C-SPAN to Broadcast BCC Speech by Sen. Warren

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U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren

PITTSFIELD, Mass. – C-SPAN will tape and air U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren's keynote speech at Berkshire Community College's 55th commencement Exercises on Friday at Tanglewood in Lenox.

Warren was elected to the Senate in 2012 and is recognized as one of the nation's top experts on bankruptcy and the financial pressures facing middle class families. She has introduced the Bank on Students Emergency Loan Refinancing Act, which, if passed, would allow borrowers to refinance their public and/or private student loans at lower interest rates.

"We are pleased that C-SPAN selected Senator Elizabeth Warren's keynote speech at Berkshire Community College's commencement ceremony to feature as part of its programming. The BCC community is very excited to hear her remarks and we are grateful to have her speech reach the public on a national scale," said BCC President Ellen Kennedy.

In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, Warren was chairman of the Congressional Oversight Panel created to oversee the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). She later was assistant to the president and special adviser to the secretary of the Treasury for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under President Barack Obama.


Warren was a law professor for more than 30 years, including nearly 20 years as the Leo Gottlieb Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. She has written more than a 100 articles and 10 books, including three national best-sellers. TIME Magazine twice named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world and in 2010 called her a "New Sheriff of Wall Street."

The speech will be aired on C-SPAN at a later date. It will also be available in the video section of C-SPAN's website. To view C-SPAN's Commencement Series, visit www.cspan.org/search and enter "commencement" in the search tool.

Pittsfield Community Television will also air BCC's Commencement in its entirety. For more information, visit .

BCC's 55th commencement will be held beginning at 4:30 p.m. at Tanglewood. The event is open to the public and no tickets are required.


Tags: BCC,   graduation 2015,   public television,   

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MassDOT Project Will Affect Traffic Near BMC

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Prepare for traffic impacts around Berkshire Medical Center through May for a state Department of Transportation project to improve situations and intersections on North Street and First Street.

Because of this, traffic will be reduced to one lane of travel on First Street (U.S. Route 7) and North Street between Burbank Street and Abbott Street from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday through at least May 6.

BMC and Medical Arts Complex parking areas remain open and detours may be in place at certain times. The city will provide additional updates on changes to traffic patterns in the area as construction progresses.

The project has been a few years in the making, with a public hearing dating back to 2021. It aims to increase safety for all modes of transportation and improve intersection operation.

It consists of intersection widening and signalization improvements at First and Tyler streets, the conversion of North Street between Tyler and Stoddard Avenue to serve one-way southbound traffic only, intersection improvements at Charles Street and North Street, intersection improvements at Springside Avenue and North Street, and the construction of a roundabout at the intersection of First Street, North Street, Stoddard Avenue, and the Berkshire Medical Center entrance.

Work also includes the construction of 5-foot bike lanes and 5-foot sidewalks with ADA-compliant curb ramps.  

Last year, the City Council approved multiple orders for the state project: five orders of takings for intersection and signal improvements at First Street and North Street. 

The total amount identified for permanent and temporary takings is $397,200, with $200,000 allocated by the council and the additional monies coming from carryover Chapter 90 funding. The state Transportation Improvement Plan is paying for the project and the city is responsible for 20 percent of the design cost and rights-of-way takings.

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