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| News and events in Pittsfield, Mass.
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30-Year Firefighter Named Fire Academy Director| 08:03AM / Saturday, February 03, 2024 | |
 STOW, Mass. — A career firefighter with 30 years of experience in Massachusetts and Nevada has been named director of the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy, State Fire Marshal Jon M. Davine said. Eric S. Littmann, who most recently held the rank of captain at the Medfield Fire Department, took over as Academy director on Jan. 8. He previously served for more than 20 years with the Las Vegas Fire Rescue Department, where he held a series of high-level training positions including training captain of the LVFR Training Center and regional flashover instructor for three fire departments in the Las Vegas Valley area. A 1997 graduate of the Massachusetts Firefighting 0 Comments
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Berkshire Museums New Exhibits Illuminate Text and HistoryBy Tammy Daniels, iBerkshires Staff
07:25AM / Saturday, February 03, 2024 | |
Executive Director Kimberley Bush Tomio and Chief Curator Jesse Kowalski lead a tour of the exhibits on Friday morning. PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire Museum's two new exhibits are illuminating — one looks at the artistic act of handwritten and decorated text and the other at the last third of the institution's history. "Planning for the Future — 1979-2024" exhibits artworks and pieces acquired during this period and a peek into how the collection is stored, as well as addressing 2018's controversial decision to sell off artworks to preserve the deteriorating building and sustain its future. This is the third and final installment 0 Comments
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Equines Promote Human Connections at Berkshire HorseWorksBy Kim McMann, iBerkshires correspondent
05:47PM / Friday, February 02, 2024 | |
 RICHMOND, Mass. — Hayley Sumner of Berkshire HorseWorks is one of those people determined to bring their childhood dreams to life. Her dream wasn't to become a doctor or a teacher or an astronaut. "My vision was to have a ranch where adults could come and work with kids and impart their knowledge from their own expertise," she says of her 10-year-old self. Sumner's dad was a school principal in the South Bronx, N.Y., successfully integrating kids labeled on the autism spectrum with kids labeled at risk. As a child, Sumner wrote a business plan to open a ranch and help these kids she saw in her father's school. At that young 0 Comments
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Misty Blues Live at The Common Room| 04:08PM / Friday, February 02, 2024 | |
 PITTSFIELD, Mass. — On Saturday Feb 10 Misty Blues, a Berkshires based blues band, will perfrom a free concert at the Common Room According to a press release, this concert is a response to the reality of isolation, loneliness, and mental health challenges that many face each day. "We're still feeling the chasm that 6 feet of distance created during the pandemic," Rev. Jenny Gregg said. "We all long for connection and belonging. This concert brings us together to give voice to these realities." 2019 International Blues Challenge finalist, Misty Blues, is led by lead singer/band founder Gina Coleman. The band is based out of 0 Comments
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@theMarket: Jobs Jump But the Fed DisappointsBy Bill Schmick,
02:40PM / Friday, February 02, 2024 | |
It was one of those weeks. A gauntlet of data had investors working overtime to figure out where stocks and the economy were going. At the same time, the Fed told investors that a March rate cut was off the table. And then the job data was announced. The non-farm payroll report for January came in at almost double market expectations. Economists were expecting 185,000 gains, but the U.S. economy created 353,999 jobs. That was a blowout number that had traders torn between selling the market (because of the inflation implications) or buying it due to what it might say about future growth. Strength in the job market and wages would mean the Fed will delay cutting interest rates 0 Comments
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BCC to Host Campus Events to Celebrate Black History Month | 08:08AM / Friday, February 02, 2024 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire Community College (BCC) will host a series of student events across campus in February in honor of Black History Month. The College's Student Engagement Center will be hosting these events for students, led by the College's Coordinator of Student Diversity Programs and Belonging, Erica Barreto. Black History Month events at BCC include: • Call and Response: National Freedom Day will take place all month long. National Freedom Day is an annual memorial to the signing of the 13th Amendment by President Abraham Lincoln in 1865. Students will learn more about this holiday and take a moment to 0 Comments
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Pittsfield School Committee Approves Vocational Admissions Policy, CoursesBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
05:44AM / Friday, February 02, 2024 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The School Committee approved a pilot tutoring program, courses, and the vocational admissions policy for Taconic High School last week.
