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| News and events in Pittsfield, Mass.
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Dalton Fire Department in Search of Interim, Permanent ChiefBy Sabrina Damms, iBerkshires Staff
05:21AM / Tuesday, June 13, 2023 | |
DALTON, Mass. — The leadership of the Fire Department is up in the air after the firing of one chief, the retirement of another and the pending departure of a third. All within a month. Board of Water Commissioners Chair James Driscoll said interim Chief Chris Cachat decided to step down last week following grumblings from firefighters questioning his effectiveness in the position. For his part, Cachat said he was retiring at the age of 66. At this age he'll be past the age limit for a firefighter. These conversations came after an unannounced executive session Monday night that Driscoll described as being "accidentally" 0 Comments
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Pittsfield Council Preliminarily Approves Water, Sewer HikesBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
06:33PM / Monday, June 12, 2023 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The City Council preliminarily approved a 12 percent water rate increase and a 25 percent sewer rate increase on Thursday. For scheduled service, the average two-bathroom household will see a $12.87 increase per month and for metered service, the average four-member household will see a $9.33 increase per month. The effective date is July 1.
In response to the regular pushback on rate hikes, Councilor at Large Earl Persip III asked Finance Director Matthew Kerwood what would happen if the city did not raise them.
Kerwood reported that if the state Department of Revenue doesn't feel that the projected revenues cannot be met, the tax rate will not be
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Pittsfield Cooperative Bank Makes Promotions| 11:23AM / Monday, June 12, 2023 | |
 PITTSFIELD, Mass. The Pittsfield Cooperative Bank (The Co-op) announced at its annual board of directors meeting on May 16 that it had promoted Edward Schumann to Vice President, Compliance and Lisa Lawler to Assistant Vice President, Portfolio Manager. "Ed and Lisa are outstanding employees," stated J. Jay Anderson, president and CEO. "Both of them have been critical to the success and growth of The Co-op this past year plus, and Ed for several years by ensuring the institution remains compliant through managing our regulatory process and procedures." Schumann joined The Co-op in 2012 and served in a variety of branch administration roles until 2017 0 Comments
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Pittsfield Board of Health Considers Looking Into Housing as Public Health IssueBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
04:27AM / Monday, June 12, 2023 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Board of Health is down two members and, when fully staffed, would like to tackle housing conditions as a public health issue.
On Wednesday June 7, the panel discussed its path forward in finding new recruits and in areas of effort.
Members recognized recent discussions about the city's deteriorating housing stock and code noncompliance as an important item to address.
"If people lose this housing or if people are displaced, there are so few opportunities right now to access other housing because it's so incredibly expensive," said board member Brad Gordon, the executive director and staff attorney for Berkshire County Regional Housing
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Lenox Class of 2023 Rich With Good Wishes, NostalgiaBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
06:54PM / Sunday, June 11, 2023 | |
Valedictorian Maxell Adam addresses the class of 2023. See more photos here. LENOX, Mass. — The Lenox Millionaires were rich in good wishes and nostalgia during the class of 2023 commencement on Sunday.
Sixty-three graduates received diplomas under sunny skies at Tanglewood's Koussevitzky Music Shed.
Lenox's new Superintendent William Collins gave the graduates seven life lessons that he learned on a year-long sailing adventure with his family that recently concluded.
