HooWRA Workshop Focuses on Poetry

03:31PM / Tuesday, September 09, 2025Print Story | Email Story

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — There will be a poetry workshop aimed at drawing inspiration from the Hoosic River on Saturday, Sept. 13.

The workshop will be facilitated by Arianna Alexsandra Collins, executive director of the Hoosic River Watershed Association.

Meet at Natural Bridge State Park parking area outside the gate at 9:30 a.m.

Participants will walk up from the Hudson Brook to the Hoosic's North Branch confluence.

Writing prompts will given, and there will be time to share poems, phrases, or whatever else. This program will last one hour.

This workshop is free and open to the public and is made possible by a grant from the Cultural Council of Northern Berkshire, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency. Limited to 16 participants. Register the website here.

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North Adams Councilors to Speak Against Berkshire Gas Rate Hike

By Tammy Daniels iBerkshires Staff
05:16PM / Wednesday, February 04, 2026

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Public Services Committee is planning a show of force at Thursday's public hearing on rate hikes for Berkshire Gas Co.

The rate increase was raised at its Tuesday meeting, when Chair Peter Breen said "utilities" had been added to the committee's review.

"Because public utilities are controlled by the municipality — the electric, the natural gas, the cable — those are all part of public service," he said, explaining why Council President Ashley Shade had made the change. "We negotiate, we legislate. And a good example right now is on Thursday, there's a public hearing. The Berkshire Gas company wants to raise the rate 21 percent to 27 percent."

The utility is asking to adjust distribution rates to generate $22.2 million, which it anticipates will result in a 21.6 percent rate increase on average. In filings with the state's Department of Public Utilities, Berkshire Gas is estimating up to about $54 a month increase for residential heating and $12 for non-heating customers.

Gov. Maura Healey has stated her opposition to the proposal, calling the rate hike unaffordable for Massachusetts customers.

"This proposed increase in utility bills could not come at a worse time for families and businesses in Western Mass. It's why we took $180 million off electric bills and pushed the utilities to provide immediate relief to gas customers this winter," she said in a statement, referring to the use of state funds to cut heating costs in February and March.

A public hearing was held last week in Greenfield; a virtual hearing is set for 7 p.m. on Wednesday, and an in-person one at 7 p.m. on Thursday at Berkshire Community College.

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