The Berkshire County Historical Society will host its annual Craft and Tag Sale at Herman Melville's Arrowheadfrom 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fine crafts and gently
used household goods will be spread out under the big trees on the south lawn.
Regular house tours will be offered at the usual schedule and prices. The museum shop will be well-stocked with books, t-shirts, and gifts.
Shire Mountain Ramble presents a concert with popular local band Whiskey Treaty Roadshow and very special guest Annie Guthrie. Bousquet Ski Area, 101 Dan Fox Drive. 9 p.m.
Berkshire Humane Society, at 214 Barker Road, invites you to find out more about this program for youths ages 14-20. There will be hands-on stations and information on how to join this fun and interactive program. The Explorer's Post is part of the Learning for Life program of the Boy Scouts of America and is open to all youth interested in animals and animal care. 6-7 p.m.
Dash and Splash will feature an all-new course this year! This wet and fun run begins at 9 a.m. at the First Street Common. The first 100 registered runners will receive a technical shirt. This criterium-style running course will consist of 6 laps of approximately .5 mile each (just under 3 miles total) and there will be three water obstacles each lap, so you will get wet!
Join Berkshire Opera Festival as they launch their inaugural season with a new production of Puccini's masterpiece Madama Butterfly. This timeless love story, featuring heartbreakingly beautiful music sung by a world-class cast and played by a full orchestra, will be performed at the Colonial Theatre on Saturday, Aug. 27, Tuesday, Aug. 30 and Friday, Sept. 2 at 7:30 p.m.
Madama Butterfly tells the story of a young geisha who has just married an American naval officer. Her love for him is enormous, but when he returns to America, he marries another woman. She clings to the hope that he will return, but soon must face the truth of his betrayal.
August 27, 6:30-7 p.m.: Opera talk about Madama Butterfly, presented by Cori Ellison, dramaturg of Glyndebourne Festival Opera. Free for all ticket holders.
Explore the Berkshire Museum's galleries and aquarium for free all day long! For the eighth consecutive year, the Highland Street Foundation's "Free Fun Fridays," a summer program that provides no cost admission to 70 cultural institutions throughout Massachusetts, will provide free entry from 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Senator Elizabeth Warren will make a new presentation on how the playing field got tilted against America's middle class, and what we can do to fight back. She will be debuting this talk at Berkshire Community College's Robert Boland Theatre beginning at 11:30 a.m. Doors will open at 11 a.m. and seating is first come, first served.
Pittsfield's city-owned community arts center, the Lichtenstein Center for the Arts, features nine working artist studios, a ceramics studio, a community room and an art gallery with changing exhibitions, classes, performances + more!
28 Renne Ave. | Wed-Sat, 11-4
Jazz Visions
Now - August 27
This exhibit features jazz performances depicted through watercolor paintings by Marguerite Bride and photography by Lee Everett.
This exhibit will showcase the final designs of five writing studios that will be constructed in Pittsfield in 2017 as the backbone of a new writers' residency program in the city. The Mastheads project recognizes Pittsfield's legacy of writers of the American Renaissance, including Melville, Hawthorne, Thoreau, Longfellow, and Oliver Wendell Holmes, while providing a platform for new voices to engage with the contemporary city through the written word. This exhibition will focus on the innovative construction techniques of the writing studios, which will be composed of panelized cross-laminated timber, such that they can be re-installed each summer to appear at new sites across the city for years to come. The studios and exhibition are designed by architects Chris Parkinson and Tessa Kelly.
The exhibition runs September 2 (opens during First Fridays Artswalk) through October 1 with the opening reception taking place Friday, September 23 at 6 pm.
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State Fire Marshal: New Tracking Tool Identifies 50 Lithium-Ion Battery Fires
STOW, Mass. — The Massachusetts Department of Fire Services' new tool for tracking lithium-ion battery fires has helped to identify 50 such incidents in the past six months, more than double the annual average detected by a national fire data reporting system, said State Fire Marshal Jon M. Davine.
The Department of Fire Services launched its Lithium-Ion Battery Fire Investigative Checklist on Oct. 13, 2023. It immediately went into use by the State Police Fire & Explosion Investigation Unit assigned to the State Fire Marshal's office, and local fire departments were urged to adopt it as well.
Developed by the DFS Fire Safety Division, the checklist can be used by fire investigators to gather basic information about fires in which lithium-ion batteries played a part. That information is then entered into a database to identify patterns and trends.
"We knew anecdotally that lithium-ion batteries were involved in more fires than the existing data suggested," said State Fire Marshal Davine. "In just the past six months, investigators using this simple checklist have revealed many more incidents than we've seen in prior years."
Prior to the checklist, the state's fire service relied on battery fire data reported to the Massachusetts Fire Incident Reporting System (MFIRS), a state-level tool that mirrors and feeds into the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS). NFIRS tracks battery fires but does not specifically gather data on the types of batteries involved. Some fields do not require the detailed information that Massachusetts officials were seeking, and some fires may be coded according to the type of device involved rather than the type of battery. Moreover, MFIRS reports sometimes take weeks or months to be completed and uploaded.
"Investigators using the Lithium-Ion Battery Fire Checklist are getting us better data faster," said State Fire Marshal Davine. "The tool is helpful, but the people using it are the key to its success."
From 2019 to 2023, an average of 19.4 lithium-ion battery fires per year were reported to MFIRS – less than half the number identified by investigators using the checklist over the past six months. The increase since last fall could be due to the growing number of consumer devices powered by these batteries, increased attention by local fire investigators, or other factors, State Fire Marshal Davine said. For example, fires that started with another item but impinged upon a battery-powered device, causing it to go into thermal runaway, might not be categorized as a battery fire in MFIRS or NFIRS.
Albert Ingegni III was applauded for four decades of service on the Zoning Board of Appeals during City Council. Mayor Peter Marchetti presented him with a certificate of thanks for his commitment to the community.
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Between disagreements about site design and a formal funding process not yet established, more time is needed before a decision can be made.
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The Ordinances and Rules subcommittee on Monday unanimously supported a pay raise for election workers, free downtown parking for veterans, and safeguards to better protect wetlands.
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A parking study of North Street will be presented at Tuesday's City Council meeting. The design maintains parallel parking while expanding pedestrian zones and adding protected bike lanes. click for more