WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Voters in the Mount Greylock Regional School District Tuesday returned Carrie Greene and Steven Miller to the School Committee in the only contested local election on the ballot.
Lanesborough's and Williamstown's electorate ensured that the School Committee will have the same composition for at least another two years by choosing the two incumbents over challenger Christine Enderle in a three-way race for two seats on the seven-person committee.
Greene was the top vote-getter with 2,661 votes in the two-town district. Miller was second with 1,736. Enderle was third with 1,465.
All three Lanesborough residents on the School Committee stood for re-election on Tuesday in uncontested races. Christine Conry, Curtis Elfenbein and Ursula Maloy each were returned to the committee.
Greene, Miller and Enderle were running for two of the four seats designated for residents of Williamstown.
Miller was at Williamstown Elementary School on Tuesday evening to await the results and said that he looks forward to continuing his work to bring transparency to the School Committee's activities and increase engagement with members of the public.
"One of the things we've done is we now have agenda requests [for committee members] at the end of every meeting, so that makes it a lot easier to have things discussed," Miller said. "One of the things I want to keep working on is to have the meeting packets made available more in advance so that people are able to see what's going to be discussed at the meetings and decide whether they want to go or not."
Miller also committed to pushing for a continued role for the School Committee's subcommittees in providing a conduit for public input.
"One of the things I've been very happy about is in some of our subcommittees, we've been able to have a lot of interactions with people from the community," Miller said. "For example, when John Skavlem was chair of the fields committee, and I was chair of the education subcommittee, we had people speaking whenever appropriate.
"That's easier to do at the subcommittee level than the full committee level."
Williamstown saw 2,823 voters turn out for the mid-term election, which is more than the 2,500 voters who might be expected for the cycle, according to Town Clerk Nicole Beverly.
"It was a good day," she said as the balloting wound down on Tuesday. "A busy day, but a good day."
Fifty-six percent of the town's 5,009 registered voters voted either in person on Tuesday, in person at town hall during the early voting period or by mail.
Beverly said there were 178 in-person voters during the early voting period. She said she mailed out 1,267 mail-in ballots and had received, as of midday Monday, 1,185, a 94 percent return rate.
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National Grid Hosts Customer Assistance Events In The Berkshires
WALTHAM, Mass. — National Grid will hold a series of in-person Customer Assistance Events this December.
As colder weather sets in, these events are designed to help customers manage winter energy bills and explore cost-saving programs.
In Berkshire County:
Dec. 4 – Town Library, Williamstown, 4:00pm – 8:00pm, 1095 Main Street, Williamstown
Dec. 5 – National Grid Great Barrington Office, 11:00am – 2:00pm, 927 South Main Street, Great Barrington
Many of these events will continue to take place at local senior centers, making it convenient for older residents to access personalized assistance. Attendees at any location will have direct access to National Grid Customer Service Specialists, who can provide personalized guidance on payment options and energy solutions to meet each household's needs.
"As December begins, customers still have opportunities to find support and manage energy costs," said Bill Malee, chief customer officer, National Grid. "We're proud to host many of these events at local senior centers, ensuring customers have easy access to the support they need. Our in-person events are a great way for customers to connect with our team, learn about flexible payment options, and discover energy-saving programs that can help make a real difference this season."
Customers attending in-person events will have the opportunity to meet with representatives from National Grid, who will be on-site to assist with billing issues and provide information on:
Enrolling in National Grid's new Payment Assistance Bundle
Enrolling in Budget Billing
Enrolling in the Energy Discount Rate (for qualifying customers)
Scheduling home energy assessments and sharing information on other energy efficiency opportunities for homes or businesses
These events are part of National Grid's broader commitment to affordability and reliability. Customers can also access support by calling 1-800-233-5325.
National Grid customers can now sign up for a new Payment Assistance Bundle. The bundle combines three solutions to make it easier for managing energy costs and paying down past due amounts over a 12-month period.
Deferred Payment Agreement: Spread out past-due balance into future monthly payments.
Automatic Monthly Payments: Automatically deduct payments from your bank account each month and avoid missing due dates.
Budget Plan: Break down annual energy costs into balanced monthly payments, making it easier to budget and plan expenses.
Customers interested in enrolling in the Payment Assistance Bundle can do so online by visiting ngrid.com/hereforyou, at an in-person event, or by calling 1-800-233-5325.
From couture to canines and from crochet to carols, Williamstown Holiday Walk has you covered if you want to get into the spirit of the season this weekend. click for more
The Williamstown Chamber of Commerce reflected on this past year's success and the launch of a new coupon sales promotion at its annual meeting last week at Greylock Works.
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Our Friday Front Porch is a weekly feature spotlighting attractive homes for sale in Berkshire County. This week, we are showcasing 1030 Simonds Road.
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