Carr Hardware Donates PPE to Berkshire Schools

Tuesday, Carr Hardware representatives made the rounds and delivered PPE to three local school districts: North Adams Public Schools, Lee Public Schools and Pittsfield Public Schools.

Downtown Pittsfield Uses Shared Streets Grant to Improve Outdoor Dining

The city of Pittsfield is using money from its Shared Streets and Spaces Grant Program to welcome more options for outdoor dining in the downtown. Commissioner of Public Utilities Ricardo Morales explained that the grant has two aspects, which include enhanced mobility and place making.

Great Barrington 'Riled' by Think Tank Declaration on COVID-19

In a communication sent to iBerkshires, town leaders say Great Barrington has strived to be a safe community from the transmission of the novel coronavirus and that the "Great Barrington Declaration" from the American Institute for Economic Research is undermining that.

North Adams School See No Spread of COVID-19

Superintendent Barbara Malkas last week said the single positive case was limited to a classroom and adjacent bathrooms, all of which were sanitized, and that everyone in contact with the individual was informed.

Clarksburg Sets Halloween Hours; Buildings to Reopen in November

The Select Board set the hours for 5:30 to 7 p.m. and are recommending the "GHOST" protocol outlined by North Adams two weeks ago for the city's observances.

Local Officials Question State's Color-Coding on COVID-19 Map

Steven Miller, a Williams College mathematics professor and member of the Mount Greylock Regional School Committee, has long been critical of the red-yellow-green-gray system the Department of Public Health created this summer to categorize municipalities.

Millennials' Transmission Seen as Driving State’s COVID-19 Uptick

Gov. Charlie Baker on Tuesday declined to characterize the commonwealth as being at the start of a "second wave" of COVID-19 transmission.

SVMC: COVID-19 Update Oct. 9

Adams-Cheshire Schools Enter Phase 3 of Reopening Plan

Superintendent Aaron Dean told the School Committee on Monday that Grades 1 through 4 and Grade 8 have returned to school in the hybrid model.

Williamstown Developing Guidelines for Healthy Halloween

Town Manager Jason Hoch presented to the board a draft of the guidelines he plans to bring to the Select Board for its consideration at its Oct. 14 meeting.

North Adams Schools Report First Case of COVID-19

According to a letter sent to parents and staff, Superintendent Barbara Malkas said the school system "recently received information" of a confirmed case of the novel coronavirus.

Adams Sets Halloween Protocol

The town will bring a trick-or-treat to the kids of Adams this year, and town vehicles will drive through each precinct to distribute candy.

UPDATE: Williamstown Moves to Gray; No Change Triggered for Mount Greylock Schools

Families in the Mount Greylock Regional School District will be keeping a close eye on the latest release of the commonwealth's community COVID-19 ranking model on Wednesday evening.

Pittsfield Sets Halloween Hours; Discourages Trick-or-Treating

In a press release released by the city Wednesday morning, Mayor Linda Tyer discouraged residents from trick or treating this Halloween but provided some guidelines for those who wished to partake anyways.

Governor Says Halloween Is a Go

Berkshire communities are determining how they will deal with door-to-door to distribution of candy. North Adams is holding trick-or-treat and issued a list of cautions; some towns are considering a central outdoor location or limiting hours.

Hoosac Valley Suspends Fall Athletic Competitions

According to the press release, on Sept. 14, HVRSD stakeholders made the decision to suspend all interscholastic athletic competitions for the fall 2020 season.

Pittsfield Downtown Experimenting With 'Pod' Dining

In partnership with Berkshire Bank, Downtown Pittsfield Inc., and nonprofit green energy organization SolarFi, three of SolarFi's patented Prive pods will be installed for the use of local restaurants.

'Airborne Transmission, Prayer Flags for the Pandemic' Installed Along Hoosic River

Martin's public art installation consists of 200 surgical style face masks sewn to white cotton flags that are visually activated by passing airflow. Each flag is “socially isolated" in individual panels of the fence along the Hoosic River in River Street Park.

BRPC Supporting Measure to Create Comprehensive Health Districts

Laura Kittross, public health program manager for the commission, explained at Thursday's meeting of the Executive Commission that the bill if passed would accelerate the recommendations released last year after a two-year study of local and regional public health.

Baker Easing Occupancy Levels for Low-Risk Communities

Communities considered "low risk" for transmission of the novel coronavirus are those that record eight or fewer positive cases per 100,000 residents per week. The state's tracking map records those municipalities as gray, green or yellow, levels that most Berkshire communities have been at for weeks.

Pittsfield Public Schools Announce Transition Plans for In-Person Learning

The Pittsfield Public Schools released a press release Tuesday morning outlining their in-person transition plan that will first return grades PreK, Kindergarten, 1, 2, 6, and 9 on Wednesday, Oct. 14.

Mount Greylock School Committee Gets Report on Start of School Year

The School Committee last Thursday heard that things are going as well as can be expected as the PreK-12 district re-invents the way it teaches students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Clarksburg Moving to Next Phase in School Reopening

Beginning Monday, Oct. 5, Grades 1 through 5 will attend in person all day, Monday through Friday. Kindergarten and Grades 6 to 8 will go half-days in school and half-days remote, also Monday through Friday, with two cohorts switching between mornings and afternoons.

Mount Greylock Tapping Reserves to Cover High Cost of COVID-19 Expenses

Business Manager Joe Bergeron laid out the known budget impacts and talked about some of the costs still to come, and the price tag is steep: $680,000 at the moment.

Former Leaders of Soldiers' Home Charged with Negligence

The investigation launched in April, which included Medicaid fraud team investigators, spoke with more than 90 family members of veterans and others who called into the attorney general's office.