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| News and events in Pittsfield, Mass.
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Governor Files Fiscal Year 2025 Budget | 11:06AM / Thursday, January 25, 2024 | |
BOSTON — The Healey-Driscoll Administration filed its Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) budget recommendation, a $56.1 billion plan that addresses spending growth while investing in education, infrastructure and housing to make Massachusetts more affordable and improve quality of life. "Our Fiscal Year 2025 budget proposal is balanced, responsible and forward-looking. It protects taxpayer dollars while also making crucial investments to lower costs for people and improve quality of life," said Governor Maura Healey. "Together, we can make child care more affordable and accessible for families, ensure every student is receiving a
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State Fire Marshal: Avoid Fire and Carbon Monoxide Hazards During Dangerous Weather| 08:11AM / Thursday, January 25, 2024 | |
STOW—After a space heater fire in Haverhill and with bitter cold temperatures, State Fire Marshal Jon M. Davine and Haverhill Fire Chief Robert M. O'Brien are reminding residents to "Keep Warm, Keep Safe" and avoid fire and carbon monoxide (CO) hazards while heating their homes. "Just after 8:30 this morning, the Haverhill Fire Department responded to a two-family home for a fire that started with combustible items too close to a space heater," Chief O'Brien said. "Fortunately, working smoke alarms alerted residents to the danger – including one who was asleep – and everyone escaped safely. But we want everyone to remember that space 0 Comments
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Dalton Fire Chief Swearing in Ceremony MondayBy Sabrina Damms, iBerkshires Staff
05:14AM / Thursday, January 25, 2024 | |
DALTON, Mass. — The Fire District is inviting community members to a swearing-in ceremony for the new fire chief on Monday, Jan. 29, at 6 p.m. in the Stationary Factory. During its meeting on Tuesday, the district announced it has hired Berkshire County native Christian Tobin as Fire Department's 10th permanent fire chief. The district combed through 15 applications for the position and selected Tobin, who they felt was a good fit. "We feel he has a lot of common sense and knowledge in the Fire Department and in the running of the fire department and hopefully everything will work out from this point forward," Driscoll said during a 0 Comments
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Red Cross Announce Emergency Blood Shortage| 01:33PM / Wednesday, January 24, 2024 | |
MEDFORD, Mass. — The American Red Cross continues to experience an emergency blood shortage as severe winter weather has further impacted the ability to rebuild the blood supply. Blood and platelet donors are urged to give now to help ensure lifesaving medical procedures are not delayed. The national blood supply remains at critically low levels. Blood drives have been canceled in nearly every state where the Red Cross collects blood. As a result, nearly 15,000 blood and platelet donations have gone uncollected this month alone. In addition to dangerous road conditions, many Americans have dealt with flight and shipping delays, and the Red Cross is no different. 0 Comments
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Pittsfield Council OKs Incentives for Housing ProjectBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
12:23PM / Wednesday, January 24, 2024 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The City Council supported two items to facilitate a housing development in the downtown area.
On Tuesday, orders to amend the Housing Development Zone and an order for a 10-year tax increment exemption for 100 Wendell Ave. were unanimously approved. AM Management plans to convert a commercial building into "The Pointe" with 28 units, six of them designated affordable.
Councilor at Large Alisa Costa loves that there is an affordable housing aspect to the project.
"Something I'm learning is how much we have to stack financing to make something like this happen," she said. "So it's going to be two years out but this is so
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Governor Makes Appointments to Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development| 11:35AM / Wednesday, January 24, 2024 | |
 BOSTON — The Healey-Driscoll Administration announced the appointment of Ken Brown as Assistant Secretary for Employer Engagement and Employment Outcomes and Sarah Joseph as Director of Community Engagement for the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development (EOLWD). "Across industries, we have employers who urgently need talent to fill open positions, and we have people arriving in Massachusetts who want to work. Our administration has worked hard to get people work authorizations as quickly as possible, and now we are connecting them with jobs that need to be filled," said?Governor Maura Healey. "We are bringing in Ken Brown and Sarah Joseph 0 Comments
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Pittsfield Subcommittee Supports Battery Energy Storage OrdinanceBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
05:42AM / Wednesday, January 24, 2024 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — During its first meeting of the new term, the Ordinances and Rules subcommittee supported city efforts to bring battery energy storage guidelines to Pittsfield.
