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News & Notes: Ruberto Proposing Budget CutsBy Larry Kratka
Berkshire News Network
09:02AM / Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Mayor Ruberto Preparing Budget Cuts
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — North Adams Mayor John Barrett III has already proposed several budgets because of the souring economy and it looks like the city of Pittsfield will be next.
Pittsfield Mayor James Ruberto will propose nearly $1 million budget cuts to the City Council at Tuesday night's meeting but the details were not released. The city is expecting a shortfall of some $750,000 becuase of declind revenues.
Ruberto said the cuts will affect the entire municipal operating budget and virtually every department will feel cuts. He spent time meeting with department heads last week and have advised them to prepare for the coming reductions.
Pittsfield Trash Collection Shifted for Holiday
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Pittsfield Department of Public Works wants to remind city residents there will be no curbside trash and recycling collection on Thanksgiving Day, thus the collection schedule will be shifted by one day.
Trash normally collected on Thursday will be collected on Friday and trash normally collected on Friday will be collected on Saturday. The regular collection schedule will resume on Monday. Meanwhile, Berkshire Regional Transit Authority officials are reminding Berkshire residents that regular bus service will not be provided on Thanksgiving Day but will resume at 5:45 a.m. on Friday morning. The BRTA offices will also be closed on Thursday but reopen Friday morning at 8.
Gas Prices Continue to Tumble
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Gasoline prices continue to fall faster then we can report them but it's nice to be able to report falling gasoline prices.
Take Northern Berkshire County for instance. Monday morning's prices were just under $2 a gallon when we went on the air and by mid-afternoon, one gas station in Adams had dropped its price for regular gasoline to $1.89. Not to be outdone, gas stations in North Adams dropped their prices to $1.93 to $1.95 a gallon.
Pittsfield gas stations also got into the act Monday but didn't drop prices as deep as North County stations did. By Monday afternoon, many gas stations in Pittsfield had dropped their price for regular gasoline to just under the $2 mark ... but not my much.
Windsor Man Arraigned on Multiple Charges
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A 32-year-old Windsor man was arraigned Monday in Berkshire Superior Court on a long list of charges. Joseph C. Racicot had not-guilty pleas entered on his behalf on one 16 counts of larceny over $250, 23 counts of larceny under $250 — and the list goes on and on — including a single count of operating a motor vehicle without a license.
The incidents are alleged to have occurred in Windsor, Dalton, Pittsfield and Stockbridge between Oct. 1, 2007, and May 6, 2008. He was eventually released on a $1,000 bail. The investigation was conducted by members of the state police Berkshire Detective Unit, the Dalton, Windsor and Pittsfield police department, and the U.S. Postal inspector's office.
Sales at Ski Areas Ahead of Last Year
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The dramatic economic downturn has forced many Massachusetts residents to scrap plans to travel to big ski resorts out West and focus their passion for skiing closer to home.
Many local ski areas say they're seeing a dramatic spike in early sales of discounted season passes, a key indicator of the success of the upcoming ski season. Sales at Bousquet Ski Area are 20 percent ahead of the previous year and demand for overnight stays at Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort in Hancock rose by nearly 25 percent over last year.
The unseasonably cold temperatures last week helped snowmaking operations, allowing several ski areas to open for business over the weekend. Tuesday's rain won't harm the manmade base of snow created last week, they say. |
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