No Paws Left Behind Seeking to Continue Sonsini's Mission

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The former Eleanor Sonsini Animal Shelter is gearing up to relaunch under a new name once it secures a location.

No Paws Left Behind hopes to open in North Adams, carrying on the no-kill shelter's legacy of homing cats and dogs. The Sonsini shelter announced its closing last summer and manager Noelle Howland saved it by taking leadership.

"We're pretty much ready to go but I just don't have a location yet," Howland said.

The municipal shelter in North Adam's Department of Public Works building is a possible location, she said, but it is a multi-step process that has not yet been set in stone. She added that there are "so many pieces that have to go together" for it to be 100 percent.

When the former location on Crane Avenue shut down at the end of August, Howland said space was a main need, specifically more room for outdoor and indoor kennels, a separate space for the cats not located in the office, and a meet-and-greet space.

All of the animals found homes before its closing, except for Knight the American pit bull mix, the last resident who found a happy home not long after.

Howland started a crowdfunding campaign that has raised more than $53,000 toward the effort since July 30 and has held separate fundraising events.

Articles of incorporation have been filed with the state for No Paws Left Behind Inc. and the shelter is awaiting verification from the Internal Revenue Service for a 501c(3) non-profit designation.

Clarksburg Students Write in Support of Rural School Aid

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
07:25AM / Sunday, March 15, 2026

Mason Langenback calculated that Clarksburg would get almost $1 million if the $60 million was allocated equally.

CLARKSBURG, Mass. — Eighth-graders at Clarksburg School took a lesson in civic advocacy this week, researching school funding and writing letters to Beacon Hill that call for fully funding rural school aid. 

 

The students focused on the hardships for small rural schools and their importance to the community — that they struggle with limited funding and teacher shortages, but offer safe and supportive spaces for learning and are a hub for community connections.

 

"They all address the main issue, the funding for rural schools, and how there's a gap, and there's the $4 million gap this year, and then it's about the $40 million next year, and that rural schools need that equitable funding," said social studies teacher Mark Karhan.

 

A rural schools report in 2022 found smaller school districts cost from nearly 17 percent to 23 percent more to operate, and recommended "at least" $60 million be appropriated annually for rural school aid. 

 

Gov. Maura Healey has filed for more Chapter 70 school aid, but that often is little help to small rural schools with declining or static enrollment. For fiscal 2027, she's budgeted $20 million for rural schools, up from around $13 million this year but still far below the hoped for $60 million. 

 

Karhan said the class was broken into four groups and the students were provided a submission letter from Rural Schools Advocacy. The students used the first paragraph, which laid out the funding facts, and then did research and wrote their own letters. 

 

They will submit those with a school picture to the governor.