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| News and events in Williamstown, Mass.
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Williamstown American Legion Continues Legacy of Service to CommunityBy Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires Staff
07:30AM / Monday, May 27, 2024 | |
A sign signifying the name change is installed at the Legion post home on Simonds Road. WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The local American Legion post has a new name but maintains its old commitment to community service. This Memorial Day weekend, the members of Post 152 officially rededicate the Simonds Road headquarters from Richard A. Reuther Post 152 to J. Michael Kennedy Jr. Post 152, in honor of the longtime member who died in May of last year. The post was named for Ruether, a charter member, in 1956, shortly after the state representative's sudden death. A Williams College graduate, he served four terms in the House and had been an administrator in the 0 Comments
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Williamstown Fire District Meeting TuesdayBy Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires Staff
05:02PM / Sunday, May 26, 2024 | |
 WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Fire District on Tuesday will ask voters to approve a fiscal year 2025 budget that includes a 3.5 percent increase in the operation budget over the current year. That is less than the 6.3 percent annual increase members approved in May 2023 and, in dollar terms, adds $18,787 to the district's maintenance and operation budget from FY24 to FY25. The Fire District meeting traditionally falls one week after the annual town meeting, where registered voters can weigh in on the town's spending plan for the fiscal year that begins on July 1. With the town meeting pushed to this past Thursday this year, there is a smaller gap between the 0 Comments
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Williamstown Volunteer of the Year Speaks for the VoicelessBy Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires Staff
07:48AM / Sunday, May 26, 2024 | |
Andi Bryant was presented the annual Community Service Award. WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Inclusion was a big topic at Thursday's annual town meeting — and not just because of arguments about the inclusivity of the Progress Pride flag. The winner of this year's Scarborough-Salomon-Flynt Community Service Award had some thoughts about how exclusive the town has been and is. "I want to talk about the financially downtrodden, the poor folk, the deprived, the indigent, the impoverished, the lower class," Andi Bryant said at the outset of the meeting. "I owe it to my mother to say something — a woman who taught me it was possible to 0 Comments
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Teacher of the Month: Steven Zelubowski By Sabrina Damms, iBerkshires Staff
05:33PM / Saturday, May 25, 2024 | |
Zelubowski's students say he makes his classes interesting and connects history and language. WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Mount Greylock Regional School world language teacher Steven Zelubowski has been selected as the May Teacher of the Month. Zelubowski's recognition kicks off the second season of the Teacher of the Month series, which is in collaboration with Berkshire Community College. The series will run for the next 12 months and will feature distinguished teachers nominated by community members. Nominate a teacher here. Zelubowski has been a teacher for nine years and has been working in Mount Greylock Regional School's World 0 Comments
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Secretary of the Smithsonian Speaking at Williams' 235th Commencement| 10:43AM / Saturday, May 25, 2024 | |
 WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution Lonnie G. Bunch III will be the principal speaker at Williams College's 235th commencement exercise on Sunday, June 2. The day before, Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee, a pioneering physician, oncologist and award-winning author, will deliver the college's baccalaureate lecture. Liz Robinson is a 1990 graduate and chair of the college's board of trustees who also serves as director and adviser to for-profit and nonprofit organizations around the country, and Rick Trainor, rector of Exeter College at the University of Oxford, will each receive honorary degrees during the commencement ceremony. Lonnie 0 Comments
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Williamstown Town Meeting Passes Progress Pride Flag Bylaw AmendmentBy Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires Staff
10:49PM / Thursday, May 23, 2024 | |
Mount Greylock sophomore Jack Uhas addresses town meeting on Thursday as Select Board member Randal Fippinger looks on. WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — By a ratio of nearly 2-to-1, town meeting Thursday passed a bylaw amendment to allow the Progress Pride flag to be flown on town flag poles. The most heavily debated article of the 40 that were addressed by the meeting was decided on a vote of 175-90, amending a flag bylaw passed at last year's town meeting. Mount Greylock Regional School sophomore Jack Uhas of the middle-high school's Gender Sexuality Alliance opened the discussion with a brief statement, telling the 295 voters who checked into the meeting that, 0 Comments
