The Husky 4 of Herberg Middle School was the champion at Saturday's Berkshire Robotics Challenge. Pictured are coach Wendy Stebbins, left, Ezekiel Mason, Ashton Brennan, Aastha Rai, Qing Song and coach Ellen Lantz.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Husky 4 of Herberg Middle School defeated the Raging Riots of St. Mary's School in Lee to be crowned champion of "Cargo Connect," the 21st Berkshire Robotics Challenge, conducted Saturday at the Berkshire Innovation Center.
The tally in the finals was 250 points for Herberg and 200 for St. Mary's.
The competition involved six teams of students ages 8 to 14 from throughout the county who used programmable robots built from Lego kits to complete a variety of missions involving hypothetical scenarios related to safe, efficient transportation. The event was sponsored by Berkshire Applied Technology Council, with major underwriting support from the Feigenbaum Foundation and General Dynamics Mission Systems.
Ellen Lantz and Wendy Stebbins were coaches for Herberg, which featured team members Aastha Rai, Ashton Brennan, Ezekiel Mason and Qing Song.
Cara Maiorano, Christine Barry and Conner Consolati were coaches for St. Mary's School, which featured team members Brendan Bayles, Joey Abderhalden, Sam Korte, Jacob Cooper, Natalie Hall, Sophie Alsmaan, Isabella Hall, Keaghan Kline, Bernadette Starczewski and Matt Abderhalden.
Other award winners were:
Comeback Kids: Lee Robowildcats of Lee Elementary School.
Best Research Project: Lee Robowildcats.
Best Programming: BART-Botics of Berkshire Arts and Technology Public Charter School.
Most Innovative Design: Herberg Middle School.
Team Spirit Award: Conte Mechanics of Conte Community School.
Sportsmanship Award: St. Agnes Angels of St. Agnes' School in Dalton.
Judges, inspectors and referees for the event were Wil Bourdon, John Bracci, and Jim Chalfonte of General Dynamics Mission Systems and Kevin Mooney of GE. Chalfonte and his son, Liam, were scorekeepers.
The planning committee included Denise Johns, Tim Butterworth and Kate Light of the Berkshire Innovation Center, Bourdon and Chalfonte of General Dynamics, Doug Crane of the New Dalton Group, Bernie Klem of Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America, Kevin Mooney of GE and John Wood of SABIC.
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Possible Measles Exposure at Boston, Logan
BOSTON — The Massachusetts Department of Public Health confirmed Wednesday that an out-of-state adult visitor who spent time in Boston and Westborough earlier this month was diagnosed with measles and was present in a number of locations.
This could have resulted in other people being exposed to measles virus.
The visitor arrived at Logan International Airport on American Airlines flight 2384 from Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, on Dec. 11 at 2:39 p.m. They stayed at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Boston-Westborough in Westborough and departed the state on Dec. 12 via Logan at 9:19 p.m. on JetBlue flight 117 to Las Vegas.
DPH is working with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local partners to identify and notify those who may have been exposed to measles from this individual.
"Measles is a highly contagious, airborne disease, which has increased significantly in the United States because of the unfortunate decrease in vaccination rates. It is also a preventable disease," said Public Health Commissioner Dr. Robbie Goldstein. "This current situation serves as an important reminder of the critical role vaccination plays in protecting our communities. While Massachusetts has not had a measles case this year, 2025 saw the highest number of nationwide cases in more than a decade — nearly 2,000 in 44 jurisdictions, and sadly, three deaths.
"Fifteen years ago, measles had been considered eliminated in the United States, but that tremendous progress is at risk. Vaccines are one of the most important public health interventions ever — they are safe, effective, and lifesaving."
Measles is very contagious. However, the risk to most people in Massachusetts is low because the vaccination rate in the state is high. People who are not immune and visited any of the locations on the following dates and times may be at risk for developing measles.
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