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| News and events in Pittsfield, Mass.
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Pittsfield: Toters Are a GoBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
05:10AM / Thursday, June 13, 2024 | |
 PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city is toter-lly ready for a new trash system. Call it a victory for Mayor Peter Marchetti, who was able push through in six months a new waste pickup model that had eluded his predecessors. The City Council approved draft five-year contracts with Casella Waste Management on Tuesday, moving Pittsfield from unlimited curbside collection to automated collection with 48-gallon toters for trash and recycling.
Recycling will begin on Sept. 13 and trash routes will start on Oct. 18 with toters provided at no cost to residents. Officials predict this will trim the trash budget by about $600,000 to $4.6 million, with $80,000 in savings embedded in the
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Letter: Berkshire State Delegation Needed to Pass Ban on Puppy MillsLetter to the Editor,
12:00PM / Wednesday, June 12, 2024 | |
 To the Editor:
The public may be aware that I spear-headed local legislation in Pittsfield and Lenox banning the sale of puppies from puppy mills at pet stores. Berkshire Voters for Animals and the Massachusetts Humane Society were strong advocates and helped immensely.
I have received an email from Berkshire Voters for Animals stating, "There is still one of our bills in its original committee that needs to be released by June 14th or it will not have a chance to be passed this session. Time is running out for Massachusetts lawmakers to advance legislation that will prevent commercial dog breeders (puppy mills) from trucking cruelly bred puppies into pet shops. New York, Maryland
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Miss Hall's School Graduates 46Staff Reports ,
11:35AM / Wednesday, June 12, 2024 | |
 PITTSFIELD — Forty-six students, including 22 students from Berkshire County and nearby communities, graduated on Sunday, June 2, during Miss Hall's School's 126th Commencement. The ceremony took place under a large tent behind the Elizabeth Gatchell Klein Arts Center on the School's Holmes Road campus and was shared worldwide via Hudl. Hosted by Miss Hall's Head of School Julia Heaton, the ceremony included remarks from Senior Class President Naomi Hopkins, of Rabun County, Georgia; School President Iva Knezevic, of Belgrade, Serbia; School Vice President Hanna Heaton Wellenstein, of Pittsfield; and Miss Hall's School Board of Trustees President 0 Comments
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Students Through Saturday Register Free for Pittsfield July 4 5K| 08:21AM / Wednesday, June 12, 2024 | |
 PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- Students in grades kindergarten through 12 can register free for the BHS July 4th 5K through Saturday, June 15. The 5-kilometer road race takes place on the parade route of Pittsfield's Independence Day parade at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, July 4. Berkshire Health Systems is offering prize money to the top 3 overall category winners in nine age groups. There will be a Corporate Challenge Division in which businesses can compete in this special category while supporting the race. Sponsorships are needed and welcomed by contacting Lisa Lewis at llewis3@bhs1.org Proceeds will go to support community wellness programming through Berkshire Health 0 Comments
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Hancock Shaker Village Celebrates Shaker Design on Stamps| 08:00AM / Wednesday, June 12, 2024 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. Hancock Shaker Village announced it has been selected as the host site for the launch of a special line of commemorative Shaker Design stamps on June 20, 2024. The U.S. Postal Service will issue Shaker Design stamps to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the arrival of the Shakers in America. The set of 12 stamps celebrates the beauty of Shaker design and features photographs of items that highlight its core elements: simplicity and utility, said a press release. "It’s an honor to be selected by USPS as the host site for the Shaker Design stamp launch," said Carrie Holland, director and CEO of Hancock Shaker 0 Comments
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Lanesborough Passes 32 of 34 Articles at Town Meeting By Sabrina Damms, iBerkshires Staff
11:10PM / Tuesday, June 11, 2024 | |
 LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — Voters approved 32 of the 34 articles on the warrant at the annual town meeting on Tuesday night at Lanesborough Elementary School. More than 100 registered voters attended the meeting, which lasted a little more than two hours, to vote on the proposed fiscal 2025 spending plan, board and committee seat procedures, three articles related to short-term rentals, and various spending items. Voters rejected expanding a tax exemption to military parents and referred an accessory dwelling bylaw to the Planning Board. Voters approved a budget of $11,851,407. Of that is a net increase of $237,129 in education costs for the Mount Greylock Regional 0 Comments
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Lee Elementary School Holds Entrepreneur FairBy Sabrina Damms, iBerkshires Staff
02:35PM / Tuesday, June 11, 2024 | |
Fifth-grade students created potential businesses based on their interests. The entrepreneur fair is an outgrowth of author Ty Allan Jackson's 'Danny Dollar' series that teaches children financial literacy. LEE, Mass. — Hundreds of students gathered last week in the Lee Elementary School cafeteria for its first-ever entrepreneur fair. Over the last two months, the school's fifth graders have been introduced to financial literacy and developed their own businesses based on their interests. The students kicked off this endeavor toward the end of April, Financial Literacy Month, with the reading of Ty Allan Jackson's first 0 Comments
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Berkshire Schools Recognized at Safe Rules to Schools Event| 10:38AM / Tuesday, June 11, 2024 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Silvio O. Conte Community School was recognized by MassDOT's Safe Routes to School program.
