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North Adams plans to spend several months running a community recreation center at the former YMCA building, then hopefully turning that operation over to a permanent operator.
The new facility to house Lenox first responders is expected to be completed in summer 2025 at the corner of the Route 7/20 bypass and Housatonic Street.
Christopher Barton, a.k.a. BIGZDAKING, the owner of Klipper Kingz, in North Adams, released a new hip-hop album on April 30, "Honey Fusion Tapes," his first in over a decade.
Matt Martinez
News Reporter
John Perkel produces a rare public performance of Leonard Bernstein's two-movement string quartet, — written when Bernstein was a college student — at the First Congregational Church in Stockbridge, at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Aaron Simon Gross
Arts & Entertainment Reporter
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Town leaders voiced sadness and surprise at his decision to move up to a state finance job after 10 years at Town Hall.
Yebin Mai and Deming Wu were arrested in August 2020 for their alleged involvement in an unlicensed marijuana growing operation at a home in Savoy. On Tuesday, a trial finally began after a number of delays.
Apart from a few new trucks and other items, voters will decide on whether Lake Garfield property owners should have to foot the bills for milfoil control themselves.
Residents will also vote on rezoning two abutting properties with big houses so they can be turned into multi-unit housing.
Not only did police not have proper "context" about the book when they received the allegations, they were given consent to look for it by both the superintendent and the teacher, the investigators wrote.
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LOCAL NEWS
After 10 years as Lenox town manager, Christopher Ketchen will leave when his contract expires on June 30 to take a new position with the Massachusetts Department of Revenue’s Division of Local Services.
Housatonic Water Works Co. customers who have been bracing for a steep rate hike won't see their bills rise as dramatically as expected.
Heather Bellow
Reporter
Allegrone Cos. told city leaders that receiving the new approved tax increment exemptions from the city is a major part of what make its plans for the Wright Building and former Jim's House of Shoes viable.
Meg Britton-Mehlisch
Pittsfield Reporter
Dalton residents will head to Wahconah Regional High School at 7 p.m. Monday to vote for a number of items at their annual town meeting.
Matt Martinez
News Reporter
Lenox voters will consider a total operating budget request for fiscal 2025 is just over $31 million, an increase of 8.1 percent over the current fiscal year, in addition to a number of other spending items.
Voters will also be asked to approve a $945,273 appropriation to Central Berkshire Regional School District for operating and capital expenses, including a bond.
Jane Kaufman
Community Voices Editor
New Marlborough voters will consider a 4 million budget that raises spending about 9.2 percent, adopting a short-term rental zoning bylaw, and a number of other items.
Jane Kaufman
Community Voices Editor
The content of the first page of Hancock’s town report is causing a stir in town.
Jane Kaufman
Community Voices Editor
The proposed town and school spending plans, up for action at Thursday’s annual town meeting, should yield a 5.6 percent property tax increase increase for the owner of a median-priced home.
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Louise Bichan, an internationally traveling fiddler from the Orkney islands off the northern tip of Scotland, will perform "Out of My Own Light," 7:30 p.m. May 11, at The Foundry.
Christopher Barton, a.k.a. BIGZDAKING, the owner of Klipper Kingz, in North Adams, released a new hip-hop album on April 30, "Honey Fusion Tapes," his first in over a decade.
Matt Martinez
News Reporter
Annuals, routinely, are viewed by gardeners as second best — what you resort to when your perennial flowers have failed. That’s a mistake because if they offer unique potential for self-expression and beauty.
Berkshire Lyric's Artistic Director Jack Brown will present a free online Zoom lecture on Wednesday, May 8, in advance of Lyric's June 2 Masterworks concert at Seiji Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood.
Singer/songwriter and acoustic guitarist Bruce Mandel will perform a free concert on Tuesday, May 7, at the Berkshire Athenaeum.
The Massage Therapy Certificate program at Berkshire Community College will hold a free meet and greet information session on Tuesday, May 7.
Joe Durwin, a local historian specializing in research on residential and commercial properties for owners in Berkshire County, will present the history the former Farnum/Kurlan property on Tuesday, May 7, at the Lanesborough Public Library.
Local History
For nearly 85 years Besse-Clarke had been a popular North Street business from when it opened in 1910. The store closed in 1994 and was the very last of the 42 stores in the Besse System to close.
The construction of the new Union Station in 1914 brought two other changes to the area around it that also remained until the terminal was razed: a steel footbridge over the tracks and a park.
Eagle Archives, May 1, 1976: The 200-year-old elm that stands near death on Prospect Hill in Stockbridge basked in a moment of glory as "the last living testament to the American Revolution" in Berkshire County.
Eagle Archives, April 30, 1984: A discovery by the Feds was a scene straight out of the Kentucky mountains during Prohibition. But the location was not traditional moonshine country. This was Great Barrington, and Prohibition had ended months earlier.
