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| News and events in Pittsfield, Mass.
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Elm Street Java House Under New Ownership of 'Billy J'By Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
05:07AM / Tuesday, December 27, 2022 | |
 PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Elm Street's coffeehouse is now under new ownership as "Billy J's Elm Street Java House." Owner William Jones, known as "Billy J," is keeping the same spirit of the cafe alive with some new menu items.
"I bought it on Nov. 1 and was going to leave it as it was because everyone loved what was already there, all the sandwiches, the salads, the breakfast sandwiches, the muffins, the pastries," he said.
"So we'll leave it basically the same as it was, we've got some signature sandwiches on there. Nothing crazy."
The java house had a grand opening earlier this month and has been well received, he said. It
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Pittsfield Fire Knocks Down Christmas Day Blaze| 02:37PM / Monday, December 26, 2022 | |
 PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A Christmas Day fire on East Mill Street displaced a family of five. Deputy Chief Daniel Garner reported that the Fire Department was alerted to the blaze at 23 East Mill at 4:39 p.m. on Dec. 25. Firefighters found flames venting from windows on the first floor of the 2 1/2 story wood frame structure. One crew conducted a primary search to ensure the three-unit building was evacuated while others worked to extinguish the fire in the first-floor kitchen. The fire was knocked down and under control within 20 minutes but the room sustained fire damage and the first floor smoke damage. Garner put the damage estimate as less than 0 Comments
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Lanesborough Eyes Zoning Changes for Large PropertiesBy Sabrina Damms, iBerkshires Staff
06:15AM / Monday, December 26, 2022 | |
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — A rural residential large lot reuse zoning bylaw will likely be presented to at the annual town meeting in June. The Planning Board voted last to request District Local Technical Assistance from Berkshire Regional Planning Commission to develop the bylaw. The idea would allow for the reuse of larger parcels that are in residential-agricultural zones to be used for hospitality oriented projects. "What inspired me was Lenox and Stockbridge have this great estates bylaw that encouraged a lot of the big 19th-century estate properties in those communities to be reused primarily into these more hospitality industry resort 4 Comments
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Wahconah Boys Lacrosse Made History in 2022By Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires.com Sports
05:39AM / Monday, December 26, 2022 | |
 It was a year filled with the usual complement of team and individual glory, but one Berkshire County squad went where none of its peers have gone before: to the top of the heap in high school lacrosse. That was enough of a milestone to give the Wahconah boys lax team the nod as the story of the year in Berkshire County athletics. It was an accomplishment several years in the making as Wahconah worked its way through the post-season — a one-goal loss in the Central/Western Mass quarterfinals in 2019, a Central/Western Mass title in 2021, the next year the tournament was held. But in the 10th year of the program's existence – just a decade after the 15 Comments
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Dalton Select Board Appoints New Animal Control Officer, Assistant Animal Control OfficerBy Sabrina Damms, iBerkshires Staff
06:05AM / Saturday, December 24, 2022 | |
 DALTON, Mass. — The Select Board appointed Levi Lisi as animal control officer and Richard Haley as the assistant animal control officer at Monday night's meeting. Dalton has been without an animal control officer since Greg Elser left his position at the end of October. "We are extremely lucky to have Levi interested in this position. He is the current animal control officer for the city of Pittsfield. [Pittsfield Police Chief Michael Wynn] has graciously granted permission for him to work both," Police Chief Deanna Strout said. The board members thanked both applicants for accepting this position and are confident that they will be a good fit 0 Comments
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@theMarket: Good News on Economy Is Bad News for Stock MarketBy Bill Schmick,
03:57PM / Friday, December 23, 2022 | |
 The good news on the economy has been bad news for the stock market. That's been the name of the game for the last several months. This week, we had more of the same. The third and final revision of the U.S. third-quarter 2022 Gross Domestic Product came out on Thursday, Dec. 22. It was revised up to an annual rate of 3.2 percent from 2.9 percent. That's a sizable increase. The engine behind that growth was consumer spending and U.S. exports. On the unemployment front, jobless claims for last week were roughly flat versus the previous week. That indicates that employment is still running hot. Neither of those data points gives the Fed any reason to relax its tightening 0 Comments
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Wahconah Park, Hoosic River Study Get Funding| 03:12PM / Friday, December 23, 2022 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Wahconah Park grandstand project is getting $3 million with the passage of the $1.7 billion omnibus spending bill on Friday. Major issues with the more than 70-year-old, 2,000 seat grandstand include deteriorating support beams, missing bolts, and asbestos materials in the siding and roof. The city of Pittsfield, which has owned the park for more than a century, established a restoration committee to undertake the work. Initial estimates put the work to rehabilitate or build new at about $10 million. U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal secured $20,367,800 in Community Project Funds for 15 regional projects that were included in the final 2023 23 Comments
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Pittsfield COVID Rates Slightly Higher Than ThanksgivingBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
10:05AM / Friday, December 23, 2022 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — With Hanukkah underway and Christmas in a few days, the city's COVID-19 metrics are slightly higher than they were for Thanksgiving. The city's Biobot sewage data showed a 1.1 million copies per liter virus concentration over the weekend, compared to the 1 million copies per liter concentration on Thanksgiving day.
