Downtown Pittsfield Gets a Spring Cleaning

By Andy McKeeveriBerkshires Staff
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Employees of SABIC took a section spanning from Park Square to South Street as part of the downtown cleanup.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — More than a dozen businesses did some spring cleaning Friday in the downtown.

The annual Downtown Corporate Clean-Up, put on by Downtown Pittsfield Inc., saw its highest number of participants ever with 150 people from 15 companies spending their afternoon cleaning up the city.
 
The companies spread out from Reed Street to Tyler Street and from Center Street to First Street to sweep and pick up trash to get ready for the summer.
 
"It is really to bring the downtown community together," Pittsfield Inc. Executive Director Pamela Tobin said. "It builds a lot of pride in the community."
 
For more than two hours, volunteers  decked out in their own company "uniforms," mulch, protective gear and brooms flocked the downtown streets, cleaning as much as they could. 
 
They returned to the Downtown Pittsfield office, where they were rewarded with donated pizza from Baba Louie's and cookies from Bagels Too.
 
"They clean up a lot. You don't see how much there is until you are in it," said Kristine Hurley, assistant to the director.
 
Hurley said she gave each one of the 150 participants a garbage bag and they all returned with every bag full of debris that had piled up over the winter. 
 
While the volunteers were working, Downtown Pittsfield Inc. member Bob Quattrochi and E.J. LaPointe cruised around in an antique car judging which groups were having the best time, taking the most extreme measures to clean and making the largest impact, among other categories
 

Representatives from Whaling Properties were recognized for having the most fun while they worked.

Awards were presented to the companies for those categories at the following ceremony. The biggest impact went to SABIC for having 68 employees participate. However, Hurley said she was happy to see some smaller businesses join in the effort this year.
 
Friday was the 15th year of what started as spring cleanup by downtown merchants. It has grown to include major employers who are not stationed downtown.
 
"Originally it was downtown merchants and banks, but we're fortunate enough to attract the larger businesses, too," Quattrochi said.
 
Tobin added that businesses want the downtown to look attractive for employee recruitment.
 
A clean slate in the beginning of the summer helps set a precedent to, hopefully, encourage others to keep it clean. 
 
The participants included Baba Louie's, Berkshire Bank, Berkshire Housing Development, Berkshire Young Professionals, Berkshire Regional Transit Authority, Berkshire Community College, Colonial Theatre, General Dynamics, Greylock Federal Credit Union, Live 95.9, Molari Employment & Healthcare Services, the Pittsfield Suns, Preservation Housing Management, SABIC Innovative Plastics and Whaling Properties.

Tags: cleanup,   downtown,   

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Dalton Man Accused of Kidnapping, Shooting Pittsfield Man

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A Dalton man was arrested on Thursday evening after allegedly kidnapping and shooting another man.

Nicholas Lighten, 35, was arraigned in Central Berkshire District Court on Friday on multiple charges including kidnapping with a firearm and armed assault with intent to murder. He was booked in Dalton around 11:45 p.m. the previous night.

There was heavy police presence Thursday night in the area of Lighten's East Housatonic Street home before his arrest.

Shortly before 7 p.m., Dalton dispatch received a call from the Pittsfield Police Department requesting that an officer respond to Berkshire Medical Center. Adrian Mclaughlin of Pittsfield claimed that he was shot in the leg by Lighten after an altercation at the defendants home. Mclaughlin drove himself to the hospital and was treated and released with non-life-threatening injuries. 

"We were told that Lighten told Adrian to go down to his basement, where he told Adrian to get down on his knees and pulled out a chain," the police report reads.

"We were told that throughout the struggle with Lighten, Adrian recalls three gunshots."

Dalton PD was advised that Pittsfield had swabbed Mclaughlin for DNA because he reported biting Lighten. A bite mark was later found on Lighten's shoulder. 

Later that night, the victim reportedly was "certain, very certain" that Lighten was his assailant when shown a photo array at the hospital.

According to Dalton Police, an officer was stationed near Lighten's house in an unmarked vehicle and instructed to call over the radio if he left the residence. The Berkshire County Special Response Team was also contacted.

Lighten was under surveillance at his home from about 7:50 p.m. to about 8:40 p.m. when he left the property in a vehicle with Massachusetts plates. Another officer initiated a high-risk motor vehicle stop with the sergeant and response team just past Mill Street on West Housatonic Street, police said, and traffic was stopped on both sides of the road.

Lighten and a passenger were removed from the vehicle and detained. Police reported finding items including a brass knuckle knife, three shell casings wrapped in a rubber glove, and a pair of rubber gloves on him.

The response team entered Lighten's home at 43 East Housatonic before 9:30 p.m. for a protective sweep and cleared the residence before 9:50 p.m., police said. The residence was secured for crime scene investigators.

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