Eagle Archives, April 29, 1949: The Pittsfield High School bandsmen would not be participating in the Western Massachusetts Musical Festival in Orange "because they would look like a band of ragamuffins" due to their worn out uniforms.
Eagle Archives, April 27, 1968: When women telephone operators refused to cross the picket lines of the striking International Brotherhood of Telephone Workers, New England Telephone Co. put its male supervisors and managers to work on the switchboards.
Any baby boomer who attended sports programs, dances, movies, concerts, or other events at the Boys Club (now the Boys and Girls Club of the Berkshires) would recognize the mural inside the building's entrance. But like me, most probably did not know who painted it.
Arts and Culture
Louise Bichan, an internationally traveling fiddler from the Orkney islands off the northern tip of Scotland, will perform "Out of My Own Light," 7:30 p.m. May 11, at The Foundry.
Christopher Barton, a.k.a. BIGZDAKING, the owner of Klipper Kingz, in North Adams, released a new hip-hop album on April 30, "Honey Fusion Tapes," his first in over a decade.
Annuals, routinely, are viewed by gardeners as second best — what you resort to when your perennial flowers have failed. That’s a mistake because if they offer unique potential for self-expression and beauty.
During the winter months these lakes are full, a haven for thousands of sandhill cranes, hundreds of snow geese and many species of duck and shorebirds. At this time of year, the trees are dripping with small migrating birds.
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The Locals’ Guide to Tanglewood: Highlights of the Season, Insider Tips and How to Picnic Like a Pro
Pittsfield resident Deb Terrell began volunteering at Tanglewood six years ago because after she retired, she was drawn to the idea of spendin…
Our original store is in the heart of the beautiful Berkshires. We brought the Berkshires to Boston with our second retail location in the “Eastie” neighborhood. Our knowledgeable, friendly team is ready to guide you or order online before your visit and you’ll be in and ou…
Business
Eagle Reels vodcast host Dalton Delan interviewed Ari Zorn, the co-owner of Devine, a cannabis dispensary in Egremont. This Q&A is from the interview and has been edited for length and clarity. The interview took place before Zorn announced his candidacy for the Egremont Select Board.
The people behind Greylock Works are bringing a New York coffee shop to "90 Main" for the month of May.
Massachusetts' clean energy jobs already match those in the restaurant industry and in higher education, but thousands more are needed to reach emissions reduction goals.
Cannabis regulators have completed the public comment phase of the coming model bylaw or ordinance that will give cities and towns a way to comply with new minimum municipal equity standards that stem from the 2022 marijuana industry reform law.
Wahconah grad Dan Vreeland came home to Dalton and beat the Warriors as head coach of Hopkins Academy.
A Lee tennis legend passed away last week and the program he helped foster took the courts at home Wednesday afternoon.
Williams, 17-10 overall, put a six-game winning streak on the line Wednesday when it played at RPI.
Providence Bruins player Riley Duran has strong family ties to Adams. The Eagle caught up with the former Providence Friar after a recent AHL game in Springfield.
Anyone who was at Columbia University in the spring of 1968 cannot help but see a reprise of those stormy, fateful and thrilling days in what is happening on the Morningside Heights campus today.
I think of that old mower when I see modern ones at work. Some of them can turn on a dime. Turning the Locke required planning, cautious execution, patience and confidence. The mower had no reverse gear. There was no going back. Lesson learned.
With a possible new North Street redesign around the corner, columnist Mitchell Chapman writes about the public discussion about the popular roadway.
If it seems like a trivial pursuit — this changing of names — it’s going on in various natural worlds, extending to fish, insects, plants and names.
The Massachusetts House voted 153-4 late Friday to pass a $58 billion fiscal 2025 budget that invests in K-12 education, child care and public transit, shifting debate on spending priorities to the Senate.
Both the federal government and the state have taken efforts to streamline the process to approve new immigrants to work in the U.S. Here's an inside look at that process.
While negotiators remain at odds over how much they want to draw from state savings and exactly what kind of time limits to place on shelter stays — plus whether restaurants should resume takeout drink sales — funding could run out in less than two weeks, a Healey administration official confirmed Thursday.
Money for the state's emergency family shelter system could run out sometime between Monday and the end of April, according to a top senator, who is part of a six-person group of lawmakers trying to come up with funding solutions.
Things to do this week in Berkshire County
A tribute to those we have lost, December 2023 - February 2024
Guidance and resources to help you take big steps and manage big changes, across every stage of life
An annual look at the state of education in Berkshire County
A tribute to those we have lost, September - November 2023
Helping people understand the basics of disposal and sustainable options.
The best of the best of Berkshire County, chosen by Berkshire Eagle readers
The annual guide to preparing your home for the coming New England winter.
1Berkshire presents the official guide to the 67th Annual Fall Foliage Parade.