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Williamstown's Town Election Ballot Still Has Holes

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — With just over a week left before the deadline to return papers for May's town election, there is just one contested race on the ballot, and there are two positions for which no one has pulled papers.
 
Town Clerk Mary Kennedy reported Thursday that the town's three-year seat on the Northern Berkshire Vocational Regional School Committee and one of the two Elementary School Committee seats up for grabs have attracted no interest to date.
 
There are two seats on the ballot for the Williamstown Elementary School Committee, though they will be largely pro forma elections. On July 1, the elementary school committee will cease to exist as the Mount Greylock Transition Committee formally takes overall operations for the three schools in the recently expanded district.
 
Incumbent Catherine Keating has taken out papers for her seat on the School Committee. The other seat up for election currently is occupied by Joe Johnson.
 
The McCann Tech post, a three-year seat, is currently held by Thomas Mahar. No one has taken out papers to fill the post.
 
Incumbent Select Board member Anne O'Connor has taken out papers and returned them to retain her three-year seat on the board, as has incumbent library trustee Charles Bonenti.
 
The Planning Board is the only panel to see a potential race so far. There are two seats on the ballot: a five-year seat currently held by Chris Kapiloff and the two years remaining on the seat held by Ann McCallum, who is stepping down from the board.
 
Both Stephanie Boyd and Michael Goodwin have taken out and returned papers to fill the seat held by Kapiloff.
 
Alexander Carlisle has taken out papers for McCallum's seat.
 
The deadline to return election papers with signatures is Tuesday, March 20.

Tags: election 2018,   town elections,   


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WCMA: 'Cracking the Code on Numerology'

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA) opens a new exhibition, "Cracking the Cosmic Code: Numerology in Medieval Art."
 
The exhibit opened on March 22.
 
According to a press release: 
 
The idea that numbers emanate sacred significance, and connect the past with the future, is prehistoric and global. Rooted in the Babylonian science of astrology, medieval Christian numerology taught that God created a well-ordered universe. Deciphering the universe's numerical patterns would reveal the Creator's grand plan for humanity, including individual fates. 
 
This unquestioned concept deeply pervaded European cultures through centuries. Theologians and lay people alike fervently interpreted the Bible literally and figuratively via number theory, because as King Solomon told God, "Thou hast ordered all things in measure, and number, and weight" (Wisdom 11:22). 
 
"Cracking the Cosmic Code" explores medieval relationships among numbers, events, and works of art. The medieval and Renaissance art on display in this exhibition from the 5th to 17th centuries—including a 15th-century birth platter by Lippo d'Andrea from Florence; a 14th-century panel fragment with courtly scenes from Palace Curiel de los Ajos, Valladolid, Spain; and a 12th-century wall capital from the Monastery at Moutiers-Saint-Jean—reveal numerical patterns as they relate to architecture, literature, gender, and timekeeping. 
 
"There was no realm of thought that was not influenced by the all-consuming belief that all things were celestially ordered, from human life to stones, herbs, and metals," said WCMA Assistant Curator Elizabeth Sandoval, who curated the exhibition. "As Vincent Foster Hopper expounds, numbers were 'fundamental realities, alive with memories and eloquent with meaning.' These artworks tease out numerical patterns and their multiple possible meanings, in relation to gender, literature, and the celestial sphere. 
 
"The exhibition looks back while moving forward: It relies on the collection's strengths in Western medieval Christianity, but points to the future with goals of acquiring works from the global Middle Ages. It also nods to the history of the gallery as a medieval period room at this pivotal time in WCMA's history before the momentous move to a new building," Sandoval said.
 
Cracking the Cosmic Code runs through Dec. 22.
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