Latest news with #Popsicles
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Pittsfield PD's 'Operation Copsicle' inspires San Antonio Police ice cream truck, uniting community through popsicles and prayer
PITTSFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – What started as a sweet summertime tradition in Pittsfield to connect police officers with the community has now inspired a similar initiative nearly 2,000 miles away in San Antonio, Texas. Operation Copsicle delivers smiles, free treats in Pittsfield San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) recently launched its ice cream truck initiative, Police, Popsicles, and Prayer, aimed at fostering trust, dialogue, and inclusion in neighborhoods across the city. The effort takes its cues from Operation Copsicle, a Pittsfield Police Department program that has gained national recognition for using frozen treats to engage with local youth and families. The connection between the two departments came about last year when SAPD Community Officer Greene met Pittsfield Officer Derby at a Community Policing Conference. There, Officer Greene learned about Operation Copsicle and brought the concept back to Texas. Working in partnership with Unite SA Network, a local faith-based organization, SAPD officially rolled out its ice cream truck program earlier this year. A photo shared by Pittsfield Police shows SAPD officers standing with residents–including Pittsfield locals Kayla and Catie, who coincidentally encountered the truck while visiting San Antonio a few months ago. 'This is now the fifth police department in the U.S. and Canada to implement their version of a police ice cream truck after connecting with us,' Pittsfield Police said in a social media post. From Massachusetts to Texas, the mission remains the same: building community trust, one popsicle at a time. WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
New York Times
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
What to Read this Summer
Readers, get ready: Summer books are here. These are the novels destined to grow plump with pool water. They're the memoirs, biographies, histories and mysteries to lose yourself in while slathered with sunscreen or sitting strategically downwind of an air conditioning vent. They'll whisk you away if you can't escape and ground you when you're far from home. They're best served with Popsicles, peaches, soft-serve, ice water and lemonade. Cold beer, too. For some of us at the Book Review, summer reading is our Super Bowl and Oscars Night. We search for new and clever ways to wax rhapsodic about the joy of turning pages in the sun — or during a July thunderstorm or in a hammock or by the light of a campfire. (To be honest, hammocks make me queasy, and I've only slept in a tent once.) Beach reads are my bailiwick, and I've written about them so many times I now have to cross-reference previous dispatches to find out if I've already opined about my favorite chair (Adirondack), sunglasses (cat eye) and soundtrack (seagulls). But when Memorial Day weekend rolls around, I'm grateful all over again to toil in the realm of Slip 'n Slides rather than stadiums or red carpets. There's that stillness and lull, that sweaty, sandy, chlorinated, blueberry-scented sense of a break, even for those of us who are long out of school. Life's requirements loosen, the box fan gets lugged down from the attic, books beckon. The Book Review has lists of 31 new novels and 21 nonfiction books to carry you through the summer. Here are a few I'm excited about: Romance and thrills On the fiction front, I predict that Taylor Jenkins Reid's 'Atmosphere' will catch a big wave this summer, with its clandestine love story set in a 1980s space mission. Amy Bloom's novel, 'I'll Be Right Here' is as comfortingly titled as her debut story collection, 'Come to Me,' and follows a group of friends over decades and generations, beginning in postwar Paris. (Speaking of interesting jobs, one character works as a masseuse to the writer Colette.) Finally, I have my eye on 'Our Last Resort' by Clémence Michallon, whose last thriller, 'The Quiet Tenant,' stoked my insomnia at a lakeside rental with a shed not unlike the one where her protagonist was chained to a radiator. This time Michallon follows two cult escapees to a luxury hotel in the Utah desert. What can go wrong in a place with high thread-count sheets? A lot, apparently. Moms and classic rock On the nonfiction side, 'How to Lose Your Mother' by Molly Jong-Fast, is funnier than it sounds, and a tender, honest account of caring for an aging parent who happens to be famous. (Jong-Fast's mother is Erica Jong, author of 'Fear of Flying,' among other trailblazing and autobiographical works.) I'm also looking forward to Sophie Elmhirst's 'A Marriage at Sea,' about a married couple who, in the 1970s, were stranded on a tiny rubber raft in the ocean for 117 days, and Peter Ames Carlin's 'Tonight in Jungleland,' about the making of Bruce Springsteen's 'Born to Run' album. And because it too has a Jersey Shore angle, I'm curious about 'Baddest Man' by Mark Kriegel, which follows Mike Tyson's complicated, often troubling journey from Brooklyn to Atlantic City and beyond. It sounds like an intriguing accompaniment for my 'Rocky'-style workout, a leisurely stroll on the beach with occasional lunges for pretty shells. For more: Looking for a new book to read? Let us help you find one. Tariffs Foreign Policy Immigration Middle East More International News Other Big Stories Peter Orszag, a budget director under President Obama, argues it's time to worry about the national debt. We need to stop being weird about people eating alone at a restaurant, Callie Hitchcock writes. Here are columns by Michelle Goldberg on a new movie from the creator of 'Succession' and Nicholas Kristof on how to counter Trump. American men are getting worse at friendship. Only 26 percent of men reported having six or more close friends, a 2024 survey found. Polling for a similar question in 1990 put the figure at 55 percent. 