Though the number has gone down from 1.9 million copies per liter at the beginning of the month.
Director of Public Health Andy Cambi has indicated that the sewage concentration is the truest indicator of the virus' presence in the community because the other metrics don't include at-home tests.
The average case rate on Tuesday was
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The Retired Investor: Are Christmas Trees Worth It?By Bill Schmick,
04:33PM / Thursday, December 22, 2022 | |
 As Christmas arrives around the nation this weekend, tardy consumers are hitting the neighborhood Christmas tree lots and farms in droves. Late-coming artificial tree buyers are finding slim pickings at big-box stores as well. This is despite an average price increase this season of between 5 percent-15 percent. Americans will spend nearly $6.6 billion on Christmas trees this season, according to the National Christmas Tree Association (NCTA). NCTA predicts consumers will pay an average of $86.59 for a live tree, and $122.60 for an artificial tree. Many shoppers could pay much more than that. Last year, 75 percent of U.S. households, or 94 million homes, displayed a Christmas 0 Comments
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Design, Education Priorities Envisioned for Greylock/Brayton School ProjectBy Tammy Daniels, iBerkshires Staff
12:34PM / Thursday, December 22, 2022 | |
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — A half-dozen meetings, including four lengthy workshops this fall with school staff and stakeholders, is informing preliminary designs for the Greylock/Brayton school project. Among the takeaways is the importance of "agile" and flexible classrooms, security, outdoor connectivity, professional space, welcoming arrivals and breakout areas. Also listed as important were classroom neighborhoods, community access, wayfinding, quiet spaces, gathering hubs and STEM and STEAM makerspaces. David Stephen, principle of New Vista Design, told the School Building Committee on Tuesday that guiding priorities were developed and ranked during 19 Comments
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Beacon Cinema Hosting Water Awards, 'Avatar 2' Screening| 11:45AM / Thursday, December 22, 2022 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Beacon Cinema is hosting a water celebration in conjunction with the release of "Avatar 2 — The Way of Water" in January. The Berkshire Water Celebration Awards will take place on Monday, Jan. 26, beginning at 6 p.m. and followed by a showing of James Cameron's 3-D "Avatar" sequel. "I'm convinced that water issues are the most pressing challenges of our lifetimes. With this event, we are showing water is more than a commodity, water is our life and the local community is standing ready," said Leslie Gabriel, producer and host of the 'And So It Flows' podcast, produced at WTBR-FM 89.7, 0 Comments
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Jewish Federation of the Berkshires Launches: Shine A Light On Antisemitism| 08:22AM / Thursday, December 22, 2022 | |
 PITTSFIELD, Mass. The Jewish Federation of the Berkshires has joined Shine A Light, a comprehensive national initiative to illuminate the dangers of antisemitism through education, engagement, and advocacy. According to a press release, Shine A Light uses the story of Chanukah, the Festival of Lights, to champion the message that light can dispel darkness. Through a coalition of more than 100 Jewish and non-Jewish organizations, Shine a Light seeks to catalyze conversations and raise awareness across communities, on school campuses, and in the workplace, so that people will better understand what constitutes antisemitism and take steps to respond. As part of the coalition, Jewish
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