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| News and events in Williamstown, Mass.
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Mount Greylock School District's Draft Spending Plan Hits Towns' TargetBy Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires Staff
05:24AM / Thursday, March 30, 2023 | |
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Mount Greylock Regional School District on Wednesday presented the town's Finance Committee with a draft budget that includes a 3.16 percent increase in the town's assessment for fiscal year 2024. That, in part, allowed the town manager to present a bottom line budget with no projected property tax rate increase for the coming fiscal year. The Mount Greylock School Committee on Thursday will have the final say on the school's FY24 spending plan. The draft budget presented on Wednesday included at least one reduction from FY23 that several members of the School Committee are on record opposing: a one-year pause on funding a director 0 Comments
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Letter: MA State Building Codes — Shower Glass| 10:45AM / Wednesday, March 29, 2023 | |
 To the editor:
This is a followup to my previous letter "Building Codes Put Homeowners in the Middle." Believe it or not, we are still working on this issue! Ryan Contenta, Williamstown building inspector, continues to withhold a Certificate of Occupancy, taking a stand against shower glass. We need an amendment to our state law that allows for an affidavit or detailed stickers to be used in lieu of etching, which involves use of a toxic chemical. It's also difficult to clearly stamp all of these lines of code. Over-Regulated Mass: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kpjka5y7Hs Todd Fiorentino
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Clark Art First Free Sunday| 08:09AM / Wednesday, March 29, 2023 | |
 WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.—The Clark Art Institute's First Sunday Free program continues on Sunday, April 2, offering free admission to the galleries and special exhibitions from 10 am–5 pm, a series of special activities from 1–4 pm, and a pop-up display of works on paper on view from 11 am–1 pm. April's theme is "Portals," complementing the Clark's latest exhibition "Portals: The Visionary Architecture of Paul Goesch." According to a press release: After walking through "Portals: The Visionary Architecture of Paul Goesch," transport yourself through a portal of imagination and creativity. Build your own "fantasy 0 Comments
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Letter: Comment on DEI in Mount Greylock School Budget| 04:15PM / Tuesday, March 28, 2023 | |
 To the Editor:
"Mount Greylock School Committee Members Push to Keep Diversity Post in Budget" (March 27) prompts responses from Lanesborough, Williamstown and other towns that send their students to the Mount Greylock Regional School District.
The DEI position has been a source of controversy since its creation. There is little, if any, disagreement that our communities want our schools to be welcoming and free of bias. The controversy stems from determining the best way to achieve this goal. Superintendent McCandless was spot on when he said that advocating for the schools "in complete isolation of the bigger picture ... is not a good recipe for actually getting a budget
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United Counseling Service to Host Spring Job Fair| 12:01PM / Tuesday, March 28, 2023 | |
 BENNINGTON, Vt. — United Counseling Service (UCS) is hosting a spring job fair on April 1, 2023, from 9-11am at the Coffee Bar in downtown Bennington. Job seekers can stop by to meet the UCS Human Resources team and learn more about opportunities at one of the biggest employers in Bennington County. UCS is also hosting an on-site career fair on April 6 from 4-7pm at its Ledge Hill Drive location. Visitors will be able to meet representatives from different departments to get an idea of what a career at UCS could look like for them. UCS provides community-based care at 15 facilities in Bennington County and offers developmental services, Head 0 Comments
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Hoosac Water Quality District Facing Prospect of Losing Compost OperationBy Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires Staff
05:28AM / Tuesday, March 28, 2023 | |
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — North Adams and Williamstown could be facing considerably higher sewer fees in the near future if the commonwealth ends a 40-year-old composting program. Hoosac Water Quality District Chief Operator Brad Furlon broke the news to the Williamtown Finance Committee in his presentation of the district's fiscal year 2024 spending plan. "There's always been revenues for septage fees and compost fees," Furlon said on Wednesday. "The district was the first facility in the commonwealth to start composting in the early 1980s. … Well, that looks like it's coming to an end. "Because of the emerging contaminants 0 Comments
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Why Your Child Should Play Team Sports| 11:03AM / Monday, March 27, 2023 | |
