| News and events in Pittsfield, Mass.
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Pittsfield Police Make Arrest in Taconic Students' MurderStaff Reports,
11:05AM / Friday, November 07, 2025 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — An arrest has been made in last month's murder of 17-year-old Brodie Slonski. Jaequan Spratling, 18, was arrested on Thursday evening by police and is being charged with murder and attempted armed robbery. He is scheduled to be arraigned in Central Berkshire District Court on Friday, today, at 2 p.m. Slonski, a Taconic High School student, was found shot in his car after crashed into a tree at intersection of Franco Terrace and Parker Street on the evening of Oct. 26. First responders found the gunshot wound as he was being removed from the vehicle; he was taken to Berkshire Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. "I 0 Comments
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BSO, Boston Dedicate 'Seiji Ozawa Square'Community submission,
10:10AM / Friday, November 07, 2025 | |
Seira Ozawa and her son, Masaki, stand under the Ozawa sign dedicated to her father, Seiki Ozawa, on Thursday. BOSTON — The city of Boston and the Boston Symphony Orchestra dedicated "Seiji Ozawa Square" on Thursday with signage on the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and St. Stephen Street. Ozawa was the BSO's esteemed music director for 29 years, from 1973 to 2002. He died in February 2024 at the age of 88. Among the speakers at the unveiling were Kenny Mascary, Boston's interim director of the arts and culture; BSO President and CEO Chad Smith, and Ozawa's daughter, Seira Ozawa. "Seiji left a legacy of passionate 0 Comments
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Dueling Pianos Fundraiser to Support Pediatric Development Center | 08:27AM / Friday, November 07, 2025 | |
 PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Pediatric Development Center (PDC) will host a Dueling Pianos Fundraiser to raise money for programs that support more than 700 families across South and Central Berkshire County. The event features the high-energy entertainment of Howl2Go. Two pianists will take the stage to play crowd favorites, take song requests. Guests will enjoy complimentary appetizers, a 50/50 raffle, and a mystery bag pull, where $20 gets you a bottle of wine or gift card valued at $20 or more. "All of the funds raised help us continue providing free Early Intervention services to local families," said Kate Tucci, executive director of PDC. "Our work 0 Comments
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One Incumbent Returns to Pittsfield School CommitteeBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
05:55AM / Friday, November 07, 2025 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The next School Committee will have a couple of familiar faces, but largely new representation.
On Tuesday, voters elected Ciara Batory, Sarah Muil, Daniel Elias, Katherine Yon, Heather McNeice, and Carolyn Barry for two-year terms that begin in January. McNeice was the top vote-getter with 3,995 votes, according to unofficial results, and Elias was second with 2,937 votes.
Elias is a longtime School Committee member, and Yon is the former chair.
Candidates Jacob Klein, Geoffrey Buerger, and Vicky Smith fell short in the race, but Klein earned 2,116 votes, Buerger 2,063, and Smith 2,198.
McNeice feels truly grateful and
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Mobile Museum of Tolerance Comes to Massachusetts By Sabrina Damms, iBerkshires Staff
04:43AM / Friday, November 07, 2025 | |
 PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Simon Wiesenthal Center's Mobile Museum of Tolerance advocates for education as a means to address the rising levels of hate and division observed nationally over the past two years. Melissa Mott, Simon Wiesenthal Center's executive vice president of education programs and strategies said the museum is a free, traveling education center fully funded by the state legislature as part of a $61.47 billion fiscal year 2026 budget, which included funding for education filed by Rep. Ken Gordon. Of that, $875,000 went to adding the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Mobile Museum of Tolerance Bus to 0 Comments
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The Retired Investor: Trump's Tariffs and the HolidaysBy Bill Schmick,
04:38PM / Thursday, November 06, 2025 | |
It is that time of the year when consumers begin planning for the holidays. It will also be a time when prices on almost everything are expected to rise. You can blame that on tariffs. After several months of absorbing rising import costs due to Donald Trump's tariff policies, American corporations have had enough. Currently, approximately half of all goods imported into the United States are subject to substantial tariffs. Considering duties, limits, and other aspects of the president's trade policies, more than 90 percent of imports have been impacted in some way. This tariff debacle is truly a historic event, not seen in this country in over 100 years. Up until now, 0 Comments