'Your dad has no friends,' John Mulaney said during an opening monologue on 'Saturday Night Live.' 'If you think your dad has friends, you're wrong. Your mom has friends, and they have husbands. Those are not your dad's friends.' A writer feels this in his own life. He once had a rich world of male friendship, but he now has a more isolated adulthood. He uses his personal experience to explore a broader phenomenon. Read the story here. Your pick: Staffing cuts could make national parks a mess this summer. The most clicked article in The Morning yesterday lists five state parks to visit instead. One writing class: 35 years, 113 deals and 95 books. Ask Vanessa: How can I help my children make dress appropriately? Parenting: The Cut asks, 'Should we give our kids fewer choices?' Trending: People are talking about the season finale of HBO's 'The Last of Us.' For those unafraid of spoilers, here's a recap. Metropolitan Diary: A whiff of glamour at LaGuardia. Lives Lived: Nino Benvenuti was an Italian boxer who was named the outstanding fighter of the 1960 Rome Olympics. He died at 87. N.B.A.: The New York Knicks overcame a 20-point deficit to take Game 3 and narrow the Indiana Pacers' series lead to 2-1. Indy 500: Alex Palou won the race for the first time, beating Marcus Ericsson. Hockey: The U.S. won its first men's World Championship since 1933 in dramatic fashion, beating Switzerland 1-0 in overtime. Sixty years ago, when Muhammad Ali caught Sonny Liston with a sharp right 1 minute and 44 seconds into their title bout on May 25, 1965, a few things happened in quick succession. Liston hit the mat. Ali hovered over him, shouting, 'Get up and fight, sucker!' And, Neil Leifer, a 22-year-old freelance photographer, tripped the shutter of his camera. Read about what many say is the best sports photo ever taken. More on culture Mix Prosecco, Aperol and sparkling water to make an Aperol spritz. Shop the best Memorial Day sales. Protect yourself from ticks. Stop being so judgy. Take our news quiz. Here is today's Spelling Bee. Yesterday's pangrams were beanpole and openable. And here are today's Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections, Sports Connections and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@
Boston Globe
18-04-2025
- General
- Boston Globe
Bees terrified me. Then my beekeeper grandfather asked for my help.
'Why'd you plant those?' I asked my grandma, eyes on the bushes. 'Oh, the lavender? It's for the bees.' ' Hm ... ? ' I shuddered. My grandpa had become a beekeeper. I spent that summer eyeing him through the wide kitchen windows. He'd putter around all day, building hives or planting flowers. Poppy was a round man who always wore the same checkered shirt when he cared for his bees. I watched the sun bleach its pattern as the summer loped on. While he worked, he beamed with happiness. Poppy cared for his bees like a doting first-time parent. When a Advertisement As I parked the car one afternoon, I saw Poppy on the porch. The moment I got out, he jogged up to me, a baseball cap teetering atop his head. 'I've been winterizing the hives,' he said, pausing to catch his breath. 'All that's left is to collect honey. But it's a two-person job ...' Advertisement My stomach jolted. 'And you want me to help?' Poppy nodded. 'I know you're busy. But I'd love the assistance.' I longed to say no. But I was a guest in his home. And he was so kind, and I knew how he loved his bees. I watched myself reply, as if in the third person: 'I'd be happy to help.' He rushed inside, giddy. He emerged with what looked like a mesh-covered safari hat to protect my face. The hive would be calmest if we didn't wear full beekeeper suits, he said. There was nothing stopping bees from stinging everywhere but our faces. Poppy strode over to a hive — a whitewashed wooden box with a removable triangle roof, reminiscent of a child's drawing of a house. He opened the top. He puffed smoke inside, then — casually as if lifting Popsicles from the freezer — he reached in and grabbed a board coated in honeycomb. 'See, it's not hard.' He brandished the comb. 'Wanna try?' I slipped on a glove and stepped over. The bees were woozy from the smoke but still conscious. The moment I approached, they perked up. I shut my eyes and gripped a board in the hive. I felt specks of something climbing on my arm. I did my best not to think about what, but I knew bees were crawling on my skin. I scrunched my eyes closed and tried to block out their buzzing. Steeling myself, I pulled the board upward. It caught at first, then slid out smoothly. I opened my eyes to look at what I was holding. The comb was a lace of thousands of holes, as intricate as any city. Bees meandered along my arm. None angry or stinging. All happily along for the ride. Advertisement I helped my grandpa ladle bees off our honeycomb, then loaded the boards into a centrifuge to extract the honey. We placed the bees and their share of comb back in the hives, then surveyed our harvest. Grinning, Poppy handed me a chunk of honeycomb. 'I saved this for you. The harvested honey is good, but I think it tastes best straight from the comb.' I popped it in my mouth. The beeswax clumped as I chewed, and honey squashed out like milk from a tres leches cake. I closed my eyes and smiled. I could taste a hint of lavender. Adelaide Parker can be reached at
