Town meeting should reject Article 41 because sexual orientation, color of skin, health and wellness, gender, environmental issues and changes in the meaning of English words (including the word rainbow) are not well-represented by a flag in any community.
Work in the community to make the American flag ensure inclusivity, support, a sense of belonging, respect for others and acceptance among human beings who have the right to live with dignity.
If this flag is added to the three now recognized we could ask: Where does it end? The American flag represents the hope we all have for our community.
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Williamstown Board of Health Backs Plastic Bag Amendment, Biosolids Bylaw
By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Board of Health on Monday unanimously recommended the annual town meeting approve articles that would amend the town's existing plastic bag ordinance and ban the land application of materials derived from sewage sludge.
Stephanie Boyd, author of Article 19 on the town meeting warrant to prevent the use of biosolids as soil amendments, and Susan Abrams, author of Article 20 on the reduction of single-use bags, each addressed the board at its monthly meeting.
The biosolid and plastic bag bylaws are two of three that were placed on the warrant for the May 19 meeting by way of citizens' petition.
Earlier this month, the Select Board voted to recommend town meeting approve two of the three: the biosolids bylaw and one that would ban the use of second generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs). But the elected board declined to recommend passage of the article that seeks to amend a 2015 bylaw on single-use bags, finding that it needed more time to evaluate the complicated article.
On Monday, Abrams acknowledged its lack of clarity.
"The way I wrote the article was very confusing," Abrams said. "What this petition actually is is a very small change to the town's existing plastic bag regulation passed in 2015. When towns were doing that, there were a lot of loopholes and exceptions because people were nervous about the idea of doing this.
"Ten years later, we've discovered that, A) people are doing well with it, the communities are thriving and, in fact, some of the loopholes, as discovered by [the California Public Interest Research Group] in a 2024 study, one loophole which allows thicker plastic bags as considered 'reusable' bag — they're not getting reused and, in fact, are increasing the amount of plastic waste."
The revised bylaw would simply limit retail establishments to providing a "recycled paper bag," a "reusable carryout bag" or a "reusable or recyclable paper product bag."
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Students got to showcase their art at the Clark Art Institute depicting their relationship with the Earth in the time of climate change. click for more
The 100th annual meeting will be held on March 10, 2027, the Community Chest's birthday (there will be cake, he promised) and a gala will be held at the Clark Art Institute on Sept. 25, 2027.
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