| News and events in Pittsfield, Mass.
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Old Dalton High Ranked Highest in Site Assessment By Sabrina Damms, iBerkshires Staff
12:45PM / Tuesday, April 22, 2025 | |
DALTON, Mass. — The lot next to the Senior Center, the old Dalton High, is a viable location out of the four assessed for the proposed police facility, but it's not without challenges. The site assessment by Brian Humes, owner of Jacunski Humes Architects LLC of Berlin, Conn., showed that the lot had the highest ranking of the four submitted for study. "This is a first introduction into what we've looked at, how we've looked at it, how we come about with our recommendations, and then a further conversation as to whether this satisfies your site investigations, or whether you feel we need to do something further with these site 0 Comments
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Berkshire Music School Hosts Matt Cusson Performance| 11:32AM / Tuesday, April 22, 2025 | |
 PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire Music School (BMS) will present a performance featuring Grammy-nominated alumnus Matt Cusson on April 26, 2025, at the St. Germain Stage. The event will also include performances by BMS scholarship recipients and community group classes. The event aims to celebrate community and support BMS's outreach programs. BMS reports serving 1,900 students through community outreach in Berkshire County schools and providing financial aid to 51 students, totaling over $35,000 annually. Additionally, 60 percent of the 250 students enrolled in BMS's "pay-what-you-wish" group classes do not pay for the classes. Matt Cusson, a 0 Comments
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Pittsfield Water System Flushing to Begin Today| 10:41AM / Tuesday, April 22, 2025 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The City of Pittsfield’s Department of Public Utilities has announced that the first phase of flushing the city’s water system will commence on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. Water mains throughout Pittsfield will be flushed via hydrants over the coming weeks to remove accumulations of pipeline corrosion products. The flushing will occur Monday through Friday each week, excluding holidays, between 7:30 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. The initial flushing period, from April 22 to May 2, is anticipated to affect the following areas: Starting at the Dalton Avenue town line, proceeding west through Coltsville, including lower Crane Avenue and the Meadowview neighborhood, 0 Comments
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Pittsfield Apartment Fire Displaces Residents, Under Investigation| 08:17AM / Tuesday, April 22, 2025 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A fire at a multi-unit building at 24-26 John St in Pittsfield required a second alarm response from the Pittsfield Fire Department. Fire crews were initially called to the scene for a reported structure fire. Car 2, arriving first, reported "nothing showing," however firefighters eventually found heavy flames in a first-floor apartment on the 24 John St side of the building. Engine 3 stretched a handline to attack the blaze. Heavy black smoke billowing from the second floor, a second alarm was called, bringing all on-duty personnel and apparatus to the scene. Firefighters worked for approximately 40 minutes to get the fire under control. While Engine 3
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Pittsfield Councilor Wants Summary of PHS Investigation OutcomesBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
05:51AM / Tuesday, April 22, 2025 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A city councilor is adding pressure to release an executive summary of the Pittsfield High School misconduct investigation.
Councilor at Large Earl Persip III has submitted a petition to Tuesday's City Council meeting urging the School Committee to release a public summary of the findings from the independent investigation into staff misconduct at PHS. He said public trust needs to be restored in the school district, and transparency is vital to make that happen. The petition asks his colleagues to go on record in agreement.
