Elizabeth Freeman Center RISE Together 2025

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Join Elizabeth Freeman Center in September for RISE Together 2025 - six community walks to end domestic and sexual violence in Berkshire County and beyond. 
 
Rise Together brings friends, families, neighbors, and community leaders together to honor survivors, remember those we have lost, and take a stand for a safer, more just future for all.
 
Walks are scheduled for Pittsfield: Thursday Sept. at 5:30 pm; Great Barrington: Wednesday Sept. 17 at 4:30 pm; Lenox: Thursday Sept. 18 at 5:30 pm; Lee: Wednesday Sept. 24 at 5:30 pm; Williamstown: Thursday Sept. 25 at 5:30 pm; and North Adams: Tuesday, Sept. 30 at 5:30 pm. 
 
At each walk, after a welcome ceremony, participants will set out together on a roughly one-mile walk. Attendees can bring their own signs or borrow one of Elizabeth Freeman Center's signs.
 
Ways to get involved: follow this link to make a donation, start a fundraising team or sponsor the event. Rewards: Raise $200+ to earn an exclusive 2025 Rise Together t-shirt; raise $500+ to add a limited-edition Rise Together hoodie. 
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Parole Granted to Pittsfield Man Sentenced for Killing Toddler Son

Staff Reports
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A city man serving a life sentence for killing his 2-year-old son 43 years ago has been granted parole. 
 
According to the Boston Globe, the Parole Board on Monday voted to release Richard N. Mayes Jr., 78, to a halfway house.
 
Mayes was charged with beating his son to death in 1983 when he wouldn't eat. The child, Lawrence Richon, had received blows to his head, body, arms and legs. Mayes also told police he'd hit his son four times with a plastic baseball bat. 
 
According to media reports at the time, Mayes tried to resuscitate Lawrence when he later collapsed and cried to police that he did it when arrested. 
 
The boy was taken by life flight to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, where he died from blood clots in his head. 
 
Mayes was found guilty of second-degree murder by a Superior Court jury and sentenced to life in state prison.
 
According to the Globe, Mayes had been denied parole five times previously but told the board he had been sober for three decades and had not had a disciplinary report in a dozen years. 
 
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