January 16, 2024: In Preparation

January is when try our best to we ready ourselves for what’s to come.

In some cases that’s aiding towns and municipalities in making environmental strides. The graduate program at The Conway School in Northampton has spend the last 50+ years subtly upending the status quo for their field by teaching whole-system sustainable land planning and design by working on real projects with real client partners in New England and adjoining states. Each January sees the new set of students embark on a set of new endeavors that they will develop over the course of the year, including ones in Holyoke, Springfield, Chicopee and more. We chat with program manager C.J. Lammers and board chair Bill Dwight about the details of this year’s six projects, and the importance of making municipal planning more ecologically sound.

And we’re getting ready for the barrage that will be this year’s presidential election. Iowa’s primary results seem in direct opposition to the motions of Colorado and Maine to remove the 45th president from the ballot. It turns out that there’s efforts to remove him from the Massachusetts ballot as well. If you’re unsure why this has become a hotbed issue, we speak with a driving force behind the efforts to keep our penultimate president off the ballot in Michigan, Oregon, Illinois, Minnesota, and right here in Massachusetts. President of Free Speech for People John Bonifaz helps to explain how amendments added to our constitution during reconstruction are the force behind these efforts, and how that same amendment is being used to address more folx than just the former president.