Perhaps you saw Wes Anderson’s wonderful new film, “The French Dispatch,” on the big screen at The Moviehouse in Millerton, N.Y., or another theater and perhaps you were confused by it.
My unscientific survey of people leaving the theater showed a high degree of confusion. This was of course most profoundly true among people who are not obsessed with Anderson and his other films such as “Moonrise Kingdom” and “Rushmore.”
Anderson doesn’t just make movies; he creates worlds. They are highly detailed and have a very strong and consistent esthetic. If you walked out of the theater thinking that “The French Dispatch” was disjointed I would highly recommend that you give it a second chance, now that you can stream it at home — and can pause it when you have a question or just need to catch your breath.
Pausing it will help you understand
Yes, you will have to pay for it again ($5.99) and that’s annoying after you paid for tickets to see it in the theater. But if you want a deeper understanding of Anderson’s work (his oeuvre, if we want to get fancy) and also if you love Bill Murray, Timothée Chalimet, Owen Wilson, Frances McDormand and especially if you consider yourself a fan of The New Yorker magazine, I think you should go for it. Set aside extra time so you can (yes, really) pause it often.
Why bother? For one thing, it will give you a chance to find out who some of the actors are. There is an extraordinary cast that includes a dozen or more actors that you might know but might not recognize here.
French actress Lea Seydoux is one example, playing a prison guard who is very deadpan and often nude. She is unrecognizable here if you only know her from her role as James Bond’s lover in “Spectre” and the new “No Time To Die.”
You might also not recognize her co-star in her “episode” within the film, Benicio del Toro, also a veteran of a James Bond film and also largely unrecognizable as an overweight, hairy murderer and acclaimed artist.
And then there’s Bill Murray, heartbreakingly wonderful, and Tilda Swinton, perfect down to the most minute details as a 1960s society art expert and Frances McDormand as a scrappy journalist at the far other end of the glamour spectrum.
Bill Murray: the benevolent editor
And of course this is why I love this particular Wes Anderson film above all others: It’s about journalism and writing and especially about editors. Just watch the way French Dispatch editor Arthur Howitzer Jr. (Murray) sits down and crosses his legs as he begins to read a piece by one of his writers; that’s how editors read if they’re not at a desk. The details in this movie are exquisite.
But identifying all the actors hidden like Easter eggs in this film isn’t the only reason to watch it on a streaming service. Side note: The actor who seems to be the greatest revelation for many people is the relatively unknown Jeffrey Wright, who starred in “Westworld” on HBO.
Read the explanatory text
Another compelling reason to stream “The French Dispatch” is so that you can take a moment to read all the text “cards” at the beginning, which explain to you the format of the film.
This movie is, essentially, supposed to be one issue of The New Yorker (or a version of it, known as The French Dispatch). There is a text card at the start of the film that explains this, and there is another text card before each “article” that tells you how many pages long it is and which section of the magazine it appears in. There is running text on the sides of those introductory cards; if you freeze the frame and read that text, it is the actual article, which is translated into dialogue in the film segment that follows.
And of course it’s worth pausing at the end of the film so you can confirm that, for example, Anjelica Huston is the narrator for much of the movie.
“The French Dispatch” can be streamed through Amazon Prime Video, Google Play Movies and YouTube.
Patrick L. Sullivan
FALLS VILLAGE — Following a quiet public hearing without questions, the Region One Board of Education voted on Thursday, April 9 to send a $19.5 million 2026-2027 budget proposal to a referendum vote in all six towns. The budget marks a 5.67% increase from last year, and towns will have an opportunity to vote on Tuesday, May 5.
The hearing took place at Housatonic Valley Regional High School (HVRHS) and online.
Flora Lazar, the regional board member from Salisbury and a member of the budget committee, said the budget process had been “meticulous.”
Lazar said the committee started with a considerably higher figure and worked to bring it down.
“What we arrived at is what we must do,” she said.
Sam Herrick, the Region One Business Manager, delivered the presentation, noting that it was developed through a detailed and collaborative process involving board members, administration and department leaders.
The Region One budget has three components: HVRHS, Pupil Services –which includes special education – and the Regional Schools Services Center (RSSC), also known as the Central Office.
The HVRHS budget proposal is for $9,408,838, an increase of $273,260 or 2.99%.
