Tag: Mohican

When General Electric Co. embarks on its yearslong cleanup plan to remove PCBs from the Housatonic River, it will potentially be working in the vicinity of numerous sites of “significance” to a tribe of Native Americans.

And as the plans for the Rest of River cleanup take shape, efforts are ongoing on numerous fronts to protect those sites.

The Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohican Indians is urging the Environmental Protection Agency to ensure that burial and other cultural or historic sites are not destroyed or otherwise impacted.

“Our office is aware of, and actively consulting government-to-government with EPA representatives on the ‘Rest of the River’ Housatonic cleanup project,” wrote Bonney Hartley, tribal historic preservation manager, via email. She noted the tribe’s Williamstown-based office represents the tribe’s cultural resource interests in its ancestral territories.

The plan calls for the removal of PCBs, beginning in 2025, from areas of the river from Southeast Pittsfield to Lenox, Lee, Stockbridge and Housatonic village in Great Barrington. GE released PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, into the Housatonic from its Pittsfield plant for decades until the 1970s.

Bonney Hartley is the tribal historic preservation manager for the Stockbridge Munsee Community Band of Mohican Indians. Hartley said her office is aware that the Rest of River cleanup project and is actively working with EPA. 

BEN GARVER — THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE

Last month, the EPA offered a conditional approval of the work plan covering the southeast Pittsfield portion of the river, starting at Fred Garner Park, including descriptions of potential historic and archaeological impacts. But GE is required to revise and resubmit the plan by March 22. 

Ashlin Brooks, the EPA’s community involvement coordinator…

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© Getty Images Sport – Warren Little / Staff

Jorge Campillo’s time has come. With Jon Rahm and Sergio García heading to the LIV Golf, he is now the sole Spanish representative on the PGA Tour. The 37-year-old Extremaduran will make his debut on the American circuit this Thursday (16:00, Movistar Golf), having acquired his card last season through synergies with the DP World Tour, formerly known as the European Tour, which now distributes ten memberships among the highest-ranked players in its annual standings who did not already have one.

As he mentioned in an interview with this newspaper in December, his schedule on the other side of the Atlantic will not be too hectic, as his status there is limited and he does not have access, for example, to the Signature Events, the highest category of tournaments.

He will begin his journey at the Mexico Open.

Jorge Campillo, results

Interestingly, this event is not far from where he made his first appearance in a regular PGA Tour event, the Mayakoba Classic, which was a regular stop on this tour south of the border before it fell into the hands of the LIV and the venue shifted to Puerto Vallarta.

Not much has changed. It remains a minor event, with a field that includes only four of the top 40 players in the world rankings, although that classification has long ceased to be a reliable benchmark, and it takes place on a resort course.

But where the average fan sees a less appealing menu, Campillo sees an opportunity to earn a good number of FedEx points to pave the way for more significant events later in the year. Others who have taken advantage of the new “European path” to access the…

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If you need to use the computers at the Maitland Public Library, you’ll probably end up sitting in the middle of a hallway. The building, parts of which are more than a century old, has no space for a computer lab.

Now Maitland’s leaders are asking city residents to fix that and a host of other shortcomings by supporting a $14 million bond on the March 19 ballot to build a new and improved library.

The question for voters is whether the improvements are worth the property tax increase proposed to pay for them. It will cost the typical Maitland homeowner more than $100 annually.

“It doesn’t meet our needs anymore,” said Stacie Larson, director of the Maitland Public Library, of the current facility. “It’s just too small to hold the collection of books and telescopes and baking pans and DVDs and everything else that we have.”

City public information officer Robert Sargent said that Maitland leaders began the process toward improving the library in 2017. A study of the current building revealed the need for repairs on the HVAC, electrical lines, roof and more. The city council ultimately decided that it would be more efficient and less costly to build a new library.

The current library building stands at 12,300 sq. ft. over one story, while the new building will be 20,000 sq. ft. across two stories.

