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North Adams Lifts Indoor Masking Advisory; Schools to Decide Thursday

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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Board of Health has dropped its masking advisory from December effective Thursday. 
 
This means that face coverings will no longer be required in public buildings, with the exception of the schools. The School Committee will meet at 6 p.m. on Thursday to review its mask mandate. 
 
"People that certainly want to wear a mask or should wear a mask or need to wear a mask should certainly be able to do that," said Chair John Meaney Jr. "It's an option of each individual person."
 
The decision to rescind the masking advisory is in line with current guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the low levels of community spread of COVID-19 within the Berkshires. 
 
The CDC is recommending that those who have compromised immune systems or who have not been vaccinated to continue wearing masks indoors. The state dropped its masking mandate for schools on Feb. 28 and lifted mask mandates for school buses based on CDC guidance but has left it up to local jurisdictions to set policy particular to their situations. 
 
North Adams has had eight cases of novel coronavirus over the past 10 days, reported Health Director Heather DeMarsico. Berkshire Medical Center currently has one patient on pandemic precautions.
 
A number of communities have begun lifting restrictions over the past few weeks as the surge in cases over the holidays has dwindled and more people have been vaccinated and boosted. 
 
Board member Kevin Lamb said the public advisory in December, which had advised all residents to wear face coverings indoors regardless of vaccination status, had been in line with the conditions at the time. 
 
"I think we would kind of be in line with other communities, even in our area and across the nation [in rescinding the advisory]," he said. "So I would be in favor of updating that."
 
The two board members (member October Cellena was absent) discussed putting out a new advisory but decided to vote to rescind the December advisory and issue a statement that reiterated the CDC guidance. 
 
Mayor Jennifer Macksey, who attended the meeting, confirmed that starting Thursday, face coverings would not be required in public buildings. These include City Hall and the library. 
 
The School Committee had voted on March 2 to extend masking in the schools until at least March 14 because of the February school vacation. The vacations and holidays have accounted for spikes in transmission. However, the committee will decide on Thursday night whether to continue masking. Pittsfield and Hoosac Valley schools have already lifted their mask mandates. 

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Main & Mill: A Vibrant New Restaurant on Main Street

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — You can now enjoy another eatery on Main Street by well-known restaurant siblings Colleen and Sean Taylor.

Their restaurant Main & Mill opened for the first time Tuesday, bringing their vision of creating something vibrant and new to downtown North Adams.

"We have created Main & Mill to be part of our day. It's very seasonal ingredients, thoughtful cooking, beauty, beautiful presentation and dishes. And we really wanted to be part of the community, the downtown area, and start a vibrant area on this end, which has been shuttered for a while," said Colleen.

The building is owned by Ginko on Main Street LLC, which has granted 20 years exclusive possession of the property to Latent Builds as the developer. Jack and Suzy Wadsworth, behind Ginko, are development partners with Karla Rothstein and Salvatore Perry of Latent.

The bank closed in early 2021 and was purchased by Ginko late that year. Plans for the property unveiled three years ago envisioned a restaurant, retail, a park and rooftop bar. 

Colleen saw potential and said she initially wanted the building when it first went up for sale. Being good friends with Rothstein and Perry, she helped them design the kitchen and the bar before learning in March that she could lease it as a restaurant space, something she told them would be a great idea.

She said one of the most important things about the restaurant was the collaboration between Rothstein, Perry, and the Wadsworths, who put a lot of time and energy into the building.

"If Sean and I had done it, we would not be able to do what the collaboration supported. The collaboration of the three of us being able to really have that kind of money to put in down here. The design that the architecture firm that Carla and Sal own is stunning," she said. "The time and effort, everyone came together to do this in a really trusting manner."

The two wanted the restaurant to be an all-day venture, so people could eat at any point throughout the day, all week long.

"We wanted it to be open for coffee and socialization in the morning where people can meet, have their cup of coffee, have a quiche, a vegetarian quiche, or croissant or yogurt. Something intentional with their coffee," she said. "Then move into a lunchtime for the downtown business or anybody, and then go into supper, dinner, with drinks later into the evening. So have it really be open all day long, so that there wasn't a void on any particular day."

They also wanted to do something different than the other restaurants they owned.

"We didn't want to mimic any other restaurant in town. We wanted to bring something that was inspiring, something that had some familiar things that people would see, and other things that we would bring to them for them to experience," she said.

As a woman business owner, Colleen said she wanted to bring a female chef into the kitchen. 

Colleen brought on Chef Anna DeRose, who she said puts twists on a lot of her dishes.

"So we have a creme brulee, but our creme brulee is topped with marshmallow," she said. "Our creme brulee is like almost two desserts in one. It's a s'mores creme brulee. So you could have a s'mores, and you could have a creme brulee - but when you put both of them together, fireworks go off."

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