Letter: Bond for Mayor

Letter to the Editor07:20PM / Tuesday, October 12, 2021Print Story | Email Story

To the Editor:

I support Lynette Bond as North Adams' next mayor. I trust her experience and personal sensibilities, and believe her leadership would provide a breath of new life to the city.

Lynette Bond has been criticized as not being "from North Adams." This criteria sometimes is seen as between those lifers who "know what North Adams needs" versus those new arrivals having new ideas, new blood, and a vision to make change. I believe Lynette Bond will bring people who have lived here since birth AND those who arrive with the energy, excitement to participate in helping make this small city shine.

Lynette served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Honduras in the business development sector. Her service is a show of the commitment she will bring to our city. I also served in the Peace Corps in the Philippines, and understand how that two-year submersion into another culture makes one a stronger, more resilient, and an understanding person.

I strongly endorse Lynette Bond for mayor of North Adams. She brings the needed skills, passion and a deep connection to our city.

Michael Bedford
North Adams, Mass.

Tags: election 2021, letters to the editor,

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'Into Light': Addressing Addiction One Portrait at a Time

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
08:13AM / Sunday, March 08, 2026

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The "Into Light" exhibit is sketching a new path toward transforming the conversation around addiction — one portrait and story at a time.

Since 2019, the nonprofit's founder Theresa Clower has put on close to 21 exhibitions around the country, sharing the stories of more than 600 people who have lost their lives to addiction.

Now, the installation will be on view at Hotel Downstreet from Friday, March 13, through June 30, featuring 10 portraits of local community members who died from addiction and 20 portraits from the eastern Massachusetts exhibit.

This collaborative effort combines municipal opioid settlement funds and lead sponsor Berkshire Health Systems, in collaboration with the Northern Berkshire Opioid Abatement Collaborative, HEAL Coalition, Berkshire Regional Planning Commission, and North Adams Regional Hospital.

In addition to the installation, the team has developed programs and forums to be held throughout the three months to start a conversation and improve education on the disease.

"The core to our efforts around 'Into Light' is the community education, especially building on people's awareness of addiction as a disease and as a disease that is curable," said Andy Ottoson, BRPC senior public health planner.

Ottoson stressed the importance of treating substance use disorder like any other disease, reducing stigma, and normalizing open conversations around addiction and the resources out there to help recover.

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