The Career Technical Education admissions policy has undergone changes over the last several years to eliminate roadblocks for vocational education. The revised policy, which has remained the same since 2021, eliminates criteria aside from residency for acceptance.
"We have had an admissions policy for a number of years and, in 2020, the Board of Education had voted that much of the selection criteria that was being used across Massachusetts, they provided a guidance that would be removed over concerns of
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BRPC Sees What State Economic Plan Means for Rural CommunitiesBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
05:29AM / Friday, February 02, 2024 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Berkshire Regional Planning Commission got a look at the state's 2023 economic development plan and what it means for rural communities. Steven Ellis, the town administrator of Montague, serves on the state's Economic Development Planning Council as a "rural captain." He presented the plan on Wednesday to the commission's Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy Committee.
The Healey-Driscoll administration released its economic development plan "Team Massachusetts: Leading Future Generations" in December. The state Executive Office of Economic Development develops a plan at the start of each gubernatorial term to
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Dalton Select Board Supports Town Inclusion on Lafayette TrailBy Sabrina Damms, iBerkshires Staff
06:10PM / Thursday, February 01, 2024 | |
Examples of Lafayette markers from the Lafayette Trail website. DALTON, Mass. — The Marquis de Lafayette made his way across the state of Massachusetts back in 1825, passing through the Berkshires as he completed a tour of the young country. A number of towns have markers noting his historic passage — now Dalton wants to be included. The Select Board last month voted in favor of being designated on the Lafayette Trail. Town Manager Thomas Hutcheson will work with Lafayette Trail Inc. founder and President Julien Icher on the application for a Lafayette Trail marker, which would be place somewhere along Main Street. The French general 0 Comments
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The Retired Investor: Economics According to Trump Supporters Part IIBy Bill Schmick,
04:32PM / Thursday, February 01, 2024 | |
The economic condition of the country has convinced a minority of the population that the only person who can save the country from economic ruin is Donald Trump. The growing budget deficit and persistent inflation are two areas of growing concern for that bloc of voters. However, more and more Americans are paying attention to those areas as we head into 2024. Last week, I pointed out some areas of economic contention between Trumpers and those against him such as illegal immigration. Inflation is another major gripe for Trumpers. That seems to fly in the face of economic facts. The inflation rate has dropped in half over the last year, according to government statistics, but 0 Comments
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Lanesborough Finance Committee Has Attendance ProblemBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
05:44AM / Thursday, February 01, 2024 | |
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — Attendance is a problem for the town's Finance Committee and with budget season ahead, a game plan is needed. Chair Jodi-Lee Szczepaniak-Locke brought concerns about meeting quorum for votes. The panel is "essentially down to a 33 percent attendance rate," she reported to the Select Board last week.
"I'm here tonight, out of significant concern from several members of the Finance Committee about our difficulty achieving a quorum," she said. "We have given due diligence to our members that have been absent on several occasions."
For full transparency to Lanesborough residents, she feels it is important that they know
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Pittsfield Historical Commission OKs GE DemosBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
05:35AM / Thursday, February 01, 2024 | |
 PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The former General Electric campus continues to be chipped away as two more building demolitions are planned next to Site 9.
The Historical Commission on Monday gave the OK for demolition requests for Buildings 12 and 14, located along Tyler Street Extension and the railway. Building 100 sits between the two and is not part of the project.
The environmental abatement and demolition of the buildings will be done by Brandenburg Industrial Service Co. of Bethlehem, Pa. It will remove multiple contaminants and the structures down to the slab and cap the waste consolidation areas. "To be simple about it, they're ugly," Project Manager
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