Sturbridge and Brimfield on the banks of the pristine Hamilton Reservoir. A white, steepled church, a school, the town hall and a tiny library are all there is to the center; down the hill are a gas station and a pizza place, completing Holland’s commercial […]

ATHOL–Cable-access television broadcasts of town meetings, board of selectmen sessions, and other municipal gatherings usually attract few viewers, even when they are repeated endlessly at all hours of the day and night. But on occasion, the performance of municipal duties takes a riveting turn, presenting to citizen-viewers high drama, if not low comedy. North of […]

AMHERST — This is a town that prides itself on the elevated nature of much of its civic discourse. Amherst town meeting regularly takes stands on issues of high philosophical, not to mention international, import. Amherst was the second municipality, after Oakland, Calif., to endorse a boycott of products from Nigeria. Town meeting took an […]