Berkshire Green Drinks: A New Vision For Protecting The Environment

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire Environmental Action Team (BEAT) staff members will share updates from their work in 2025 at the December Berkshire Green Drinks event on Tuesday, Dec. 16. 
 
This free hybrid event will take place online via Zoom and in person at BEAT's Environmental Leadership and Education Center, 20 Chapel St, Pittsfield, MA. 
 
The in-person social gathering will begin around 5:15 PM; the presentation and Zoom meeting will start at 6:00 PM.
 
Executive Director Brittany Ebeling will share BEAT's new vision statement, developed collectively by BEAT staff, and will introduce new Deputy Director Melanie McCarthy. 
 
No Fracked Gas in Mass Program Director Rose Wessel will provide updates on pipeline expansions and climate legislation. Chelsey Simmons, Drake Reed, and Andrew Ferrara will review the progress made in the past year on campaigns centered on stewardship, education and outreach, and watchdogging, including invasive plant removal, the annual Biodiversity Day, air quality monitoring, stopping the practice of non-native fish stocking, and more. 
 
BEAT staff will also share their plans for working upcoming in the new year as they continue to celebrate the legacy of recently retired Founding Executive Director Jane Winn by working with the Berkshire community and beyond to protect the environment for wildlife in support of the natural world that sustains us all.
 

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Lee: 3 Miles of Route 20 Being Repaved Next Year

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

LEE, Mass. — Beginning next year, the state will repave three miles of Route 20 and reinforce two bridges, one over the Massachusetts Turnpike. 

Last week, the state Department of Transportation held a virtual design public hearing for the project. In addition to milling and resurfacing of the route, bridge structures L-05-024 (over Greenwater Brook) and L-05-052 (over I-90) will see maintenance repairs. 

"We just wanted to thank MassDOT for doing this project. We're very supportive of having the road redone and appreciate the work on it," Town Administrator Christopher Brittain said. 

"The town of Lee is looking forward to having the road repaved." 

Construction will begin in the spring of 2027.  

Traffic will be maintained with short-term flagging operations, and steel plates will conceal deck patching over Greenwater Brook. There will be staged construction on the bridge over the highway, with a single alternating travel lane controlled by a temporary signal. 

The project is estimated to cost $6.8 million, 90 percent from the federal government and 10 percent from the state; it is in the FY26 Statewide Transportation Improvement Program. 

The hearing included public information on activities and rights-of-way needs for tree trimming, new utility poles, grading, drainage swales, and a driveway apron along the project corridor, items identified during the late design phases. 

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