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Williamstown Lacking Candidates for May Election

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — With two weeks left to submit completed nomination papers for May's town election, just two individuals have taken out papers for the six seats that will be on that ballot.
 
Town Clerk Nicole Beverly reported Monday morning that only incumbent Andy Hogeland has taken out papers for one of two seats on the Select Board that will be decided in the May 9 election.
 
In the race to fill one year of an unexpired term on the Planning Board, only Benjamin Greenfield has taken out papers.
 
Neither potential candidate had yet returned papers by Monday morning with the required signatures to get a spot on the ballot.
 
In addition to the two three-year seats on the Select Board and the one-year seat on the Planning Board, the town election will have a full five-year seat on the Planning Board and two three-year seats on the Milne Library Board of Trustees on the ballot.
 
Nomination papers were released on Feb. 6 and are due back with the required signatures by 5 p.m. Tuesday, March 21.
 
Candidates need to secure at least 31 signatures of registered voters to earn a spot on the ballot. Beverly suggests that candidates aim for more signatures in case some cannot be verified by the Board of Registrars.

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New Ashford Fire Department Puts New Truck into Service

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff

New Ashford Fire Department Chaplain J.D. Hebert gives an invocation on Saturday morning.
NEW ASHFORD, Mass. — With a blessing from its chaplain and a ceremonial dousing from a fire hose, the New Ashford Volunteer Fire Department on Saturday christened its first new apparatus in two decades.
 
The company purchased a 2003 HME Central States pumper from the town of Pelham earlier this year.
 
On Saturday, the department held a brief ceremony during which Chaplain J.D. Hebert blessed both the new engine and the company's turnout gear.
 
After the apparatus was sprayed with a hose, a handful of New Ashford's bravest helped push it as it was backed into the station on Ingraham Road.
 
Fire Chief Frank Speth said the new engine has a 1,500 gallon pump and carries 1,000 gallons of water. And it replaces a truck that was facing some costly repairs to keep on the road.
 
"We had a 1991 Spartan," Speth said. "When we had the pump tested, it needed about $40,000 worth of repairs. Being it's almost 30 years old, I said to the town, 'We put the $40,000 in, but then how many more years can we get out of it?'
 
"Once you get into the pump situation, you get into, 'This needs to be done, and this needs to be done,' and it could be more than $40,000. So do we want to spend that amount of money to repair that engine or get something that will replace it."
 
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