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Animal Cruelty Case Continued Without Finding

A local man was given a continuance without a finding after killing a 10-month-old puppy. Coty Dakin, 29, had pleaded an admission to sufficient facts plea to a single county of animal cruelty on March 12. The case was continued without a finding for one year. Police had accused Dakin of crushing the skull of his girlfriend's 10-month old Chihuahua, Chichi, in Lanesborough in 2017.

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Congressman Neal to Speak at MCLA 120th Commencement

In addition, Richard Alcombright, mayor of North Adams for four terms, will receive an honorary doctor of public service degree; and Shirley Edgerton, director of Youth Alive Inc., and cultural proficiency coach for Pittsfield Public Schools, will receive an honorary doctor of humane letters degree.

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Former Royal Cleaners in Pittsfield Now Eyed For Marijuana Business

The former Royal Cleaners is now eyed to be repurposed for marijuana retail, cultivation, and manufacturing company. The Zoning Board of Appeals granted a special permit for EOS Farm LLC. to operate there. The plan is to use the majority of the building for cultivation and manufacturing of marijuana products and then use 600 square feet of frontage for retail.

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North Adams Residents Invited to Meet Police Chief Finalists

Following a national search and preliminary screening of candidates, a police chief search committee convened by the mayor extended invitations to three candidates to interview for the police chief position.

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Mount Greylock Committee Keeps February, April Vacations for 2020

By a unanimous vote, the five committee members present at the special meeting approved a calendar that has the students returning on Sept. 3 with a last day of school — barring any snow days — of Tuesday, June 16.

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Albany Berkshire Ballet Looks Ahead — And Back — in 50th Anniversary Year

In the past, on a weekday afternoon, that studio might very well have been silent. That's because it's only recently that the ballet company — officially celebrating 50 years this year — actually hired these five adults as full-time dancers and pay them a salary to form the base of the company.

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North Adams Elementary Students Get College Experience

Although it was spring break and Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts Students were off last week, class was in session in Venable Hall.

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Berkshire Lightscape Turns Focus To Lighting Up Park Square

Berkshire Lightscapes is honing in on a plan to add lighting to Park Square. The non-profit raised a little more than $100,000 for its plan to add lighting to City Hall, Dunham Mall, and Park Square. The Dunham Mall lights were added in the winter, decorating the walkway with rotating snowflakes, and Park Square is next.

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The Fear of Smell: Pungent Pot Plants Worry Williamstowners

Barstow was part of an overflow crowd at Town Hall as the ZBA heard a petition from Massflora, which wants to develop a cannabis plantation on a 20-acre Blair Road parcel.

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Connecticut Woman Injured in Readsboro Snowmobile Accident

A 34-year-old Connecticut woman was seriously injured Saturday afternoon after losing control of her snowmobile.

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New Incubator Space Opens On Tyler Street

A new incubator space for the Morningside area is now open. The Tyler Street Lab is now open at 730 Tyler Street. The building houses offices of a number of community organizations and serves as a one-stop shop for people to access whatever they need, whether that be business assistance or community services.

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@theMarket: Does the Fed Know Something We Don't?

Sometimes too much good news can be interpreted badly. Take the U.S. central bank's about face on monetary policy late last year. That was good news and investors responded by bidding the stock market up by 20 percent. But this week we may have received even better news, or did we?

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Bohemian Road Opens on Historic Eagle Street

The path for Bohemian Road pointed north as the gift and novelty traveled from Adams to the city's downtown Eagle Street last month.

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North Adams Traffic Commission Advises Raising Parking Permit Rates

The commission in January voted to raise the price in the Center Street lot by $10 but couldn't address the St. Anthony lot because it had not been put on the agenda. On Monday, the commissioners agreed that permits in both lots should cost the same.

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Crane Stationery Reinvesting in Rebranding, Workforce

The owners of Crane Stationery are doubling down on their commitment to the company and to the community by investing $3 million to $4 million in rebranding and growth over the next few years.

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Reilly Pleads Guilty to Misleading Detectives In Ringer Murder Case

An Easthampton woman pleaded guilty on Friday to lying to State Police detectives in a murder investigation. Laura Reilly, 44, pleaded guilty to two counts of misleading police and was sentenced by Judge John Agostini to two to four years at the Massachusetts Correctional Institutional Cedar Junction. The charges relate to the investigation into the alleged homicide of Joanne Ringer of Clarksburg in 2017.

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Cultural Pittsfield This Week: March 22-28

Berkshire Art Association will honor and celebrate Marty Rentz, an extraordinary volunteer leader of BAA and many other cultural initiatives in the Berkshires. The evening begins with a community reception at The Lichtenstein Center for the Arts at 5 p.m. FREE. Donations accepted.

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Questions Abound As Berkshire Mall Closes Again

The Berkshire Mall mysteriously closed for two days, one week after a judge ordered the Berkshire County Sheriff's Office to seize close to $300,000 in assets to pay off a court settlement.

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Adams Brings on Two New Police Officers

The Selectmen unanimously ratified Wednesday the hiring of the two men whom Police Chief Richard Tarsa said will be an asset to the force.

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Williamstown ZBA Continues Hearing on Pot Plantation

Massflora, a subsidiary of Colorado-based Euflora Cannabis Dispensaries, has requested permission for a 5-acre outdoor plantation and 7,000-square-foot building.

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Community Forums Set for North Adams Police Chief Candidates

A search committee has recommended three finalists, including the city's current top officer, to become the police chief for the city of North Adams.

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The Independent Investor: Will Pot Stocks Go Up in Smoke?

Each sub-sector of this marijuana industry has a different profile, profitability, and future. But in the rush to make money, these realities are all but by neophyte speculators. Does that mean that pot stocks will go the way of Bitcoin in a year or two?

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Weather Advisory: Snow, Rain, Wind on the Way

Hope everyone enjoyed Wednesday's blue skies and Thursday's warmer temperatures because a "bomb cyclone" is about to go off.

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Mount Greylock Students Attend Career Fair

From firefighters to financiers, a wide range of options were laid out to Mount Greylock Regional School students on Wednesday morning.

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BCC Restructuring Workforce Development Offerings

Berkshire Community College is restructuring its workforce development arm. The college is currently looking for a new dean who will be in charge of bringing the community education and workforce development programming under the oversight of traditional academic programming. The rest of the staff, minus an administrative assistant, will be let go at the start of the fiscal year and the new dean will determine how the non-credit course work will be administered in the future.
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