|
| News and events in Williamstown, Mass.
|
Letter: Response to Mr. WilliamsLetter to the Editor,
04:00PM / Friday, January 13, 2023 | |
 To the Editor:
The response is appreciated, Mr. Williams. First, I'm sorry for the error regarding fundraising; it was not intentional. Second, I want to be clear that I agree that the youth center is vital to the town and community.
Additionally, I applaud that the youth center raised its rates, but I don't understand why it's "an option for families to pay more if they are able." Many in this community can pay a going rate for their children's care and the quality programming offered at the Williamstown Youth Center (WYC).
I gather that the national average for after-school care is $261 a week for one child. That figure is based on three hours a day, 15
11 Comments
Read More >> |
Williamstown Residents Reminded of Potential Electricity SavingsBy Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires Staff
05:17AM / Friday, January 13, 2023 | |
 WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Residents this week were reminded that if they are not enrolled in a municipal electricity aggregation program, now could be the time. "Most folks are aware that bills are going up, and if you're still with National Grid, you got sticker shock the last couple of months with bills going up considerably," Town Manager Bob Menicocci said at Monday's Select Board meeting. "The town does have an aggregator that has a much cheaper source of electricity through next November. We don't know what will portend after that, because we'll have to negotiate a new rate. In the meantime, there is no reason for any resident to be 9 Comments
Read More >> |
Mount Greylock School Committee Holds Off on TrackBy Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires Staff
10:36PM / Thursday, January 12, 2023 | |
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Mount Greylock Regional School Committee voted 6-1 on Thursday to put off building a track with a new multisport grass field for at least another year. "We're going to build a good project," Carrie Greene said. "It's just going to be one year later. Instead of being ready spring 2024, it will be ready spring 2025." Greene brought the one-year delay idea to her colleagues from the district's Field and Track Committee, on which she serves. As she explained in a special meeting earlier this month, the delay was suggested because the estimated cost of the improvement to the middle-high school campus far 0 Comments
Read More >> |
Clark Art Screens 'Fantasia'| 12:36PM / Thursday, January 12, 2023 | |
 WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — On Thursday, Jan. 26 at 7 pm, the Clark Art Institute screens Walt Disney's "Fantasia" in its auditorium. The showing is the second event in the Clark's Film and Drawing series, inspired by the exhibition, "Promenades on Paper: Eighteenth-Century Drawings" from the Bibliothèque nationale de France. According to a press release: "Fantasia" (2 hours) illustrates animation's connection to the embodied, lyrical quality of drawing. When released in 1940, Disney studio's third feature film was a technological marvel, introducing stereophonic sound to the masses. A musical fantasy 0 Comments
Read More >> |
Letter: Williamstown Youth Center Essential Community ComponentLetter to the Editor,
02:30PM / Wednesday, January 11, 2023 | |
 To the Editor:
I am writing to thank Pat Meyers for prompting me to share the many reasons why $77,000 is a reasonable request for the Williamstown Youth Center to make to the town Finance Committee. In fact, this amount is a bargain considering the sheer volume and quality of the programs we provide for our town's families.
