Dalton Cable Advisory Commission Recommends Attorney

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
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DALTON, Mass. — The Cable Advisory Commission continued its efforts in negotiating a new contract with Charter Communications during its meeting on Monday evening. 
 
During the meeting, the commissioners spoke to attorney William Solomon over the phone, during which they reiterated some of their priorities during the negotiation process. 
 
These priorities include adding to the contract a 5 percent gross revenue, capital funds, funding for fiber optic cables to enhance connections, and updated equipment needed to handle this upgrade. 
 
The commission voted to recommend hiring Solomon for the negotiations. Although Solomon does not usually charge less than $225 an hour he agreed to charge the town $200 an hour for his service because he enjoys the work. 
 
Solomon has worked for other cities and towns in Massachusetts on contracts and negotiations for cable contracts.  
 
The last time the town had a contract was in 1997 with Time Warner Cable, which was purchased by Spectrum in 2016. 
 
The 1997 contract requires that Time Warner Cable give the Dalton Community Cable Association 5 percent of the gross revenue, which is used as the operating budget 
 
In the new contract with Charter Communications, commissioners urged the need to retain this percentage.
 
Commissioners and station manager Michael Sinopoli urged the need for new equipment as the current equipment is outdated. They also requested that upgrading to high definition be included in the contract. 
 
The fact that the association is on its current coaxial cabling could be problematic because of the possible quality of the signal and high cost of upgrading, Solomon said. 
 
They would also like to have added to the contract a requirement of Charter Communications providing Dalton Community Cable Association a contact person to expedite troubleshooting. 
 
Solomon will be sending the legal services agreement draft to the town manager and commission Chair Rachel Branch. 
 
He is going to create an outline of the issues based on the commission's discussion and will also set up an additional two meetings to discuss their needs and interests. 

Tags: cable television,   spectrum,   

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Companion Corner: Fox at Berkshire Humane Society

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — There's a sweet and energetic dog at the Berkshire Humane Society waiting for his new family.

iBerkshire's Companion Corner is a weekly series spotlighting an animal in our local shelters that is ready to find a home.

Fox is a 3-year-old Pomeranian who has been at the shelter for about a month.

Canine caregiver and adoption counselor Simone Olivieri told us about Fox. 

"He's a bundle of joy. He would love a family who's home with him a lot, because he's just, he's very social and wants to be with his people a lot. And he would be fun to bring out and about, bring a lot of places, because he's very happy to go anywhere," she said.

When Fox enters the room he is immediately a puffball of energy that goes around and around the room.

He came to the shelter after his former owner could not take care of him anymore. 

"The owner was just not able to care for him anymore. Had he came in with another dog, Wolf, and she already did find her forever home just last week," said Olivieri. "The two of them were left with a friend of the original owner, and the owner did not come back to pick them up, and the friend had too many animals in the house, and too much going on, and she just couldn't continue to look after them, so they did end up coming to us."

Fox can go home with cats and children but is not recommended to go home with other dogs as he gets too excited.

"He would love a home where people are home quite a bit to give him all the attention that he so desires. He loves kids. He absolutely adores children. So he would like a home with kids to play with. He could live with cats. We are saying that he should not live with other dogs. The only reason is that he gets very humpy, and he does not leave the other dogs alone," she said.

With his energy it is recommended he goes to a home that can keep him active whether walks or hikes and even fetch in the yard.

Fox does need to learn more about walking on a leash and has a tendency to mark in the house but he was recently neutered. Olivieri said belly bands will be sent home with whoever adopts him to help prevent marking and managing it.

"He would like an active home. He really does like to go for walks daily. He likes to run around in the yard. He does need a little work on leash walking. He sometimes gets a little tangled still under your feet, and he's learning how to walk on a leash," she said. "So, someone who's got some patience and some time to work on some training with him."

"He also is not fully potty trained, so he does know to go potty outside. However, he will still mark, urinate in the house sometimes, and he might poop here and there in the house."

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