OLLI at BCC Series to Present 'How We Got to ICE'

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Berkshire Community College (OLLI at BCC) presents the next installment of its Distinguished Speakers Series on Wednesday, Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. 
 
Former Professor Tom Gerety and Professor Mai Ngai will present, "How We Got to ICE: A Conversation with One of America's Premier Historians of Immigration." The talk is free and open to all, and a Zoom link will be provided upon registration.  
 
As part of OLLI's series of discussions of laws and Constitution under President Trump, Tom Gerety will join Mae Ngai of Columbia University to explore the precedents, particularly as events unfolded in Minnesota.     
 
This event will be recorded and posted to the YouTube channel OLLI: The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Berkshire Community College. 
 
Professor Mai Ngai holds the Lung Family chair in Asian American Studies and History. She started her career as a labor organizer and teacher in New York City and earned her PhD at Columbia University under the direction of abolition historian Eric Foner. She has written several notable books on immigration to America, including "Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and Making of Modern America" and "The Lucky Ones: One Family and the Extraordinary Invention of Chinese America." Ngai has won numerous awards, including the Frederick Jackson Turner prize and a Guggenheim Fellowship.  
 
Tom Gerety taught constitutional law through most of his career. He retired as a Collegiate Professor of law and humanities at New York University. He headed up the Brennan Center for Justice and was president of both Trinity and Amherst Colleges. He has law and philosophy degrees from Yale.  
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Pittsfield Council OKs Funds for Plow Truck; Refers Council Pay Recommendation

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Winter is right around the corner, and Pittsfield plans to purchase a vehicle to increase its snow-plowing capacity.

On Tuesday, the City Council approved the transfer of $200,000 from the Public Works Stabilization Fund for equipment. The Department of Public Services will purchase a one-ton truck equipped with an all-season body, snowplow, wing, and spreader.

Commissioner of Public Services and Utilities Ricardo Morales said it is something the department would like to have for supervision and expanding its work. 

"We need this piece of equipment to have a supervisor be able to go on the mains with a wing plow and assist on that as needed, and be able to pick up that wing and go to a neighborhood street and be able to assist with snow plowing in a neighborhood street," he explained. 

"And at the same time be able to jump throughout the city because he's supervising as well, making sure that there's volume." 

A comparable truck is included in Pittsfield's capital plan. 

These vehicles normally need to be ordered 10 to 12 months ahead of delivery, but Morales said Pittsfield identified one that can be expedited; he did not say how quickly. 

"Approving funding now gives us the best chance of having the truck built and in service for the coming snow season," he wrote in a communication to the council. 

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