Trump’s comments came in the run-up to the birthday of iconic African American civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King and the seventh anniversary of the devastating earthquake in Haiti that killed nearly 250,000 people.
Hinds is also interested in pressuring the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to increase education funding, especially for rural schools that face unique fiscal challenges, such as being overly dependent on homeowner property taxes, compared to their urban and suburban counterparts.
Attendees are encouraged to wear black, dress as zombies, and bring headstone shaped signs to emphasize the danger the proposed healthcare bill embodies.
State Rep. William ‘Smitty’ Pignatelli also urged the task force to increase the breadth of its representation: "We don't need retired school superintendents making decisions about schools and towns ... It's time for new faces, and we need to engage everyone."
“During a time in which our regional economy is struggling to recover from decades of dramatic economic transition, this overall rate proposal is an unacceptable burden.”
--- Jonathan Butler, president of 1Berkshire
Hinds’ amendment was adopted unanimously by the Senate by a vote of 39-0 during the course of Friday’s debate and is based on legislation authored by Rep. William “Smitty” Pignatelli, D-Lenox.
State farmers who are interested in growing marijuana will have to apply for a license, but lawmakers say the barrier to entry will much lower than it was for those who wanted to cultivate and sell the medical marijuana
“What they have is not healthcare; it’s a tax cut. Three out of four people in nursing homes rely on Medicaid, and what do the Republicans want to do, cut cut cut. They want to gut Medicaid because it’s the only way for them to produce tax cuts for the millionaires and billionaires.”
-- U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, at Town Hall meeting, Berkshire Community College
The Sheffield Democratic Committee is supporting measures that will come before the Legislature this coming week to protect immigrants and LGBTQ rights.
“It takes a lot of courage to be a young person today. They are growing up in a time when young people are faced daily with uncertainty in an economically, environmentally and politically precarious world.”
-- Railroad Street Youth Project Executive Director Ananda Timpane
This study would look at the potential for inaugurating rail service from Pittsfield to New York City via Amtrak’s Hudson River line rather than the southbound rail corridor through Lenox, Great Barrington and into Connecticut.
"This is a creative community that thrives with the inspiration and energy of hundreds of concerts, performances and exhibits throughout the year, as well as the educational and thought-provoking programs created through the CPB. All would be jeopardized if the nation no longer celebrated or supported the arts as integral to our democracy.”
--- Beryl Jolly, executive director of the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington
