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| News and events in Pittsfield, Mass.
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Homeless Encampments Springing Up in Pittsfield Parks By Jack Guerino, iBerkshires Staff
04:00AM / Wednesday, July 22, 2020 | |
 PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Parks and Recreation Department is monitoring homeless encampments popping up in city parks. Parks and Open Space Manager James McGrath fielded some of the parks commissioners' questions and concerns Tuesday about the influx of the homeless in the city parks — most notably in Springside Park. "This is an ongoing conversation, it is a very delicate one, and it is one that requires a team approach," McGrath said. "We stand ready to assist, evaluate, and continue to have conversations around this unprecedented situation." The city had set up, in conjunction with ServiceNet, a temporary shelter at the 11 Comments
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Tanglewood Serves Up Virtual MenuBy Stephen Dankner, Guest Columist
09:54AM / Tuesday, July 21, 2020 | |
 As the coronavirus has necessitated the cancellation of virtually all publicly presented classical music concerts in venues large and small, music lovers in the Berkshires and Southern Vermont have been made bereft of all live music performances. We have had, though, other options: streaming via the Web, YouTube and Facebook videos are legion, and, for opera lovers, Metropolitan Opera hi-def recordings on several regional PBS TV channels have continued past the traditional end-of-season May broadcasts. Tanglewood, the Boston Symphony’s Berkshire summer festival in Lenox, was forced to cancel its full season but has found a novel way to surmount this misfortune via streaming a wide
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What Should You Do With an Inheritance?Submitted by Edward Jones,
08:17AM / Tuesday, July 21, 2020 | |
 If you were to inherit a large sum of money, what would you do with it? The question may not be hypothetical, especially if you are in the millennial, Gen X or Gen Z demographic groups. That's because the baby boomers – often referred to as the richest generation in history – are poised to transfer some $30 trillion in assets over the next few decades, according to the consulting firm Accenture. Of course, this is a "macro" figure, and everyone's situation is different. Furthermore, since baby boomers are living longer, more active lives, the total amount passed on may end up being considerably less than the estimate. Nonetheless, you may well receive a
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Pittsfield Preservation Act Committee Recommends Four More Projects By Jack Guerino, iBerkshires Staff
01:30AM / Tuesday, July 21, 2020 | |
 PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Community Preservation Act Committee voted to send another four projects to the City Council for consideration, including the YMCA renovation. The committee zeroed out $190,000 for possible projects Monday, voting to recommend a slate of four projects to the City Council to be fully or partially funded. "Well there we have it," Chairman John Dickson said. This is the second round of projects the CPA Committee will recommend to the council after an initial pause in the application process in March because of the pandemic. City Planner CJ Hoss noted that the committee had $424,000 this round but with some 3 Comments
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Mount Greylock School Committee Charts 'Expedited' Superintendent Hiring ProcessBy Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires Staff
04:13PM / Monday, July 20, 2020 | |
 WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Mount Greylock Regional School Committee on Friday outlined its schedule for selecting the district's next permanent superintendent. If all goes according to plan, the committee hopes to learn the names of its finalists, interview those contenders and vote on its final selection within the span of three days at the end of the month with the intention of getting a new superintendent in the job in early August. On Friday, the panel heard an orientation to the superintendent search selection process from representatives of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees. The Mount Greylock School Committee designated MASC to screen 3 Comments
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Pittsfield Taco Bell to Move Across StreetBy Jack Guerino, iBerkshires Staff
03:52AM / Monday, July 20, 2020 | |
 PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Conservation Commission signed off on the construction of a new Taco Bell on Dalton Avenue. The commission voted Thursday to amend an order pertaining to the construction of the fast-food outfit on vacant land adjacent to the Medex building "I think all in all this project works better from a standpoint of the wetlands rules and the riverfront redevelopment standards point of view," Conservation Agent Robert Van Der Kar said. Previously the property was to be developed as a gas station and Van Der Kar said the fast-food chain may be closer to the riverfront but this is an improvement over gas pumps and tanks. He added 3 Comments
