North Adams Package Store Changing Hands Again

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. —The License Commission on Tuesday approved the transfer of a beer/wine package store license for Dave's Package Store. 
 
The license will be held by North Adams Package LLC, which will continue doing business as Dave's. 
 
 Avatar Grang of North Adams, the new manager, told the commissioners that the hours and drive-up window will remain the same and that he and one other would be working in the store. 
 
 Grang said he did not have experience with running an alcohol store "over here" but was cognizant of the state's liquor laws. He said he was looking to expand his interests. 
 
"I have a business in location in New York, OK, and I'm friends with Abbas for a long time," he said, referring to Abbas Choudhry, who purchased the business and property more than a year ago as Shahmir Properties LLC.
 
Choudhry, who attended the meeting, said he would stay on until Grang was approved for the license at the state level. 
 
Commissioner Rosemari Dickinson pointed out several errors and typos on the application that she recommended be corrected, including adding in the continued use of the drive-through, before being submitted to the state. She said state inspectors would return the papers or call about anything out of place. 
 
The commissioners told Grang there had been no complaints about the operation of the package store and that if he continued it in the same way, he should have no issues. Grang said he would be careful about carding and has a security system. 
 
The commission also approved a one-day beer and wine license for Tammy Smith for a wedding reception on Sept. 7 at Norad Mill.

Tags: license board,   alcohol license,   package stores,   

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North Adams Updated on Schools, Council President Honored With 'Distinction'

By Tammy Daniels iBerkshires Staff

Superintendent Timothy Callahan gives a presentation on the school system at Tuesday's City Council meeting. 
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The City Council got an update on what's up in the school system and its president was inducted into the mayor's Women's Leadership Hall of Fame.
 
Mayor Jennifer Macksey, as the city's first woman mayor, established the Hall of Fame in 2022, during March, Women's History Month, to recognize local women who have had a positive impact on the city. Past inductees have included the council's first woman president Fran Buckley, Gov. Jane Swift and boxing pioneer Gail Grandchamp. 
 
She described President Ashley Shade as a colleague and a friend and a former student. 
 
"Ashley is known not just for her leadership, but for her compassion, her ability to listen, to understand and to stand up for those whose voices are often gone unheard," the mayor said. "She has been a tireless advocate for the LGBTQ plus community and marginalized communities at both the local and national level here in North Adams."
 
Elected in 2021, Shade is the first openly transgender person to hold the role of council president in Massachusetts. She also leads the first-ever woman majority council in the city's history. 
 
The McCann Technical School graduate also has served on boards and commissions, "always working to make our city more inclusive, equitable and welcoming," said the mayor. "Ashley not leads not only with strength, but with a heart, and our community is a much stronger place because of it."
 
Shade, wearing her signature pink suit, was presented with a plaque from the mayor designating her a "woman of distinction."
 
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