NAPS, Public Safety Agencies Complete Emergency Coordination Drill

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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — On Thursday, June 26, North Adams Public Schools, in collaboration with the North Adams Police and Fire Departments and North Adams Ambulance, conducted a successful, full-scale emergency coordination drill at Drury High School.
 
The daylong event brought together school officials, first responders, and emergency management personnel for a critical training exercise designed to enhance inter-agency preparedness and coordination that would be needed in the event of a major safety incident.
 
The day began with an in-depth morning session where participants were organized into specific teams based on their real-world roles: logistics, operations, communication, incident command, medical response, and reunification. These multidisciplinary teams spent the first half of the day walking through response protocols, identifying areas for improvement, and refining the coordinated action steps that
would be implemented during the afternoon drill.
 
"This exercise gave our teams the opportunity to practice the critical work that happens behind the scenes in an emergency," said North Adams Police Chief Mark Bailey. "I'm proud of the professionalism and collaboration shown by every agency involved. This kind of preparation is essential to keeping our community safe."
 
Following the planning and team coordination phase, the afternoon culminated in a full-scale, scenario-based drill that simulated a significant emergency at the school. Teams executed their respective roles, demonstrating coordination in securing the site, establishing a command center, triaging and treating simulated injuries, and managing parent-child reunification procedures.
 
North Adams Fire Chief Brent Lefebvre noted: "This drill gave us a chance to work through real-life scenarios in real time, and the level of coordination was outstanding. We're all working toward the same goal: keeping our community safe. This kind of training reinforces our shared commitment and readiness."
 
The drill also provided insight for school leaders, particularly regarding internal communication, staff roles during emergencies, and the importance of a strong partnership with local emergency services.
 
"This was a powerful example of collaboration at its best," said Dr. Tim Callahan, Superintendent of North Adams Public Schools. "As the first responders said during our planning for the drill, our schools in North Adams are extremely safe places for learning, but we also must rehearse and prepare for emergencies. Because of our shared efforts, we are better prepared than ever."
 
The agencies involved will now conduct a formal after-action review to identify key takeaways and implement lessons learned. The drill is part of ongoing emergency planning efforts and reflects a deep, community-wide commitment to continuous improvement in school and public safety.
 

Tags: emergency drill,   NAPS,   

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Main & Mill: A Vibrant New Restaurant on Main Street

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — You can now enjoy another eatery on Main Street by well-known restaurant siblings Colleen and Sean Taylor.

Their restaurant Main & Mill opened for the first time Tuesday, bringing their vision of creating something vibrant and new to downtown North Adams.

"We have created Main & Mill to be part of our day. It's very seasonal ingredients, thoughtful cooking, beauty, beautiful presentation and dishes. And we really wanted to be part of the community, the downtown area, and start a vibrant area on this end, which has been shuttered for a while," said Colleen.

The building is owned by Ginko on Main Street LLC, which has granted 20 years exclusive possession of the property to Latent Builds as the developer. Jack and Suzy Wadsworth, behind Ginko, are development partners with Karla Rothstein and Salvatore Perry of Latent.

The bank closed in early 2021 and was purchased by Ginko late that year. Plans for the property unveiled three years ago envisioned a restaurant, retail, a park and rooftop bar. 

Colleen saw potential and said she initially wanted the building when it first went up for sale. Being good friends with Rothstein and Perry, she helped them design the kitchen and the bar before learning in March that she could lease it as a restaurant space, something she told them would be a great idea.

She said one of the most important things about the restaurant was the collaboration between Rothstein, Perry, and the Wadsworths, who put a lot of time and energy into the building.

"If Sean and I had done it, we would not be able to do what the collaboration supported. The collaboration of the three of us being able to really have that kind of money to put in down here. The design that the architecture firm that Carla and Sal own is stunning," she said. "The time and effort, everyone came together to do this in a really trusting manner."

The two wanted the restaurant to be an all-day venture, so people could eat at any point throughout the day, all week long.

"We wanted it to be open for coffee and socialization in the morning where people can meet, have their cup of coffee, have a quiche, a vegetarian quiche, or croissant or yogurt. Something intentional with their coffee," she said. "Then move into a lunchtime for the downtown business or anybody, and then go into supper, dinner, with drinks later into the evening. So have it really be open all day long, so that there wasn't a void on any particular day."

They also wanted to do something different than the other restaurants they owned.

"We didn't want to mimic any other restaurant in town. We wanted to bring something that was inspiring, something that had some familiar things that people would see, and other things that we would bring to them for them to experience," she said.

As a woman business owner, Colleen said she wanted to bring a female chef into the kitchen. 

Colleen brought on Chef Anna DeRose, who she said puts twists on a lot of her dishes.

"So we have a creme brulee, but our creme brulee is topped with marshmallow," she said. "Our creme brulee is like almost two desserts in one. It's a s'mores creme brulee. So you could have a s'mores, and you could have a creme brulee - but when you put both of them together, fireworks go off."

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