From Google/CNN at noon on Nov. 3:

 Nov. 3, 10:39 a.m.: Results in from Williamstown:

Three candidates running for two four-year Williamstown seats on the Mount Greylock Regional School Committee: incumbents Carrie Greene (1,312) and David Langston (1,456) keep their seats from challenger David Backus (837). The two-year seat was won unopposed by Abigail Reifsnyder (1,837). All three questions were defeated: Question 1: Yes 569, No 2,012; Question 2: Yes 514, No 2,043; Question 3: Yes 496, No 2,169.

We're also kind of astounded that the Question 1, which repeals the tax on alcohol sales tax, passed 52 percent to 48 percent by Bay State voters. Seriously? The petition was generated by package store owners near the New Hampshire border claiming their sales were significantly affected. The question had little impact here in the northwest corner but apparently those in the northeast don't think they should pay tax on their booze — unless they buy it in a restaurant.

Opponents say the state will lose $110 million in revenue over this question and programs to help substance abusers and prevent teen drinking. Let's see how it plays out.

Paul Mark's campaign sent us info on where the representative-elect will be today:

Mark, staff, and volunteers from his campaign will be out on the campaign trail performing four roving "Thank You" visibilities. A small group of supporters will be joining Mark starting at noon in Cheshire for sign-holding and greeting voters to say "thank you" for electing him state representative. The informal schedule will be roughly as follows: Cheshire at noon at Church and Route 8; Dalton at 1:30 at Routes 8 and 9; Shelburne Falls at 3 at State and the iron bridge; and Northfield at 4:30 at Routes 63 and 10.

Campaign staff encourage supporters to leave Paul Mark signs on their lawns until Friday evening, as volunteers and staff will collect them by Friday. If a sign has not been picked up by the weekend, supporters may call 413-306-9242 to have them removed.

Nov. 2, midnight: Not wrapped up quite yet. We got a text from Paul Mark's campaign manager Steven Hoesche confirming Mark had won the four biggest towns in the Franklin County section of the 2nd District. Mark's won all the Berkshire towns so far , so it's not much of a stretch to call him the winner.

We also got some numbers from Clarksburg: Gov. Patrick continued his hold on the county with Clarksburg voters handing him 340 to Baker's 146. Cahill picked up 45 and with Stein trailing with a handful of votes. Some 549 ballots wer

Clarksburg also rejected all three questions pretty forcefully. No. 1 went down 346-200; No. 2, 393-132; and No. 3, 385-160. One and two had a couple blanks but No. 2, on repealing the so-called 40B law for single-permitting affordable housing, had 24 blanks. A couple dozen couldn't make up their mind - or weren't sure.

The senior housing planned just a few hundred feet away from the polling station could fall under the 40B law.

Patrick won re-election with 48 percent of the vote statewide.

Lenox rocked out at 61 percent; 2,266 voters out of 3,718 made it to the polls to vote for Patrick (1,697-419); Coakley (1,701-506); and the rest of the Democratic ticket, including handing Bump 1,267 votes against Connaughton. More Lenoxians did check the box for Nat Fortune in the Green Party; he polled 138 votes, which is so far the highest we've seen. All the questions went down three or four to one.

Numbers in from Cheshire at about 11:25. We only asked for governor and 2nd District to see how the voting went in that town.

Patrick continued his sweep of his adopted county (he polled 586-123 in Richmond, with 63 percent turnout) with Cheshire handing him 711 votes. Baker, however, did better than in other county towns, earning 311. In the 2nd District, Mark extended his victory with 624 votes to Case's 430 and Racz's 47.

Town Clerk Christine Emerson said turnout was 1,132 out of 2,316 voters, or just a hair under 49 percent.

Adams had a turnout of 42 percent, with 2,352 of 5,663 voters casting ballots. The results were similar to other towns, with Patrick winning 3-1, or 1,629 to 548. Cahill did nab 132 votes and Stein 22. We've mostly left them out of our tallying because their numbers are so low across the board.

The Mother Town went Democratic; it also tossed all three questions out (No. 1 1,391-903; No. 2, 1,623-618; No. 3, 1,657-663). State Rep-elect Gailanne Cariddi, running unopposed, took 1,864 votes. Town Clerk Haley Meczywor speculated native son David Bissaillon, trounced by Cariddi in the primary, might gain some write-in votes. Or maybe some disappointed Bissaillon backers couldn't bring themselves to check Cariddi's name.

In case anyone was wondering, Sen. Benjamin B. Downing was elected unopposed, as was District Attorney David F. Capeless. Tom Bowler, who like Cariddi won the Democratic primary, was also elected unopposed.

