Pittsfield Launches New Emergency Notification System

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The City of Pittsfield has partnered with CivicPlus to implement a new Mass Notification software. By partnering with CivicPlus, the city will be able to issue urgent notifications, emergency instructions, warnings, and routine communications to subscribed residents via phone call, email, text message, and voicemail to keep people safe and informed.
 
In a local emergency, community members subscribed to this Mass Notification system will benefit from immediate, actionable information and instructions sent via their preferred notification channel. Residents can sign up for alerts in a variety of languages including but not limited to: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese.
 
"Communicating with residents is an essential function of local government, especially in times of emergency," said Mayor Peter Marchetti. "This new system will provide both emergency and non-emergency alerts to keep residents up to date with relevant information."
 
"These notifications are essential in our emergency planning efforts," said Pittsfield Fire Chief Thomas Sammons. "I encourage everyone to sign up for these notifications so they can stay up to date with information related to inclement weather, evacuation notices, road closures and more."
 
The CivicPlus Mass Notification software replaces CodeRED that was previously used for similar notifications. Any member of the public that wants to receive emergency and/or non-emergency communications and alerts will be required to sign up with Mass Notifications.
 
To sign up for Mass Notifications, residents should visit https://www.pittsfieldma.gov/alert-signup and the select the alerts they want to receive. An account will need to be created to receive alerts.
 
A CivicsPlus how-to sign up video is available directly in the portal that will answer most questions about the sign-up process. However, any resident that requires additional help can visit or call:
 
• Berkshire Athenaeum, 1 Wendell Avenue (413) 499-9480
• Ralph J. Froio Senior Center, 330 North Street (413) 499-9346
• City Hall: Main phone number (413) 449-5600, press option #7
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Letter: Time to retire Maryland's third senator

To the Editor:
 
Time to retire Maryland's third senator
 
Sen. Chuck Grassley visits all 99 Iowa counties every year (not every six years) as does his colleague Sen. Joni Ernst. The media has dubbed this tour "The Full Grassley."
 
Sen. Amy Klobuchar goes to all 87 Minnesota counties annually and Sen. Chuck Schumer shows up in all 62 New York counties each year.
 
Our junior senators from Ed Brooke to Paul Tsongas to John Kerry all made it a point to get to each and every part of the Commonwealth.
 
We have 14 counties (one of which – Nantucket - is a single town) and yet there are dozens of communities from the hilltowns of western Mass to North Quabbin and the Blackstone Valley that Sen. Ed Markey can't be bothered to set foot in. Since joining the US Senate in 2013, he's never visited almost all of the rural towns in the five western counties. This is unacceptable.
 
The fact that he spends more time in his Chevy Chase mansion rather than in Cheshire, Chesterfield and Charlton is why he's earned the disparaging moniker as Maryland's third senator.
 
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