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Voters cast ballots at the Senior Center, which was festively decorated in green for St. Patrick's Day.

Florida Approves First Step For Broadband System

By Kathy KeeserSpecial to iBerkshires
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Moderator Stan Brown, Town Clerk Lisa Brown and Town Administrator Christine Dobbert prepare for the special town meeting.
FLORIDA, Mass. — Voters on Wednesday night approved the establishment of a municipal lighting plant, taking the first step in the development of a cooperative broadband system.

About 30 voters took time out to decide four articles at Wednesday's special town meeting, deciding on school repairs, broadband and wind projects.
 
The first two articles gave town approval to the continuance of repairs to Gabriel Abbott Memorial School, including to the roof and to the water main. Both warrants quickly passed 28-0.

The third article continued the town's commitment to the WiredWest initiative. In a ballot vote of 30-1, voters approved the establishment of a municipal lighting plant, in accordance with the provisions of General Laws, Chapter 164, for all purposes including the operation of a telecommunications system and any related services. The law was created more than 100 years ago to allow municipalities to establish electrical utilities and was updated 15 years ago to accommodate telecommunications.


Attorney Jamie Art explained the article on roads to the wind project.
Adopting the article allows the town to join the WiredWest Cooperative and means that Florida will have a voice in the decision-making process as the nonprofit undertakes the capitalization, buildout and operation of a municipal fiber-optic network in participating towns. The hope is all 47 charter towns in Western Massachusetts will approve municipal light plants to buildout the system.


Florida is the 25th charter town to approve a municipal system. All the cooperative towns have to vote twice within 13 months and pass the question with two-thirds votes each time.

The final article gave the next stage of approvals in the Hoosac Wind Project. This article that passed with a majority vote gives the town access to the easement roads to the project. As clarified by Florida's attorney for the Hoosac Wind Project, Jamie Art, in the event of the shutdown of the project, the town would have the rights to any funds left connected with the easements and the right to use the easement roads put in by Hoosac Wind to tear down the wind towers if necessary.

The articles all passed quickly, with only a few brief questions or clarifications. Because Article 3, the WiredWest broadband article, required a ballot vote, it took about 20 minutes for the 31 people to file up, be checked in and cast their ballot. But folks didn't seem to mind and everyone was chatting away with their neighbors while waiting for the ballots to be cast and then continue with the final article.

The town meeting concluded after a little over a half-hour of time from start to finish.
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Dalton Man Accused of Kidnapping, Shooting Pittsfield Man

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A Dalton man was arrested on Thursday evening after allegedly kidnapping and shooting another man.

Nicholas Lighten, 35, was arraigned in Central Berkshire District Court on Friday on multiple charges including kidnapping with a firearm and armed assault with intent to murder. He was booked in Dalton around 11:45 p.m. the previous night.

There was heavy police presence Thursday night in the area of Lighten's East Housatonic Street home before his arrest.

Shortly before 7 p.m., Dalton dispatch received a call from the Pittsfield Police Department requesting that an officer respond to Berkshire Medical Center. Adrian Mclaughlin of Pittsfield claimed that he was shot in the leg by Lighten after an altercation at the defendants home. Mclaughlin drove himself to the hospital and was treated and released with non-life-threatening injuries. 

"We were told that Lighten told Adrian to go down to his basement, where he told Adrian to get down on his knees and pulled out a chain," the police report reads.

"We were told that throughout the struggle with Lighten, Adrian recalls three gunshots."

Dalton PD was advised that Pittsfield had swabbed Mclaughlin for DNA because he reported biting Lighten. A bite mark was later found on Lighten's shoulder. 

Later that night, the victim reportedly was "certain, very certain" that Lighten was his assailant when shown a photo array at the hospital.

According to Dalton Police, an officer was stationed near Lighten's house in an unmarked vehicle and instructed to call over the radio if he left the residence. The Berkshire County Special Response Team was also contacted.

Lighten was under surveillance at his home from about 7:50 p.m. to about 8:40 p.m. when he left the property in a vehicle with Massachusetts plates. Another officer initiated a high-risk motor vehicle stop with the sergeant and response team just past Mill Street on West Housatonic Street, police said, and traffic was stopped on both sides of the road.

Lighten and a passenger were removed from the vehicle and detained. Police reported finding items including a brass knuckle knife, three shell casings wrapped in a rubber glove, and a pair of rubber gloves on him.

The response team entered Lighten's home at 43 East Housatonic before 9:30 p.m. for a protective sweep and cleared the residence before 9:50 p.m., police said. The residence was secured for crime scene investigators.

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