Rep. Smitty Pignatelli inherits Dan Bosley's mantle as dean of the Berkshire delegation. Pignatelli defeated Laugenour overwhelmingly with numbers missing from only  a handful of towns.

Laugenour and Miller's hoped-for Green revolution didn't come to pass but they certainly gave it their all. Final numbers between Speranzo and Miller were 5,440 to 4,459, a difference of 981 votes.

 We're wrapping up for the night, pending any crazy breaking news. We can say it looks like the Democrats have hung on to power in Massachusetts, if not other parts of the country.

At 9:45, Gov. Deval Patrick is leading Republican Charlie Baker; Tim Cahill and Jill Stein are barely in the running. Suzanne Bump of Great Barrington is leading Mary Connaughton and Nate Forutune. Martha Coakley claims a victory over Jim McKenna for attorney general. We were sent a question about whether McKenna's name was on all the ballots. We haven't heard otherwise and took a photo of the ballot in Clarksburg to be sure.

Congressman Olver beat Republican and tea party candidate Bill Gunn handily, two to one. Having met Mr. Gunn, we thought it might be closer but maybe he needs more seasoning in local office first.

All three ballot questions appear headed for defeat; Question 1, on the exemption for alcohol sales tax, is rather close. Hmm.

We talked to a couple voters who said the ballot questions were what really drove them to the polls.

I wanted to make sure I voted on the questions," said Kathy Kierstand of North Adams. "Those were very important to me."

The possibility of bearing brunt as homeowners if the sales tax was rolled back (Question 3) played a part in bringing Dully and Tracy Saimbert in Adams.

Accompanied by their two very young children, Tracy said, "our property taxes are high enough as it is ... It was very important to vote.

They weren't convinced by proponents assurances that the rollback wouldn't affect aid to cities and towns. "They have to get the money from somewhere," said her husband.

 With most of Pittsfield reporting in, it looks like Mark Miller wasn't able to catch incumbent Chris Speranzo. The Green-Rainbow Party had pinned its hopes on an upset in the 3rd District but that rainbow seems to be fading. We're tallying up numbers from PCTV; it looks like Miller came within a 100 votes or less of Speranzo in most wards. It looks like Speranzo hung onto his seat by just under a 1,000 votes. Final unofficial tally per PCTV is 4,004 to 3,098.

Can anyone think of a third-party candidate who came closer?

Miller's party colleague Scott Laugenour (seen at right) didn't do as well. A bit of Pittsfield is in the 4th District. Precinct 5B went for  Pignatelli 652, Laugenour 159, reports PCTV.

Pittsfield turnout was 44.4 percent; 12,781 out of 28,995 registered voters went to the polls.

There's still a few more minutes until the polls close in the county but we've got a pretty good idea off the turnout - high.

In Cheshire, the number of voters surprised Town Clerk Christine Emerson. "It's been really steady," said Emerson, who added the town was closing in on 50 percent at 5:30. Just over 900 of the 2,300 registered voters had cast ballots by that time with 2 1/2 hours left.

Williamstown Town Clerk Mary Kennedy put the turnout at 63 percent with nearly an hour left to go. "It's pretty normal for a state election," said Kennedy. "We're on pretty much on target here."

The polls were slower but steady in Adams, with Town Clerk Haley Meczywor putting it at about 33 percent early in the evening. "It's been steady all day," said poll worker Frances Meier.

In Lenox, the tally was 2092 out of 3,684 voters at 6 p.m., or 57 percent. Turnout was expected to be higher in South and Central Berkshire because of the three state representative races.

Reporter Nichole Dupont ran into Scott Laugenour, Green-Rainbow candidate for the 4th Berkshire District, who was feeling good about his party's chances. He'd seen a lot of Green signs around the region.

Berkshire County heads to the polls today to select state and congressional representatives, and a slew of officials for the state's high offices.

Polls opened at 7 a.m.; polling locations are listed here.

We'll be adding information as the day proceeds but don't know if we'll have counts for all the towns tonight - there are too many towns to cover. We appreciate any help in getting final numbers: if you have any results send them to info@iberkshires.com, text to 413-652-0808 or tweet us @iberkshires with hashtag #mapoli and/or #Berkshires. You can also post on our Facebook page. See how easy it is?

In North County, we're predicting Gailanne Cariddi as winner in the 1st Berkshire District. Considering she's the only candidate we feel pretty safe saying that. Tom Bowler, who also is running unopposed, will be the winner in the Berkshire County sheriff's race.

