The White Stuff Is Coming! The White Stuff Is Coming!

• The Southern Berkshire Regional School District has canceled all after-school activities for Thursday.

Having to shovel before getting to gorge on turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie? How rude, Mother Nature!

One week before Thanksgiving, the first National Weather Service Winter Storm Watch of the season is upon us from Thursday afternoon to Friday afternoon.

In the spirit of bipartisan cooperation, the various models and forecasters seem to mostly to agree that it's going to be very cold Thursday (unseasonably cold, like maybe record-setting cold, like maybe-it's-time-to-put-the-flip-flops-away cold). Then the clouds will come in, bringing precipitation late Thursday afternoon and evening. It likely will start as a cold November rain (and it will be hard to hold a candle) or even a thin layer of ice at the beginning - the National Weather Service has posted both ice and snow total graphics. But then it's expected to turn into snow overnight into Friday morning.

By the time the storm - nicknamed Avery, FYI, for anyone who thinks that naming snowstorms isn't just plain silly - moves out of the region, expect anywhere from 4 to 6 inches of snow, with the higher accumulations to the north and west. Channel 13 even dips its ominous 6- to 9-inch white oval of doom into the Northern Berkshires.

It's not supposed to be a blockbuster storm by any means, but it's a messy start to a winter season that's beginning in the middle of fall this year. FYI: Typically, in Albany, N.Y., only a few inches of snow fall in the month of November, but check out the graphic below just for fun of the top 10 November snowstorms on record in Albany. This storm is unlikely to make it into the top 10, but it could be close if the stars align.

The Friday morning commute looks to be slippery, some schools may delay and some activities may be postponed or canceled, so just keep checking in with us here at iBerkshires.com for the latest storm news.

Cost, Access to NBCTC High Among Concerns North Berkshire Residents

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
06:15PM / Thursday, April 25, 2024

Adams Select Chair Christine Hoyt, NBCTC Executive Director David Fabiano and William Solomon, the attorney representing the four communities, talk after the session. 

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Public access channels should be supported and made more available to the public — and not be subject to a charge.

 

More than three dozen community members in-person and online attended the public hearing  Wednesday on public access and service from Spectrum/Charter Communications. The session at City Hall was held for residents in Adams, Cheshire, Clarksburg and North Adams to express their concerns to Spectrum ahead of another 10-year contract that starts in October.

 

Listening via Zoom but not speaking was Jennifer Young, director state government affairs at Charter.

 

One speaker after another conveyed how critical local access television is to the community and emphasized the need for affordable and reliable services, particularly for vulnerable populations like the elderly. 

 

"I don't know if everybody else feels the same way but they have a monopoly," said Clarksburg resident David Emery. "They control everything we do because there's nobody else to go to. You're stuck with with them."

 

Public access television, like the 30-year-old Northern Berkshire Community Television, is funded by cable television companies through franchise fees, member fees, grants and contributions.

 

Spectrum is the only cable provider in the region and while residents can shift to satellite providers or streaming, Northern Berkshire Community Television is not available on those alternatives and they may not be easy for some to navigate. For instance, the Spectrum app is available on smart televisions but it doesn't include PEG, the public, educational and governmental channels provided by NBCTC.