North Adams Children's Parade Winners Announced

Benjamin Wiessner is congratulated by Mayor Thomas Bernard after winning first place in the individual costume category. See more photos from the parade here. 

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — There was a great turnout for the annual Children's Parade on Friday evening with almost all the participants incorporating this year's Fall Foliage Festival Parade theme of "The Year of the Dog."

• First: "Pucker Up for the Pitbull in the Pagoda" with Carmela Reynolds, Wyatt Reynolds, Silas Cellana, Sawyer Cellana,and Jersey the pitbull
• Second: "10 Cent Dog Bath" with Taia Byers, Evelyn Byers, Addison Stanley, Georgia Rose Wright
• Third: "All Dogs go To Heaven," First Baptist Church of North Adams, with Abby Anderson, Michelle Wood, Ryan Braman, Norah Wood, Samuel Braman, Maddy Sigsbury, Mason Wood, Izzy Spoener, Lexi Girard, Ariana

• First: Hot Dogs with Otto Lamb, Judah Rodgers, Zeke Rodgers
• Second: Black Dogs of the Berkshires with Jenaya McCue, Terese McCue, Greyson McCue, Nicolas McCue and Olive the dog
• Third: UCP as "Dogs that Made Reading Fun!" with Neraeh Tron, Jaelyn Trong, Kaylee Trong, Riley Trong, Chloe Ellis

• First: Benjamin Wiessner as the dog walker
• Second: Ramona Miksic as canine superstar Bolt
• Third: Gianna Briggs as a dog

Cost, Access to NBCTC High Among Concerns North Berkshire Residents

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
06:15PM / Thursday, April 25, 2024

Adams Select Chair Christine Hoyt, NBCTC Executive Director David Fabiano and William Solomon, the attorney representing the four communities, talk after the session. 

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Public access channels should be supported and made more available to the public — and not be subject to a charge.

 

More than three dozen community members in-person and online attended the public hearing  Wednesday on public access and service from Spectrum/Charter Communications. The session at City Hall was held for residents in Adams, Cheshire, Clarksburg and North Adams to express their concerns to Spectrum ahead of another 10-year contract that starts in October.

 

Listening via Zoom but not speaking was Jennifer Young, director state government affairs at Charter.

 

One speaker after another conveyed how critical local access television is to the community and emphasized the need for affordable and reliable services, particularly for vulnerable populations like the elderly. 

 

"I don't know if everybody else feels the same way but they have a monopoly," said Clarksburg resident David Emery. "They control everything we do because there's nobody else to go to. You're stuck with with them."

 

Public access television, like the 30-year-old Northern Berkshire Community Television, is funded by cable television companies through franchise fees, member fees, grants and contributions.

 

Spectrum is the only cable provider in the region and while residents can shift to satellite providers or streaming, Northern Berkshire Community Television is not available on those alternatives and they may not be easy for some to navigate. For instance, the Spectrum app is available on smart televisions but it doesn't include PEG, the public, educational and governmental channels provided by NBCTC.