MCLA Green Living Seminar Series Begins Jan. 26

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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — MCLA's annual Green Living Seminar Series begins on Wednesday, Jan. 26 and continues through April, presenting a series of lectures on the theme of "Greening the City." 
 
Every semester, the Green Living Seminar Series centers around a different topic, timely and relevant in current sustainability issues. The series is free and open to the public, with seminars taking place on Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m. from Jan. 26 to April 20. Community members can find up-to-date information about the schedule at mcla.edu/greenliving
 
Presentations will also be broadcast on Northern Berkshire Community Television Channel (NBCTC) 1302 at the following times: 
 
Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. 
Fridays at 4 p.m. 
Saturdays at 3:30 p.m. 
Sundays at 11:30 a.m. 
Mondays at 5:30 p.m. 
 
Mark Rabinsky, Green Communities Western Regional Coordinator for the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources, will kick off the series on Jan. 26 with a talk titled "Clean Energy Solutions For Cities And Towns: Massachusetts Green Communities Program.  
 
Future Green Living presentations include: 
 
February 2: "Sustainable Zoning and Municipal Building Decarbonization Strategies" with Kai Palmer-Dunning, Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships, Buildings and Communities Associate 
 
February 9: "Pittsfield Grey to Green: Inclusive Planning for Environmental and Climate Justice" with Allison Egan, Berkshire Regional Planning Commission, Senior Planner 
                                                                                                         
February 16: "Reducing GHGs from Transportation in Massachusetts," with Katherine S. Fichter, Massachusetts Department of Transportation, Assistant Secretary and Chief of Climate And Decarbonization 
 
February 23: "How and Why to Increase Plant-Based Lunch Options in Schools" with Amie Hamlin, The Coalition for Healthy School Food, Executive Director 
                      
March 2: "Community Strategies for Addressing the Plastic Pollution Crisis," with David Sayer, Beyond Plastics and Sustainable Saratoga                                                                                        
 
March 9: "Residential Landscaping to Support Pollinators" with Dr. Susannah Lerman, U.S. Forest Service Research Ecologist 
 
March 23: "Public Health and Community Based Participatory Research in Urban Environmental Justice Communities" with Dr. Madeleine L. Scammell, Boston University School of Public Health, Associate Professor of Environmental Health 
 
March 30: "Mohawk Trail Woodlands Partnership: Sustainable Forest Management and Natural Resource-Based Economic Development in Northwestern Massachusetts" with Dr. Hank Art, Williams College Rosenburg Professor of Environmental Studies and Biology, Emeritus, Mohawk Trail Woodlands Partnership, board chair  
 
April 6: "Carbon Farming in Urban and Suburban Areas" with Dr. Nathan Phillips, Boston University Department of Earth and Environment, Professor 
                                                                                                                          
April 13: "Williamstown Composts!: Lessons from a Community Composting Pilot Program" with Nancy Nylen and Ann McCallum of Williamstown, Mass. 
 
April 20: "Bicycling in Berkshire County: History and Future" with Nicholas Russo, Berkshire Regional Planning Commission, Senior Transportation Planner 
 
The 2022 Green Living Seminar Series is a presentation of the MCLA Environmental Studies Department and MCLA's Berkshire Environmental Resource Center. 
 
For more information, go to www.mcla.edu/greenliving or contact Professor of Environmental Studies Elena Traister at (413) 662-5303.

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North Adams Hopes to Transform Y Into Community Recreation Center

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff

Mayor Jennifer Macksey updates members of the former YMCA on the status of the roof project and plans for reopening. 
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The city has plans to keep the former YMCA as a community center.
 
"The city of North Adams is very committed to having a recreation center not only for our youth but our young at heart," Mayor Jennifer Macksey said to the applause of some 50 or more YMCA members on Wednesday. "So we are really working hard and making sure we can have all those touch points."
 
The fate of the facility attached to Brayton School has been in limbo since the closure of the pool last year because of structural issues and the departure of the Berkshire Family YMCA in March.
 
The mayor said the city will run some programming over the summer until an operator can be found to take over the facility. It will also need a new name. 
 
"The YMCA, as you know, has departed from our facilities and will not return to our facility in the form that we had," she said to the crowd in Council Chambers. "And that's been mostly a decision on their part. The city of North Adams wanted to really keep our relationship with the Y, certainly, but they wanted to be a Y without borders, and we're going a different direction."
 
The pool was closed in March 2023 after the roof failed a structural inspection. Kyle Lamb, owner of Geary Builders, the contractor on the roof project, said the condition of the laminated beams was far worse than expected. 
 
"When we first went into the Y to do an inspection, we certainly found a lot more than we anticipated. The beams were actually rotted themselves on the bottom where they have to sit on the walls structurally," he said. "The beams actually, from the weight of snow and other things, actually crushed themselves eight to 11 inches. They were actually falling apart. ...
 
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