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| News and events in Pittsfield, Mass.
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Berkshire County Transportation Enhanced by Over $400 K in State Grants| 08:17AM / Thursday, March 06, 2025 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. The Healey-Driscoll Administration has awarded funding to the Berkshire Regional Transit Authority and Great Barrington (BRTA) to enhance transportation access within Berkshire County. BRTA and the Town of Great Barrington have received a combined total of over $400,000 through the Community Transit Grant Program (CTGP). "Every investment we make in public transportation is an investment to connect more individuals and households to opportunities and to improve the quality of life in Massachusetts," said Governor Maura Healey. "We commend everyone who competed for funding available through this program and made a strong case for the 0 Comments
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Ollie's Bargain Outlet Taking Over Pittsfield Big LotsStaff Reports, iBerkshires
05:15PM / Wednesday, March 05, 2025 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The lease for the Big Lots on Dalton Avenue has been purchased by Ollie's Bargain Outlet. Ollie's, based in Harrisburg, Pa., acquired 40 leases for Big Lots stores and Burlington Stores Inc. another dozen. Big Lots filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last September. It operated nearly 1,400 stores nationwide but began closing more than 300 by August with plans for another 250 by January. It announced back in December it would be closing the Pittsfield store after a purchase agreement with a competitor fall through. The closeout retailer moved into the former Price Rite Marketplace on Dalton Avenue in 2021 from 0 Comments
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Bianchi Barbarotta Foundation to Host 11th Annual Beer Tasting Event| 04:00PM / Wednesday, March 05, 2025 | |
 PITTSFIELD, Mass. The Bianchi Barbarotta Foundation will host its 11th Annual Beer Tasting event on Saturday, March 8 at the Berkshire Hills Country Club. The event will feature a selection of beers from various breweries, including Antimony Brewing, Berkshire Brewing Company, Craft Brewers, Fiddlehead Brewing Company, Hot Plate Brewing Co., Bright Ideas Brewing, Big Elm Brewing, Roaring 20s Brewery, Start Line Brewing Co., Reverie Brewing Company, Barnstable Brewing, and Wandering Star Craft Brewery. Kelly's Package Store will also be participating. Food will be provided by Family Meatballs and KJ Knosh. Music will be performed by DJ Mike Wilk. Doors open at 6 PM, with 0 Comments
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BRTA Mulls Extending Free Rides to Non-ADA CommunitiesBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
03:52PM / Wednesday, March 05, 2025 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Berkshire Regional Transit Authority may extend free rides even further for the next few months.
This would expand opportunities for rural residents to use the transit authority's services and could even be a catalyst for route extensions.
On Wednesday, the BRTA Finance Committee recommended the extension of fare-free rides to non-ADA communities for the months of April, May, and June. It will go before the full advisory board at the end of the month.
"It's a way of getting more service out there to communities that maybe don't have it or aren't using it," Administrator Robert Malnati said.
Last year, BRTA was awarded $699,733
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CHP Suspends Mobile Health Unit and Cuts Staff By Breanna Steele, iBerkshires Staff
12:18PM / Wednesday, March 05, 2025 | |
GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — Community Health Programs laid off some of its staff, reduced some staff hours, and suspended its mobile health unit in response to a looming deficit. CHP CEO Bethany Kieley said the nonprofit was forced to cut back because pandemic-related funding was running out. CHP gets most of its revenue from grants, federal support and donations. "Our payments from third parties is the bulk of our revenue. We get about 12 percent of our revenue from the federal government in the form of a grant that is intended to support primarily payroll expenses. And then we do get funding for other types of grants, usually those are very program specific," 0 Comments
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Berkshire Green Drinks Will Discuss Rare Butterfly Species | 08:09AM / Wednesday, March 05, 2025 | |
 PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Entomologist Jessica Duffy will discuss two rare butterfly species, the Veined White and the West Virginia White, at the Berkshire Green Drinks event on Wednesday, March 12. The hybrid event will be held both online via Zoom and in-person at Hot Plate Brewing Co. (1 School St., Pittsfield). The in-person social gathering begins at 5:15 p.m., with the presentation and Zoom meeting starting at 6:00 p.m. Duffy's presentation will cover the butterflies' natural history, including their host plants, and the impact of introduced parasitoid wasps and invasive garlic mustard on their populations. Following the presentation, the 0 Comments
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Berkshire Athenaeum Hosts Seed Library Opening Celebration| 07:27AM / Wednesday, March 05, 2025 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — On Saturday, March 22, 2025 from 10:30 am – 12 pm, the Berkshire Athenaeum, Pittsfield's Public Library, will host an event to celebrate the season opening of the Berkshire Seed Library. The centerpiece of this event will be a ribbon-cutting for the Seed Library at 11 am, after which anyone with a library card may select up to 10 packets of vegetable or flower seeds to take home, free of charge. If those interested do not have a library card, patrons can sign up for one for free anytime the library is open. In the spirit of a community library, users are encouraged to return any unused seeds to the library after planting and save seeds 0 Comments
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Pittsfield School Policy Panel Endorses Social Media RegsBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
05:05AM / Wednesday, March 05, 2025 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — School officials feel an urgent need to update the policy manual for social media.
