Pittsfield Rotary Club Honors John F. McLaughlin III with Paul Harris Award

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PITTSFIELD — The Pittsfield Rotary Club has announced John F. McLaughlin, III as the recipient of the Paul Harris Award.

Established in 1976, the annual award recognizes a club member for notable achievements and contributions.

McLaughlin became a member of the Rotary Club in January 1998. He is currently serving his second three-year term on the Board of Directors and held the position of President from 2019 to 2020. Additionally, he is the current Vice President of the Pittsfield Rotary Club Foundation and is scheduled to become President in July 2025.

His involvement includes serving as Chair of the Fellowship Committee and volunteering for various community service initiatives over the past 27 years, such as collecting donations during the food drive, pancake breakfasts, passing out books for the Dictionary Project, distributing backpacks for children in need, Ringing the Bell for the Salvation Army.

He has also served multiple times as Sergeant-At-Arms and has been involved in fundraising for the Benevolence Fund through fines.

McLaughlin holds a Bachelor's degree in Finance from Northeastern University and works as a Wealth Management Advisor at Northwestern Mutual, where he has been employed since 1997. He resides in Dalton with two of his four children and is married to Jacqueline Duquette.

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Lanesborough OKs Open Space Plan, Short-Term Rental Forms

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — The Select Board on Monday set fees for short-term rentals and adopted an Open Space and Recreation Plan.
 
Town Administrator Gina Dario discussed the draft for STR registration and certificate of inspection since the new bylaws were passed at the annual town meeting.
 
The draft shows the process to file for inspection through Permit Eyes, the town's online permitting system that includes the state building code and safety requirements. Dario said members of the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals and the building commissioner looked at other town models to come up with the best process for registration.
 
Inspections will be annually for non-owner occupied units and five years for owner-occupied. The inspection fee is a flat $50. The last suggestion discussed was the posting requirements for key information.
 
Dario said they looked at about four other communities on how they used non-sensitive information on owner contacts. Chair Deborah Maynard motioned to have the information posted both inside and out to help with law enforcement if needed.
 
"I'm going to make a motion that we put that relevant information not only on the inside of the short-term rental but on the outside, so if the police need to respond, ambulance needs to respond, fire especially needs to respond, all that information is there, nobody has to go searching for it," she said. "If push comes to shove, and it's a matter of minutes, that's going to make a big, a big difference in the outcome of the incident."
 
The board then heard a presentation from Berkshire Regional Planning Commission's community planner Andrew McKeever and Open Space and Recreation Committee Vice Chair Mark Hawthorne.
 
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