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| News and events in Williamstown, Mass.
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Letter: Andrea Harrington for DALetter to the Editor,
07:08PM / Tuesday, August 09, 2022 | |
 To the Editor:
The election of Andrea Harrington was part of a wave of progressive DAs across the country elected by people who recognize that our justice system is too often unjust and in need of meaningful change. District Attorney Harrington has been true to her word as a reformer. Her opponent embraces the old paradigm that the justice system is the right way to rehabilitate, and embraces the use of diversion programs embedded in the justice system— expensive programs that expand the criminal legal system. District Attorney Harrington embraces an approach grounded in public health and a harm-reduction approach. She embraces diversion to public health programs that do not sit
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Williamstown Farm Reimagined as Education, Rescue CenterBy Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires Staff
07:09AM / Sunday, August 07, 2022 | |
Jane Swift shows some of the potpourri she has produced from cuttings from around the farm. WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — As she shows off the potpourri produced from cuttings around her Henderson Road farm, Jane Swift can joke that she has the best smelling barn in the Berkshires. "We're so lucky to live here," she says. "This is all stuff I just picked. People probably think I'm crazy. I go around sniffing stuff on the farm." In the near future, Swift hopes to add some new smells to the mix. She is working to transform the century-old family farm into the Cobble Hill Farm Education and Rescue Center. And by the late 0 Comments
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Williamstown Planners Still Split on Upzoning ProposalsBy Stephen Dravis,
02:53PM / Saturday, August 06, 2022 | |
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – It took just two meetings of the newly constituted Planning Board for old fault lines to reemerge. About two hours into its July meeting, the board took up the question of how to address the numerous zoning bylaw amendments that were "referred to committee" by June’s annual town meeting. Several members of the five-person board indicated that some of the articles still merited consideration by the body and could return to town meeting in some form and with further explanation and analysis. Roger Lawrence was not having it. "I feel discouraged and got a sense of deja vu concerning this conversation," Lawrence 0 Comments
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Pittsfield Soccer League Summer Final SetiBerkshires.com Sports,
09:05PM / Wednesday, August 03, 2022 | |
 PITTSFIELD, Mass. – The Maroons and the Crows survived Wednesday’s semi-finals in the Pittsfield Soccer League with a pair of 1-0 wins at Wahconah Park. The second-seeded Crows used a first-half goal from James Pow to knock off Barcelona. On an adjacent field, Matt Naventi scored a first-half goal to send the Maroons past the Vultures and into next Wednesday’s league championship game. Eight teams began play this summer in the 10-year-old league. PSL organizer Nigel Gayle said that about 130 players participated in the weekly seven-on-seven contests. The 18-and-over co-ed league summer league is one of several adult leagues in 0 Comments
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Williamstown Planners Advise Conservation of Oblong Road ParcelBy Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires Staff
04:30AM / Wednesday, August 03, 2022 | |
 WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Planning Board last week advised the Select Board to assign to a local non-profit the town's option to buy a 10-acre parcel of farmland on Oblong Road. In a unanimous vote, the planners recommended the town assign its right of first refusal to the Williamstown Rural Lands Foundation for a lot currently conserved under Chapter 61 of Massachusetts General Law. Under Chapter 61, land in agriculture is eligible for property tax relief. Part of the tradeoff for the landowner is that when the land is sold, the municipality has the right of first refusal. The parcel's current owner, Beth Phelps, has a purchase and sales agreement for 8 Comments
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Wiliamstown Residents Raise Concerns About Water Street Housing ConceptBy Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires Staff
04:47AM / Monday, August 01, 2022 | |
 WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Residents who live near the site of a planned housing development on Water Street are expressing concerns about the now 28-unit project under consideration at the site of the former Grange Hall. Architect and resident Hicks Stone was back before the board of the Affordable Housing Trust, this time with his partner, Bill Freeman, to update the panel on Wednesday on preliminary plans to build duplexes on a portion of the 6.6-acre site. Stone began by sharing what he hoped would be welcome news for the trustees: By placing four apartments in the former Grange Hall itself and reconfiguring the layout of the duplexes, the pair now conceives 28 units 5 Comments
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Mount Greylock Panel Picks Designer for New Athletic FieldBy Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires Staff
