Deadline Approaching for North Adams Election

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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The deadline is fast approaching to get nomination papers in for the city election in November. 
 
Papers with the signatures of 50 registered voters for mayor, City Council and city and McCann school committees are due by Tuesday, July 29, by 5 p.m. The city clerk's office will be open until 5 p.m. that day. 
 
As of Wednesday, there are two candidates for the two-year term for mayor. Incumbent Jennifer Macksey, running for a third term, is being challenged by newcomer Scott Berglund. Both have submitted their papers and had their signatures certified. A third candidate, Richard Greene, took out papers but has not returned them.
 
Seven of the nine City Council incumbents are running for two-year terms: Lisa Blackmer, Keith Bona, Peter Breen, Andrew Fitch, Peter Oleskiewicz, Bryan Sapienza and Ashley Shade. All have been certified except Fitch, who has not yet returned his papers.
 
Eight potential challengers have taken out papers for council and Aprilyn Carsno, Virginia Riehl and Lillian Zavatsky have had their signatures certified. CarrieAnn Crews, Alexa MacDonald, Ronald Sheldon, Joshua Vallieres and Thomas Wallace have not yet returned papers. 
 
The council seats are at large and the nine highest vote-getters will be seated for the 2026-28 term. 
 
School Committee incumbents Emily Daunis, David Sookey and Richard Alcombright have taken out papers running for re-election; so far only Sookey has returned his for certification. Also taking out papers are Chelsey Lyn Ciolkowski and Eric Wilson, who has had his signatures certified.
 
Incumbents Gary F. Rivers and Tyler Gibeau have returned papers for the two seats on the McCann School Committee.

Tags: election 2025,   municipal election,   


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FreshGrass Pauses Season, Plans for Next Year

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The annual FreshGrass Festival will be taking a pause on what would have been its 16th year.

Last week, the FreshGrass Foundation posted an update on its website that it will pause their 2026 season to reassess the festival and make next year's "the best one yet."

The annual bluegrass/folk has been held over three days in the fall on the campus of Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art. 

According to an email to iBerkshires, the Mass MoCA and FreshGrass made the decision together.

FreshGrass's  Chief Operating Officer Adam Kirr said the festival will still have a presence in North Adams with singular performances at Studio 9, at the Porches Inn.

"FreshGrass remains invested and calls North Adams our home. In fact, we just opened a new facility on the Porches Inn campus called the FreshGrass Annex, which will be used to house artists during our programs hosted by the FreshGrass Institute," he wrote. "FreshGrass will continue to host performances, open mics, workshops, camps, and other events at Studio 9 on the Porches Inn campus as well as work with Mass MoCA and possibly other venues on great performances."

The three-day event has drawn thousands to the North Adams since 2010. A second festival was established in 2021 in Bentonville, Ark., but it concluded its run last year.

The FreshGrass Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit partners "with world-class institutions to bring innovative performing arts experiences to life," according to its website.

The festival is set to return Sept. 24 to 26, 2027, with tickets going on sale this September.

 


The announcement comes a week after Williamstown Theatre Festival announced they will not be staging any events this summer.
 
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