In his letter to the editor, state Rep. William ‘Smitty’ Pignatelli writes: “When the Boston Red Sox heard that 1,700 Berkshire kids needed Christmas presents, they put David Price, their star pitcher, on the job.”
J. Peter Bergman's new play, “Melville . . . On the Light Side,” takes a different look at novelist, short-story writer and poet Herman Melville, who lived at Arrowhead from 1850 to 1863.
Adam Hinds, Rinaldo Del Gallo and Andrea Harrington answered questions about Berkshire County’s big issues: economic development, school transportation funding, population decline, the opioid epidemic, affordable housing, a deficiency of high speed Internet, and environmental issues like pipelines and the Housatonic River cleanup.
Mt. Washington, with a population of around 150 full-time residents, is the second town to get MBI “last mile” funding for a “fiber to home” project. The project should be completed by mid-to-late 2017.
It appears the state may have made its decision to award the purchase option to North Plain Farms owner Sean Stanton because the initial proposal by Helia Native Nursery owner Bridghe McCracken did not conform to its guidelines for maximum commercial agricultural value for use of the land.
“A market dominated by the major cable and telephone companies has failed to provide these citizens with what is fast becoming a basic need like electricity or water.”
-- The Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, in report recommending the WiredWest 32-town cooperative as the vehicle for providing essential broadband Internet connectivity for rural Western Massachusetts
Developer Jeffrey Cohen estimates the whole Eagle Mill redevelopment would encompass between 250,000 to 300,000 square feet of commercial and residential space.
"The purchase of this spectacular property [Otis State Forest] ensures its lasting protection and is an example of our prudent investment in the Commonwealth’s rare and irreplaceable natural resources.”
--- Gov. Deval Patrick, in 2007
“We’ve been FERC’ed!”
-- Rep. William “Smitty” Pignatelli, upon learning that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission had approved a Tennessee Gas Pipeline route through the protected lands of Otis State Forest in March of 2016
State Senate candidate Andrea Harrington of Richmond called for the creation of a Drug Court in Berkshire County to provide treatment for defendants who want and need treatment for opioid addiction.
“We must drive every last [opioid] dealer out of this district and send them packing back to where they came from.”
-- Attorney Andrea Harrington, Democratic candidate for state Senate
A Wesleyan University grad who studied international law and negotiation at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, Hinds started Pittsfield Community Connection, a program designed to proactively engage at-risk youth.
In his letter to the editor, state Rep. William “Smitty” Pignatelli writes: “In the best interest of my family and the district that I call home, it will be an honor for me to run for re-election to the House of Representatives.”
"It's a sad day for the Berkshires. I would say without hesitation that Ben Downing has been the best state senator the Berkshires has ever seen."
--- State Rep. William "Smitty" Pignatelli (D-Lenox), commenting on Sen. Ben Downing's decision not to seek election.
“It’s easy to sit back and look at a disaster and say, take the guns away. We do have strict gun laws and we still have a problem.”
-- State Rep. William "Smitty" Pignatelli, D-Lenox
We should not put a limit on clean energy. Instead, we should move as quickly as possible to power our society with 100 percent clean, renewable energy."
-- Ben Hellerstein, State Director for Environment Massachusetts
