Officers Erik Thomas, left, with Police Chief Jason Wood and Officer Matthew Meranti on Monday. The department raised money to buy dinners and presents for local residents.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The North Adams Police department wanted to give a little more this year and decided to deliver Christmas meals to 12 families in need.
"I know what it's like this time of year if you are a young family. Food is not always the top priority," Officer Erik Thomas said. "You want to get your kids some toys to put under the tree."
Thomas said the department reached out to elementary school adjustment counselors and asked for a few families that may need a little help this holiday season.
"We asked them to pick us a few families and we wanted to see what we could come up with for donations from the officers," he said. "The chief offered to match the donations, which we really didn't even need because we had enough through the donations from each individual officer. We covered about 90 percent of it."
Each family got a Butterball "ready to roast" turkey breast, mashed potatoes, rolls, vegetables, gravy, and a pie. Thomas said they also gathered some toys for the younger kids and movie tickets for some of the older kids.
The meals were delivered on Monday afternoon.
Police Chief Jason Wood said he was proud of his officers for stepping up and giving back to the community.
"I think this is great that everyone wants to help ... we need to make sure we grow with the community’s needs," he said. "Unfortunately, there are a lot of people that are in need and if the police can help in a small way we are going to do it."
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Macksey Updates on Eagle Street Demo and Myriad City Projects
By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
The back of Moderne Studio in late January. The mayor said the city had begun planning for its removal if the owner could not address the problems.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Moderne Studio building is coming down brick by brick on Eagle Street on the city's dime.
Concerns over the failing structure's proximity to its neighbor — just a few feet — means the demolition underway is taking far longer than usual. It's also been delayed somewhat because of recent high winds and weather.
The city had been making plans for the demolition a month ago because of the deterioration of the building, Mayor Jennifer Macksey told the City Council on Tuesday. The project was accelerated after the back of the 150-year-old structure collapsed on March 5.
Initial estimates for demolition had been $190,000 to $210,000 and included asbestos removal. Those concerns have since been set aside after testing and the mayor believes that the demolition will be lower because it is not a hazardous site.
"We also had a lot of contractors who came to look at it for us to not want to touch it because of the proximity to the next building," she said. "Unfortunately time ran out on that property and we did have the building failure.
"And it's an unfortunate situation. I think most of us who have lived here our whole lives and had our pictures taken there and remember being in the window so, you know, we were really hoping the building could be safe."
Macksey said the city had tried working with the owner, who could not find a contractor to demolish the building, "so we found one for him."
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Concerns over the failing structure's proximity to its neighbor — just a few feet — means the demolition underway is taking far longer than usual. It's also been delayed somewhat because of recent high winds and weather.
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