Greylock Elementary Celebrates Bike-To-School Day

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Greylock Elementary School celebrated Bike-To-School Day by hosting a Family Bicycle Night organized by the Greylock School PTG, Northern Berkshire Community Coalition’s Mass in Motion and Safe Routes to School on Thursday, May 30.

In May, the North Adams Public School Committee approved a pro bike-to-school policy for the 2019-20 school year. This policy will promote bicycling to school and enforce bicycle safety. Greylock School will be the pilot school for a Bike-to-School Day in the fall, so Family Bicycle Night was an opportunity for students to ride their bicycles and learn and practice bicycle safety.

The event included a bike safety check station led by the North Adams Police Department, who provided and fitted bike helmets, and a bike rodeo set up by MassBike, with courses set up to learn and practice bicycle riding safety and the rules of the road. Students received a certificate of completion and free bike gear give-aways. There was also a free raffle with chances to win new bike lights, locks and one new bicycle.

This event drew more than 100 students and family members. Greylock School looks forward to doing another Bike-to-School Day in the fall.

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.