One Held on Drug, Firearms Charges in Williamstown

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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Police arrested a man Thursday on nearly a dozen drug-related and firearms charges after an incident in South Williamstown.
 
Williamstown Police on Friday said the department was notified by several callers about a "running vehicle located in the travel lane at the Five Corners intersection with an unresponsive operator at the wheel."
 
An officer responding to the scene was able to awaken the operator, police said. After observing the individual and based on evidence in plain view inside the vehicle, the officer believed the subject was under the influence of narcotics.
 
Police said that while the subject was exiting the vehicle, the officer saw a handgun protruding from under the driver's seat. The gun later was found to be loaded with a high-capacity magazine, according to the department's news release.
 
The statement said the subject resisted attempts to place him in custody and attempted to re-enter the vehicle.
 
"[He] was handcuffed by the officer with the assistance of a witness who had stopped to initially report the incident," the news release reads. "The second patrol officer arrived on scene at this point."
 
An inventory of the car and, later, the subject during booking, revealed drug paraphernalia, prepackaged bags of marijuana and 250 bags of heroin "packaged in a manner consistent with street level distribution in Berkshire County," according to police. 
 
The car also contained a dog, which was transported to the animal shelter, police said.
 
Police said the subject was held at the Williamstown police station overnight on $5,000 cash bail and transported Friday morning to Northern Berkshire District Court in North Adams for arraignment on 11 charges, including operating under the influence, carrying a firearm without a license, carrying a loaded firearm without a license, possession of drugs with intent to distribute, possession of an open container of marijuana inside a motor vehicle, resisting arrest and possession of a large capacity firearm while in commission of a felony.

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Williamstown Select Board Plans Off-Camera Evaluation of Town Manager

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Select Board plans to take extraordinary measures to avoid having its discussion of the town manager's performance recorded by the town's Public, Educational and Government cameras.
 
At its Sept. 28 meeting, the board decided to hold a special meeting in a room not covered by WilliNet cameras to complete its annual evaluation process of Town Manager Robert Menicocci.
 
Chair Peter Beck said that while the evaluation is "absolutely" to be conducted in an open meeting, the board could follow a process similar to the off site, unrecorded meetings that past Select Boards have characterized as "retreats," a term not contemplated by or included in the commonwealth's Open Meeting Law.
 
The current board met on June 29 for what it characterized as a "planning session" where no formal votes were taken. That meeting was held outside of Town Hall, at the new fire station on Main Street, in a room equipped with audio and video recording equipment that the Select Board chose not to use.
 
At the Sept. 28 meeting, one board member indicated that an unrecorded meeting was preferable to discuss the annual evaluation of the one town employee supervised by the board.
 
"I'd like to do it without all the Willinet stuff," Stephanie Boyd said in a discussion toward the end of a two-hour meeting. "I think it's more conducive to conversation."
 
With the board expected to meet just once in October — its "regular" meeting date coincides with Indigenous Peoples Day on Oct. 12 — Beck suggested that the panel could find a date for a special meeting, suggesting the third Monday of the month, Oct. 19.
 
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