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There could be some record-breaking temperatures over the next week with forecasts of 70-degree temps. It was 68 degrees on Main Street in North Adams on Thursday afternoon.

Mini Heatwave Warming Up the Berkshires

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After a brief flirtation with winter, the Berkshires will see sunny skies and warming temperatures as a mini heatwave heads our way. 
 
The jet stream will move north to allow a warmer air to flow through the Midwest and Northeast that could mean record high temperatures for this time of the year. 
 
The National Weather Service in Albany, N.Y., describes Thursday as a "fairly quite, albeit atypical November day" with the biggest story being the "heat." Some communities have already reached into the 70s with more expected to follow over the next few days. 
 
"The overall message being a prolonged period of well-above-average temperatures, which has the potential to threaten daily record high temperatures starting this weekend into early next week," according to NWS.
 
Unfortunately, Accuweather says the unseasonable warmth will be ushered out by cooling temperatures and precipitation next week that could be abrupt in some regions. 
 
"After a high of 60 degrees and rain on Monday, Minneapolis could see snowflakes in the air on Tuesday with temperatures failing to reach 40 degrees," according to Accuweather. 
 
Sounds a lot like the Berkshires. But this looming cold front is expected to take its time arriving in New England so the changes in temperatures is expected to be less shocking. 
 

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North Adams, Pittsfield Mark King Day With Calls for Activism

By Tammy Daniels & Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

Alÿcia Bacon, community engagement officer for the Berkshire Taconic Foundation, speaks at the MLK service held Price Memorial AME Church in Pittsfield. 
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Wendy Penner can be found pretty much everywhere: leading local initiatives to address climate change and sustainability, championing public health approaches for substance abuse, and motivating citizens to defend their rights and the rights of others. 
 
That's all when she's not working her day job in public health, or being co-president of Congregation Beth Israel, or chairing the Williamstown COOL Committee, or volunteering on a local board. 
 
"Wendy is deeply committed to the Northern Berkshire community and to the idea of think globally, act locally," said Gabrielle Glasier, master of ceremonies for Northern Berkshire Community Coalition's annual Day of Service. 
 
Her community recognized her efforts with the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Peacemaker Award, which is presented to individuals and organizations who have substantially contributed to the Northern Berkshires. The award has been presented by the MLK Committee for 30 years, several times a year at first and at the MLK Day of Service over the past 20 years. 
 
"This event is at heart a celebration of our national and local striving to live up to the ideals of Dr. King and his committed work for racial equality, economic justice, nonviolence and anti-militarism," said Penner. "There is so much I want to say about this community that I love, about how we show up for each other, how we demonstrate community care for those who are struggling, how we support and and celebrate the natural environment that we love and how we understand how important it is that every community member feels deserves to feel valued, seen and uplifted."
 
King's legacy is in peril "as I never could have imagined," she said, noting the accumulation of vast wealth at the top while the bottom 50 percent share only 2.5 percent the country's assets. Even in "safe" Massachusetts, there are people struggling with food and housing, others afraid to leave their homes. 
 
In response, the community has risen to organize and make themselves visible and vocal through groups such as Greylock Together, supporting mutual aid networks, calling representatives, writing cards and letters, and using their privilege to protect vulnerable community members. 
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