There will be one local race: three people are running for two four-year seats on the Mount Greylock Regional School Committee to represent Williamstown. They are incumbents David Langston and Carolyn "Carrie" Green and challenger David Backus, a three-term member of the Williamstown School Committee. There is also a two-year seat to fill a vacancy, for which Abigail Reifsnyder is the only candidate.

Incumbent Robert E. Ericson is running for one of two seats to represent Lanesborough; the second seat, being vacated by Ronald W. Tinkham, a longtime member who decided earlier this year not to run again.

Voters in both Lanesborough and Williamstown will vote on the committee members.

There's a lot of talk about early voting across the nation. We asked a couple town clerks if they've seen anything out of the ordinary for early voting:

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Mayor Richard Alcombright, state Rep. Dan Bosley,  state Sen. Benjamin Downing, D-Pittsfield, Adams Town Administrator Jonathan Butler, Clarksburg Town Administrator Michael Canales, Florida Town Administrator Christine Dobbert and Williamstown Town Manager Peter Fohlin, have come out against what they say would be the "devastating fiscal impact to all North Berkshire communities" if ballot Question 3  is passed.

Question 3, to be voted on in next week's election, proposes a reduction of the state’s sales tax from 6.25 percent to 3 percent.

According to a statement released by Alcombright's office on Oct. 28, at the Oct. 20 Massachusetts Mayors meeting attended by Alcombright, Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation speaker Andy Bagley described Question 3 as “heading over the cliff." 

The state already faces a $2 billion dollar shortfall in the upcoming fiscal 2012 budget, which would jump to $4.5 billion if the voters approve Question 3. According to MTF,  the resulting massive spending cuts would eliminate or erode a wide range of services from education and public safety to health care and human services.

“Our communities would be devastated by the loss of revenue in FY2012 and passage of Question 3 would additionally assure deep and chaotic cuts right after the first of the year.  It is projected that the City of North Adams would be cut by as much as $2.1 million dollars in FY2012 if Question 3 passes and we would certainly see significant revenue reductions in this current fiscal year.  Overall, the FY2012 impact on municipal and school budgets in North Berkshire from Question 3 alone would be over $4.6 million dollars in addition to the already projected cuts of up to 15 percent  on both municipal and school aid.  All in all, with the passage of Question 3 and anticipated FY2012 cuts, North Berkshire could lose close to $8.8 million dollars in state aid,” Alcombright said in the statement.

Fohlin added, “Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation projects Williamstown and Mount Greylock Regional School District will lose over $400,000 if Question 3 passes. The effect on education, public safety, and public works would be devastating. I can’t imagine asking Williamstown property owners to fill such a huge gap.”

The state has cut municipal and school funding by more than 18 percent over the past three years and the passage of Question 3 would assure reductions in funding of over 20 percent next year. These massive reductions in revenue would mandate deep and painful cuts to all segments of municipal and school budgets for all communities in North Berkshire County, the statement concluded. 

BOSTON – Citing their personal experiences and the importance of the Attorney General’s office in protecting public safety, police officers, law enforcement leaders, prosecutors, child safety advocates and numerous crime victims endorsed Martha Coakley for re-election as Attorney General.

Speaking at a press conference outside Faneuil Hall on Tuesday, Coakley was joined by District Attorneys Gerry Leone, Dan Conley and David Capeless, victims of crime and victim advocates, and representatives from law enforcement across Massachusetts. Speakers included Debbie Eappen, mother of eight-month old Matthew Eappen, for whom Coakley served as prosecutor in the case brought on her son’s behalf when he was killed more than 12 years ago.

“I’m proud to be a prosecutor…It means that we wake up every day and speak for those who need it most,” AG Coakley said. “But it’s been more than just standing up for them, I’ve also been inspired by them.”

“In October of 1997, Martha Coakley became one of our heroes,” said Debbie Eappen. “Martha brought hope to my devastated family... Our family is deeply grateful that Martha has chosen a 25-year career protecting the public from crime of all sorts. I know that my family - children, disabled, and elderly - are safer because of Martha Coakley’s service to the state of Massachusetts. It is with deep respect and admiration that we emphatically state that there is no better person for the job of Attorney General than Martha Coakley.”

Debbie is the mother of Matthew “Matty” Eappen, an eight-month old baby who in 1997 was the victim of abuse and killed by his nanny. Martha was part of the prosecution team in the case against Matty’s killer, and her experience on this case allowed her and Debbie to collaborate on educating medical professionals about the prevalence of child abuse and shaken impact syndrome.

Coakley also earned the support of a wide range of law enforcement groups and leaders, including district attorneys, police officers and advocates for child safety.

