Election 2009: Caccamo Goal Is Sustainable Community

11:22AM / Tuesday, September 08, 2009Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Mayoral candidate Nicholas J. Caccamo says developing a more sustainable community can mean keeping the current trash removal system intact for residents:

Being a more sustainable community means meeting the needs of Pittsfield today, without affecting the needs of tomorrow. Easy ways the city can become more sustainable is to increase its recycling efforts each week and take on personal composting in our back yards. These simple efforts would help lower the cities waste disposal costs at the end of year and keep the current trash removal system intact.

■ The first step to increasing city recycling efforts is to make sure all residents know what is and what is not recyclable. Next, residents need to understand what composting is and why is it useful. The benefits of composting for the resident include:

■ As the city prepares to again debate shifting towards a more regulated trash removal program, composting will help families to more easily meet the requirements of this program.

■ The less trash collected by the city each week would reduce the end of year cost of total trash removal.

■ Composting provides residents with a method to utilize leaves during the fall, reducing personal yard waste removal costs.

A long-term goal I have for becoming more sustainable community would be to create a three-bin waste system at all schools in Pittsfield. The system would have one bin each for trash, recyclables, and compostable materials. With additional education, students would understand that not all waste is the same and understand how to properly dispose of their particular items. The system would pay dividends in the future as students take this information back home and continue to practice proper waste disposal as they get older.

More information about my plans to help improve the city can be found at my Web site caccamoformayor.webs.com.

Submitted by the campaign to elected Nicholas J. Caccamo

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Possible Measles Exposure at Boston, Logan

12:05PM / Wednesday, December 24, 2025

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Department of Public Health confirmed Wednesday that an out-of-state adult visitor who spent time in Boston and Westborough earlier this month was diagnosed with measles and was present in a number of locations.

This could have resulted in other people being exposed to measles virus.

The visitor arrived at Logan International Airport on American Airlines flight 2384 from Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, on Dec. 11 at 2:39 p.m. They stayed at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Boston-Westborough in Westborough and departed the state on Dec. 12 via Logan at 9:19 p.m. on JetBlue flight 117 to Las Vegas.

DPH is working with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local partners to identify and notify those who may have been exposed to measles from this individual.

"Measles is a highly contagious, airborne disease, which has increased significantly in the United States because of the unfortunate decrease in vaccination rates. It is also a preventable disease," said Public Health Commissioner Dr. Robbie Goldstein. "This current situation serves as an important reminder of the critical role vaccination plays in protecting our communities. While Massachusetts has not had a measles case this year, 2025 saw the highest number of nationwide cases in more than a decade — nearly 2,000 in 44 jurisdictions, and sadly, three deaths.

"Fifteen years ago, measles had been considered eliminated in the United States, but that tremendous progress is at risk. Vaccines are one of the most important public health interventions ever — they are safe, effective, and lifesaving."

Measles is very contagious. However, the risk to most people in Massachusetts is low because the vaccination rate in the state is high. People who are not immune and visited any of the locations on the following dates and times may be at risk for developing measles.

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