News & Notes: Fire Damages N.A. Home; Museum Offers Free Entry
Fire Damages North Adams Home Photo by Paul Guillotte
A North Adams home was severely damaged in a fire Wednesday. |
North Adams fire officials said they got word of the blaze just after 6 a.m. and made quick work of gaining control of the fire. Still, the house suffered $150,000 dollars worth of damage. Owner Guy Button had left for work at about 5:30 a.m., when neighbor Dick Belini noticed the fire from his home. He woke Margaret Button, city editor for the North Adams Transcript, and her son, David, 18, who were both still asleep, and then called the Fire Department.
The cause of the fire had not been determined Wednesday and is under investigation by the state fire marshal.
Motor Vehicle Owners See New Forms At RMV Offices
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Owners of motor vehicles in the Berkshires and throughout the state will be seeing some new registration forms at their Registry of Motor Vehicle offices.
The RMV is printing registrations on plain white paper in the latest effort to save money. Registry officials announced that starting Wednesday, registrations will no longer be printed on perforated card stock, which they say costs $50,000 a year.
Printing the documents on plain paper will also eliminate the need for ordering and maintaining card stock at RMV branches and reduce the need for additional printers. Currently, processing both license and registration transactions requires two different printers. The Registry says it will take at least two years for the old forms to cycle out. Until then, both old and new forms are considered valid RMV documents.
Berkshire Museum Puts Out The Welcome Mat During May
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Berkshire Museum is putting out the welcome mat during the month of May. The Pittsfield Gazette reported this week that museum officials will wave gallery admission charges next month.
Executive Director Stuart Chase said he will even conduct "behind the scenes" tours of the museum's extensive collections each Tuesday in May at 10 in the morning. Classic museum exhibits such as Pahat the mummy, Artic explorer Matthew Henson's fur suit and the ever-popular aquarium and touch tank will remain available.
State Forest Assault Case Hits The Courts
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Three Pittsfield people believed to have been involved in an assault and robbery in the Pittsfield State Forest in 2007, were arraigned in Berkshire Superior Court on Wednesday.
Johnny Jones, 23, Donald Pettijohn, 20, and Nicholas Lighten, also 20, all pled not guilty to multiple counts of armed robbery, assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon, and possession of a firearm without proper identification, among other charges.
Superior Court Judge John A. Agostini ordered all three to be held without bail at the Berkshire County House of Correction. It's alleged that the armed robbery of two Pittsfield men occurred in the state forest on May 18, 2007. The alleged victims are now 21 and 22 years of age.
Man Not Guilty of Threatening College Co-Workers
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — A jury last week found a former Williams College employee not guilty of threatening to blow up the college heating plant where he worked and kill his co-workers.
David Jay Beebe, 45, of Clarksburg, was fired last fall after a co-worker reported Beebe had made the threats after being denied vacation time to go hunting. The jury of six in Northern Berkshire District Court found that the prosecution couldn't prove beyond doubt that Beebe had made the threat or that it could have been believedly carried out, among other criteria, according to reports in the North Adams Transcript.
The alleged threats had caused college officials to bump up police protection of the heating plant for a short period. While not guilty, Beebe was ordered to pay $250 in court fees.
