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| News and events in Pittsfield, Mass.
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Dalton Looks to Tighten Tobacco Products RegulationsBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
05:05AM / Tuesday, September 13, 2022 | |
 DALTON, Mass. — There appears to be no pushback to the town updating its tobacco ordinance. The Board of Health's public hearing Monday on the topic generated no participation from residents or storeowners.
The main proposed changes include potentially capping the number of tobacco permits, not allowing official smoking bars, minimum packaging of cigar products by price, mandated retailer training, and a blunt wrap ban, and a possibility of restricting other non-tobacco-related products.
The town's current ordinance is 11 pages long and the new proposal is 18 pages. Notices were mailed to vendors and were posted in the local newspaper as well as the
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Pittsfield Health Board Continues to Tackle Tobacco RegulationsBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
04:43AM / Monday, September 12, 2022 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Board of Health is closer to ending its review of the city's tobacco ordinance that has not been amended since early 2019. The panel deliberated a revised policy for the third time last week and expects to have a final draft at its next meeting. Following an affirmative vote, the draft will be subject to a public hearing. Tri-Town Health Department Director James Wilusz came to the board in May to give an update on tobacco control, warning the panel that products can slip through the state's regulations without specific guidelines.
The department has been administering a tobacco awareness program since 1994.
He gave the panel a slate of
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21 Years Later, Veterans Mark 9/11 at Pittsfield MonumentBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
05:58PM / Sunday, September 11, 2022 | |
 PITTSFIELD, Mass. — On the 21st anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, local veterans gathered around the city's Iraq and Afghanistan War Memorial to honor the "true one percenters" who answered the call to fight for their country in a time of great need. "Today, it's been 7,665 days since that terrible day," Mark Pompi, who served in the Army as a sergeant, first class, said to a crowd of around 50 community members and veterans.
"In direct relation to those attacks, these men and millions more answered the call and volunteered to fight back against terror. They were all Army, they were all volunteers, they all left behind family and
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Pittsfield Sets Special Meeting for Deming Park ImprovementsBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
02:02PM / Sunday, September 11, 2022 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Parks Commission will hold a special meeting on Monday, Sept. 19, on the proposed parking improvements to Deming Park that have sparked concern from abutters. It will be held at 6 p.m. in the cafeteria at Sacred Heart Church on Elm Street, which is across from the park.
In June, the commission gave the city the OK to move forward with a project to address parking concerns at Deming Park, recognizing that it has been a long-standing issue during Babe Ruth and Little League baseball season.
The city received funding for the Public Services Department this winter to hire engineers Fuss & O'Neill to survey the situation. Stakeholders within the park and
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Pittsfield 'Dunks' for Childhood Cancer By Sabrina Damms, iBerkshires Staff
07:31AM / Sunday, September 11, 2022 | |
 PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Signs of survivors, fighters, and fallen angels from childhood cancer lined the parking lot of Walmart as community members gathered to "dunk" their peers in an effort to raise funds to fight the illness. Two local moms, Christen Simmons and Stephanie Maschino, whose lives were greatly affected by childhood cancer collaborated with local organizations to gather funds for their cause. Saturday's event included a informational booths, music, food, children's activities and a chance to drop various civic leaders into a dunk tank for a good cause. All donations are going to the pediatric oncology departments at the 0 Comments
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'I Am Water' Billboard Exhibit Speaks to Environmental IssueBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
05:22PM / Saturday, September 10, 2022 | |
 PITTSFIELD, Mass. — H20-themed billboards across the city — and one in North Adams — aim to start a conversation about water issues. As a part of the "I Am Water" exhibition by ecoartspace and Our Humanity Matters, five billboards featuring artwork that speaks to the power of water will be featured in Berkshire County and one over the state border in New Lebanon, N.Y.
The works address water conservation, quality, flooding, and scarcity.
It is an appropriate time for the narrative, as the state and county has been in a drought this summer and, last month, the city of Pittsfield implemented mandatory water restrictions.
