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Sunday November 8, 2009
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Sports


High School Football
Hoosac Valley beats Drury in Saturday action. More photos on Monday
Thursday, Nov. 06

Boys' Soccer: State Vocational Championship Game
McCann Tech 3, Keefe Tech 2

Girls' Soccer: State Vocational Championship Game
Blackstone Valley 8, McCann Tech 0
Fall Basketball Clinics

What's Playing


Milla Jovovich vs. alien abduction in "The Fourth Kind." What more do you need to know?


'Michael Jackson's This Is It': But It Is Always There
Movie schedules and times

Daily Digest


This is Jake
He's been lost in Pittsfield for weeks but frequently sited. He was last seen heading toward the fire station on Peck's Road. He's tired, dirty and needs seizure medication. He's chipped. If you see him, call Julie at 413-537-5616, the vet 24/7 at 413-499-2820 or animal control at 413-448-9700.
How Much is Heating Oil this Week?
It's breaking $2.50 but still cheaper than gas.
Thanks to Gabriella Bond for sharing her memories of the Quincy Street house torn down last week.
Send press releases and announcements to info@iberkshires.com. Need to contact someone at iBerkshires? Here's how.

Election

Barrett Reflects on Accomplishments with Capital News 9
Alcombright's Victory Speech

Which election's more important?
Pittsfield
North Adams
Neither, nothing will change
  
pollcode.com free polls

Trying to remember who won what and why? All the information is right here.

Obituaries

Milton E. Pharr, 75
Alice R. Filiault, 87
Lucille Burt, 92
Ellen E. McCarthy, 98
More obituaries
Mary M. Hanlon, 82
George F. Sarrouf, 73

Sales Fliers

 
 

 

Bazaars

Nov. 14

Berkshire Community Church, Richmond
10-4; Crafters, bake sale. Contact Evelyn Goggia at 413-445-5747

Lanesborough Elementary School annual Fall Craft Fair from 10 to 4. Free admission, huge variety of arts and crafts, raffles, food and more. Proceeds go to sixth-grade trip to Cape Cod.

Vendors can contact Deb at 413-738-5349 or debhutton@aol.com or Lori at 413-499-0065 or lorittod@yahoo.com to secure a spot.

Dec. 12-13

North Adams Country Club, crafts 9-4; food from That's a Wrap from 11-2. Contact Sheryl Morehouse at 413-822-3329.

Planning a bazaar this season? Submit information to info@iberkshires.com to have it listed here.

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State Board OKs $20M in Life Science Grants

By Catherine Williams
08:30PM / Thursday, October 25, 2007

State House News Service

BOSTON - One of the state's most promising industries got a boost Thursday as officials approved $20.2 million in funds for life sciences initiatives and announced plans to hire a health care industry policy veteran.

Movement on the state's fledgling life sciences initiative signals a kick-start for Gov. Deval Patrick's 5-month-old proposal to pump $1 billion of state funds into the Bay State's life sciences industry over the next 10 years.

Massachusetts is in a race with other states - including Connecticut and California - that have already doled out state funds to life sciences initiatives and that threaten to pull Bay State talent away.

"I am very cognizant of that threat," said Daniel O'Connell, secretary of the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, during a meeting of the state's five-member Massachusetts Life Sciences Center board. "We don't have to match [California] dollar for dollar but we have to show we are committed."

The board of the state's emerging quasi-public life sciences agency approved $12 million in research grants and $8.2 million to further two
University of Massachusetts stem-cell initiatives.

The Life Sciences Center plans to launch three, three-year grant programs by Dec. 2, said Patrick Larkin, deputy director at the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative. The grants, worth up to $250,000 annually, are
available to individual researchers, universities and industry, he said.

"The objective of these programs is to receive as many competitive applications as we can," said Larkin.

In addition, the board voted to approve $7.7 million for one year toward the establishment of a stem-cell bank at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester.

University officials hope that researchers from across the globe will agree to store stem-cell lines at the planned UMass central repository.
Harvard University and Children's Hospital of Boston have already pledged to store stem-cell lines at the bank, according to state officials.

UMass will also receive $570,000 to establish a stem-cell registry designed to establish a Web-based, searchable library listing of available stem cell lines for researchers.

The board also approved plans to staff up the center while it conducts a national search for a new executive director.

Board members voted to authorize O'Connell, who is also the chairman of the Life Sciences Center board, to hire Melissa Walsh, an associate at Partners HealthCare, as the center's new chief of staff. O'Connell is in the midst of negotiations on Walsh's salary and start date, said Kofi Jones, spokesman for the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development.

The executive director's post remains open since Aaron D'Elia, a Mitt Romney appointee, resigned earlier this year. Representatives from recruiting consultants Russell Reynolds Associates, which was hired by
the board earlier this year, said they plan to meet with potential executive director candidates next month.

O'Connell said it will be "several months" before an executive director is hired.

Life-sciences industry supporters, including members of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council who attended today's meeting, hope the state funding will attract federal research funding while sprouting biotechnology companies and creating jobs.

Kevin Casey, senior director of federal and state relations at Harvard University, said the combination of the grants, the stem-cell bank and
the stem-cell registry will make Massachusetts a "scientific tourist spot."

But there are a few roadblocks. Lawmakers in Connecticut and California have the same idea and began handing out state-sponsored life sciences grants earlier this year.

"This is [Massachusetts'] the life-science moment. The amount of money being distributed by other states is extensive," said Michael Collins, chancellor of UMass Medical School.

Hearing Set
Bay State lawmakers have yet to move on a $1 billion life sciences bill introduced by the governor in July. The bill is sitting in the Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies, which is co-chaired by Rep. Daniel Bosley, D-North Adams, and Sen. Jack Hart, D-Boston. A public hearing on the bill is planned next week.

House lawmakers are looking to move on the bill "as quickly as possible," said David Guarino, spokesman for House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, D-Boston. "We're looking at making a significant investment in the life sciences industry but we're also looking beyond that," he told the News Service.

The center was established as part of a 2006 economic stimulus law. The center is overseen by a board of directors that includes UMass President Jack Wilson and Jay Gonzales, undersecretary for administration and finance.
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