Pittsfield Man Facing Charges in Hit-and-Run

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A city man is facing charges in Vermont related to a hit-and-run crash that seriously injured a pedestrian. 
 
The Bennington (Vt.) Banner reports that Nelsin Martin, 21, is facing a felony charge in the May 8 incident. He could face up to 15 years behind bars if found guilty.
 
The crash occurred on Route 7 near the intersection with Route 346 at about 6:38 a.m. A witness and video from a Pownal school bus indicated that two vehicles were driving south down the highway nearly side by side at an excessive speed. The witness said they appeared to be racing, according to the Banner. A third vehicle was mentioned by it was not clear if it was involved. 
 
The pedestrian, 37-year-old Adrienne Formel of Pownal, was struck by the vehicle in the far right lane, which was either trying to pass in the breakdown lane or was "bumped" by another vehicle, according to witnesses.  
 
The victim was taken to Albany (N.Y.) Medical Center with life-threatening injuries, including a broken arm, and had to have her right leg amputated. 
 
Vermont State Police identified two vehicles, a white Chevrolet Silverado and a white Volkswagen sedan, which both fled the scene south into Massachusetts and were last seen on North Hoosac Road in Williamstown. By the end of the day, they had identified both the vehicles and the drivers. 
 
Martin is expected to be arraigned next week. 
 

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Companion Corner: Baby at Berkshire Humane Society

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — There's a sweet and chatty girl at the Berkshire Humane Society awaiting her new home.

iBerkshire's Companion Corner is a weekly series spotlighting an animal in our local shelters that is ready to find a home.

Baby is a 10-year-old shorthair feline that has been at the shelter since December.

Feline/small animal adoption counselor Alyssa Petell introduced us to her.

"She is our lovely senior lady. She's about 10 years old, is what we estimate her to be. She's a very, very affectionate, sweet girlie," she said. 

Baby came from a home that couldn't care for her anymore because of an abundance of animals in the house. 

"When she first came in, she, of course, was surrendered because there were so many animals in the home that people couldn't handle the amount of animals they had, mostly cats. I think there was a dog, but it was too much for them," Petell said. "We quickly realized she had an upper respiratory infection, and she eventually got over it. It did take her a pretty long time, but she's since recovered from that issue, and she's doing much, much better."

Even though she came from a family of animals she would do well as the only pet. 

"The perfect home for our girl, baby would be a nice, quiet home with adults, preferably adults only. She does not like other animals, although she did come from a home with a bunch of other animals, she prefers to be the only pet in the home," she said. "But she is a very lovely girl, and I think that she would do really well in a nice home, quiet, maybe older people."

Baby is quite affectionate, curious, and can be quirky.

"I honestly think she is a very, very sweet girl. She loves … one quirky thing that she does is walls. She pretends that they're scratching posts, so she'll kind of scratch them a little bit. And it's very, very funny. She does that in her cage. She loves her scratching posts."

She also loves to play with toys and eat treats. 

"She actually does have a pretty playful side when she gets the time. I've seen her have the zoomies before, and it was very cute. Once she has the space and the energy, she does like to play and chase things around, Baby, she's very curious," Petell said.

She also loves to have conversations with you and will chat with you all day if she could.

"She's a very, very sweet girl. She will come up to you and rub on you and give you all the love in the world. She's also very vocal. She will talk to you all the time," she said.

Baby is a senior and she might need some dental work and some blood work to make sure she is completely healthy.

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