Letter: Bilal for Williamstown Select Board

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To the Editor:

I am writing to urge Williamstown voters to elect Bilal Ansari to the Williamstown Select Board on Tuesday, May 10. Dr. Ansari has dedicated himself to a life of service, to helping people resolve difficult situations. He listens intently and responds carefully with compassion. He appeals to our best nature. These are essential skills needed at this moment in our town.

Dr. Ansari does not believe that he alone has the solutions to all of the challenges facing our town. Instead, he wants to hear from those comfortable speaking up and also those who, until now, have not felt comfortable nor heard at all. He believes it will take a village to share concerns and work together to make Williamstown a better place for everyone to live and work and grow. But making that happen takes a special type of skilled leadership.

Bilal Ansari is the candidate blessed with that skilled leadership and a stake in our town's quality of life. He has deep roots in this town: his ancestors lived and worked here. He is committed to an approach based in kindness and inclusion. He is the candidate who can and will help us reach a new, inclusive and more equitable chapter in our town's history.

I ask for your vote on May 10 for Bilal Ansari for the Williamstown Select Board. Thank you.

 

Hugh L Guilderson, Ph.D.
Williamstown, Mass.

 

 

 


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Firefighters Make Progress Against Wildfire on New York/Massachusetts Border

Staff Reports
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — New York officials Tuesday morning reported significant progress overnight in battling a wildfire on the Massachusetts state line, with hopes of total containment as early as tonight.
 
"Containment right now is about 70 percent contained," N.Y. Department of Environmental Conservation Lt. Eric Stratton said during a news conference telecast by Springfield, Mass., television station WWLP. "We do anticipate by the end of the day shift today … we should be between 90 and 100 percent contained if all goes according to plan."
 
Stratton and Rensselaer County (N.Y.) Director of Public Safety Jay Wilson met with the media and fielded questions about the fire, which currently affects 251 acres and has spread over the state line into Williamstown.
 
"We had a night crew working all night long, and they were able to do a lot of good work," Stratton said. "The [relative humidities] recovered nicely, so that decreased fire behavior. 
 
"We reinforced some [fire] line, put in a new line. We are now at 251 acres."
 
Stratton explained that the strategy for battling the fire involves establishing a control line around the blaze and setting fire between the control line and the wildfire to consume fuel the wildfire would need to spread.
 
Stratton said that as of mid-morning Tuesday, 119 fire personnel from New York and Massachusetts were involved with the effort to extinguish the blaze.
 
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