Battle of the Botanicals returns

AMHERST — The Hitchcock Center for the Environment invites the community for an evening of food, drink, and good-spirited competition among local chefs and mixologists inspired by nature’s offerings when the fifth Battle of the Botanicals returns on Thursday after a five-year hiatus. The event takes place from 6 to 9 p.m. at Amherst College’s Powerhouse venue.

Attendees can sample cocktail/mocktail and appetizer pairings, each with a signature botanical feature, and vote for their favorite. The three bartenders with the most votes will take the stage for a live mix-off featuring a mystery ingredient. A panel of local celebrity judges, including state Rep. Mindy Domb, New England Public Media radio hosts Monte Belmonte and Kaliis Smith, and Hope and Olive’s Jim Zaccara will name a winner.

The Battle of the Botanicals presents an opportunity for the public to celebrate local restaurants while learning about culinary botanicals and supporting the Hitchcock Center’s programming. Tickets are available at hitchcockcenter.org/battle-of-the-botanicals/.

The Hitchcock Center is a nonprofit that provides environmental justice programs for more than 12,000 people of all ages each year.

 

Comerford to host family-focused town hall

NORTHAMPTON — State Sen. Jo Comerford will host a Family Town Hall for constituents to engage with her and her team on Sunday, June 23, at 4 p.m. in the basement of Edwards Church, 297 Main St.

Comerford will offer a few updates, share the story of how the Podokesaurus holyokensis became the official dinosaur of the commonwealth, and take questions and feedback. Special guest Greenfield Community College professor Richard Little will bring touchable samples of rare Jurassic armored mud balls. These samples are from the same geologic time as the Podokesaurus.

The gathering is kid-friendly, physically accessible and free to all. Goldfish crackers and juice boxes will be provided.

Registration is encouraged. Sign up via this registration form.

 

Northampton rally to mark 2nd anniversary of Dobbs decision

NORTHAMPTON — Members of the Indivisible advocacy group and their allies will hold rallies and standouts across Massachusetts to mark the second anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision to energize abortion rights voters in advance of the 2024 elections. Part of Indivisible’s national weekend of action, the Commonwealth’s Bigger than Dobbs events will highlight threats to reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ rights, voting rights, and other freedoms raised by the Supreme Court and advocated by the Republicans’ draconian Project 2025 agenda.

Northampton’s rally will take place Saturday in front of City Hall on Main Street, 210 Main St., from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The event will feature remarks from state Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa, D-Northampton.

 

Summer Solstice at the UMass Amherst Sunwheel

AMHERST — The public is invited to join University of Massachusetts Amherst astronomers at the standing stones of the UMass Sunwheel on Wednesday, June 20 at 5 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. UMass Amherst astronomy Ph.D. candidate Yingjie Cheng will explain the astronomical meaning of the solstice and how the Sunwheel works.

This Sunwheel event marks the astronomical change of season when the day is longest and the night is shortest. This marks the astronomical start of summer in the Northern Hemisphere and winter in the Southern Hemisphere. Visitors will hear a presentation on the seasonal positions of Earth, the sun and moon, moon phases, building the Sunwheel and other calendar sites such as Stonehenge, Chankillo and Karnak.

The Sunwheel’s standing stones mark the range of positions that the sun and moon rise and set throughout the year. On the date of the June solstice, the sun rises farthest northeast and sets farthest northwest at spots along the horizon marked by tall standing stones. Other stones mark the position of the sun at the equinoxes and winter solstice.

The position where the sun rises and sets on the horizon changes so gradually around the date of the solstice that it looks as though it is in the same place every day for more than a week. This is the origin of the word solstice, which means “stationary sun.”

Sunwheel visitors who stop in on their own will be able to see the sun rising and setting over the summer solstice stones from roughly June 15 through June 25.

The UMass Amherst Sunwheel is south of McGuirk Alumni Stadium, just off Rocky Hill Road (Amity Street) about a quarter-mile south of University Drive. Visitors to the Sunwheel should be prepared for wet footing and mosquitoes. For more info, please visit the Sunwheel website.

 

MassDOT alerts customers of EZDriveMA scam

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Department of Transportation is warning EZDriveMA customers of a text message-based scam, also known as smishing. The scammers are claiming to represent the tolling agency and requesting payment for unpaid tolls.

The targeted phone numbers seem to be chosen at random and are not uniquely associated with an account or usage of toll roads. Customers who receive an unsolicited text, email, or similar message suggesting it is from EZDriveMA or another toll agency should not click on the link.

EZDriveMA will never request payment by text. All links associated with EZDriveMA will include EZDriveMA.com. The EZDrive smishing scam is part of a series of smishing scams that the FBI is aware of. The FBI recommends individuals that receive the fraudulent messages file a complaint with the IC3, www.ic3.gov, and include the phone number from where the text originated and the website listed within the text.