"'I Am Water' is the
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Pontoosuc Lake Algae Bloom a Health Hazard| 01:21PM / Saturday, September 10, 2022 | |
 PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Board of Health is advising people and their pets not to swim in Pontoosuc Lake. Recent algae test results have confirmed the presence of a blue-green algae bloom at Pontoosuc Lake that may present harmful health effects for users of the lake. Health Director Andy Cambi said in a statement on Saturday morning that the water poses a risk for people and animals and that warning signs have been posted around the lake. Do not swim. Do not swallow water. Keep animals away. Rinse off after contact with water. Blue-green algae, also known as cyanobacteria, occur naturally in lakes and ponds throughout Massachusetts. These microscopic 0 Comments
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'Rise Together' Walks Raise Funds for Freeman Center| 10:54AM / Saturday, September 10, 2022 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Elizabeth Freeman Center's fall fundraiser Rise Together for Safety and Justice will include six small walks across the county between Sept. 14 and Sept. 22. For the third consecutive year, it is taking a different form from the organization's former fundraiser "Walk a Mile in Her Shoes," which featured men walking a mile in perceivably feminine footwear down North Street at the year's last Third Thursday event.
Members of the LGBTQ-plus community collaborated with the EFC to create an event that is representative of all gender identities and sexual orientations.
This year's fundraising goal is $125,000 and the organization has
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ROPE Program Welcomes Home Scholars and AmbassadorsBy Sabrina Damms, iBerkshires Staff
05:22PM / Friday, September 09, 2022 | |
 PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Scholars, ambassadors, and mentors for Rites of Passage and Empowerment were welcomed home recently after flying across the Atlantic Ocean to Ghana for a memorable journey to experience its culture and honoring their ancestors' history. "We spent some time at the University of Ghana, and we danced, and we danced, and we learned and we learned. We talked about history, but one of the most magnificent things that they did was they welcomed us home," ROPE founder Shirley Edgerton said. "You have to really think about that, African Americans going to West Africa, the heart of where over 12 million Africans was shipped 0 Comments
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New Bivalent COVID-19 Vaccine Available| 04:08PM / Friday, September 09, 2022 | |
 PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire Health Systems will begin providing the new bivalent COVID-19 vaccine in September and October. The latest vaccine to combat COVID-19 is designed to provide protection from the BA.4 and BA.5 variants that currently make up the vast majority of novel coronavirus cases in the United States. The bivalent vaccine will be offered at the BHS Testing & Vaccine Centers in Pittsfield and North Adams, and at Fairview Hospital in Great Barrington, as follows: • Pittsfield Testing & Vaccine Center, 505 East St., St. Luke's Square: starting on Tuesday, Sept. 13, and continuing each week on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays 0 Comments
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Pittsfield Run Remembers Murdered Tennessee Jogger Eliza FletcherBy Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires.com Sports
09:43AM / Friday, September 09, 2022 | |
 PITTSFIELD, Mass. – Backlit by the first glow of sunlight over the hills east of the city and sporting a T-shirt with the slogan “Women run the world,” Shiobbean Lemme calls the predawn hours “the best time of the day.” “To get this view, you have to go to bed before Jeopardy is over,” Lemme jokes. “I don’t ever get to see Final Jeopardy. But, you know, the tradeoff is worth it for me.” On Friday, Lemme was joined by more joggers than usual as the Berkshire County running community joined runners throughout the nation in honoring Memphis, Tenn.’s, Eliza Fletcher, who was kidnapped and murdered during her early 0 Comments
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Pittsfield School Committee OKs Unions' Higher PayBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
04:13AM / Friday, September 09, 2022 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The School Committee has passed memoranda of agreements for four bargaining units that include "substantial increases."
During a special meeting on Thursday, MOAs for the 2021-2022 school year and the 2022-2025 school years were unanimously approved for bus drivers and attendants, cafeteria workers, paraprofessionals, and educational secretaries.
The unions are represented by the Pittsfield Federation of School Employees, a local affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers.
On behalf of the negotiating team and the whole committee, Chair William Cameron expressed that they are "extremely gratified" with the agreements and hope to settle
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