Berkshire Benchmarks Releases State of the County Update

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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. 

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Car Crashes Into Main Street Home in Lenox

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

The Fire Department an ambulance responded to the incident but no one was hurt; traffic was slowed but not detoured. 

LENOX, Mass. — A sport utility vehicle veered off Main Street, traveled through some greenery, and struck the front of a historical home on Friday afternoon, toppling its porch pillar.

No injuries were reported, and the cause is unknown and under investigation. The house at 73 Main St., will need repairs to its front step, and the vehicle, a Lexus crossover,  incurred serious damage to its front end. 

Around 12:30 p.m., the Police and Fire departments received a call for a car into a building, with someone trapped in the vehicle. Upon arrival, they saw that the driver couldn't get out of the car because the driver's door was pressed against the house. 

"The driver was unhurt. He was actually able to crawl over the center console and sit in the passenger seat when we got here," Fire Chief Robert Casucci said a little after 1 p.m. 

"Unhurt, refused treatment or transport to the hospital. We're basically just standing by until the car is removed from the building." 

He reported that the Lexus did come into contact with another vehicle on the road, but there were no injuries from the incident.

Main Street remained open during the investigation and removal of the Lexus. Casucci said traffic slowed a little with congestion from first responder vehicles, but was moving again pretty quickly. 

"Just typical Friday afternoon traffic at Lenox," he said. 

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