Registrations Open for 2nd Street Workshops

01:05PM / Monday, March 20, 2023Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — 2nd Street has opened registrations for free workshops focused on drawing, creative writing and poetry.

The workshops, open to formerly incarcerated men and women in Berkshire County, are associated with the new programs Insight Out and Using Our Outside Voices, created by 2nd Street in partnership with Berkshire Museum and Berkshire Community College.

All workshops will be held at 2nd Street, located at 264 Second Street in Pittsfield. To register, call (413) 443-7220, ext. 1275.

Drawing workshops: Tuesdays, April 4 through May 23, 4:30-6 pm. Workshops will be led by Phyllis Kornfeld, who has taught art in correctional facilities for 40 years, including at the Berkshire County Jail. She is the author of "Cellblock Visions: Prison Art in America."

Creative writing workshops: Wednesdays, April 5 through May 24, 4:30-6 pm. Workshops will be led by Liesl Schwabe, Berkshire Community College Coordinator of Writing Across the Curriculum. Her essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Review of Books and many other publications and anthologies.

Poetry workshops: Thursdays, April 6 through May 25, 4:30-6 pm. Workshops will be led by Benjamin Grimes, a review writer and copyeditor for Muzzle Magazine. His work has appeared in New Ohio Review and is forthcoming in Sycamore Review.

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Neal's Office Among Those Targeted by Suspicious Mailings

Staff Reports12:28PM / Wednesday, October 21, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — U.S. Rep. Richard Neal was among congressmen apparently targeted by someone mailing suspicious envelopes.

According to a report in The Berkshire Eagle, an envelope containing a powdery substance was discovered by postal inspectors before reaching Neal's Pittsfield office in the Silvio O. Conte Federal Building.

Nearly 40 members of Congress have received envelopes containing white powder, according to The Guardian. More than 100 letters are thought to be in the U.S. mail system and the FBI, Capitol Police and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service were investigating the mailings that have also been sent to elections officials in various states.

The mailings have been sent to both Republican and Democrat officeholders and several congressional district offices had to be evacuated in the last week or so after envelopes were opened in them.

Earlier today, my Bronx district office received an envelope delivered by mail that contained a suspicious substance. Local law enforcement responded swiftly and, after investigating, determined the substance to be non-hazardous.
— Rep. Ritchie Torres (@repritchie.bsky.social) October 16, 2026 at 3:10 PM

The Guardian reported that the FBI is warning officials to look for envelopes processed through a north Texas center and that carry a postmark or stamp stating "Thinking of You."

The Eagle states that Neal's office was alerted on Saturday that it might be getting a suspicious package; inspectors seized the envelope at the Fenn Street post office on Monday.

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