05:07AM / Friday, July 29, 2022 | |
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Mount Greylock Regional School District's Designer Selection Committee Wednesday chose CHA Architecture of Portland, Maine, as the preferred designer for a new athletic field and running track. After interviewing representatives from CHA and SLR Consulting, the committee voted unanimously to authorize the district's administration to enter into negotiations with CHA. The School Committee earlier this month voted to authorize the design group, which includes administrators, School Committee members and district personnel, to review responses to the district's request for proposals and make a final decision, provided that the preferred 0 Comments
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Williamstown Select Board Forming Charter Review CommitteeBy Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires Staff
04:30AM / Wednesday, July 27, 2022 | |
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — A month after town meeting took small steps to amend the town charter, the Select Board is commissioning a full-scale review of the 1956 document that provides the structure for much of town government. At Monday's meeting, the board issued a call for nominees for a charter review committee that will be asked to engage in a more than year-long process to review and, potentially, recommend changes to the governing document. Andy Hogeland, who along with Jeff Johnson formed a working group of the board to look at charter review, said the board would like nominations submitted to Town Hall by Aug. 15 with the hope that the Charter Review Committee 0 Comments
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Williamstown Police and Community Council Works to 'Shepherd' ChangeBy Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires Staff
04:57AM / Tuesday, July 26, 2022 | |
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — A group of more than a dozen residents are continuing the work begun by a daylong symposium on policing. The Strengthening Police and Community Partnerships Council met in June and July to begin addressing the goals and aspirations that emerged from March's community forum at Mount Greylock Regional School. "We had our first independent meeting in June, which was two working groups," facilitator Lucy Gerold said on Friday. "One was to finalize a drafted charter that outlines who we are and what our scope is so it gives us definition. The second thing was to take all those recommendations [from the March meeting] and prioritize 0 Comments
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Single Vehicle Crash in Williamstown Sends One to HospitalBy Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires Staff
01:15PM / Monday, July 25, 2022 | |
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Police are investigating a Saturday afternoon motorcycle accident on Green River Road that sent the operator to the hospital. Police on Monday morning said Lanesborough's Keith Rarick was traveling southwest on the road, also known as Route 43. His motorcycle left the road near 839 Green River Road and struck a utility pole. When police arrived at the scene, Rarick was conscious and alert with a cut to his head, injuries to his leg and scrapes across his body, police said. Rarick was transported by Northern Berkshire EMS to the Berkshire Medical Center main campus in Pittsfield, police said. Williamstown Fire Department also 0 Comments
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Williamstown Zoning Board Again Continues Hearing on Drug Rehab FacilityBy Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires Staff
04:23AM / Monday, July 25, 2022 | |
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Zoning Board of Appeals on Thursday voted to again continue a public hearing on the application to operate a chemical dependency rehabilitation facility in the former Sweet Brook Nursing Home on Cold Spring Road. The board delayed a decision to a third meeting hoping that the applicant, Williamstown Recovery Realty LLC, and abutter Sweetwood retirement community, could reach an understanding about the fencing and landscaping plans for the new drug treatment center. Sweetwood attorney Karla Chaffee told the board that her client has had productive conversations with Williamstown Recovery, but the two sides still have outstanding 1 Comment
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Williamstown DIRE Committee Members Question Review of Its PurposeBy Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires Staff
05:02AM / Friday, July 22, 2022 | |
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Members of the town's diversity committee Monday pushed back against an effort by the Select Board to evaluate and, perhaps, recast the scope of work for the 2-year-old advisory committee. Select Board Chair Hugh Daley began that effort with a joint meeting of his board with the Diversity, Inclusion and Racial Equity Committee on June 23 with an agenda that included, "Discussion of DIRE Committee purpose, process, personnel and performance." "We are trying to make progress on the issues confronted by the DIRE Committee," Daley said in introducing the topic at the June 23 joint meeting. "In my belief, one way to frame 0 Comments
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