Dear Carole,

I’ve written the Selectmen, Michael Canales, and Chief Fennelly to say that I think the new crosswalks are a big improvement in safety, particularly the center sign stands.

I also suggested that, since they are to be painted in the Spring, this may be the time to rethink the color of the crosswalks: that is, to

change the color from the current 50s Green to a more traditional Barn Red, more in keeping with a vintage Stockbridge look and feel. I also noted that Lee and Lenox have opted for this much more traditional and attractive Barn Red look.

Chief Fennelly doesn’t seem to have an objection so I suggested to Patrick White that you might ‘sound out’ the community and see what people think.

Best, Donald Steven

Editor’s note: Thank you, Donald, for starting the conversation! Please, everyone, send your opinions and suggestions to SU and we will post in the next issue.

Dear Carole Owens,

We have never met, but as a resident of Stockbridge, I want to tell you how much I appreciate your work.

Thank you for letting us know what’s happening in Stockbridge and the environs. It’s so important.

I also want to say I agreed with you in your recent opinion article in the Edge about Rachael Maddow. 

I used to be such an admirer and looked forward to her show on MSNBC. I admired her thorough and unstinting coverage.

I gave up on watching her because of her proclivity to repeat herself like an aging mother and the commercial breaks that increased so massively that there was literally equal time devoted to commercials.

I didn’t see the Liz Chaney show but if I had I would have been livid. – What a shame.

I hope you enjoy the holidays, and as always, I look forward to your Updates.

Best wishes, Anne Ferril

Carole, 

Love reading your updates. I am a 1/2-year resident in Stockbridge for the last 20 years. 

Happy Holidays!!!!!!!! JB 

Jon Budish 

Dear Mr. Budish,

Thank you for your generous support of SU.

Carole

Hi Carole,

What a beautiful issue, especially with the tributes to John Beacco. My heart is breaking over his passing. Do you have the addresses of his sons, by any chance?

Wendy (Nielson) Beckman

Editor’s note: We cannot give out email addresses, but with her permission, I emailed Kip, gave him her address and told him she would like to be in touch.

Hi Carole: 

Thanks so much for all of the articles you put on this week’s, and every week’s issue. Stockbridge Updates is a wonderful gift for the town. I may, in a day or 2, send a similar version of my remembrance [of John Beacco posted in the December 15. 2023 issue] to either the Eagle or the Edge, but I wanted to have it be in the Updates first. I’d also like to send Updates a check …Have a great holiday season. 

Terry Flynn

Dear Terry,

Thank you for all you did for Stockbridge.

Carole

To the Editor:

My New Year’s Resolutions:

Advocate for Rail vs Truck transportation of PCB waste concerning the Rest of the River cleanup.

Reeducate myself as much as possible concerning the GE/EPA Rest of the River cleanup plan and process.

Encourage my town leaders to keep top of mind that our health and economic future is at stake.

Convey the truth …

Gary Pitney

To the Editor:

After reading a recent article about the Housatonic River Clean-up, I think it’s important to acknowledge and thank Stockbridge resident Denny Alsop, who obtained the signatures from several hundred Stockbridge residents on a petition to transport toxic PCBs by rail rather than by truck through the towns.

It is also apparent that a significant number of Stockbridge residents feel that they were neither involved in nor informed about discussions and decisions being made on their behalf related to the clean-up over the past several years. In a town that has made a deliberate effort to support transparency in government, and where residents have been clear about their preferences in preserving the environment, the realization that they appear to have been excluded from expressing their views on such a major and controversial action is having an impact.

I have personally spoken with more than a dozen residents with a view toward networking and sharing information with as many other residents as possible on the entire clean-up project. Among other topics already going around are the negative health and safety effects of Diesel Particulate Matter — from truck exhaust – being continuously pumped into the atmosphere during thousands of truck runs. And the use of the Thermal Desorption process to safely remove PCBs from the river. 

Much thanks should also go to the town of Lee for taking the lead on this issue while other towns stayed silent. Lee continues to lead on this, and the other towns should follow. 

Bruce Blair

Dear Editor,

Thank you for raising awareness about how best to remediate the heavily contaminated Housatonic River. 

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates there are between 100,000 and 600,000 pounds of PCBs trapped within the riverbed, banks, and surrounding soil. These deadly PCBs cannot simply be extracted and removed. The poisoned earth itself must be dug up, transported, buried, capped, and monitored. It’s a massive undertaking.

When I looked into the challenge of moving 1,133,000 cubic yards of General Electric’s contaminated sediment, I learned it would require up to 12,870 truck trips a year and for four years.

Those are all big numbers. To put them on a more human scale, I walked down Stockbridge’s Main Street and tried to imagine what those 65 trucks a day would sound, smell, and look like … to say nothing of the impact on our traffic flow, roadbeds, and air quality. 

There must be a better way. It’s called the Housatonic Railroad. Their train tracks essentially follow along the river and are already in place, ready to haul hundreds of thousands of cubic yards of sediment. Of course, before they can begin, some additional infrastructure will be required. But that’s also true of truck access to the several sites.

Let’s not make this important decision without fully exploring the benefits of using trains to do the job.

Barney Edmonds