Explosives At Cole Field; Williams College Students Involved

By Susan Bush10:34AM / Friday, April 20, 2007Print Story | Email Story

Williamstown - Three Williams College students described by police as "thrillseekers" will be summonsed to appear at the Northern Berkshire District Court on several charges after college security officers discovered a homemade bomb had been assembled and ignited at a southwest corner of Cole Field.

The discovery was made on April 15, according to information released by town police.

Police said they are seeking charges of possession of an infernal machine and disorderly conduct against the students. The names of the three students are not being released, said police and college officials. Kolesar declined to specify whether the students involved were first-, second-, third-, or fourth-year students.

According to information released to the media by police, "[the students] intent was not to cause damage or injury but to pursue their curiosity about such a device."

Police said that they were called by college security officers at 12:42 a.m. on Sunday, and upon investigation, found evidence that a "homemade explosive device" had been assembled at the field. The bomb was ignited but it failed to burn or explode, police said. Police said the area was remote and well away from any buildings.

The investigation was conducted by town police, members of the Massachusetts State Police, agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and college safety and security officers. Police emphasized that the three students were cooperative during the investigation.

Police released information about the incident at 9 a.m. today.

Williams College officials expected to release a statement about the incident at the same time but have encountered technical difficulties with that release.

The statement will be released as soon as possible, said college Director of Public Affairs James Kolesar.

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if it was one of our childred that did this,their picture would be on the front page of the newspaper,,but if its a college student -all is quiet
from: dan	on: 04-20-2007 12:00AM I Agree (0) - I Disagree (0)

Why the delay in releasing the information?
from: Jean	on: 04-20-2007 12:00AM I Agree (0) - I Disagree (0)

I hope that this is treated seriously and not just as a prank. In light of everything that has happened recently, we need to be sending a message to everyone that the handling of guns and explosives especially in an area where are kids play is not tolerated. I look forward to seeing what the college and our law enforcement agencies do with this.
from: Bob	on: 04-20-2007 12:00AM I Agree (0) - I Disagree (0)

I attend BCC. Just the other day there was a threat written on a bathroom stall and the entire campus was evacuated immediately... over a threat! I think Williams College AND the police treated the situation too lightly. Not only that, those 3 students were probably making a test bomb to be sure that when they did decide to blow up the school it would at least work.
from: Anonymous	on: 04-21-2007 12:00AM I Agree (0) - I Disagree (0)

Apparently â€œanonymousâ€ didnâ€™t read the entire article. It clearly said Williamstown Police had already located a device, versus Pittsfield authorities who were looking for a mechanism, one that could have been placed anywhere on the BCC campus, therefore, forcing the shutdown of the campus. I would also contest the assertion by â€œanonymousâ€ that college & police officials treated the situation â€œtoo lightly.â€ Apparently the contact of the Massachusetts State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation still does not comfort â€œanonymousâ€ on how the incident was handled. I donâ€™t recall the F.B.I. in Pittsfieldâ€™s bomb scare? Hats off to all who participated in this incident and a job well done.
from: Tom	on: 04-22-2007 12:00AM I Agree (0) - I Disagree (0)

Williamstown Board Hears Concerns About 'Hometown Heroes' Banners

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
05:32AM / Wednesday, September 16, 2026

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Kurt Durocher told the Williamstown Select Board that he had received nothing but positive feedback from the North County communities where he proposed participation in the Hometown Heroes banner program.

Then Williamstown residents started to weigh in.

Durocher was before the board Monday evening to seek its blessing to put banners recognizing living and deceased military veterans on utility poles in Williamstown, an initiative that has been embraced in all but one of the other municipalities in the district where he serves as Veterans' Service Officer.

"The only negative I've had right now, and it's not really negative, [the Town of ] Florida doesn't want banners to go on Route 2, the Mohawk Trail, for safety reasons, understandably," Durocher said. "So we're trying to figure out an alternate way to make that work in Florida."

By and large, though, the reception to the program has been encouraging, Durocher said.

"I'll use Adams as an example," he said. "They've had a program for many, many years, but it's only for [military personnel] killed in action. Now that I've been allowed to take over that program … there's been a huge outpouring of support, because now we get living veterans on the poles as well.

"The only negative I've had is certain people want their banners in certain locations. So what we did in North Adams is we just did a random draw. I can't please everybody. I've got people who want a banner in a certain location, but three other people want that same location.It was a straight random draw for them."

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