The Pupil Services budget proposal is for $8,111,086, an increase of $588,530 or 7.82%.
The RSSC budget proposal is for $2,013,716, an increase of $186,642 or 10.22%.
The total is $19,533,640, an increase of $1,048,431 or 5.67%.
Herrick said a little over 98% of the overall increase comes from health insurance costs, salaries, and Pupil Services.
On the latter, Herrick said $449,230 of the $588,530 increase at Pupil Services is for tuition and transportation for out-of-district placements.
Following the presentation, moderator Sara Woloszyn asked for comments or questions.
Receiving none, the hearing was closed.
Town assessments
Assessments by town if the Region One budget proposal passes on Tuesday, May 5.
Canaan/Falls Village: $1,752,589 an increase of $208,904 or 14.89%.
Cornwall: $2,168,169, an increase of $163,895 or 8.87%.
Kent: $2,783,359, an increase of $171,360 or 7.48%
North Canaan: $6,140,112, an increase of $519,526 or 9.11%.
Salisbury: $4,798,928, an increase of $17,835 or .43%.
Sharon: $1,890,486, a decrease of $33,356 or - 2.07%.
Lakeville Journal
Remembering and praying for our towns
Preparations for this summer’s Bisesquicentennial, 250th, anniversary remind me of our Bicentennial celebrations in the summer of 1976.I was a child living on the Green in Sharon with my family.
The whole town had a picnic on the Green — we sewed bonnets and ribboned badges, had special quarter dollars in our hands, and speeches in words long gone told a message of hope, dedication and pride. Also the Clothesline Sale on the Green set a lifelong standard for craft and artistry.
Memorial Day we wove ribbons in our bike wheels and carried banners while marching around the Green together. From then on I discovered a longing to return to Sharon.
It wasn’t just the beauty and the color of that summer, it was who we were. There was a generosity to the way we treated each other that goes back to the timeless “one anothers” of the Bible.
A sense of hospitality in the welcoming front porches, with each dwelling’s unique gifts blossoming alongside an orderly, conscientious community rooted in the laws of a gracious and loving God. Do right even when no one is looking. Don’t hold grudges. Forgive. Remember we share one maker. Love one another.
The villages I love are full of churches which hold a sweetness and peace that is a big part of what I treasured. Through prayer we have access to God’s help, guidance, correction and hope. Through prayer, and praying together, we can bring these beautiful truths to full flower in our own lives, in our community, and across the nation. And we can share prayer with a new generation. Let’s pray together! The National Day of Prayer will be celebrated for the 75th time this May 7th at 6 p.m. at the Salisbury Town Hall.
Sarah Davis Hughes
Lakeville
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Bill Schmick
By now, everyone understands rising beef prices are a never-ending story. Fewer consumers complain about seafood prices. That may change as sticker shock hits the fish counter.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that fish and seafood prices increased by 3.89% so far in the first quarter of 2026 compared to prices in 2025. During the same period, the overall inflation rate was 1.19%. Of course, that was small potatoes compared to the price of beef, which surged 13% amid strong demand and tight supplies.
For the rest of this year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture expects seafood prices to rise faster than the historical average of 4.60% per year. For as long as I can remember, seafood in the U.S. has been a luxury item that, year after year, has climbed in price. Prices for fresh fish and seafood are 133.51% higher in 2026 than in 1997. In 2024, seafood had the highest average retail price among protein sources, surpassing beef and veal.
Beef, on the other hand, remained low and within the means of most Americans until recent years. Part of the price difference is attributable to growing demand for seafood in the U.S., one of the world’s largest seafood markets. However, 90% of the seafood consumed is imported from other countries.
It was not until I began traveling the world in my teens that I realized that, in many countries, seafood was both cheap and plentiful. China, Indonesia, and Vietnam are the top suppliers of our fish, and all of them have been slapped with high tariffs thanks to Donald Trump. But don’t just blame Donald Trump for the rising prices.
In recent years, consumers worldwide have begun paying more for fish. Climate change, despite deniers, has had a profound impact on the world’s oceans. Rising temperatures and acidification are impacting the distribution and abundance of many underwater species. Just look at the Gulf of Maine as an example. The warmer water has led to a decline in the lobster population to the point where I paid $49 for a lobster roll last weekend in Martha’s Vineyard.