"The community has been deeply affected by recent events, including the arrest of a school administrator on federal drug charges
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Berkshire Humane Society Receives $100,000 in GrantsBy Breanna Steele, iBerkshires Staff
05:35AM / Tuesday, April 22, 2025 | |
The shelter gets calls from pet owners who want to do right by their cats and dogs but can't afford the cost for health care and neutering. PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Berkshire Humane Society recently secured $100,000 in grants to help care for underserved dogs and cats. The largest grant of $75,000 is from the John T. and Jane A. Wiederhold Foundation to help support Berkshire Humane's medical program that covers some 500 underserved animals in the county. This grant will help to spay and neuter hundreds of dogs and cats for those who can't afford to pay the entire fee. Clients of the Pet Food Pantry will have priority for the spay and neuters for up to 300 cats and
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Berkshire County Runners Take on Boston MarathoniBerkshires.com Sports,
10:26PM / Monday, April 21, 2025 | |
 BOSTON – Great Barrington’s Laura Stephen was the highest finishing Berkshire County resident at Monday’s Boston Marathon. Stephen ran a time of 3 hours, 40 minutes, 25 seconds to place 33rd in the women’s division for runners aged 60 to 64. At least a dozen Berkshire County residents were listed on the Boston Athletic Association’s finishers at the 129th running of the event. Sharon Lokedi of Kenya won the women’s race with a record-setting time of 2:17:22. Her fellow Kenyan, John Korir, won the men’s race in 2:04:45. The fastest Berkshire County finisher was Lenox Memorial graduate Ted Yee, now a student at 0 Comments
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Town Meetings That Rejected CBRSD Agreement to Vote AgainBy Sabrina Damms, iBerkshires Staff
05:51PM / Monday, April 21, 2025 | |
 DALTON, Mass. — The three towns that failed Central Berkshire Regional School District's proposed regional agreement last year will likely see it again on this year's annual town meeting warrant. The item failed during last year's town meetings in Hinsdale and Peru, as well as Cummington's special town meeting — the regional agreement needed six out of the seven towns to vote in favor of passing. Until an updated agreement is approved, the school district will continue to operate under its current agreement and follow state law. The original agreement, created in 1958, has been amended several times and approved locally but 0 Comments
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Governor Launches New Innovative Recycling Grant Program| 03:28PM / Monday, April 21, 2025 | |
BOSTON — In celebration of Earth Month, the Healey-Driscoll Administration today launched a new recycling program designed to fund innovative waste reduction projects throughout Massachusetts, The Waste Reduction Innovation Grant (WRIG), administered by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP), will provide funding for new and existing businesses, non-profit organizations, and institutions that are committed to investing in advanced equipment or technology that will have a measurable impact on waste reduction. As part of its 2030 Solid Waste Master Plan, MassDEP’s 2030 Solid Waste Master Plan established goals to reduce waste by 30 percent by 0 Comments
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Tariffs Reduce Scope of Habitat for Humanity Housing ProjectBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
12:17PM / Monday, April 21, 2025 | |
 PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Tariffs have caused Central Berkshire Habitat for Humanity to cut one unit of below-market housing from its ARPA-funded project.
Last week, the Affordable Housing Trust voted to amend the scope of its funding contract with the nonprofit to exclude an accessory dwelling unit. Last year, Habitat was awarded $240,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds to build six different-sized housing units on Robbins Avenue, Murphy Place, and Curtis Terrace.
The goal is to sell homes to people between 50 percent and 65 percent of the area's median income.
Because of tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, the funding gap nearly tripled. To make the project happen,
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Berkshire Athenaeum to Hold Computer Recycling Event for Earth Day| 08:25AM / Monday, April 21, 2025 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Berkshire Athenaeum, Pittsfield's public library, will host a computer recycling collection in partnership with Goodwill Industries of the Berkshires and Southern Vermont from Tuesday, April 22, through Saturday, April 26, 2025, in observance of Earth Day. The collection is facilitated through a collaboration with the Dell-Reconnect residential recycling program. Accepted items include monitors, scanners, computer mice, printers, keyboards, laptop batteries, ink and toner cartridges, computers, hard drives, speakers, cords, and cables. Television sets will not be accepted. According to data provided by Maryam Kamangar, Goodwill's vice 0 Comments
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Pittsfield Health Board OKs Same Mosquito PlanBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
05:21AM / Monday, April 21, 2025 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city's mosquito control plan will remain the same this year. Earlier this month, the Board of Health approved a mosquito control plan for 2025 that mimics the previous years.
"I don't have any changes to our plan," Chris Horton, superintendent of the Berkshire County Mosquito Control Project, told the board.
Between May and October 2024, more than 25,700 mosquitoes were collected. Out of the 188 pools submitted to the Department of Public Health, five pools tested positive for West Nile virus. There were 15 positive instances of West Nile in the county but no human cases, though there were south of Sheffield.
Mosquito presence peaked in
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