Letter: North Adams Parking Survey

To the Editor:

I am inviting North Adams residents and visitors to take part in a citizen-developed survey about parking in our city. As a new resident, I was surprised to learn about the winter nighttime parking ban only after receiving a ticket. My appeal was denied, despite the fact that the ban was not proactively communicated. Information online is scattered, and enforcement dates appear inconsistent. In five other Massachusetts communities where I have lived, I never encountered a total winter parking ban.

Conversations with neighbors and local friends suggest that communication failures are a recurring issue for drivers here. From parking meters without posted enforcement hours, to Mass MoCA event parking, to the winter overnight ban, residents and visitors alike are left confused. To encourage better communication, I believe tickets issued without clear notice should be waived. With the city already investing in CodeRed alerts and maintaining a downtown marquee, it should not be difficult to keep drivers informed of parking rules.

I know I'm just one person with a limited view of the bigger picture. That's why I'm hoping this survey will collect a wide range of experiences and ideas. I'll share the results with City Council so we can push for clearer communication and better parking policies. Please take a few minutes to fill it out and make sure your voice is heard.

The parking survey can be found here. 

Elizabeth Neiderman
North Adams, Mass. 

North Adams Becomes a Purple Heart Community

By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
05:16AM / Tuesday, August 11, 2026

Veterans Service Officer Kurtis Durocher, a Purple Heart recipient, tells his own story of how he was wounded in Iraq.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — City leaders last week held a ceremony marking the city as a Purple Heart Community to honor local military service members wounded or killed in combat.

 

"This designation is much more than a sign that will stand at the entrances to our city," said Kurtis Durocher, Northern Berkshire veterans service officer at City Hall on Friday. "It is a lasting commitment and a promise to this community. We'll never forget the sacrifices made by those who are wounded or killed while serving our nation. It is a public declaration of the courage and sacrifices of combat wounded. Veterans will always have a place of honor here in North Adams."

 

As a Purple Heart Community, North Adams will place signs throughout the city acknowledging the designation. The city will also hold a ceremony every Aug. 7 on National Purple Heart Day.

 

During the inaugural ceremony, Durocher said he was asked by the Military Order of the Purple Heart to find a keynote speaker for the event, preferably a Purple Heart recipient. But he was unable to find someone willing to speak. With the date approaching, he decided to tell his own story.

 

"I don't like standing up and telling my own personal story ... But I realized, in my position as a VSO, I get so many ... children of veterans who will say, 'I didn't know anything about my father until after he passed because he just didn't talk about it,'" Durocher said. "... I have been that way until I've gotten into this position, and so, now, I try to tell my story as much as I can when it is brought to me."

 

Durocher served in the Army for 20 years and retired as a master sergeant. On Friday, he recalled a time early in his career while serving in the 82nd Airborne Division deploying to Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. On Sept. 12, 2003, his squad was conducting a patrol on Route Irish in Baghdad. He was serving as a gunner on an LMTV when it was struck by a 155-millimeter artillery shell. He said the explosive had been hidden behind a guardrail and detonated using nothing more than a washing machine timer.

 

"In an instant, everything changed. The blast knocked me unconscious. When I regained consciousness, I instinctively was removing my helmet," he said. "Almost immediately my training took over. We had been taught repeatedly that attacks like this were often followed by a secondary attack or an ambush. I quickly put my helmet back on and began searching for my machine gun."