CONWAY, Mass. — In what has become an annual tradition, Gov. Deval Patrick aided in the black bear count on Monday morning.

The governor joined with Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Rick Sullivan, Department of Fish and Game Commissioner Mary Griffin and state wildlife officials on an expedition around South Deerfield and Conway to document the newest members of the state's black bear population.

The team discovered two cubs born approximately four to six weeks ago. The cubs, both male, weighed in at approximately 6 pounds. Based on last year's breeding status, the Conway bear is one of 16 radio-collared sows believed to have given birth this winter.

While

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LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — The Selectmen have given their OK to an energy committee to craft a proposal for a solar array and bring it to the voters.

The town's energy futures committee presented the Board of Selectmen with a conceptual idea of using a Prospect Street property for a 1.5 megawatt solar array which could provide about $58,000 in revenue per year.

However, the land was purchased in 2007 as a site for senior housing but federal funds dried up and that project has been on hold since.

"A lot of that funding has dried up," said Robert Ericson, who presented the proposal on Monday. "Our suggestion is that we move ahead and use the land for

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LENOX, Mass. — A slate of culinary experts with local ties will display their skills using New England's first harvest of the year — maple syrup.

Berkshire Grown holds its annual March Maple Dinner on March 18 at Cranwell Resort to benefit the organization and Share the Bounty, which buys shares in local farms for food pantries.

This year's March Maple Dinner chefs cut their cooking teeth at either Wheatleigh or Blantyre in Lenox and Stockbridge. Many of these young chefs went on to other triumphs — Brian Young is now executive chef at Tavern on the Green in New York City; Hung Huynh, winner of "Top Chef Season 3," is now executive chef at The General,

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The state Department of Conservation and Recreation is restricting the movement of wood outside of the county in an effort to stop the spread of emerald ash borer.

After determining the extent of the beetle infestation in Berkshire County, DCR is implementing a quarantine on wood movement in Berkshire County beginning March 1.

The order means that certain products — including all hardwood firewood — are not allow to be shipped outside of the county unless specially treated.

However, New York has added 22 new counties to their quarantine including ones that border Massachusetts so wood would be allowed to be shipped to the quarantined areas

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — There is still plenty of "low-hanging fruit" the government can pursue to improve the its energy portfolio, according to state Department of Public Utilities Commissioner David Cash.

Cash was the guest speaker Thursday at an energy forum at Berkshire Community College, where he advocated for government officials to continue pushing for alternative energy. Massachusetts is "at the end of the pipeline," which inflates cost and is a factor in why businesses opt to open elsewhere, he said.

However, there are plenty of ways to lower those costs such as improving technology, investing in alternative energy and continuing to

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire Community College will host an Energy Forum with state Department of Public Utitilities Commissioner David Cash, BCC President Ellen Kennedy and Berkshire Chamber of Commerce President Michael Supranowicz.

The forum will be held in Room H219 in the Hawthorne Building on campus on Thursday, Feb. 7, from 9 to 10:30 a.m. It will include an optional tour of the newly renovated Ralph Hoffmann Environmental Center, Greenhouse, and Sustainable Energy Center.

Cash will discuss the natural gas boom, electricity rates, how rates are changing and how the state's energy efficiency and renewable energy programs will help mitigate high energy costs and

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The state has fined a Maine Company for spilling hydraulic fluid on East Street.

The Department of Environmental Protection has fined North Woods Contracting $2,000 for not notifying the state until hours after spilling about 20 gallons of hydraulic fluid.

According to DEP, the spill occurred at about 7:30 a.m. on May 29 when a hose ruptured on a truck-mounted crane that was loading telephone poles at the Verizon facility at 1899 East Street. The fluid impacted the paved surfaces near the crane.

The company took steps to control the spill and retained a contractor to help clean it.

However, it wasn't until 1 p.m. that day when the company notified the

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Conservation officials have unveiled the first local projects going forward with a new model of forest management unveiled by the Patrick-Murray administration earlier this year. They will reintroduce commercial logging in select parts of state forests for the first time since it was suspended in 2008.

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GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — Author and professor Michael Klare will discuss food and world security on Monday, Dec 3, at the Clark Lecture Hall in the Fisher Science Building at Simon's Rock.  

The Edible Education event is presented by Berkshire Co-op Market, Berkshire Grown and Bard College at Simon's Rock.

Klare, Five Colleges Program professor of Peace and World Security Studies, will talk about issues such as the future of food, how climate change could affect farming, food production and corporate land grabs and the effects of population growth on food supply.

For years, Klare has focused his studies on world security. Along with his work at Hampshire College and

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