The City of Maitland is preparing to build a new two-story, 20,000-square-foot library, shown here in a rendering. (Maitland city records)

The overall cost of the project would be about $18.7 million. The city has about $5 million in existing funds to allocate toward the project.

The…

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Welcome to Will’s Core Canon, a series covering some of my all-time favorite movies and why they work. This series seeks to go beyond surface-level analysis to strike at the core of why these films resonated the way they did.

Every year around my birthday, I like to revisit one of my favorite movies. This year, I could not be happier to have picked The Last of the Mohicans, 1992’s epic historic romance set in colonial America directed by Michael Mann and based on James Fenimore Cooper’s classic 1826 novel. This movie also credits a previous film adaptation from 1936 as a source of inspiration. The film follows Nathaniel “Hawkeye” Poe (Daniel Day-Lewis), the adopted son of Mohican warrior Chingachgook (Russell Means), in upper New York State during the French and Indian War.

A party escorting the two daughters of a commanding colonel is sabotaged, only for Hawkeye to step in and save them. The oldest daughter, Cora (Madeleine Stowe), and Hawkeye begin to bond as they return to the fort, only to find it under siege. The traitorous Mohawk warrior Magua (Wes Studi) seeks revenge against Cora’s father. Though they must be separated, Hawkeye pleads with Cora to stay alive and that he promises come what may, he will always find her. Lives are not spared as negotiations between the various warring parties take place on what to do with our cast of heroes.

(Twentieth Century Fox)

Director Michael Mann has been discussed a lot recently, as his first movie in 8 years, Ferrari, was just released to positive reception. The Last of the Mohicans was Mann’s first bigger-budgeted movie, and only his fourth movie overall. He was mostly known before this for smaller thrillers like 1981’s…

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MOUNT VERNON — This year’s River Rally Clean Up is Sept. 14 along with several other clean-up events scheduled throughout the spring and summer.

For Earth Day, Friends of the Kokosing Scenic River will be adopting the litter cleanup schedule along both the Kokosing Scenic River and the Mohican Scenic River.

The goal is to reduce the human impact in Knox County.

All clean-up events will start at 9 a.m. and end at approximately noon.

If a rain date is needed, the clean-up will occur the following day, according to program manager Matt Baugher.

Here is the upcoming schedule:

• March 2 | Memorial Park Lower Gambier
• March 9 | Laymon Road Big Run
• March 16 | Pipesville
• March 23 | Millwood Landing Hazel Dell Rd
• March 30 | Zuck Rd Landing Zuck Landing to 715
• April 6 | Riley Chapel Landing Riley Chapel to 715
• April 13 | Confluence Landing Landing to 715
• April 20 | Mohican -Knox County Wally Road Brinkhaven Road Greer Landing
• Sept. 14 | River Rally Clean Up Memorial Park to Big Run

In other recycling and litter prevention news, the county’s compost facility’s contract with Park Enterprise Construction Co. will end June 30.

Baugher said he’s working with Delaware Knox Marion Morrow Solid Waste District ahead of negotiations for a potential contract renewal.

The current contract includes the removal and proper disposal of unacceptable materials, keeping the delivered yard waste material pushed back into piles ensuring available space for residents to leave compostable supplies.

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This independent, local reporting provided by our Report for America Corps members is brought to you in part by the generous…

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STOCKBRIDGE — In order to forge closer ties with descendants of the town’s original settlers, the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans, town leaders have approved a proposal to appoint a six-member commission to work with the Tribal Council based in Bowler, Wis.

Select Board member Patrick White presented the plan to the board last week to create projects such as student exchanges and a wide range of other collaborations.

He pointed out that the town will need to seek “formal buy-in” from the Mohican leaders to formalize a closer relationship. The proposed Stockbridge Mohican Commission is expected to be on the agenda of the tribal council’s next regular meeting on Feb. 13, said Sherry White, the Mohican’s liaison with Stockbridge, in a phone interview Tuesday.

