This holiday-shortened week saw a relief rally that began on Monday and carried through until Thursday. The markets still have further to go in the coming week before we once again reach the top of this four month long trading range.

The question that haunts both bulls and bears is when and in what direction will the markets finally break out or break down? As readers are aware, I believe that there is a high probability that stocks will do both in the weeks ahead. We could easily see the S&P 500 Index, for example, reach a new high, possibly 1,900 or beyond.

However, at some point this spring, that index and others will rollover. The resulting decline will be nasty, scary and

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Monday, April 21, is Patriots Day, a state holiday marking the anniversary of the Battle of Lexington and Concord that began the American Revolution. The day has been celebrated on the third Monday in April since 1969.

It was on the morning of April 19, 1775, that Paul Revere and other riders began the alert across and beyond Massachusetts Colony that troops were planning to advance from Boston to the towns of Lexington and Concord. They were to seize a cache of gunpowder and arms and capture revolutionaries Sam Adams and John Hancock.

(Local legend claims that Israel Bissell, later of Hinsdale, rode all the way to Philadelphia, but most historians dismiss it.)

Previous attempts to

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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Two days after the Board of Selectmen declined to follow the recommendation of the Affordable Housing Committee on the development of two town-owned properties, three members of the committee have submitted their resignations.

Chairwoman Catherine Yamamoto, Vice Chairman Charles Bonenti and Secretary Cheryl Shanks each have resigned their positions on the committee, Town Manager Peter Fohlin informed the remaining five committee members in an email on Thursday.

Shanks sent her resignation to Selectmen Chairwoman Jane

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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Voters in the town fire district next month will be asked to approve spending for fiscal 2015 that is 7.7 percent higher than the current budget.

The Prudential Committee, the elected body that oversees the district, on Wednesday voted to approve the budget that will be submitted to voters at the annual Fire District meeting on Tuesday, May 27.

The district's projected operating budget for next year is expected to be a modest 1.6 percent higher than FY14; the big difference comes from three separate warrant articles that

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Director Ivan Reitman's "Draft Day" dramatically mirrors the changing, commercially charged face of sportsdom. Once upon a time, devotees were primarily concerned with their superstars' skill and determination. I've always added a few points for uniform design: i.e. — the serious majesty of the Yankees' NY, and those pinstripes; the colorful whimsy of two birds balancing at each end of a bat on the St. Louis Cardinals' jersey.

But if such pure,

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This Friday the stock and bond markets will be closed to commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, or so the theory goes. But that is just one of the many myths involved in this holiday and its origins remain a mystery.

The fact that the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) has a tradition of closing on Good Friday, one of nine holidays per year, has many traders and investors scratching their heads. After all, it is not a federal holiday and plenty of other businesses are open on that day. What makes Good Friday any more important than say, Columbus Day?

There is a story that during the 1890s there were three years in a row that the market suffered big drops on Good Friday. Superstitious

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irector James Bobin, entrusted with bringing "Muppets Most Wanted" to the silver screen, dives into the toy box of things Muppets and dexterously assembles all the parts that comprise the famed franchise, except for one.

Missing from this eighth feature film, as Miss Piggy may be wont to emote in her best French, is the joie de vivre, the je ne sais quoi. Or, as Kermit might plainly croak, it just doesn’t fly off the fat end of the bat.

While entertaining via the inside

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"I'm feeling hoppy," reads the cheerful poster hanging on the door to my daughter's bedroom. Fifty-one weeks of the year it doesn't make sense, but this week it does, as Easter is this Sunday, April 20.

Which means this weekend's family fun can be found in the form of Easter egg hunts in pretty much every corner of the county — including Pittsfield, despite that they have decided to take the word "Easter" out of their official egg hunt, which will be visited by "The Bunny." (What does THAT animal look like?)

But I don't want to get political in this column.

So for Saturday, April 19, here's what I know about.

Pittsfield's

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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Looking back 50 years to the Vietnam War, Coleman Nee, the state secretary of veterans services, knows that veterans returning home were not greeted with love and support.

"When you came home, we did not meet our obligation to you as a system," Nee said Wednesday.

But maybe some belated appreciation can still

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