Bill Sturgeon's 'Morning Drive' Finale Set for Jan. 6

07:54AM / Monday, December 29, 2025Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — WTBR-FM, Pittsfield Community Radio, will broadcast a special live "Morning Drive" radio program on Tuesday, Jan. 6, at 7:30 a.m. to celebrate seven years on the air at the Pittsfield Community Television facility.

The station moved to PCTV from Taconic High School in 2018 and had its inaugural broadcast from the new studios in January 2019.

The special broadcast will also mark the retirement of the morning program's longtime host, Bill Sturgeon.

Sturgeon, a broadcast veteran and well-known personality in the community, has volunteered his time hosting the hour-long weekdays broadcast prior to the station's move, and continued through to the present day. In that time, he has hosted more than a thousand programs featuring interviews with local community members, elected officials, educators, local business, arts and nonprofit leaders, and more.

He has indicated that he will host an occasional special program on the station going forward.

A former student-run station, WTBR-FM is now managed and operated successfully by PCTV as a community radio station, which added a second frequency in Lee one year ago. Sturgeon was instrumental in saving WTBR amid an outpouring of listener support, when the former Taconic High School building which housed the station since the mid-1970s, was planned for demolition. He has also been active in fundraising for the organization.

Several of Sturgeon's regular guests will join the special show, including several who were key figures in the transition of the station from Taconic High School to PCTV. Also expected are current elected officials and representatives of organizations in the area.

The anniversary broadcast, which will take place at the WTBR studios at 4 Federico Drive, can be heard on 89.7 FM in Pittsfield and central Berkshire County, as well as on 88.1 in Lee, Lenox and Stockbridge; by webstream at wtbrfm.com; and via a simulcast on PCTV's Access Pittsfield channel 1301 and live streamed at pittsfieldtv.org and on the PCTV Select service.

Sturgeon is a Vietnam veteran who served with the 101st Airborne Airmobile Division. Upon returning from Vietnam, he served with the Massachusetts National Guard's Yankee Division, where he was acting platoon sergeant for the unit's Scout Platoon. As part of his criminal justice career, he had assignments in Haiti, South Africa, the Netherlands, and the U.K. Sturgeon made over 120 criminal justice training videos.

In 1995, he won a Telly Award for his video on high-profile celebrity inmates. After completing a successful criminal justice career in 2005, he started his radio career, initially while teaching criminal justice at Southern Vermont College. He then hosted a 3-hour Monday- Friday show on WBRK before moving on to WRRS at UCP of Western Massachusetts. Sturgeon has 19 years of radio experience.

In addition to his involvement with many community organizations, he is a member of the PCTV Board of Directors and the WTBR Community Advisory Board.

Tags: PCTV, public radio, WTBR,

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Fenton: Governor's Council Must Deliver for the Berkshires

Community submissionGuest Column
10:22AM / Friday, August 28, 2026

I am a Springfield lawyer running for Governor's Council and I am asking for Berkshire County residents to support me over an incumbent from North Adams.

Here's why: Last year I learned about staffing issues in our regional courts that I could not ignore. In 2025, it was reported that four of Western Massachusetts' 11 Superior Court judgeships were vacant, all at the same time. A few weeks later, that grew to five vacancies. This meant there were only six Superior Court judges serving all of Western Mass at a time when Berkshire, Hampshire, Franklin, and Hampden counties had more than 100 pending homicide cases.

Those numbers were alarming to me, so I started to engage with leaders in the community who work most closely with the court system and I came to learn that these vacancies were only the tip of the iceberg here in Berkshire County.

I learned that no Superior Court or District Court judge had been appointed from the Berkshires since the current incumbent took office. As a result, there is not a single Superior Court judge who lives in the Berkshires today, and several of the District Court judges drive in from other counties to support Berkshire courts in Pittsfield, Great Barrington, and North Adams. Court staff also informed me about severe staffing shortages at the Berkshire Clerk of Courts office resulting in other counties needing to loan staff to the Berkshires just so hardworking employees can take a brief and planned summer vacation. This is not normal. These issues are a reflection of genuine problems with the Berkshire County court system and show a lack of proactive attention from our Governor's Councilor.

Instead of focusing on regional equity, I watched as the current incumbent celebrated that she has voted against the governor's nominees more than any other councilor, without much explanation as to why. Most recently, she voted against two extremely qualified former prosecutors for the Parole Board. This was despite an in-person plea from the governor and a letter of support from all the three of the district attorney's from Western Mass. Those votes do not show independence or standing up for principles, they demonstrate naivete, and an unwillingness to work with the key stakeholders.

I had seen and heard enough. I decided to jump in the race and challenge the incumbent to address these problems head-on.

I am a partner of a regional law firm. I understand our courts and the importance of having qualified, fair and hardworking judges. And I know how important it is to have judges from the Berkshires serving the Berkshires. To achieve that, you need strong relationships with the legal community and local stakeholders. You need to know how to use the power of the Governor's Council to fight forcefully for our region. And you need to be laser focused on identifying vacancies before they occur so that they can be filled quickly with local candidates.

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