Articles

  • 1 month ago | theshoestring.org | Dusty Christensen

    It was a case that police billed as one of the region's biggest-ever drug busts. The year was 2020, and officers had pulled over Cory Taylor in the town of Pelham, where they said they seized 138 pounds of cannabis from the van the 41-year-old was driving. Taylor made bail and disappeared. Two months later, his dead body was discovered in a vacant building in Holyoke.

  • 1 month ago | theshoestring.org | Dusty Christensen |Shelby Lee

    Hundreds outside the post office in downtown Springfield on thursday, holding signs with slogans like "No Kings, No Fascists" and "Capitalism grooms us to accept unequal rights." Some were wearing keffiyehs in solidarity with Palestine, others were decked out in bright, monochromic t-shirts announcing what union they belonged to. "Hey hey, ho ho, fascism has got to go!" the crowd chanted as they moved down the sidewalk toward City Hall.

  • 2 months ago | theshoestring.org | Shelby Lee |Dusty Christensen

    In city centers across the region, people showed up in protest, crowding sidewalks and spilling into the street to oppose the Trump administration's assault on the federal government, immigrants, free speech, and much more.

  • Mar 29, 2025 | theshoestring.org | Dusty Christensen

    When Northampton settled a civil rights lawsuit against its police department earlier this month, it was unclear how much the city paid out. Like many municipalities, Northampton's insurance company handles such lawsuits, and officials hadn't yet learned how much the firm had settled the case for. But now, the city has released the amount it paid out to Eric Matlock, who police pepper-sprayed and arrested on the steps of City Hall in 2017. That settlement came to a total of $100,000.

  • Mar 19, 2025 | theshoestring.org | Dusty Christensen

    Earlier this month, when Massachusetts released its latest drought map, the picture was one that has become familiar over the last half year: swaths of the state, including the Connecticut River Valley, colored ominously in dark orange. The region is again facing a critical drought as spring approaches, the map warned. That, in turn, raises the risk of wildfires.

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Dusty Christensen
Dusty Christensen @dustyc123
24 May 25

RT @wmasspi: LISTEN: Our Editor-in-chief @MSzafranski413 joins Mike Dobbs, @greta_h_jochem & @dustyc123 to discuss the week's news on @nepu…

Dusty Christensen
Dusty Christensen @dustyc123
31 Mar 25

RT @ivanoransky: "The six-figure payout brings the total amount of such settlements the city has made since 2022 to $215,500, according to…

Dusty Christensen
Dusty Christensen @dustyc123
19 Mar 25

As the Trump administration slashes funding for climate-change adaptation, green energy, and supports for vulnerable communities, I wrote about the "hydroclimate volatility" in western Mass and worldwide. My latest:

The Shoestring
The Shoestring @the_shoestring

Climate change is fueling extreme swings between wet and dry weather, including in western Mass. But as the region faces drought and wildfire risks, the Trump administration is cutting support for climate adaptation and more. @dustyc123 reports: https://t.co/HDMqE0oOmN