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT), through its Massachusetts Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Program, held its annual awards ceremony to recognize the program's partner schools, community champions, stakeholders, and crossing guards who have made contributions within their communities by strengthening, promoting, and improving safety for students walking, biking and rolling to school.
Silvio O. Conte Community School was one of the 273 school partners, community champions, and crossing guards recognized. The school was named an Exemplary 0 Comments
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Big Votes Await Pittsfield City CouncilBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
06:42PM / Monday, June 10, 2024 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Tuesday is a big day for Pittsfield, as the City Council will take a final vote on the fiscal 2025 budget, a five-year trash contract, and water and sewer rates. These will be taken in council chambers at the meeting beginning at 6 p.m.
The proposed $215,955,210 spending plan is a 5 percent increase from the previous year and includes a $200,000 cut to the schools. Councilors preliminarily OKed the number a couple of weeks ago with a last-minute cut to the district's budget after "unprofessional" comments from School Committee members.
This drops the school budget to $82.6 million.
All other city departments were preliminarily approved
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1Berkshire Marks Halfway Point of Pandemic-Altered BlueprintBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
05:22PM / Monday, June 10, 2024 | |
1Berkshire President & CEO Jonathan Butler notes how much the world has changed since the release of the 2.0 version of the blueprint five years ago. PITTSFIELD, Mass. — 1Berkshire's blueprint for economic development was adaptable when it needed to be and today, paves steps for a post-pandemic Berkshire County.
1Berkshire marked five years since the Berkshire Blueprint 2.0 release with a progress report May 30 on the plan shaped by the pandemic's impact on the region and beyond.
President and CEO Jonathan Butler noted that it was an intentional decision to deliver the update from the Berkshire Innovation Center, which was being built when the blueprint was
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Berkshire Fire Departments Awarded Fire Safety Grants| 03:26PM / Monday, June 10, 2024 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The state awarded Pittsfield, North Adams, and Lanesborough Fire Safety Grants to support fire and life safety education for school-age children and older adults.
Since 1995, the Department of Fire Services' Student Awareness of Fire Education (SAFE) grant program has supported firefighter-educators who deliver age-appropriate fire safety education to kids and teens across Massachusetts. In that time, the number of children who die in fires has dropped to historically low levels, from two dozen or more per year to zero for nearly three consecutive years.
In 2014, DFS launched the Senior SAFE program, which is geared toward another vulnerable 0 Comments
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Pittsfield Board of Health Wants to Mosquito Spray If Necessary By Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
02:38PM / Monday, June 10, 2024 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Board of Health has endorsed a mosquito plan that includes adulticide spraying if necessary. It hopes to gain the City Council's support.
It was emphasized that spraying is for disease, not for nuisance.
"I think we have a really thoughtful plan and we've not decided as a community to become pesticide or herbicide free but we know for sure that there are services out there where those chemicals are being used. That is not this kind of program," Chair Bobbie Elliott said.
"This program, we don't want to have to use adulticide spray. We want to do everything else before we get to that point and the criteria are very strict with
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