LEE — Liliana Ortiz-Bermudez remembers the first community event held for the Berkshire Latino community. It was on Dec. 3, 1991, when the first mass in Spanish was held in Saint Mary’s in Lee. Despite the freezing weather, Latinos from Williamstown, Canaan and Lanesville, N.Y., showed up to attend the event.

PITTSFIELD — Making money from her community’s misery is something Nayana LaFond avoids at all costs. LaFond, an artist of Anishinaabe, Abenaki and Mi’kmaq descent who lives in central Massachusetts, started to paint portraits of missing and murdered Indigenous people, their family members and community activists. She does it for free and doesn’t accept monetary donations.

In the middle of a snowstorm, four days after Christmas, Suraia Abud arrived in Hammana. She came to the village to investigate the cultural significance of food as part of an art residency at the Hammana Artist House. Initially, locals couldn’t understand her interest.

Steven ‘Wildman’ Brill is a famous forager who signs his emails as America’s Go-to Guy for Foraging. “Invasive species are delicious, and you can pick as many as you want,” he said. “Of course, they cause damage to the environment, so you should eat faster.”

The $11 million allocated to New York City restaurants abruptly ran out. But Gov. Hochul’s budget offers hope for new funds. After nearly two years, Covid-19 has worsened food insecurity and made it difficult for restaurants to survive. To meet this demand and supply of food, the Restaurant Resiliency Program was created.

Passersby can spot Grand Tea Imports from across Grand Street. Its distinctive wooden cabin, decorated with a pastel mural depicting lotuses from blossom to bloom, radiates. In this underwater landscape, the koi — the bright orange fish that in Chinese culture is believed to bring prosperity — chases golden coins. It is like looking into a translucent pond, gazing at the fauna and flora of a vibrant ecosystem.

Food is a subtle and complex form of communication. In one bite, you can communicate ideas, values, identities, and attitudes. Cuisines have been essential parts of peace deals. Today, countries use food to promote cultures, build their brand, and attract tourists, a process which is led not just by the state, but corporations, celebrity chefs, social media, and also migrants. Needless to say Italy has had tremendous success in promoting itself through food.

Heather White smiles while students raise their hands to answer a question on Monday, Jan. 22, 2024 in Camano Island, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald) Island County Public Works abruptly banned a school from a nature preserve, its cofounders said. Parents are outraged and aghast. CAMANO ISLAND — Under a canopy of Douglas fir and Western redcedar, 13 students inspected a spider Monday, identified Polypore fungi and climbed a rained-soaked tree trunk. Heather White, teacher and cofounder

A group of teenagers make the walk back from the waterfront park at Pigeon Creek Trail on Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024, in Everett, Washington. The roughly mile-long hike is flanked by the Port of Everett seaport to the west and BNSF rail to the east leaving little public space for walkers to explore. (Ryan Berry / The Herald) Everett boasts 25 miles of shoreline. But only pockets of that are open to the public. Try getting to Pigeon Creek Beach, for example. EVERETT — Growing up at the base of Rucke

GREAT BARRINGTON – At the start of school last year, Olga Cruz was worried to learn that Berkshire Hills Regional School District was about to hold its first three assemblies — one for each school — in Spanish. “I thought that maybe something bad was happening,” said Cruz, who has lived in Great Barrington for eight years. “I didn't think that it was because there was going to be support for [the kids] at school.” But that’s indeed what it was: A move by the district to better serve students a

LANESBOROUGH — On a Monday morning, Evelyn Harrington, 97, sits on her porch waiting for new friends to arrive. The ambulance quietly pulls in as Harrington waves and smiles. Today it’s Jen Weber, Lanesborough's EMS director, and Kristen Tool, a local farmer, who hand Harrington a satchel with about six pounds of produce. "What is in the bag?" asks Harrington. "We have Brussels sprouts today. And I think carrots," said Tool. "There's a butternut squash in there. I think a big one," Tool adds

The legislation leaves key provisions open to interpretation by health insurers, advocates say.

Changes in status of visas are sought to allow the 30,000 Ukrainian students in the U.S. to reduce course loads and accept jobs off-campus

On a warm evening on the patio of B.Hive, a cafe in Beirut’s Hamra area, people aren’t just sitting in small groups or sipping coffee with their earphones in. Instead, they are listening to Alain Bifani, the director-general of the Finance Ministry, who speaks for an hour about his ministry before taking questions from the audience.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s second draft of a redesign for bus routes in Queens, New York City’s second-most populous borough after Brooklyn, is facing scrutiny by transit advocates, as well as the process for getting the public’s input on the changes.

Eighty percent of avocados in the US come from Mexico, prices are expected to rise. José Brenes was delivering avocados to AAA Avocado in Chinatown, a wholesale shop on March 16. He said a shipment was supposed to be delivered that day but hadn’t arrived. It takes three to four days for an avocado to arrive in NYC from Mexico. Organized crime violence in Michoacán, the only Mexican state allowed to export to the U.S. led to the USDA’s decision fearing for its inspectors’ safety

Tachtouch, the monkey who crossed the border into Israel after escaping three weeks ago, is safely back home in Lebanon after being returned to his owner Friday. Sister Beatrice Mauger, who lives in the Bint Jbeil town of Qouzah, told The Daily Star that she learned Thursday through several contacts that Tachtouch had been captured in northern Galilee by a monkey sanctuary that had tracked him over the course of five days.