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Northern Berkshire Waste District Finalizes Casella Agreement By Jack Guerino, iBerkshires Staff
01:06AM / Monday, July 20, 2020 | |
 ADAMS, Mass. — The Northern Berkshire Solid Waste Management District has signed off on a proposed five-year contract with Casella Waste Systems. "This has been a six or seven-month process and I feel that we have done our due diligence," Program Director Linda Cernik said at Thursday's meeting, held outside the Adams Visitors Center.. "We didn't rush it and we took our time ... honesty I feel this is a good contract. It is a little bit higher than I anticipated but we knew that." The district previously held a contract with Republic Services and recently went out to bid for a new contract. Casella Waste Management purchased some assets 0 Comments
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Mount Greylock District Weighs Wastewater TestingBy Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires Staff
04:36PM / Sunday, July 19, 2020 | |
 WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The interim superintendent of the Mount Greylock Regional School District Tuesday expressed interest in pursuing wastewater testing as a method for identifying early the presence of COVID-19 at the district's three schools. Robert Putnam was reacting to a suggestion from parent Foster Goodrich, who offered his comments during a meeting of the Education Subcommittee of the School Committee. Goodrich told the panel that he works with engineering firm AECOM, one of the companies using wastewater analysis to test sewage, a strategy that the City of Pittsfield announced the week before that it will employ in the fight against the novel 2 Comments
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@theMarket: Vaccine-Driven MarketsBy Bill Schmick,
02:13PM / Saturday, July 18, 2020 | |
 Investors are caught in a tug of war. On one side are the growing cases of COVID-19 throughout the country. On the other, the expectations that a virus cure, or at least a vaccine, is just around the corner. The market remains in the middle. That's all you need to know to understand what happened to stocks this week. Two different announcements concerning vaccine progress had traders bid up stocks. The daily toll of deaths and cases, the slowing of the re-opening process, and the controversy over the coming school plans, all had a dampening effect on markets as well. The quarterly corporate earnings season is also upon us. Management's guidance on how they see 0 Comments
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The Case for Community CollegeBy Ellen Kennedy,
12:44PM / Saturday, July 18, 2020 | |
 Community colleges remain the most accessible option for higher education and we know that, on average, community college students earn significantly more over their lifetimes than individuals who do not go to community college (according to the Community College Research Center). Even in the face of COVID-19, Berkshire Community College, like other community colleges across the commonwealth, pivoted in the spring to ensure our students succeeded in pursuing their studies. The college made investments in faculty professional development and technology infrastructure to ensure our fall classes could be held in the safest, most accessible way while ensuring successful learning outcomes. When
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Cultural Pittsfield This Week: July 17-23| 12:14PM / Saturday, July 18, 2020 | |
 Welcome to Cultural Pittsfield's weekly guide featuring in-person and virtual classes, events, information, and more. If you are a Pittsfield business and would like your event listed, please email us at [email protected] Thank you and be well! TONIGHT - Thursday, July 16 at 7:30 p.m.: Pittsfield Prospers presents an Intergenerational Community Conversation. Explore how the recent pandemic has created an opportunity to move the community forward in new and positive ways. Some generations saw the social and economic upheaval triggered by the departure of General Electric almost four decades 0 Comments
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Barrett Answers Williamstown Residents' Call for Law to Address Racist CovenantBy Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires Staff
11:34AM / Saturday, July 18, 2020 | |
Organizer Jessica Dils hangs a new sign to replace the marker for the turnoff to the Colonial Village neighborhood from Main Street (Route 2). WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — A document meant to divide the community brought scores of residents together on Friday evening in search of healing. The weekly vigil for racial justice at Field Park concluded with a 1.3-mile walk up Main Street (Route 2) to the junction with Colonial Avenue. There, activists and residents of the neighborhood — many protesters themselves — talked about how to deal with the hateful legacy of the exclusionary covenants that still accompany deeds to homes in the development known as Colonial 3 Comments
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