Pittsfield Man Charged in Murder

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Police have arrested a suspect in the murder of a Pittsfield man on Friday evening. 
 
Desmond Phillip, 42, is facing charges in the murder of 43-year-old Teddy Cepeda.
 
Police responded to a Goodrich Street address at approximately 6:30 p.m. Friday after receiving a 911 call and found Cepeda with a gunshot wound. Paramedics transported Cepeda to Berkshire Medical Center, where he died.
 
The Pittsfield Police and the Berkshire State Police Detective Unit assigned to the Berkshire District Attorney's Office established probable cause to arrest Phillip for the shooting. 
 
The investigation into the shooting remains ongoing. Anyone with information should contact Pittsfield Police Detective Ignacio  Matos at 413-448-9700, Ext. 576.
 
Phillip is expected to be arraigned on Monday.

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Lanesborough Hopes for Continued Talks on Mall Sale

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — The Select Board is optimistic that talks for the Berkshire Mall sale will continue. 
 
Chair Deborah Maynard and Vice Chair Juli Baker were to meet with mall owner JMJ Holdings, the Baker Hill Road District, and proposed buyer Cypress Equities on Tuesday to discuss next steps. As of Wednesday, iBerkshires had received a "we are optimistic" from Maynard on the talks. The Berkshire Eagle reported a response from a Cypress representative saying talks will continue.  
 
Baker had updated the Select Board on Monday about the status of the sale and the efforts being undertaken by the renamed Baker Hill Economic District.
 
Cypress Equities pulled out of a purchase-and sale-agreement with mall owner JMJ last week for the following reasons. 
  • Not enough water service/pressure to the property to support redevelopment without constructing costly water tanks.
  • The current septic system and former treatment facility is not acceptable for a project of the scale and magnitude proposed.
  • There is existing asbestos and bad soil from the treatment system that needs to be remediated off site.
  • And the current structure and tax assessment of the Baker Hill Road District.
Baker has been working with what is now being called the Baker Hill Economic District and said she and the district members are happy that Cypress has decided to leave the door open to more discussions and that they have been working hard to try and address the company's needs.
 
Last month, the town had asked state Sen. Paul Mark and state Rep. John Barrett III to support the state Department of Transportation taking over the Connector Road, funding for a mall connection to Pittsfield's wastewater treatment plant and a connection to the town's water main.
 
Baker said an amendment has been drafted to cap the district's taxes to not grow more than 2.5 percent a year. She noted that, historically, taxes have not grown by more than one percent per year, so it won't be difficult to meet that cap.
 
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