BOSTON — To ensure safety for everyone in Massachusetts during the holidays, the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission (ABCC) will be conducting alcohol enforcement at local bars in Massachusetts cities and towns from Thanksgiving Eve through New Year's Eve.
In doing so, the ABCC hopes to prevent accidents caused by impaired driving and other alcohol-related harm that often occurs at this time of year. The ABCC will work with municipal police departments and focus enforcement efforts at bars that have been identified as the last to sell alcohol to a convicted drunk driver and other high-risk locations.
"It is extremely important to deter bars from over-serving and prevent problems before they happen,” said State Treasurer Deborah B. Goldberg, who oversees the ABCC. "We want to keep people safe and make sure everyone can enjoy the holidays with their family and friends, avoiding tragedies before they occur."
The program is run in conjunction with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) Impaired Driving Crackdown, from Thanksgiving Eve through New Year's Eve, and is funded through the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security - Highway Safety Division.
According to the NHTSA, from 2017 to 2021, 137 drivers involved in fatal crashes on Thanksgiving Eve (6 p.m. to 5:59 a.m.), also known as 'Blackout Wednesday,'' were alcohol impaired. In 2021 alone, 36 drivers were in fatal crashes on that day. Also, from 2017 to 2021, young drivers ages 21-24 represented the largest percentage of drivers involved in deadly crashes. The message before Thanksgiving is simple – the NHTSA says to stop the blackout trend on Wednesday.
Alcohol is involved in 40 percent of traffic crash fatalities, resulting in 17,013 fatalities and injuring an estimated 275,000 people annually. Data indicates that well over 50% of impaired driving arrests originate at bars.
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Companion Corner: Baby at Berkshire Humane Society
By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — There's a sweet and chatty girl at the Berkshire Humane Society awaiting her new home.
iBerkshire's Companion Corner is a weekly series spotlighting an animal in our local shelters that is ready to find a home.
Baby is a 10-year-old shorthair feline that has been at the shelter since December.
Feline/small animal adoption counselor Alyssa Petell introduced us to her.
"She is our lovely senior lady. She's about 10 years old, is what we estimate her to be. She's a very, very affectionate, sweet girlie," she said.
Baby came from a home that couldn't care for her anymore because of an abundance of animals in the house.
"When she first came in, she, of course, was surrendered because there were so many animals in the home that people couldn't handle the amount of animals they had, mostly cats. I think there was a dog, but it was too much for them," Petell said. "We quickly realized she had an upper respiratory infection, and she eventually got over it. It did take her a pretty long time, but she's since recovered from that issue, and she's doing much, much better."
Even though she came from a family of animals she would do well as the only pet.
"The perfect home for our girl, baby would be a nice, quiet home with adults, preferably adults only. She does not like other animals, although she did come from a home with a bunch of other animals, she prefers to be the only pet in the home," she said. "But she is a very lovely girl, and I think that she would do really well in a nice home, quiet, maybe older people."
Baby is quite affectionate, curious, and can be quirky.
"I honestly think she is a very, very sweet girl. She loves … one quirky thing that she does is walls. She pretends that they're scratching posts, so she'll kind of scratch them a little bit. And it's very, very funny. She does that in her cage. She loves her scratching posts."
She also loves to play with toys and eat treats.
"She actually does have a pretty playful side when she gets the time. I've seen her have the zoomies before, and it was very cute. Once she has the space and the energy, she does like to play and chase things around, Baby, she's very curious," Petell said.
She also loves to have conversations with you and will chat with you all day if she could.
"She's a very, very sweet girl. She will come up to you and rub on you and give you all the love in the world. She's also very vocal. She will talk to you all the time," she said.
Baby is a senior and she might need some dental work and some blood work to make sure she is completely healthy.
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