BEAT Staying Connected Initiative Coordinator Mikael Cejtin, left, and Executive Director Jane Winn show off their locally-made stewardship awards, presented by Patricia Cramer, director of the Wildlife Connectivity Institute.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire Environmental Action Team received a stewardship award for its work protecting and re-connecting wildlife habitats in the Berkshire Wildlife Linkage area.
The award was presented June at the International Conference on Ecology and Transportation.
The local environmental organization's habitat effort is part of a larger Staying Connected Initiative: a partnership of many conservation organizations that work together to maintain landscape connectivity across the Northern Appalachians in the Acadian Region of the United States and Canada.
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DA Provides Updates on 4 Pittsfield Summer Shootings
By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
PITTSFIELD, Mass.— District Attorney Timothy Shugrue delivered updates on a string of gun violence incidents over the summer and said even one is too much.
"This summer was extremely upsetting to people living in Pittsfield and our entire Berkshire community. While we live in a safe community, it is always disheartening to hear these gunshots. In the past four years, there has been a remarkable reduction in gun violence," he said during a press conference at the Berkshire DA's office on Thursday.
"Since January 2023, there has been a 62 percent reduction of validated shootings in the City of Pittsfield."
There were four separate incidents involving gunfire in Pittsfield this past summer. Some suspects were charged, and some are still being sought by police.
On June 18, a person died after being shot in the area of Tyler Street and Pleasure Avenue, and another person was injured. Following an extensive investigation, the Pittsfield Police Department applied for and was granted an arrest warrant for Terry Martizna, wanted for murder.
Shugrue reported that his office is working with various authorities, including federal, to secure Martizna's return to the Berkshires. He said he was involved the whole weekend of the incident after being "immediately" contacted by the PPD.
"My office was on notice, and we continued to work with them throughout the night. I can tell you that they worked all night long; they never stopped working. I was really pleased with the amount of effort that was going into it, and by the next day, we had a pretty good clue of where we were going. But the amount of surveillance that they had to go through was incredible, and it was just commendable," he added.
"The amount of support we got from the community, from the Pittsfield residents, and from the work that these officers put in all weekend long, they were able to identify certain locations where this individual was, and that continued all the way in through Monday morning. By that Saturday, I was informed that we had a suspect that we were just producing the probable cause reports, and that was all which led to the warrant coming out."
There were four separate incidents involving gunfire in Pittsfield this past summer. Police charged some suspects, and they are still seeking others. click for more
In envisioning a new campus, in addition to the school's population and construction, planners are considering another access road for better traffic flow, a modern library program, and whether there will be an auditorium.
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The Parks Commission recently approved the Christmas tree-lighting ceremony for Wednesday, Dec. 2, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., in Park Square.
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For the next month, thousands of drivers commuting past Park Square will be hard-pressed to miss the hundreds of American flags filling the downtown landmark as part of the Rotary Club Park of Honor. click for more
The standout was organized by Indivisible Pittsfield, and accompanied by a demonstration the previous day and another on election day at the Woodlawn Avenue rotary.
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