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Tyler Street Arcade Hopes to Be a Destination for FunBy Breanna Steele, iBerkshires Staff
11:49AM / Thursday, November 06, 2025 | |
Owner Edward Krzysztof, left, and manager Robert Williams celebrating the arcade's grand opening. PITTFIELD, Mass. — Edward Krzysztof is hoping his new arcade will be a destination for fun on Tyler Street. Tyler Street Arcade, located at 214 Tyler St., held its grand opening on Oct. 25 and welcomed the community to enjoy new and old arcade machines. "I said, I'm going to do something to help Tyler Street. And I bought the building in pretty much disrepair. We rebuilt it all, pretty much from the inside," he said. "And we all went to the town and said, 'What can we do?' And I said, How about an arcade for all the kids? And 0 Comments
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Gala Celebration of Youth Alive and ROPE Legacy| 11:48AM / Thursday, November 06, 2025 | |
 PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A gala celebration in honor of the impact and legacy of Youth Alive (YA) and the Rites of Passage & Empowerment (ROPE) program will be held on Saturday, Nov. 8 at the Berkshire Innovation Center, 45 Woodlawn Ave. in Pittsfield. The ticketed program will begin at 6 p.m. and feature guest speaker the Rev. Nakeida Bethel-Smith. All proceeds will support the ROPE scholars, mentors and ambassadors global service trip to Ghana in West Africa. Tickets can be purchased here. This year, Youth Alive marks its 30th anniversary, while ROPE is celebrating a 15-year milestone. YA is a multicultural community-based arts program providing arts and educational
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Sports Television Pioneer Neal Pilson to Speak at BCC| 10:50AM / Thursday, November 06, 2025 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at Berkshire Community College (BCC) will present an afternoon with Neal Pilson. "Behind the Scenes of Sports Television" will take place on Thursday, Nov. 13 at 1:30 p.m. at Berkshire Community College and on Zoom. Attendance is $10 for OLLI at BCC members and $15 for the general public. To register, visit https://berkshireolli.org/event-6318172 According to a press release: Pilson has been a transformative force in sports broadcasting for nearly five decades. A graduate of Hamilton College and Yale Law School, he began his career in the legal profession before 0 Comments
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Pittsfield Food Providers Discuss Strategy with Health, Human Services SecretaryBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires.com
05:49AM / Thursday, November 06, 2025 | |
Health & Human Services Secretary Kiame Mahaniah gets a tour of the Pittsfield Community Food Pantry on Tuesday. PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Local food providers told the state's health and human services secretary how they are meeting the growing threat of food insecurity during a visit to the Pittsfield Community Food Pantry.
On Tuesday, local officials gathered with Health & Human Services Secretary Kiame Mahaniah at the food pantry for a tour and a discussion on food security. The secretary later traveled to North Adams to visit the Berkshire Food Project and North Adams Regional Hospital.
"This past month, we served 1,000 more individuals than the month
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Companion Corner: Ollie at Berkshire Humane SocietyBy Breanna Steele, iBerkshires Staff
03:04PM / Wednesday, November 05, 2025 | |
 PITTSFIELD, Mass. — There's a little dog with big energy waiting for his forever home at the Berkshire Humane Society. iBerkshire's Companion Corner is a weekly series spotlighting an animal in our local shelters that is ready to find a home. Ollie is a four-year-old mixed breed that has been at the shelter since September. Canine caregiver and adoption counselor Simone Olivieri told us about Ollie. "Just very sweet, very, very, very loving lap dog, and also a little adventure buddy. He's very confident and a great, great little buddy," she said. He was dropped off at the shelter Sept. 30 after he was having a hard time fitting in at his home. "He
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Berkshire Innovation Center Plans Expansion, New Manufacturing TenantBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
11:55AM / Wednesday, November 05, 2025 | |
 PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A total of $1 million in Pittsfield Economic Development Funds has been requested to build a tech hub at the Berkshire Innovation Center and help to move a company there.
The BIC is seeking $500,000 to expand and Myrias Optics Inc. is seeking $500,000 to establish a manufacturing laboratory at the BIC. Last week, the City Council referred both requests to the Community and Economic Development subcommittee, which will meet on Nov. 10.
The BIC plans to build a specialized nanoimprint lithography (NIL) lab to support the Massachusetts-based photonics company that is currently reliant on a space in Austria. The lab would be within a 7,000-square-foot
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