St. Stanislaus School benefit, 9 to 4 in Kolbe Hall, Adams. Bake sale, snack bar, games, Chinese auctions, money raffle, crafts, and pierogi.
Blackinton Union Church, 1373 Massachusetts Ave., North Adams; 10 to 2. Crafts table, bake sale, Chinese auction, the Christmas table, and kid's grab bag. Lunch $4, $2 kids.
First Congregational Church, North Adams, 9-2.
Nov. 28 Becket Federated Church, Route 8, holiday bazaar from 9-3. Lunch, crafts, baked goods, holiday and other items. Information: Mary Peltier, Parish House, 413-623-5217.
Dec. 5
Holiday Fair at First Congregational Church, 25 Park Place, Lee, from 10 to 3; handcrafted items, raffles, children's shop, bake sale, cut Christmas trees and lunch from 11 to 1. Includes angel-themed goods from SERRV. Information, 413-243-1033 or www.ucc-lee.org.
Dec. 12-13
North Adams Country Club, crafts 9-4; food from That's a Wrap from 11-2. Information: Sheryl Morehouse at 413-822-3329.
Planning a bazaar this season? Submit information to info@iberkshires.com to have it listed here.
We're trying out blogs to offer shorter, easy-to-find news. Let us know what you think.
Send press releases and announcements to info@iberkshires.com. Need to contact someone at iBerkshires? Here's how.
Mammography Dispute The government's issued controversial new guidelines stating that women shouldn't get annual mammograms until age 50, rather than age 40.
iBerkshires will be meeting with local medical experts Monday. Have a question you'd like answered on this issue? Send it info@iberkshires.com with "mammogram" in the subject line.
Pignatelli Bill Would Exempt Towns, Cities from Gas Tax
Staff 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.