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Mount Greylock School Committee Picks Interim SuperintendentBy Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires Staff
05:50AM / Thursday, May 23, 2024 | |
 WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Mount Greylock School Committee on Wednesday voted 7-0 to enter negotiations with the district's assistant superintendent to serve as interim superintendent after the abrupt announcement that Jason McCandless intends to leave the district at the end of the school year. Assistant Superintendent Joseph Bergeron told the committee that he would be willing to serve in the capacity and, at the same time, welcomed the prospect of a new permanent superintendent joining the office — likely some time in 2025. "The opportunity to serve the students, staff and the community is something that, as a duty, is something I feel I need to 0 Comments
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Williamstown Neighbors Not Satisfied with Habitat ResponseBy Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires Staff
05:22AM / Wednesday, May 22, 2024 | |
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — A Summer Street resident last week said that if Northern Berkshire Habitat for Humanity cannot find a compromise with neighbors of a planned subdivision, the town should find a different developer for the parcel. But members of the Affordable Housing Trust board expressed doubt that the town could find a different developer that relies on cash donations and volunteer labor to build single-family homes that are affordable to residents making up to 60 percent of the area median income. The topic came up during a Wednesday report to the board from three members who met with the board of the local Habitat for Humanity chapter about its plans to build 0 Comments
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Letter: Open Letter to Flag PetitionerLetter to the Editor,
03:15PM / Tuesday, May 21, 2024 | |
 To the Editor:
I read with great interest the article by Mr. Dravis in Monday's iBerkshires. I understood you to say that you had "posted a comment on the thread inviting opponents to reach out personally to [you]." As I suspect you know, I frequently post on the thread to which I think you are referring, but did not see your invitation. Had I seen it, I would have responded immediately. Alas! I still cannot find it, but, admittedly, I am an idiot with all things social media.
I would be delighted to have a conversation with you and your friends. We can do it in person, my preference, or on Facebook. My beloved grandchildren — all seven — tell me that Facebook
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Letter: Response to Article on FlagLetter to the Editor,
03:10PM / Tuesday, May 21, 2024 | |
 To the Editor:
Re: your recent article about the proposed Progress Pride flag in Williamstown, there are two statements that call for a response.
A well-intentioned interviewee is quoted as saying:
"Some people say it's obvious that Williams is accepting and there's no need [for a flag]," he said. "They also, in the same post, say the flag is divisive and controversial. Well, which is it?" (I assume that "Williams" is meant to be Williamstown. )
The answer to this either/or thinking is that it is of course possible that two things are true at the same time. A person or place can be entirely welcoming to all but not be in agreement with the wishes
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Letter: Reject Article 41Letter to the Editor,
03:00PM / Tuesday, May 21, 2024 | |
 To the Editor:
Town meeting should reject Article 41 because sexual orientation, color of skin, health and wellness, gender, environmental issues and changes in the meaning of English words (including the word rainbow) are not well-represented by a flag in any community. Work in the community to make the American flag ensure inclusivity, support, a sense of belonging, respect for others and acceptance among human beings who have the right to live with dignity. If this flag is added to the three now recognized we could ask: Where does it end? The American flag represents the hope we all have for our community. Martha Dailey
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Mount Greylock's McCandless Announces ResignationBy Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires Staff
11:45PM / Monday, May 20, 2024 | |
 WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — For the fourth time in the last 10 years, the Mount Greylock Regional School District will be looking for a new permanent superintendent. After four years at the helm and just one year into his current contract, Jason McCandless is stepping down. The regional School Committee has a special meeting scheduled for Wednesday night with a brief but significant agenda. Item four on the agenda: to discuss the resignations of the superintendent and the principal at Williamstown Elementary School. Item five refers to the next steps for the committee, including, perhaps, hiring another interim superintendent to lead the 0 Comments
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