 Throughout our region, sign-ups for youth sports are in full swing. From soccer and lacrosse to baseball and softball, kids are eagerly awaiting opening day. And while most of us are familiar with physical benefits of regular exercise for kids, research has revealed another important reason to get kids in the game: improved emotional and mental health. According to a study published in the journal PLOS One, children who participated in team sports were 10 percent less anxious/depressed and 19 percent less withdrawn/depressed than those who did not participate in any sports. In an interesting comparison, those who participated in individual sports, such as tennis or wrestling,
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Clark Art Lecture on Ancient and Modern 'Body Worlds'| 08:29AM / Monday, March 27, 2023 | |
 WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — On Tuesday, April 4 at 5:30 pm, the Clark Art Institute's Research and Academic Program hosts a talk by Research and Academic Program Fellow Kathryn Howley, who argues that the bodily preoccupation of ancient Egyptian art is one reason why it has proven appealing to modern audiences, ever since the beginnings of modern Egyptology in Napoleon's expedition to Egypt in 1798. According to a press release, by analyzing the original sketches made by members of Napoleon's expedition as well as the resulting engravings published in the book "Description de l'Égypte" (1809–1820), this lecture demonstrates that although 0 Comments
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Mount Greylock School Committee Members Push to Keep Diversity Post in BudgetBy Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires Staff
05:14AM / Monday, March 27, 2023 | |
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Mount Greylock School Committee members and members of the public argued on Thursday for preserving a districtwide diversity, equity and inclusion position in the fiscal year 2024 budget. "Surveys and interview data from the Mount Greylock Listening and Learning project inspired you and district leaders to create and fund the Director of [Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging] position in the first place," said Matt Smith, a member of the district's DEIB Parent and Caregiver Action Network. "If current staff have the capacity for 'building better structures' for DEIB work as the superintendent suggested on March 9, why 0 Comments
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Educator, Community Servant David Rempell RememberedBy Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires Staff
05:19PM / Sunday, March 26, 2023 | |
David Rempell with Jane Allen during a Select Board meeting in 2009. He served three terms on the board after retiring as principal of Williamstown Elementary School. WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Few people left as indelible a mark on the Village Beautiful as did David Rempell. An elementary school principal who helped build the current school building, a director of the town's youth center who spearheaded a drive to build its new facility and a nine-year member of the town's Select Board, Rempell died Saturday, surrounded by family, at the age of 76. Just 34 of those years were spent in Williamstown. But Rempell's impact will be felt for decades to 0 Comments
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Williams College Sprinter Hurdler Sets League Record| 10:29AM / Sunday, March 26, 2023 | |
SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- Williams College junior Jackson Anderson Saturday broke a NESCAC record in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.26 seconds at the Point Loma Nazarene Invitational. Jackson won that event and placed first in the 100 meters in a school-record time of 10.57. Women's Lacrosse WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- Claudia Russell scored four goals to lead Williams to a 17-4 win over Connecticut College. Three goalies combined to make three saves for Williams (6-1, 3-1), which travels to play Colorado College on Tuesday. Softball LA VERNE, Calif. -- Elyse Chan threw 4-1/3 scoreless innings in a 1-0 loss to the University of La Verne on Saturday as Williams 0 Comments
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County Girls Basketball Hall of Fame Inducts NineBy Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires.com Sports
06:45PM / Saturday, March 25, 2023 | |
 PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Berkshire County girls basketball family Saturday recognized some great Berkshire County girls basketball families. The 10th class of the county girls basketball Hall of Fame included not one but two parent-child combinations among the nine inductees. "My family is famous today," Brett Steinman quipped. Steinman presented both his wife, 1987 St. Joseph Central High School alumna Shannon Blake Steinman, and their daughter, 2017 Pittsfield High grad Peyton Steinman. They were joined by Leonard Miller, a girls basketball coach at Lenox and PHS, and his daughter, Cathleen Miller Davenport, part of three-time state finalist 0 Comments
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