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Treasurer, MSBA Director Present Award to First-Grader At Crosby

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — First-grader Esha Zahid won a statewide competition for designing her ideal school but she and her family were unable to attend a ceremony at the State House. So on Friday, state officials brought the ceremony to her.

Treasurer Steven Grossman and Jack McCarthy, executive director of the Massachusetts School Building Authority, visited Esha's class at Crosby Elementary School on Friday to deliver her winnings. The competition asked  first-graders from all over the state to draw and write an essay describing their ideal school.

Esha was picked as one of 12 regional winners in the seventh annual competition. Drawing a castle and explaining that her school has "good friends, the playground is fun to play in and the lunch that the lunch lady give us is very yummy," earned Esha a $100 savings bond from Sovereign Bank.

"Because she wasn't able to be in Boston for our special presentation, we decided to bring all of us here to say thank you to her," Grossman told the first-graders.

McCarthy and Grossman are in charge with the state funds to build new schools. The city has been making a pitch to renovate or build a new Taconic High School. The city still needs feasibility studies to be completed before the MSBA invites the city into the program, which provide most of the funding needed to complete a project.

Dalton Elects Incumbents, Write-in for Planning Board

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
09:06PM / Monday, May 11, 2026

The last-minute write-in campaigns for Planning Board resulted in higher than normal write-in votes — 306 — for Monday's election. 

DALTON, Mass. — The unofficial results for the town's annual election indicate that Planning Board registered candidate William Striebel III and write-in candidate Richard Hall have secured the two seats.

 

Some 413 voters cast their ballots at the Senior Center on Monday. There were 82 mail-in ballots.

 

The Planning Board race began with just one candidate for the two available positions, leaving one vacancy initially unfilled, but as Election Day approached, two additional candidates launched write-in campaigns, transforming it into a competitive contest.

 

The Planning Board saw a significant number of write-in votes, totaling 306. Striebel secured 238 votes, Hall 163, and Mary Tresa Devereaux with 133. 

 

Both Hall and Devereaux have been endorsed by the Dalton Clear Air Coalition, of which Hall is a member, and Democratic Town Committee. 

 

Hall decided to run for Planning Board last Monday inspired by the Berkshire Concrete situation wanting to ensure that the company follows the town's zoning bylaws. 

 

"Thank you to everyone who voted for me. I look forward to helping the town. It's a privilege being on the Planning Board," he said.