Williamstown Police Support New Station Plans

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Town police officers gathered at Monday night's Board of Selectmen meeting to show their united support for the proposed renovations to their current police faciliites.

With renewed discussion about the possible new police station on the agenda, several members of the force showed up to back the town's decision to move forward with considerations.

"We're behind [Chief Kyle Johnson] and the town 100 percent," said Officer Michael Ziemba.

At the June 25th meeting, Selectmen authorized Town Manager Peter Fohlin to pursue a state grant to fund the construction of a new police station. The proposed station would be built onto the west side of the current Municipal Building on North Street and would include an enclosed sally port for unloading prisoners. The grant, intended for use in financing the repair, renovation and construction of municipal police stations, made $2 million available statewide.

Neither Fohlin nor the Selectmen expect to receive much for the project. Applying for the grant, however, is a step in the right direction.

"This is work that gets the ball rolling," said Chairman David Rempell.

Chief Johnson and former Chief Joseph Zoito explained the need to update the current 40-year old facility. Johnson said the building doesn't meet federal requirements for Americans with Disabilities Act, the cells aren't up to code and the few rooms are crowded with equipment. He offered tours of the facility to any interested party, but added that it "probably wouldn't take very long."

"A modern facility would improve the working environment for everyone,"said Rempell.

Sgt. Scott McGowan said the most challenging part of working in the outdated facility is the location of the main entrance and the close proximity of prisoners to the general public.

"It's in the same area that the public does general police business," McGowan said. "It's one of the most important safety issues."

"It's commonsensical. When someone is being incarcerated, privacy is most necessary," said Rempell.

Both the Police Department and the Selectmen are eager to pursue future opportunities to fund the creation of a new station.

"The police do their job efficiently — in a way, quietly — and people don't realize the needs they have right here," said Richard C. Steege.

School Committee Appointment

With the resignation of Sally White from the Mount Greylock Regional High School Committee, five town residents are vying for the empty seat.

Selectmen heard presentations from hopefuls Laura Jones Kobrin and Jonathan Krant, who shared differing views on the role of the seven-member committee.

With the school facing financial woes and decreasing enrollment, the two candidates were asked to pose suggestions to these ongoing problems.

"I don't have any quick solutions for Greylock," said Jones Kobrin. "Sometimes you have to make some hard decisions and live with them."

Jones Kobrin said she had no specific agenda for Mount Greylock. Instead, she felt the need to give back to her community. She said she was prepared to work hard with a commitment to serving and an enthusiasm to help.

"I'm certainly not all-knowing, but the word on the street is that the school is not up to the standards that it had been at one time and that's why some parents aren't sending their children to Mount Greylock," she said. "Why is this happening and what can we do to fix it?"

Krant suggested a collaboration of the high school and community resources to help ease the tension the committee is facing.

"How do we utilize existing resources in the community to make meaningful education?" he asked. "In an era of diminishing resources, we need to ensure a quality education."

Krant said he didn't exactly know how he would facilitate change, but he did say he had the passion to find out.

We need people of talent and industry and ability to discover Williamstown," he said. "I don't yet have the insight, but I do have the vision."

Selectmen will select a committee member at the June 23 meeting.

Other Business Rempell, Steege, Jane B. Allen and Ronald Turbin also unanimously approved a $285,664.64 water and sewer warrant. Selectman Tom Costley was absent.

Williamstown Yarn Store Bringing the Hobby Closer to Home

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
05:13AM / Monday, June 15, 2026

Gather sources some of its yarn from regional producers. 

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — If you knit, crochet, or want to pick up a new hobby with yarn, a new space is open to get your supplies.

On March 18, owners and friends Ashley Cart and Geraldine Shen opened Gather on Spring Street.

The two teach knitting classes at Williams College and thought it would be great to bring their hobby to life.

"We have always been avid knitters, and we've spent a lot of time together doing that, and find it to be for ourselves like this really wonderfully calming hobby," Shen said.

Shen said they see many people starting to take up the hobby and thought it would be great to open in location convenient for students and to give them a space to curate their work.

"We're finding a lot of interest amongst people to learn how to knit. Young people who want to get off their screens, find something that they can do with their hands, and so we have always talked about, like, wouldn't it be cool to one day do this," Shen said.

Shen said there aren't many options to buy yarn in the area, and often they're a long drive away. While they opened an online shop before finding a storefront, they recognized that for some knitters buying, online was not ideal.

"Yarn is one of those things that you do, at least the first time, want to see it in person, and like touch it, and look at it against your skin, or you know, color combinations, if you knit or crochet, just like to squeeze the yarn, and feel how squishy and soft it is, and so it is one of those things that you can't just easily buy online," she said.

Their new space is at 57 Spring St. on the third floor. An elevator at the Bank Street entrance can be taken straight to their door, it is especially readily accessible to the college students.

"We've sort of been working with Williams students, and we wanted to be accessible to them, because we really feel as though there's a renewed interest in this craft from younger folks, and that it can be a really good thing for them, and so we wanted to make it easy for Williams students to access the store, and they don't all have cars, they don't all leave campus much, so being on Spring Street was important to us," Shen said.

The store offers a variety of yarn and supplies, and a sit and stitch room where anyone can come in and hang out and work on their projects with others.

They buy yarn from local producers and offer other products as well.

"When people come through, like tourists and stuff, often they ask us what can you get here that you can't get anywhere else," said Shen. "So we have some yarns from local farms, we have some handspun by a local artist who's based in Lanesborough, we've got yarn from this woman who dyes it up in Brattleboro [Vt.], and so we're trying to highlight some of the really cool farms that we have around here."

One of the main opportunities they hope to expand on is being able to go into schools and teach children how to knit. They recently were awarded a grant to teach WIlliamstown Elementary School  fourth graders how to knit. Each child was able to make a square and Shen and Cart put all of the squares together and it is now hanging in their space when you walk in.

"We want to go into more schools and teach kids how to knit, because there's some really cool research that talks about, like, the benefits of teaching younger children how to knit. It helps them concentrate, it helps them calm down, and gives them a sense of accomplishment," Shen said.