Over the last six years, Maine’s lobster catch has declined from 121 million pounds to 79 million. This drop reflects a broader regional shift, as the Gulf of Maine has been leading the oceans in warming driven by climate change. As a result, the codfish industry has been decimated, while shrimping has gone nowhere as marine life fled to cooler waters. Similarly, salmon populations in the Pacific Ocean are experiencing the same trend.
On a trip to visit relatives in Norway a few years ago, I also learned that many species are affected by pollutants such as plastics, pesticides, and industrial waste. Thanks to ocean currents, much of the world’s ocean trash is winding up in the Scandinavian region. This has led to increasing regulation and certification as governments try to reverse this trend. The costs are passed on to consumers through higher prices and a smaller supply of fish.
Beyond production, the costs of catching fish are steep: harvesting is more labor-intensive, product spoilage occurs faster, and loss rates are higher at every stage from ocean to plate.
A pound of ground beef might cost $6.75 per pound, but a comparable portion of fresh salmon or cod will run you anywhere from $8 to $14 per pound. A whole chicken is even cheaper, about $2/pound. The difference between catching fish and raising cattle, pigs, and chickens is that ranchers and farmers use a controlled environment to optimize feed, breeding, and growth timelines. Wild-caught fishing offers none of the above.
Commercial boats depart with a fully paid crew, fuel accounting for 5-10% of their earnings, ice, and refrigeration units, and face increasingly uncertain weather, shifting fish populations, regulations, and seasonal closures. There is no guarantee of a full catch, whereas a rancher can be certain of how many pounds of beef he will produce in a month.
At the supermarket, beef and chicken have much longer shelf lives as well. Fresh seafood is one of the most perishable items on a grocer’s shelves. Anywhere from 8 to 20 percent of seafood is spoiled before it reaches consumers (the shrink rate). Supermarkets know this and mark up their fish to account for that spillage rate. Frozen seafood has a near-zero shrink rate, which is why it is much cheaper than fresh fish.
And keeping fish cold is expensive. Most commercial fishing takes place far from supermarkets. Many products, such as wild salmon, Atlantic cod, and imported shrimp, may travel thousands of miles by boat, truck, and air before hitting your local grocery shelf. At every step in the chain, keeping fish cold requires energy, specialized equipment, and speed. Unlike beef, which spoils more slowly, fish spoils quickly if it is not handled precisely.
Another difference between fish and a steer is that you get a greater yield from the beef carcass. About 63% of its live weight is boneless beef. A whole fish yields far less. No more than 30-50% of the fish is edible. If demand for wild-caught fish picks up, you can’t just catch more. Harvests are constrained by quotas, seasonal availability, and the sheer biological limits of fish populations.
It is the reason aquaculture has exploded worldwide, with fish farms popping up everywhere. Today, roughly half of all seafood consumed globally is farmed fish. Fish farms can scale up like livestock if demand rises. That’s why tilapia and catfish, for example, are much cheaper than wild salmon, cod, and shrimp. When it comes down to it, you may have noticed that not all fish are expensive. Canned tuna is practically a loss leader, with cans going for a dollar or less. The price differential between fish and meat is really a gap between industrialized livestock production and wild-caught fresh seafood. The more you consume farmed fish that is frozen for transport or canned, the cheaper it becomes.
Bill Schmick is a founding partner of Onota Partners, Inc., in the Berkshires.Bill’s forecasts and opinions are purely his own and do not necessarily represent the views of Onota Partners, Inc. (OPI).None of his commentary is or should be considered investment advice.
Norma Bosworth
125 years ago —
April 1901
SHARON — Mrs. Luther Brown is seriously ill at her home with erysipelas. The Misses Brown are also sick with the grip. Mrs. Samuel Skiff is helping care for them.
Adv.: The E.W. Spurr Co. Dealers in Lumber, Coal, Hardware and Feed. Pillsbury Best Flour, Clover, Timothy and Red Top Seed. Evergreen and Southern White Corn. Baled Hay. Gents Furnishings.
100 years ago —
April 1926
Henry Ford is now a billionaire. Seems as though more flivvers than that were running around.
