Lanesborough Opts Out of Early Voting By Mail

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — Voters will not be able to cast ballots early by mail but can they can still request an absentee ballot for the town election.

Last week, Clerk Ruth Knysh asked the Select Board to opt out of early voting by mail for municipal elections. Her request came after the state expanded access last year.

"An act passed to allow early voting by mail for local elections. It used to be just state and federal," she said. "So my thought on that is it's not in my budget, it's a lot of extra work added on me. I'm only one person in there."

Knysh explained that all of the mail-in ballots would have to be opened and processed by herself before being checked against signatures in the state computer.

"It's a process and the local elections are not well participated in," she said. "I'm just worried that if that is an option to vote by mail, we're going to get hundreds of people that don't typically vote wanting to vote by mail because they can."

The Select Board accepted the request, understanding the nature of Knysh's concern. The board also approved her request to have a police officer at the polling location for every election to "preserve order and protect the election officers." This also is now required by the state.

So far, incumbent Michael Murphy is being challenged by Barbara Davis-Hassan and Deborah Maynard for a three-year seat on the Select Board. 

Pittsfield Powers Past Dalton-Hinsdale Behind Home Run Barrage

By Ben McDonoughFor iBerkshires.com Sports
09:05PM / Thursday, July 02, 2026

DALTON, Mass. – The Pittsfield Little League 12U All-Stars rode a powerful offensive performance and dominant pitching to a 12-4 victory over Dalton-Hinsdale in the Don Gleason District 1 Tournament opener for both teams on Thursday.

 

Dalton-Hinsdale struck first in the opening inning. Graylan Milano worked a leadoff walk and quickly moved into scoring position with aggressive baserunning before Tye Shove lined an RBI single to give Dalton-Hinsdale an early 1-0 advantage. Shove and Tony Zaniboni each swiped bases to keep the pressure on, but Pittsfield starter Hector Reyes-Colon settled in, getting a strikeout and a groundout to limit any further damage.

 

Pittsfield answered immediately, and did so in emphatic fashion.

 

Leading off the bottom of the first, Myles Morrison-Gould launched a solo home run to tie the game. Mason Fox followed with a single and stole second before Sean Rozak ripped a two-run double into the gap, giving Pittsfield a 3-1 lead after one inning.

 

 

Dalton-Hinsdale scratched across another run in the second after a hit batter, a walk, and aggressive baserunning, but Pittsfield’s offense continued to surge in the bottom half. Rozak reached and eventually scored before Chase Albano delivered an RBI double. Brody Hamilton then blasted a two-run homer, and Morrison-Gould followed with his second long ball of the evening, extending Pittsfield’s lead to 7-2.

 

Dalton-Hinsdale showed plenty of fight in the third. Milano singled and Parker Demarsh reached before Shove drove home both runners with a clutch two-run double to trim the deficit to 7-4. Reyes-Colon responded by recording another strikeout to end the inning and prevent further damage.

 

Pittsfield’s pitching staff took control from there.