“The contemporary community of Stockbridge wholeheartedly embraces the reunification of the Mohican tribe with its ancestral home,” White wrote in a document detailing his proposal.

He cited the tribe’s acquisition last August of Fenn Farm, 351 acres of woodlands on the north side of Monument Mountain, as “a bold start to a new era, and the opportunity to foster closer ties. We will endeavor to learn lessons from our ancestors, while approaching reconciliation with the advantage of a contemporary view of the past. We know our work has just begun.”

The Fenn Farm land was purchased by the Mohicans through a $2.26 million state grant. The tribe plans to maintain the land as is, according to Shannon Holsey, the tribe’s president.

According to White’s proposal, the Stockbridge Munsee Commission would include three local residents appointed by the Select Board and three Mohicans selected by the Tribal Council.

The board voted unanimously to approve the creation of the commission, pending an agreement with the council.

“There’s a sense in the Berkshires, because of the PCB…

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The key to winter walking is to stay low. Finding a hardened surface, or semi-hardened, can help, too, especially in freeze-and-thaw conditions. For example, the Mohican Recreational Trail in Williamstown. Furthermore, while the trail is somewhat short for biking, walking end to end and back you cover nearly 5, mostly flat, miles, a good outing on foot. There are fine views of the Hoosic and Green rivers, plus, looking up, views of the southern end of the Green Mountains and the Greylock massif. The trail is not plowed, but sufficiently trafficked sot that any snow is likely to be beaten down.

Parking is at both ends, off Syndicate Road and at the Spruces. Spruces parking is on Route 2, near the North Adams line. Pass between the lions-on-pillars and turn right. For the other end, turn onto Syndicate Road where it joins Route 7 north of town center. Turn down the steep, short hill. (Incidentally, the signs have a slightly different name for the trail.) This description begins at Syndicate Road.

The view from the bridge shows the junction of the Green and Hoosic rivers.

LAUREN R. STEVENS — EAGLE CORRESPONDENT

The kiosk has (or will soon have) information about the Mohicans and the Hoosic River; there is also a map of a parallel foot path that gets even closer to the river. The first section of the trail is hardened. Soon you see a sign for the footpath, left, which is not paved and somewhat rough. A bit down that, another sign, and a second one, direct you to the Gravel Beach, where you can walk along the shore on a point bar.

Returning, go straight to continue riverside, past an area of bank erosion, to higher elevation, by a bench, and back…

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The scale of this waxwing winter will be revealed this weekend when people are encouraged to spend an hour recording the birds they see in their gardens, balconies, parks and school grounds.

The spectacular migratory, mohican-sporting birds have been spotted across Britain during the colder weather and will be recorded alongside more familiar sparrows, blackbirds and robins in the RSPB’s annual Big Garden Birdwatch.

“Waxwings are just such a brilliant bird and they always look like punk rockers in the trees,” said Beccy Speight, the chief executive at the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds). “People have loved seeing them this winter but I haven’t seen any yet so I’m keeping my eye out for them.”

Data from the long-running garden birdwatch has traced the waxing and waning of bird species in gardens, parks and urban areas, with 38 million fewer birds in our skies than almost half a century ago.

House sparrows traditionally top the list – and did so again last winter, with an average of more than four per count – but have declined by 57% since recording began in 1979. Starlings have similarly plummeted in number (down 81% since 1979) and many other common species, including robins and blackbirds, are in long-term decline. Wood pigeon numbers have soared (up 1,048%) with significant increases for goldfinches, magpies and great tits as well.

Goldfinches and great tits have benefited from the growing popularity of bird feeders and the provision of seeds in gardens throughout the colder months, and the RSPB highlighted the benefits of birds for humans too.

“Sometimes we forget that the wild world is right outside our windows,” said Speight. “Taking part in the birdwatch is such a great way of accessing that wildness and it can be that first step to getting people interested…

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