NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The public library's (74 Church St.) reading group, "The Happy Bookers," is celebrating its second anniversary in March, and it's always open to new members.

The group is comprised of diverse people who share a passion for reading and offers something for every reader's taste each month.

Over the past two years, the group has discussed fiction and non-fiction ranging in a variety of genres including biography, history, mystery, fantasy, adventure and the classics.
 
The Bookers meet the second Tuesday of the month at 6 p.m., on the third floor of the library. North Adams Public Library makes the books available on loan in advance of each meeting. Maureen O'Brien facilitates the exchange of ideas, thoughts and experiences among the group members. New faces are welcome each month, and there's no obligation to attend every monthly meeting. Just drop in when a book or topic interests you. 
 
The group meets next on March 9, when the featured book will be "The Great Gatsby."

For more information, call the library at 413-662-3133.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — It's good news, and bad.

The 6th annual Region 1 Science Fair is expected to the biggest yet. The fair brings in students from around Berkshire County and parts of Western Mass. to showcase their explorations of technology and science.

Past fair winners have researched carcinogens, yawning, high-tech football gloves, wind power, adaptive tools for the handicapped and mealworms as a protein source, among other topics.

But the large number of participants — more than 100 — means more qualified judges are needed. The fair winners will go on to the State Science Fair competition in May at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and some may eventually participate in national and international fairs.

What do you need to be a judge? A degree or work experience in biology, behavioral and social science, biochemistry, botany, chemistry, computer science, earth and space science, engineering, environmental science, mathematics, medicine, microbiology, physics or zoology.

Local businesses also are encouraged to get involved by allowing their qualified employees to volunteer for the event.

The science fair is an important element of the nationwide push to involve students in science, engineering and math programs. It is being hosted by Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and the Berkshire STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) Pipeline Group.

The fair will be held on Friday, March 12, at MCLA from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Region 1 includes Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden, and Hampshire counties.

Devotees of the late, eclectic Club Helsinki in Great Barrington will be cheered to learn its doors will open once again. But they'll have to trek a bit farther — the new club's in Hudson, N.Y.

A press release received Friday night said the new Club Helsinki Hudson will open this spring. Restoration of the 19th-century mill it selected as its permanent home is nearly complete and its begun hiring staff. According to the release, the new club "reflects the same spirit and vision that had such a profound impact on the Berkshires."

The combined business of Club Helsinki and Helsinki Cafe & Tea Co. closed up its Great Barrington location last August, with promises of a Hudson return.

The club brought a wide range of musicians from well-known rock bands such as Phish and Blood, Sweat and Tears,  artists in jazz, blues, folk, poets, vocalists and more. The cafe offered food with a Finnish flare and music, too.

Deborah McDowell founded the cafe in 1995, inspired by her grandfather's time operating the Hotel Helsinki in Finland. Marc Shafler joined her in 1997 and the club opened two years later in space next to the cafe.

The relocation to Hudson had been planned for some time but still caught Berkshire County off-guard. A press release in August announced the closure and a "Last Waltz Farewell" was held at the end of the month.

According to the new Club Helsinki Hudson Web site, California producer Cameron Melville has joined the partnership with McDowell and Shafler. The club's located at 405 Columbia St.; for more information, info@clubhelsinkiweb.com.

We've been invited with other media guests to join TalkBerkshires radio host Sherman Baldwin on his afternoon show on WBRK on Friday to talk about his troubled past.

The press conference, as he describes it, is a pre-emptive strike ahead of a Sunday story he said is being written by Berkshire Eagle freelancer and former managing editor Clarence Fanto.

Baldwin said his biggest concern is the Berkshire Job Summit that TalkBerkshires and Berkshire Money Management is hosting on Feb. 19. (An arm of iBerkshires, Berkshirejobs.com, is participating in the summit.)

According to Chris Churchill of the Albany Times-Union, who talked with him last year, Baldwin spent time in federal prison for committing fraud to get 1994's "The Crow" produced. The movie's best known for star Brandon Lee's accidental death during filming.

The paper also noted Baldwin's peripheral involvement in the Michael Skakel trial, offering this link to a section of a lengthy record of the murder case.

Neither incident had been concealed.

Baldwin said he wants to clear the air. In his press release, he stated:

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Martha Coakley's picking herself up from a demoralizing defeat three weeks ago and planning another campaign — this time to hold onto the position's she's got.

One of the city's favorite daughters announced today over Twitter that she will stand for re-election to attorney general.

"Today I pulled papers to seek re-election as Attorney General. Right now, I'm meeting with volunteers planning our signature drive!" she tweeted at about 6:30 p.m.

The news isn't a suprise; aides had been saying she'd run for another term within days of her Senate defeat.

Coakley had been the front-runner in the special election to fill the late Ted Kennedy's U.S. Senate seat. But laidback campaign and an energetic Republican challenger caught the well-heeled Coakley and the Democratic machine off-guard. Scott Brown, a then state senator from Wrentham and former Cosmopolitan centerfold, decisively defeated the attorney general on Jan. 19. Brown was sworn into the Senate last Thursday.

Coakley's run for attorney general four years ago was a cakewalk. The Middlesex DA had barely-there challenger Larry Frisoli, whom she didn't even bother to debate. She'd pretty much been handed the job after the Democratic primary back in 2006. (Which many may have thought would be repeated in the Senate election.)

The Drury High grad could face tougher opposition this time around. Republicans emboldened by Brown's stunning victory and Democrats sniffing weakness may give her run for the money.

Either way, we bet she can count on the county to back her again. Western Mass. went deep blue on Jan. 19 for the Berkshires girl who pledged to always remember who and where we are.