The Ordinances and Rules subcommittee on Monday approved an amended proposal to add a battery energy storage system overlay [BESS] district. This would allow Pittsfield to embrace greener energy sources while protecting the interests of residents.
"As solar and other forms of renewable energy become more commonplace, developers and communities need to safely store the electricity that they are generating," City Planner Jacinta Williams explained.
"The proposed amendment is an attempt to
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Dalton Select Board Approves Traffic Study for Senior CenterBy Sabrina Damms, iBerkshires Staff
05:15PM / Tuesday, January 23, 2024 | |
DALTON, Mass. — The Select Board voted to accept the Traffic Commission recommendation to conduct a traffic study at the Senior Center during its meeting on Monday. The commission had urged the board for a traffic study now that the polling station is at the Senior Center. It is unclear what the cost will be but Town Manager Thomas Hutcheson said he believes there is enough in the engineering account to cover it. The board directed him to look into the details further. Although the board voted in favor of the idea members noted they can not guarantee a study can be completed in time for the March elections. The Select Board voted to 0 Comments
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2nd Street Awarded $300K CERP Grant| 02:43PM / Tuesday, January 23, 2024 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Commonwealth's Executive Office of Economic Development (EOED) has awarded Second Street Second Chances, Inc., a Community Empowerment and Reinvestment Program (CERP) grant in the amount of $300,000 for 2024. 2nd Street Board President Mark Gold explained that the grant money will support the cost of current staff salaries and cover the cost of hiring of two more Community Resource Navigators for the first six months of 2024. Community Resource Navigators connect with formerly incarcerated individuals to assess their needs and to provide access to a wide range of services and referrals, including medical and mental health services, 0 Comments
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Central Berkshire's FY25 Draft Budget Up $1MBy Sabrina Damms, iBerkshires Staff
06:14AM / Tuesday, January 23, 2024 | |
DALTON, Mass. — The Central Berkshire Regional School District is anticipating a 3.35 percent increase to its operating budget for fiscal 2025, which translates to nearly a little more than $1 million over this year. This year's budget is $30,301,466, and next year is forecast at $31,315,659, a difference of $1,014,193. Prior to presenting the draft at the Jan. 11 meeting, Superintendent Leslie Blake-Davis emphasized that these initial projections may change because there are still a lot of unknowns surrounding it, including health insurance and the governor's budget. "This budget for us is really an ever-evolving process. Budget for us begins at the 0 Comments
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Mayor Marchetti Debuts 'One Pittsfield' TV ShowBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
05:17AM / Tuesday, January 23, 2024 | |
 PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Mayor Peter Marchetti launched his bi-weekly television program on Monday with an overview of the administration's first few weeks.
"One Pittsfield," aired on Pittsfield Community Television, is one of the ways Marchetti has planned to communicate with the public and demystify the inner workings of the city.
"When you walk into the mayor's office, I can't guarantee that I'm sitting at my desk doing absolutely nothing that you can walk into my office, but my staff has done a great job in the first three weeks of ensuring that everybody who wants an appointment can get an appointment whether it be right at that very given moment or
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North Berkshire Waste District Interested In Hydrogen Facility Project By Sabrina Damms, iBerkshires Staff
02:50PM / Monday, January 22, 2024 | |
ADAMS, Mass.— Members of the Northern Berkshire Solid Waste Management District (NBSWMD) were intrigued by a plan by Local Power to work towards community-wide decarbonization through a waste hydrogen facility in Western Massachusetts. In a presentation on Jan. 11, Local Power President Paul Fenn told the district members that Local Power helps local governments set up community-wide decarbonization with a focus on localization "as a core strategy in an industry defined by centralized energy and capital sources." He said the community choice aggregation firm helped usher in community choice power supply programs to many towns and cities in Berkshire
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