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Authorities were at the scene until late Thursday investigating the death of Doris Cote.

North Adams Woman Arrested in Grandmother's Murder

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NORTH ADAMS, Mass.— A 26-year-old city woman has been arrested in the murder of grandmother. 
 
Police arrested Kelsie Cote on Friday evening in the death of 74-year-old Doris Cote of Church Street.
 
Authorities had initially described the incident as an "unattended death" but had declined to provide further information. Police had been at Cote's home Wednesday and Thursday, finally leaving late Thursday afternoon.
 
It had been rumored Cote's body had been found by a granddaughter. 
 
Kelsie Cote is expected to be arraigned on Monday in Northern Berkshire District Court on charges of murder, assault with intent to murder, and destruction of evidence.
 
According to the District Attorney's Office, North Adams Police responded to a 911 call on Tuesday from a relative of Doris Cote reporting finding her deceased inside her Church Street home, where Cote had lived with her late husband for nearly 50 years. Her husband, Ray, died in February.
 
The State Police Detective Unit assigned to the District Attorney's Office and the North Adams Police established probable cause that Kelsie Cote murdered her grandmother on the evening of Oct. 31 and attempted to destroy evidence of the crime. 
 
"I send my heartfelt condolences to Doris Cote's family and friends for their tragic loss, and I thank the North Adams Police and the Massachusetts State Police for their work on this investigation," District Attorney Andrea Harrington said.
 
Additionally, the State Police Crime Scene Services, State Police chemists, and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner responded to the scene.

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Clarksburg Meeting OKs All Articles on Warrant

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff

Police Chief Michael Williams was recognized at the annual town meeting. The chief has shifted into a part-time administrative role since the Police Department was shuttered last year. 
CLARKSBURG, Mass. — With a total budget up by a modest 3 percent from fiscal year 2026, town meeting cruised through most of the fiscal articles on the warrant without much discussion.
 
But one item caught the eye of meeting members.
 
"Is this an increase from last year, and is there any way to compare it?" a resident asked when the meeting turned to the appropriation for the town's Sewer Enterprise Fund.
 
Yes, Moderator and Select Board member Seth Alexander informed the meeting, the requested appropriation for FY27 represents a 6.9 percent hike from the current year.
 
Higher costs are on the horizon, though.
 
"All the compost over [at the Hoosac Water Quality District], which they used to be able to sell, they're not going to be able to anymore," Boucher said. "They're looking at next year almost a 17 percent increase."
 
Clarksburg is the smallest member of the three-municipality solid waste district. The declining market for compost made from human waste because of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination has been a big topic in Williamstown, site of the HWQD treatment plant, for a couple of years.
 
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