News & Notes: Assault Arrest in North Adams; Postal Workers Set Food Drive
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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — A city man was arrested Friday in relation to an alleged assualt after an early morning altercation on Isbell Street.
Janoi Bee Vilayvanh, 18, of Angeli Street was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and mayhem after an unidentified individual was taken to North adams Regional Hospital with injuries.
Callers to the Berkshire News Network described the assault as a stabbing but police declined to elaborate earlier today other than to confirm that an incident had taken place in the Greylock Housing Project and that someone was in custody.
The Berkshire News Network also received reports that four North Adams cruisers were on the scene along with an ambulance that took the alleged victim to the hospital. Emergency room personnel said they were not at liberty to release any information.
According to the police log, an officer was dispatched to Isbell Street shortly after midnight after a caller complained of a large group of people outside making noise and possibly drinking. The group was warned of the "consequences of a return trip" by police.
Nearly an hour later, there were calls reporting a fight behind 14 Isbell St. and that one person had been "smashed over the head with a bottle." Four units and North Adams Ambulance responded to the scene.
The incident remains under investigation.
iBerkshires contributed to this report.
Annual Letter Carriers Food Drive Set Saturday
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The 16th annual Letter Carriers of Berkshire County food drive will be held tomorrow.
Donated non-perishable food items will be picked up by members of Local 286 of the National Association Of Letter Carriers during their normal delivery rounds and by many volunteers and retirees. Food drive director Michael Callahan said the 29 food pantries in the Berkshires are in dire need of food items such as pasta, spaghetti sauce and one-meal deals like macaroni and cheese.
The food will be brought to the Pittsfield post office, where it will be weighed, boxed up and shipped the same day to food pantries. Place your food in plastic bags by your mailbox tomorrow.
Cemetery Flags Placed in Adams
ADAMS, Mass. — One of the sure signs of spring is the sudden appearance of flags in local cemeteries placed at the graves of departed veterans.
In Adams, the flags are placed on the graves by local volunteers, Boy Scouts and veterans representing American Legion Post 160 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1335. Adams Town Clerk Paul Hutchinson says, this year, flags will be placed on graves at Bellevue Cemetery beginning at Saturday morning at 9 and that flag coordinator John Bordeau will be on hand to help distribute them. Hutchinson said all participants are invited to a pizza party at the Adams American Legion once the project is completed.
Lenox Voters Approve Budget, Pass Marijuana Law
LENOX, Mass. — Town meeting voters in Lenox approved a $23.4 million operating budget on Thursday night. The figure represents a 2.5 percent increase over the current budget.
The spending plan will raise the residential property tax rate in Lenox up from $9.08 per $1,000 of property valuation to $9.31. The commercial rate will go from $12.61 to $12.93. It passed unanimously.
Voters also passed a measure that will allow police to fine anyone who is caught smoking marijuana in a public place.
Also Thursday night, the Selectmen and town moderator announced that they will be giving up their salaries for the sake of the town, which is facing a $30,000 revenue shortfall. Roughly 250 of the towns 3,675 voters were in attendance.
Williams College Student Recovering From 20-Foot Fall
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — A Williams College student was report to be in stable condition at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield after falling approximately 20 feet down a shaft near the stage of the ’62 Center for Theatre and Dance on Monday night.
In a letter sent to the Williams College community, Dean Karen Merrill said Nicholas Neumann-Chun, a freshman, was discovered just before 10:30 Monday night at the bottom of the shaft that houses the Center Stage's elevated trapdoor. Neuman-Chun was first transported Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield and then to Baystate Medical Center.
