2nd Street to Hold Clinic on Sealing Criminal Records

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — 2nd Street, together with Community Legal Aid, will hold a free clinic on how to seal or expunge a criminal record on Thursday, Aug. 3 from 1-3 pm. 
 
The clinic will be held at the 2nd Street offices, located at 264 Second Street, Pittsfield. Private consultations will be available.
 
The clinic is designed for those who have either never been found guilty of a charge or who have fulfilled the requirements of a guilty plea or verdict. Such persons often have difficulty finding or keeping housing or employment due to their Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI), which landlords and employers commonly use for background checks. Legal experts will be on hand to help decode CORI and determine if eligible charges may be sealed or expunged.
 
Community Legal Aid (CLA) provides free civil legal services to low-income and elderly residents of Central and Western Massachusetts. To learn more, visit www.communitylegal.org.
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Dalton Town Meeting May 6 Preview

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
DALTON, Mass. — Voters at the annual town meeting on Monday, May 6, will decide 22 articles, including articles on sidewalks and the authorization of a number of spending articles, including an approximate $22 million budget. 
 
The meeting will take place at 7 p.m. at Wahconah Regional High School. Town meeting documents can be found here.
 
A little more than a dozen voters attended the nearly two-hour town meeting information session on Monday. 
 
"That budget is going up about 8 percent from what it was last year. Sounds like a lot, it is a lot, the majority of that is coming from increases in insurance, and schools, and other things the town does not have direct control over," Town Manager Thomas Hutcheson said.
 
"So, the actual town increase is a little under 4 percent. Everything else we're at the mercy of outside forces."
 
Of the $22 million budget, $10,537,044 is the assessment for the Central Berkshire Regional School District and about $10 million is the town operating budget.
 
"Last year, that part of the budget went up 10 percent. So, we're going in the right direction. It's not as low as we'd necessarily like to see, but I think both the Select Board and the Finance Committee did a great job this year of trimming away where they could," Hutcheson said. 
 
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