Return to Normalcy Makes Pittsfield COVID Rates Rise

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A return to normalcy has caused COVID-19 cases to rise in the city but health officials are not alarmed.

During Tuesday's City Council meeting, Director of Public Health Andy Cambi compared metrics from this summer and last summer.  

On Monday the percent positivity rate was 12.5 and the average case rate was 36.1 cases per 100,000. On the same day last year, the percent positivity rate was 2.4 and the average case rate was 11.1 cases per 100,000.

"What we're seeing this summer around is that we did see a slight increase in the daily cases in the couple of months that you had, June and July," he said.

"Nothing that caused concern for me to say, 'OK, we need to reconvene and we need to issue mask mandates or shut down businesses.' I think the difference this summer was we returned to more to normal activities, we had the great Fourth of July parade, we had a lot of gatherings, we had a lot of less restrictive travel."

Cambi added that because of this, the city started seeing "much higher" numbers than in the summer of 2021.  

Though the metrics have increased, patients haven't. There were around 10 hospitalizations this time last summer and that number remains roughly the same. There are currently 13 patients hospitalized at Berkshire Medical Center with the virus.


For the most part, the city has remained in the red incidence rate for transmission since late last year.  There was some reprieve in spring when Pittsfield briefly dropped into the yellow. 

Because the state's Stop the Spread program that provided free PCR tests to everyone was scaled back, people are now testing from home more frequently. Because of this, the city's Biobot sewage testing is said to be the most accurate representation of the virus' prominence.

Last year there were about 92.3 thousand copies per liter of the virus in the sewage and on Monday there were 1.1 million copies per liter.

"I think it's important to take a look at what we're seeing this past couple of days because we've seen a steep incline in the virus concentration that doubled in the copies per liter," Cambi said, adding that residents need to be prepared to take proper precautions if necessary.

He urged eligible residents to get a booster shot for their COVID-19 vaccinations and pointed out that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control created a booster tool to assist in the process.

Cambi also announced that the city has hired Gabrielle DiMassimo as a community health worker who will also help with contact tracing and that the expiration for at-home test kits was extended.


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Dalton Man Accused of Kidnapping, Shooting Pittsfield Man

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A Dalton man was arrested on Thursday evening after allegedly kidnapping and shooting another man.

Nicholas Lighten, 35, was arraigned in Central Berkshire District Court on Friday on multiple charges including kidnapping with a firearm and armed assault with intent to murder. He was booked in Dalton around 11:45 p.m. the previous night.

There was heavy police presence Thursday night in the area of Lighten's East Housatonic Street home before his arrest.

Shortly before 7 p.m., Dalton dispatch received a call from the Pittsfield Police Department requesting that an officer respond to Berkshire Medical Center. Adrian Mclaughlin of Pittsfield claimed that he was shot in the leg by Lighten after an altercation at the defendants home. Mclaughlin drove himself to the hospital and was treated and released with non-life-threatening injuries. 

"We were told that Lighten told Adrian to go down to his basement, where he told Adrian to get down on his knees and pulled out a chain," the police report reads.

"We were told that throughout the struggle with Lighten, Adrian recalls three gunshots."

Dalton PD was advised that Pittsfield had swabbed Mclaughlin for DNA because he reported biting Lighten. A bite mark was later found on Lighten's shoulder. 

Later that night, the victim reportedly was "certain, very certain" that Lighten was his assailant when shown a photo array at the hospital.

According to Dalton Police, an officer was stationed near Lighten's house in an unmarked vehicle and instructed to call over the radio if he left the residence. The Berkshire County Special Response Team was also contacted.

Lighten was under surveillance at his home from about 7:50 p.m. to about 8:40 p.m. when he left the property in a vehicle with Massachusetts plates. Another officer initiated a high-risk motor vehicle stop with the sergeant and response team just past Mill Street on West Housatonic Street, police said, and traffic was stopped on both sides of the road.

Lighten and a passenger were removed from the vehicle and detained. Police reported finding items including a brass knuckle knife, three shell casings wrapped in a rubber glove, and a pair of rubber gloves on him.

The response team entered Lighten's home at 43 East Housatonic before 9:30 p.m. for a protective sweep and cleared the residence before 9:50 p.m., police said. The residence was secured for crime scene investigators.

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