“There is only one candidate in this race with the experience to protect our young, protect our elderly, and to work in the cyber crime age,” said Rick Brown of the State Police Association of Massachusetts (SPAM). “Martha Coakley is the only one who is going to be able to lead us in to the future in police work. She has 25 years of experience and I’m proud to be standing here offering SPAM’s endorsement to her to continue protecting the citizens of the Commonwealth – the victims, the witnesses, everybody that has been preyed upon through crime in the state of Massachusetts.

“Let’s remember why we elected Martha Coakley District Attorney and Attorney General in the first place,” Suffolk District Attorney Conley said. “It wasn’t only because she knew her way around a courtroom, but because she knew her way around our neighborhoods, where justice and injustice are felt much more acutely. It wasn’t only because she has a first-rate public policy mind, but because she listens to victims of crime and translates their hurt and frustrations into solutions that work and give us hope.”

“I urge the voters of Massachusetts to keep Martha Coakley doing the fine job she has for the past four years,” said Berkshire County District Attorney David Capeless. “Martha has used the office of the Attorney General to protect the public’s rights and safeguard their resources, and has been and ally and a friend to her fellow prosecutors and partners in law enforcement. I commend the integrity that Martha brings to the office, I applaud her commitment to upholding our laws, and I am proud to join her in ensuring justice and safety for the citizens of the Commonwealth.”

According to the Coakley campaign, as a federal prosecutor, an Assistant District Attorney, Middlesex District Attorney, and now as Attorney General, Coakley has an unmatched record in the AG race of protecting  kids and communities. As a prosecutor for the Middlesex DA’s Office, she has personally and successfully prosecuted dozens of violent criminals in Massachusetts. As Chief of the Middlesex DA’s child abuse unit, she oversaw the prosecution of hundreds of predators who harmed children.

According to the Coakley campaign, she is the only candidate in the race for Attorney General who has prioritized victim support and public safety challenges such as cyber crime, senior safety, neighborhood safety and child protection.

Other achievements highlighted by the Coakley campaign include:

*The Cyber Crime Initiative, wherein Coakley's office trains local and state law enforcement officers in how to handle cyber crimes, with specialized trainings on topics such as digital evidence, cyber-bullying and others.

*Opening a state-of-the-art computer forensics laboratory that assists with criminal cases from across the state.

*In 2008, Coakley led a two-year effort with MySpace and Attorneys General across the country to develop a plan to make social networking sites safer for children. She also successfully took on Craigslist by calling on the site to take down its adult services section to better protect victims of human trafficking.

Public safety and victim advocates who have announced their support for Martha Coakley include:
Berkshire County District Attorney David Capeless
Bristol County District Attorney Sam Sutter
Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett
Hampden County District Attorney Bill Bennett
Middlesex County District Attorney Gerry Leone
Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conley
Worcester County District Attorney Joe Early
The Massachusetts Police Association
The Massachusetts Coalition of Police
State Police Association of Massachusetts
State Police Superior Officers Association
Debbie Eappen, mother of murder victim Matthew Eappen
Dodie Laplante, mother of murder victim Betsie Hughes
Annette Presti, mother of murder victim Joanne Presti and grandmother of murder victim Alyssa Presti
Laurie Myers, child safety advocate

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray joined local Democrats on Monday to kick off the final leg of the 2010 campaign season.

Some 75 party members and officials were on hand to open the campaign office at 31 South St., just recently the headquarters for Tom Bowler's successful campaign for sheriff.

"We forged some tremendous and wonderful friendships - we hope everlasting friendships - we developed some fantastic partnerships working from this location," said Bowler. "We wish the coordinating campaign all the success on Nov. 2 that we did on Sept. 14."

The get-out-the-vote drive may have greater significance on the statewide level where recent polls have Gov. Deval Patrick and Republican challenger Charles Baker in a dead heat than at the local level.

In the heavily Democratic Berkshires, the 1st Berkshire District and county sheriff were decided primary night when no Republicans chose to run. Going into the general election, only Democratic nominee Paul Mark of Hancock has a GOP opponent, Michael Case of Washington; both Reps. Christopher Speranzo of the 3rd District and William "Smitty" Pignatelli in the 4th District will be vying against Green/Rainbow Party candidates Mark C. Miller and Scott Lee Laugenour, respectively.

Patrick, on the other hand, is working hard to fend off Baker, former head of Harvard Pilgrim; Murray's opponent is Richard Tisei, state Senate minority leader. Trailing behind are Treasurer Timothy Cahill, running as an independent, and Green-Rainbow candidate Jill Stein for governor and Stein's running mate Richard Purcell for lieutenant governor. (Cahill's running mate Paul Loscocco jumped ship last week.)

