Berkshire Benchmarks Releases State of the County Update

Print Story | Email Story
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Berkshire Benchmarks data team recently released a State of the County Update for 2023. 
 
This brief report builds on the Berkshire Benchmarks State of the County Report published in May 2022 and highlights notable changes in regional indicators over the past year. The berkshirebenchmarks.org website has also been updated to reflect the most current available data. 
 
The purpose of the Benchmarks initiative and report is to highlight the region's successes and challenges.
 
The 2022 Berkshire Benchmarks State of the County report provided a comprehensive overview of our region's performance across eight sectors: Economy, Education, Environment, Government, Health, Housing, Social Environment, and Transportation.  
 
In the future, the Berkshire Benchmarks team will continue to monitor these and other indicators to aid with the regional understanding of changes in these sectors and whether the work happening throughout the region is having the intended impact. 
 
Berkshire Benchmarks is a collaborative initiative managed through Berkshire Regional Planning Commission (BRPC). Our sources are publicly available data, including the U.S. Census Bureau, the American Community Survey, various Massachusetts data sets, and periodic surveys of Berkshire County residents. 
 
Berkshire Benchmarks aims to work with the community to understand priorities and help inform the region on how we are doing and if we are improving. Berkshire Benchmarks enhances the region's access to quality data and analysis. 

Tags: BRPC,   

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Parole Granted to Pittsfield Man Sentenced for Killing Toddler Son

Staff Reports
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A city man serving a life sentence for killing his 2-year-old son 43 years ago has been granted parole. 
 
According to the Boston Globe, the Parole Board on Monday voted to release Richard N. Mayes Jr., 78, to a halfway house.
 
Mayes was charged with beating his son to death in 1983 when he wouldn't eat. The child, Lawrence Richon, had received blows to his head, body, arms and legs. Mayes also told police he'd hit his son four times with a plastic baseball bat. 
 
According to media reports at the time, Mayes tried to resuscitate Lawrence when he later collapsed and cried to police that he did it when arrested. 
 
The boy was taken by life flight to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, where he died from blood clots in his head. 
 
Mayes was found guilty of second-degree murder by a Superior Court jury and sentenced to life in state prison.
 
According to the Globe, Mayes had been denied parole five times previously but told the board he had been sober for three decades and had not had a disciplinary report in a dozen years. 
 
View Full Story

More Pittsfield Stories