Last week, the Policy subcommittee sent a revised document to the School Committee that bars teachers and staff from friending students and giving out their private phone numbers. It is based on the Massachusetts Association of School Committees' model.
"I think we need to build it into the policy manual while everything else is a work in progress," Chair William Cameron said. "I think this needs to go in there now."
According to the policy, the superintendent and principals will annually remind staff members and orient new ones of the
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Pittsfield Downtown Churches Offers Ash Wednesday Ashes to Go| 04:03PM / Tuesday, March 04, 2025 | |
 PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Pittsfield Campus of Downtown Churches will offer "Ashes to Go" on Ash Wednesday, March 5th, from 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM at various locations in downtown Pittsfield. Clergy and pastoral staff will be available to administer ashes at the following locations and times: Fenn Street outside First United Methodist Church: 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM South Community Food Pantry: 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM and 4:30 PM - 5:30 PM BMC Cafeteria: 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM Intermodal Transportation Center: 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM Allen Street drive-up outside St. Stephen's Episcopal Church: 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM Price Memorial AME Zion Church: 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM 0 Comments
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Letter: Hope for Democracy to Prevail Amid 'Chaos and Destruction'| 04:00PM / Tuesday, March 04, 2025 | |
 To the Editor:
For an enhanced understanding of the madness currently afflicting American society and politics, I strongly recommend reading Erich Fromm's "The Sane Society." Fromm, one of the preeminent social psychologists of the 20th century, draws on his background as a Jewish refugee fleeing fascist Germany to describe the ease with which vast segments of a population can rapidly become untethered from factual reality, and wholeheartedly enter the delusional world of a psychotic dictator. Fromm labeled this phenomenon "Folie a Millions." Individuals suffering from "folie" are impervious to facts. They regard any disagreement with their worldview, any
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Pittsfield School Committee Stands With LGBTQ-plus StudentsBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
01:27PM / Tuesday, March 04, 2025 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The School Committee last week affirmed its commitment to protecting LGBTQ-plus students.
On Wednesday, the committee adopted a Safe Schools Resolution that declares the Pittsfield Public Schools a safe space for all students regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation and a safe space to explore gender identity and/or sexual orientation.
It was brought forward by William Garrity, who was inspired by the resolution made by Worcester School Committee member Susan Mailman. Garrity, who graduated from Taconic High School in 2022, said the school had a "good-sized" population of LGBTQ-plus students.
He asserted that students exist in the schools
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Pittsfield Middle Schools to Restructure in Fall 2026By Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
04:34AM / Tuesday, March 04, 2025 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass.—The School Committee is okay with pushing middle school restructuring back one year, recognizing that it is a complicated project needing due diligence. Superintendent Joseph Curtis will bring a proposed timeline to the committee on March 26. This will pave a path for a junior high model that groups all fifth and sixth graders in one school and all seventh and eighth graders in another— allowing for universal pre-kindergarten at the elementary level. "I do think waiting a year and planning a year for this and working with the staff who will be working in the building or those buildings is the sound way to go with this," Chair William 0 Comments
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