First, I should clarify the numbers. It is true that the dollar amount of our request has increased in the past eight years. I would point out, however, that in 2014 the average daily attendance in our After School Program was around 80-85 students. This year, it is 110 out of a total enrollment of 161. To put things in perspective, about two-fifths of the
12 Comments
Read More >> |
BRPC to Receive $50K National Endowment for the Arts Grant| 01:35PM / Wednesday, January 11, 2023 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire Regional Planning Commission (BRPC) announced it has been approved by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to receive a Grants for Arts Projects award of $50,000. This grant will support the Creative Compact for Collaborative and Collective Impact (C4) Initiative. This grant is one of 1,251 Grants for Arts Projects awards totaling nearly $28.8 million that were announced by the NEA as part of its first round of fiscal year 2023 grants. "The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support arts projects in communities nationwide," said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD. "Projects such as this one strengthen 0 Comments
Read More >> |
Williamstown Annual Census | 08:15AM / Wednesday, January 11, 2023 | |
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Williamstown 2023 Annual Street Listing was mailed to all Williamstown residents. The census (Annual Street Listing) is a requirement of the Massachusetts General Law. They can be filled out and returned to the Town Clerk's office promptly. Failure to respond to the census will result in removal from the active voting list and may result in removal from the voter registration rolls. Residents should not use the census form for the purpose of voter registration. Any resident who is not registered to vote may register by going to the Secretary of State's website: https://www.sec.state.ma.us/OVR/ or by mailing a 0 Comments
Read More >> |
Roads, Housing, Fire Station on Table for Williamstown's ARPA FundsBy Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires Staff
05:20AM / Wednesday, January 11, 2023 | |
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Select Board on Monday began discussing how to use nearly $2 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds that are available to the town. There is no shortage of possibilities. The town manager argued for a strategy that would use a portion of the federal funds to offset overruns on a state construction project and keep town finances stable. The fire district is asking for a town contribution to support its new building project. And a Select Board member pitched using the ARPA money to support other town priorities, like affordable housing and addressing food insecurity issues to benefit low- and moderate-income residents. To date, the town 1 Comment
Read More >> |
Volunteer Activities in North Adams & Pittsfield for MLK Jr. Day| 04:45PM / Tuesday, January 10, 2023 | |
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Both Berkshire County's cities will recognize Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday with service-oriented activities. The Northern Berkshire Day of Service will be will start at 8:30 a.m. at the Venable Hall gym on the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts campus. Sponsored by the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition, volunteer activities will run from 9 to noon followed by a celebratory lunch at 12:30 in Venable gym. In Pittsfield, the day will start off with a breakfast and keynote speech by Charles Redd, Berkshire Health System's diversity, equity and inclusion officer and a BCC alum, from 8 to 9 at First United Methodist 14 Comments
Read More >> |
Letter: Williamstown Youth CenterLetter to the Editor,
04:00PM / Tuesday, January 10, 2023 | |
 To the Editor:
The Williamstown Youth Center has received money from the town of Williamstown every year since 2014. In 2014, they requested $70,000, and incrementally, their requests have increased to $77,000. That financial support has become nearly automatic through the years. Are the town's taxes subsidizing those families who genuinely need financial assistance, or are the taxes sponsoring every family at the WYC? The WYC should become self-sustaining; otherwise, it will continually request funds from the taxpayers and other local organizations in perpetuity. The Williamstown Community Chest provides an additional $55,000 a year to the WYC. In the future, that share of money
12 Comments
Read More >> |
Clark Art Airs The Met: Live in HD Production of 'Fedora' | 03:32PM / Tuesday, January 10, 2023 | |
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Metropolitan Opera's broadcast production of "Fedora" airs at the Clark Art Institute on Saturday, Jan. 14 at 12:55 pm in the fourth installment of the 2022–23 season of The Met: Live in HD. The award-winning series of live, high-definition cinema simulcasts features the full live performance along with backstage interviews and commentary. The Clark broadcasts the opera in its auditorium, located in the Manton Research Center. According to a press release, Umberto Giordano's drama returns to the Metropolitan Opera for the first time in twenty-five years. The new production stars soprano Sonya Yoncheva 0 Comments
Read More >> |
Clark Art Airs The Met: Live in HD Production of 'Fedora' | 03:32PM / Tuesday, January 10, 2023 | |
 WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Metropolitan Opera's broadcast production of "Fedora" airs at the Clark Art Institute on Saturday, Jan. 14 at 12:55 pm in the fourth installment of the 2022–23 season of The Met: Live in HD. The award-winning series of live, high-definition cinema simulcasts features the full live performance along with backstage interviews and commentary. The Clark broadcasts the opera in its auditorium, located in the Manton Research Center. According to a press release, Umberto Giordano's drama returns to the Metropolitan Opera for the first time in twenty-five years. The new production stars soprano Sonya Yoncheva 0 Comments
Read More >> |
|
|
MEMBER SIGN IN