The mercury has registered from 16 to 20 almost every morning the past week. Winter has certainly been lingering in the lap of Spring with a vengeance. The surface of the lake still remains covered with ice. Not in many years has the lake remained closed so late in the spring.
50 years ago —
April 1976
State Sen. Harold Hansen (D-30th) said this week he remained optimistic about passage next year of the controversial “Bottle Bill.” The bill met defeat last Wednesday in the State Senate by a 20-16 vote.
A maple tree in Sharon which “could be up to 200 years old,” according to Robert Carberry, may qualify as a “Bicentennial Tree.” The tree stands on Anna Golden’s property on Route 41 between Lakeville and Sharon. The gnarled trunk has a circumference of 23 feet, two feet from the ground.
Three Laotian refugees, the Mitsri family, arrived in this country last Friday night and are now settled in Lakeville. Sponsored by Gretchen and Jerry Doolittle of Cornwall, they came from a refugee camp in Thailand. Doolittle, who served as a press attache in the Laotian Embassy, said he wanted to do this because “they are among many people who bet on America and we owe them something.”
CORNWALL — It is still possible to rent a kid to do housework or yard work during the week starting April 19. The Junior Young People’s Fellowship of the First Church is willing to work to raise funds for the Cornwall Child Care Center and the Little Guild of St. Francis. If you have leaves to be raked or attic to be cleaned, call Pat Blakey or the church office. A fee of $1.50 per hour is considered reasonable for a job well done by a “rented” kid.
Connecticut ranks second highest in the nation in local property taxes per capita, but it is 43rd among states in total state taxes per $1,000 personal income as of 1974, a study by the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities showed. Only Massachusetts ranks higher than Connecticut in per capita property taxes, according to the study.
25 years ago —
April 2001
Eugene L. “Gene” Brooks was a man who affected so many lives. As an educator on both sides of the border (Dutchess and Litchfield counties) residents all over the area are mourning his April 7 death. After retiring from the Webutuck school system, Mr. Brooks was tapped for assistant principal of Housatonic Valley Regional High School.
It’s been a breathtakingly busy year for students at Housatonic Valley Regional High School involved with the school’s first ever robotics team. After winning high honors at a regional competition in Hartford, the team went on to the finals in Florida this month. There, “Reggie the Robot” did his team proud, not winning but still coming in about 43rd in his division of 84 top national contenders.
These items were taken from The Lakeville Journal archives at Salisbury’s Scoville Memorial Library, keeping the original wording intact as possible.
Patrick L. Sullivan
Author Thomas E. Johnson, Jr. speaks on public libraries in Falls Village
FALLS VILLAGE — Author Thomas E. Johnson, Jr., told an audience at the David M. Hunt Library in Falls Village Saturday, April 11, that public libraries have played a critical role in American communities since the Revolutionary era.
Johnson, whose book “Common Place: The Public Library, Civil Society and Early American Values” examines 12 case studies of public libraries, including the Scoville Memorial Library in Salisbury.
He said New England is the “epicenter” of public libraries, beginning with what he considers the first truly public library, established in 1790 in Franklin, Massachusetts.
The residents of Franklin wrote to their town’s namesake, Benjamin Franklin, asking for a bell roughly along the lines of the famous Liberty Bell in Philadelphia.
Franklin sent books instead.
Johnson noted that the Franklin library was located on the town’s common, along with the post office, the Congregational Church where town meetings were held, and the town’s poor farm.
It was no accident that the library was adjacent to the physical location of important town institutions.
There was a squabble about the books Franklin sent. At first the Congregational Church held on to the collection, and was stingy about access.
But a formal town meeting made the books available to all.
Johnson counts the Scoville Memorial Library as the second public library in the country as of 1803.
He said the criteria are that the library actually has books, and a permanent space for them, and is open to the public without charge.
He said the Salisbury library initially charged a fee, and was not open continuously at first.
He also credited the Scoville Library for being the first public library to receive public tax dollars.
Looking ahead at the future of public libraries in the age of the internet and artificial intelligence, Johnson said libraries can help citizens sort through the barrage of information – much of it unreliable – about current issues.
He also emphasized the public library’s role as a civic institution contributing to the common good.
Johnson reflected, “Isn’t that critical to the commons, to how we govern ourselves?”
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