He advised the students that things don't always go as planned, that everyone makes mistakes, serendipity is real, the vast majority of people are decent, to take the road less traveled, to not
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Veteran Spotlight: Army Spc. Fred WexlerBy Wayne Soares, Special to iBerkshires
04:47PM / Sunday, June 11, 2023 | |
 PLYMOUTH, Mass. — Fred Wexler served his country in the Army from 1961 to 1964 as a specialist, 4th grade. Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., he graduated high school then attended the City College of New York. "I wasn't a good student so I dropped out and joined the Army in '61," he recalled. His basic training brought him right down the road to Fort Dix, N.J. "I was 19 years old. It was typical of what I expected — miserable. I was more of a mental guy than a physical guy. "After basic, they sent me to eight weeks of AIT (Advanced Infantry Training). It was really different, it was more focused on sophisticated equipment. After AIT, 0 Comments
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WTBR Programs Win National Awards| 03:59PM / Sunday, June 11, 2023 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Two local programs produced on Pittsfield Community Radio, 89.7 WTBR-FM won Hometown Media Awards in a national contest conducted by the Alliance for Community Media. "Backstory: Let's Hear it," produced by Roberta McCulloch-Dews, and "Berkshire Sports Now," hosted by Robbie Zucker and Sean Cronin, were chosen out of nearly one thousand submissions as best in their categories. The Hometown Media Awards is the Foundation of the ACM's yearly awards program. It is established to honor and promote community media, community radio, and local cable programs that are distributed on Public, Educational, and Governmental (PEG) 0 Comments
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Pittsfield Board of Health Considering Local Nail Salon RegulationsBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
11:27AM / Sunday, June 11, 2023 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Board of Health is considering looking into a local regulation for nail salons.
Chair Bobbie Orsi recalled a conversation about 20 years ago about nail establishment regulations in regard to the chemicals used.
"It just never came around," she explained to the board on Wednesday. "So I thought it might be an interesting time to revisit it, given the fact that the department is fully staffed and we have additional resources and the risk for those workers has really not gone away."
Nail salons are currently overseen by the state.
The establishments pay a $136 license fee to the Board of Registration of Cosmetology and
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Governor Pledges to 'Lengthen Massachusetts' Lead' in Life Sciences| 11:19AM / Sunday, June 11, 2023 | |
BOSTON — At the BIO International Convention today, Governor Maura Healey announced that her administration is launching a new strategy for connecting employers to skilled, diverse workers in Massachusetts called MassTalent. MassTalent will serve as a one-stop front door for companies to access multiple talent pipelines in high-growth industries like the life sciences, clean energy and advanced manufacturing. It streamlines government resources to allow employers and jobseekers to tap into Massachusetts' thriving ecosystem, world-class talent, and robust infrastructure to accelerate their success. "Massachusetts didn't become the global 0 Comments
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June is Atlantic Hurricane Season| 08:00AM / Sunday, June 11, 2023 | |
FRAMINGHAM — In conjunction with the beginning of Atlantic Hurricane Season on June 1, the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) announced a series of online resources for the Commonwealth's residents to deepen their awareness of and prepare for the impacts of tropical storms and hurricanes. Residents are encouraged to go online, make a plan, and stay informed about storms that may emerge this season. "With severe weather events occurring more frequently due to our changing climate, it's more important than ever that Massachusetts is prepared to respond before, during and after emergency weather situations like hurricanes,"
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Pittsfield Parks Commission Visits Site of Proposed Farm at Springside ParkBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
07:32AM / Sunday, June 11, 2023 | |
 PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Roots Rising leaders were immediately enamored with the prospect of having Springside Park as its home base.
On Wednesday, the farming organization had a site visit with the Parks Commission to give a visual explanation of their plans. The proposed location is next to the Chestnut seed orchard.
"When we first walked into Springside, we all kind of lit up," Program Manager Lauren Piotrowski said.
"I mean, any place that we build our farm is going to be great but something so centrally located is going to be a great resource for the City of Pittsfield and we really want to invest where it will have the most impact on Pittsfield."
This
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Miss Hall's School Graduates 44 in Class of 2023Staff Reports ,
06:17PM / Saturday, June 10, 2023 | |
 PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Miss Hall's School graduated 44 seniors, including 13 local students, on Sunday, June 4. The school's 125th 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 Zoom and Facebook Live. Hosted by Head of School Julia Heaton, the ceremony included remarks from Senior Class President Jena Alam, of Dhaka, Bangladesh; School President Cherish Buxton, of Jersey City, N.J.; School Vice President Viola Quiles, of Dalton; and Board of Trustees President Nancy Gustafson Ault, Class of 1973. This year's remarks were delivered by Wendy Garcia, 0 Comments
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