PCTV: Healthy Eating Matters

09:17AM / Tuesday, May 23, 2023Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Pittsfield Community Television (PCTV) has partnered with Berkshire Health System's Operation Better Start and the BHS Berkshire North WIC program to produce a community service television episode of Healthy Eating Matters.

Healthy Eating Matters harnesses the services of Berkshire Health System's Operation Better Start, a pediatric and family nutrition program, with Berkshire North WIC, and Pittsfield Community Television to meet the needs of mothers and infants. Funded by a grant from Health New England, the Healthy Eating Matters show presents two segments designed to assist WIC families as they shop and prepare meals with WIC-eligible foods.

In the shopping segment, the WIC community coordinator accompanies a current WIC client through the supermarket highlighting healthy foods and how to shop using the Massachusetts WIC app on a smartphone. In the cooking session, a registered dietitian from Operation Better Start hosts the WIC staff and client as they prepare several quick and healthy breakfast foods using WIC-eligible foods.

PCTV provided their kitchen studio, professional television equipment and expert staff members for pre-production, recording and post-production. The Healthy Eating Matters show will be broadcast on PCTV and available on demand. Healthy Eating Matters will be posted on the Berkshire Health System's Operation Better Start and WIC websites.

Tags: BHS, BMC, PCTV,

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Pittsfield Wants People to Know Where Free Public Wifi Is

By Brittany PolitoiBerkhshires Staff
04:46AM / Friday, September 18, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city wants it to be clear where people can connect to free public wifi— which expands beyond downtown.

On Tuesday, the Parks Commission approved "Free Wifi" signage at The Common, Riverway Park, and Durant Park. Community members can access the internet without charge in these locations, as well as in downtown areas.

Two years ago, Pittsfield received a $99,972 Digital Equity Implementation Grant from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative. This allowed the city to take a comprehensive look at digital equity and determine where to focus attention.

"That was a lengthy process that we worked on, and there was a lot of public input. We did some surveying. We met with a lot of focus groups; [Berkshire Regional Planning Commission] was the group that spearheaded that for us, and one of the things that came up was the lack of accessible wifi," Director of Community Development Justine Dodds reported. "Particularly in the westside."

Throughout this process, residents also wanted to see connectivity at the nearby Westside Riverway Park.

In 2023, Pittsfield was selected to participate in the Municipal Digital Equity Planning Program launched by the state and MBI, focused on ensuring residents can use the internet to conduct day-to-day activities. A digital equity plan also qualifies Pittsfield for additional grant funding.

Around 16,000 city households qualified for the Federal Communications Commission's affordable internet program that ended in 2024.

Dodds said adding Wi-FI and signage to Durant and Riverway Parks is a small piece of the larger digital equity project. Signage is already downtown, and the city plans to hire the same designer for the expanded wayfinding so it is cohesive.

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