Berkshire Museum Appoints New Staff Members

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PITTSFIELD - Berkshire Museum has appointed Scott LaGreca as natural science coordinator, Craig Langlois as public program coordinator, and Kimberly Rawson as director of communications.

Scott LaGreca is an active research scientist who specializes in the study of lichens. As natural science coordinator, LaGreca will assist with the long-term care and conservation of Berkshire Museum’s natural science collections, the daily care of living collections, and the development and implementation of natural science programming and exhibitions. For the past four years he has served as curator of lichens at The Natural History Museum in London, United Kingdom. LaGreca was also the manager of the Cryptogamic Herbarium at The Natural History Museum from 2006 to 2007, and was a curatorial/research associate for six years at the Farlow Herbarium at Harvard University. LaGreca has held a number of academic internships, including one in the Botany Department at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. In addition to his Berkshire Museum appointment, LaGreca is an honorary scientific associate at Harvard University and the New York State Museum, Albany. He holds a B.S. from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in botany from Duke University.

As coordinator of Berkshire Museum’s public programs, Craig Langlois will develop, implement, and lead exhibition-related programs for children and adults, and will oversee programming for performances in the museum’s theater and the Little Cinema film series. Langlois was formerly coordinator of public programs and a museum educator for The Heckscher Museum of Art in Huntington, New York, and a professor of visual arts at Long Island University.

Langlois has lectured and instructed in the ceramics and fine arts fields since 2004. His artwork is included in numerous collections and has been shown in a variety of group exhibitions in museums and galleries in New York. Langlois holds a B.A. and an M.F.A. from Long Island University.

As head of communications, Rawson will direct Berkshire Museum’s identity, public relations, design, marketing, Web site, and visitor services. Prior to her appointment at Berkshire Museum, Rawson served as associate director for marketing and communications at Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, where she was employed for nine years. At Norman Rockwell Museum, Rawson was integral in the critical reappraisal of American illustrator Norman Rockwell and oversaw the implementation of the museum’s new visual identity and branding campaign. As project manager and creative director of numerous museum publications, including its Web site, she garnered 29 national and regional awards, including six first-place awards earlier this year.

Rawson’s previous positions include director of marketing and public relations for Academy-Award winning visual effects company Mass Illusions; director of film development and producer for Imax Ridefilm; and public relations director for The Trumbull Company, headed by Academy Award-winning visual effects innovator Douglas Trumbull. Rawson serves on the marketing committee for Berkshire Visitors Bureau and on the Pittsfield Contemporary arts collaborative.  She is a native of Berkshire County and is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Williams College.
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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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