NORTH ADAMS - Bowing to pressure from fans and lawmakers, the National Football League has decided to broadcast Saturday's New England Patriots game to a wider audience.
The Patriots are expected to end the season with a unbeaten record. If they're the victors in Saturday's showdown with the New York Giants, they'll finish up 16-0, the first team to do so since the Miami Dolphins in 1972.
In what The Associated Press described as "a major concession," the league announced Wednesday that the NFL Network game will be simulcast on NBC and CBS.
It will be the first three-network simulcast in NFL history and the first of any NFL game since the first Super Bowl in 1967, according to The AP report.
The game was to be aired only over the fledgling NFL Network and in the Boston metro area over WCVB-TV Channel 5. That had fans without access to the channels up in arms.
A number of lawmakers, including U.S. Sens. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., called on NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to be more flexible in scheduling the broadcast to allow more fans to see the game.
Kerry estimated the game would be blacked out for some 250,000 fans in Western Mass. Leahy took Goodell to task for not understanding New England, not just Boston, was the team's primary market.
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Kerry's Complaint
According to league rules, games can only be shown on local stations in teams' primary markets. WCVB-TV had bid for the rights to show the Pats last game of the regular season, but station officials said last week that did not include areas outside the metro area.
Time Warner Cable of Albany, N.Y., which covers the Berkshires, did not immediately return a phone call on Wednesday on whether the game would be available on Channel 5 here.
The NFL and the cable companies have been at loggerheads over how the new network would be carried. While it's available in some satellite TV sports packages, Time Warner does not carry it and Comcast offers it as part of a higher-tier package.
Goodell had rejected a requests to simulcast the game on the broadcast networks; Kerry and Leahy threatened to call for Senate hearings about the proliferation of premium sports networks and anti-trust issues.
"We have taken this extraordinary step because it is in the best interest of our fans," Goodell said in a statement. "What we have seen for the past year is a very strong consumer demand for NFL Network. We appreciate CBS and NBC delivering the NFL Network telecast on Saturday night to the broad audience that deserves to see this potentially historic game. Our commitment to the NFL Network is stronger than ever."
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Lanesborough Town Meeting to Vote Budget, Bylaws & Vehicle Purchases
By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — Tuesday's annual town meeting includes a $14 million operating budget, new short-term rentals, accessory dwelling units and sign bylaws, and free cash article appropriations.
Voters will gather at Lanesborough Elementary School on June 9 at 6 p.m. to decide on 20 warrant articles.
The fiscal 2027 budget is up a little over 10 percent. Some of the main increases are the Mount Greylock Regional School District and McCann Technical School: the McCann assessment is up more than 30 percent based on factors including enrollment and the school renovation project, and Mount Greylock's is up 11 percent.
Article 11 is for the town to vote to approve from free cash the sum of $16,298.48 for the McCann Technical School roof and window replacement project so as not to impact the budget. Article 3 is appropriate $7,586,284 for Mount Greylock Regional School assessment.
Another notable increase was in life and health insurance, showing an increase of about 26 percent.
Ambulance Director Jen Weber is planning 24-hour coverage, which means more staff and a hike in her budget. One of the articles asks the town to appropriate $234,100 to operate the Ambulance Enterprise Fund for salaries and expenses.
Many town departments are looking for new vehicles. The Fire Department is looking to replace its outdated 1996 fire engine. There are two articles related to the truck at a total of $813,366. Article 12 would transfer $225,000 from free cash into the Fire Truck Stabilization Fund; Article 13 would transfer $605,000 from the fund and authorize the borrowing of $208,366.08.
The total includes a $100,000 contingency cost to cover any additional costs if a 2026 model-year chassis cannot be secured before new emissions standards go into effect in 2027.
The board at its last meeting moved the $225,000 transfer to come before the borrowing article, changing the stabilization number. If the $225,000 is not voted on, then they will amend the next article's number on the floor, subtracting the $225,000. This shows the borrowing number significantly lower.
Article 17 asks for the transfer of $80,000 from free cash to replace a police cruiser.
Police Chief Rob Derksen's aim is to replace one vehicle every other year, meaning the oldest vehicle gets replaced about every 10 years.
He stressed that if delayed this year, the town may have to double up in a future year to get back on schedule, and that paying later usually costs more. The article will ask for $80,000 from free cash, the vehicles used to be funded by the BHRD.
Lastly, the Highway Department is looking to replace a 2014 International dump truck that will be a total of $330,000 and will take two to three years to receive.
Money will be used from last year's approval of $250,000 from free cash for the replacement of a 2012 highway front-end loader that was underspent $49,261. Town meeting is being asked to approve a transfer of $53,274.85 from free cash and the use of $227,464 from funds from the Sale of Town Real Estate to fund the balance.
Other free cash proposals include $1,200 to purchase software to support tracking and ongoing maintenance schedules of town-owned vehicles; $42,000 for the replacement of the Highway Department's storage shed roof, $200,000 to reduce the tax levy.
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