Murray reminded those present that he was selected by them, not the governor, but kept his sharpest comments for Patrick's opponent. Baker, a state budget secretary in the 1990s, is running on his fiscal acumen, but Murray dismissed his reputation, saying he raised insurance premiums 150 percent while at Harvard Pilgrim and pointed to his role in the state's modern symbol of waste and fraud.

"The architect of the Big Dig financing plan now wants to be your governor," he told the appreciative crowd.

U.S. Rep. John W. Olver, who is facing Republican Bill Gunn, was supposed to attend but had to cancel. Also missing was Attorney General Martha Coakley, who was in Lee that morning and at The Berkshire Eagle in the afternoon, and Suzanne Bump of Great Barrington, who's running for auditor.

Olver's campaign manager Debra Guachione stepped in to make a pitch for the entire Democratic ticket. "Only four years ago, we broke a 16-year chain of Republican leadership," she said of Patrick and Murray. "Those governors wanted to be in Mexico, Canada, Washington and New York — not Massachusetts."

Murray said Patrick had the perfect cover for the leaving the state during its worst years: "The president of the United States asked me serve."

"But he didn't. He didn't cut and run," the former Worcester mayor continued.

Downing, a former Olver staffer, said it was important to return the Amherst professor to office.

"We need him to continue to be our voice on Capitol Hill," said Downing. "When Democrats remain in power in 2010 and when we make sure the president's agenda isn't stalled by a party that just wants to say no to anything."

In addition to the candidates, the local party members attending included Mary K. O'Brien; Mayor James M. Ruberto, who gave a passionate plug for his friend Patrick; former North Adams Mayor John Barrett III, who has been a strong backer of his former mayoral colleague Murray; Daniel Bianchi; Sherwood Guernsey; and Pittsfield Councilors President Gerald Lee, Christine Yon and Melissa Mazzeo.

Field organizer Josh Hochberg said the vote drive would depend on "friend banks," to prevent people from being inundated with phone calls.

"Open up your cell phone, open up your address book and call your friends," he said.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — For 24 years, Dan Bosley has been working on educational initiatives, community programs and big budgets — very big budgets. He'd hoped to translate those skills into the sheriff's office but it wasn't to be.

Voters overwhelmingly backed Tom Bowler's bid to become the first new sheriff in 32 years.

"I had a tough job," said Bosley at his gathering at Taylor's Restaurant. "I had to explain what the sheriff did and then explain why I was the best candidate, while the other person just said, 'I'm the best candidate.' "

Bosley said he'd called Bowler earlier to congratulate him and offer his support. "I think he ran a great race."

The candidates agreed on a number of things but diverged most prominently on the function of the job. Bosley defined it as public safety; Bowler, a Pittsfield Police detective, as law enforcement. He gained the endorsement and active support of local law enforcement agencies, the district attorney and the corrections officers. Saying the sheriff is a lawman and not a warden fit with the voters.

"I think the voters were more interested in security, more interested in putting a lawman there," he said. "And the voters have spoken."

Bosley had hoped to counteract Bowler's grip on Pittsfield with a higher turnout in Northern Berkshire. "I just couldn't crack that Pittsfield market," he said. Turnout was high enough in Pittsfield to give Bowler the advantage but not enough in North County to make a difference for Bosley, who won both Williamstown and North Adams but not Adams.

With a new representative selected on Tuesday in Gailanne Cariddi, the man whose name was once bandied about as a potential speaker of House has options open for the first time in years.

"I really have no idea what I'm going to do. I focused on this race and now tomorrow I'm going to focus on something else. ... well, I'm going to focus on some things my wife said I absolutely have to do," he laughed. "I'm a pretty talented guy, I'm pretty smart and I'll find something to do."

He decided to leave the Legislature because it was just time, he said, not because of any of the reasons many have speculated on, including his loss of stature with the new House speaker.

"It's been 24 years. I've done everything I've set out to do," said Bosley, referring to his work in education, insurance and green jobs, his efforts on economic development bills and in making Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, the science center at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and the reconstruction of the Hadley Overpass a reality. "I'm grateful for the support I had and we accomplished everything."

All but one bill he's been working on for a decade. Bosley doesn't think that one will ever happen but he plans to spend the next three months on tying up his two dozen years of service and transitioning everything over to Cariddi as smoothly as possible.

"I'm going to work hard until Jan. 3 and then, hopefully, I'll be down there to see her sworn in; I'll applaud and I'll leave.

"It's been a privilege serving the people of Berkshire County for 24 years."