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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 |
Election
Trying to remember who won what and why? All the information is right here. |
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. |
What's Playing
The popular anime character "Astro Boy" searches for acceptance on the big screen.
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ObituariesSales FliersBazaarsNov. 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. |
Related Stories |
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Pignatelli Bill Would Exempt Towns, Cities from Gas TaxStaff reports
iBerkshires
07:03PM / Tuesday, January 27, 2009
BOSTON — A proposal being floated around Beacon Hill to raise gasoline taxes by 29 cents a gallon has communities across the state fuming.
Lawmakers in the eastern end of the state are mulling the increase, which would hike the state gas tax to 50 cents, to offset a proposal to do away with the tolls along the Massachusetts Turnpike, harbor tunnels and the Tobin Bridge. That would mean not only higher taxes for residents but for towns and cities as well.
State Rep. William "Smitty" Pignatelli filed a bill this week to shield municipalities and state agencies from not only the increase but from any state gas tax.
"In a time of drastic cuts in local aid and of towns scrambling to find ways to make ends meet, it is imperative that we do all we can to help towns and agencies survive these tumultuous times," said the Lenox Democrat.
Bay State towns and cities have been complaining for decades about being double-taxed when it comes to gasoline. While the U.S. government exempts states and municipalities from paying the federal levy, Massachusetts doesn't.
"If the governor and the Legislature really wanted to do something for local communities under the so-called Municipal Partnership Act" they would look at the gas tax, Williamstown Town Manager Peter Fohlin told the Selectmen on Monday night. "Every city and town in the commonwealth feels as though we should be exempted from the gasoline tax."
Residents not only have to pay the tax every time they're at the pump, they pay again every time a town truck or vehicle fills up, he said, speculating more Williamstown drivers would head to Bennington, Vt., for gas.
Pignatelli expressed his disagreement with the gas tax last fall; the issue has become even more important, he said, with the impending $128 million cut to local aid proposed by Gov. Deval Patrick.
"It sends the wrong message," he told The Pittsfield Gazette in November. "We have been subsidizing the Big Dig for too long."
Tolls pay for repair and maintenance of the MassPike and the multibillion-dollar, trouble-plagued Central Artery Project, better known as the Big Dig. Proponents say the tax could bring in $1.6 billion annually for road and bridge projects, including the Pike and Big Dig. |
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