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Organizers of the No Kings rally held last October. The grassroots groups are preparing for their third No Kings rallies on Saturday.

Berkshires Gear Up for No Kings 3

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Thousands of Berkshire County residents are expected to join millions of other Americans on Saturday in the third "No Kings" day of protest. 

From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., there will be standouts, speakers, music, and more in eight Berkshire communities and in nearby Bennington, Vt. The nonviolent No Kings movement mobilized last year in opposition to the actions of President Donald Trump and his administration, with more than 7 million people participating throughout thousands of No Kings events on Oct. 18, 2025. 

Activists say the mass mobilization is a key to blocking authoritarianism and upholding the U.S. Constitution.   

"Many of us fear for our democracy," said Standup Berkshires organizer Robin OHerin. "We are gathering in protest because action is the antidote to fear. In this country we elect presidents, and we do not allow them to crown themselves king."

After the last No Kings Day, the president responded on his Truth Social account with an AI-generated video of him in a crown, spewing diarrhea on protesters from a jet, and the White House's official Twitter (X) account posted AI images of Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance in crowns. 

"A core principle behind all No Kings events is a commitment to nonviolent action. We expect all participants to seek to de-escalate any potential confrontation with those who disagree with our values and to act lawfully at these events," the landing page for the No Kings North Adams event reads. 

In North Adams, the event will begin at 12:30 p.m. with guest speakers and music in the City Hall parking lot. Seating and parking are limited, with a few accessible spots at City Hall. The standout portion will begin at 1:15 p.m. on the sidewalk, and those who anticipate needing a seat are encouraged to bring one. 


Speakers will include community entrepreneur and youth advocate Jess Sweeney, Berkshire religious leaders arranged by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts student/poet Matt Lewellyn, singer-songwriter Ciarra Fragale, and Berkshire immigrant justice advocate Fernando León. 

The Songs of Peace & Protest community singing group will also perform. 

Greylock Together will be collecting non-food household and hygiene products for community mutual aid to address systemic inequities. Resistance Frog buttons and earrings will be available for $3 and $5, cash only. 

In October, more than 1,000 people were estimated at the rally at North Adams City Hall, where they held signs along the Hadley Overpass and around the intersection at Main Street. 

The Pittsfield event will run from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Participants will gather across from the Common, march to North Street, and return to the Common to rally and enjoy the Becket/Washington Rapid Resistance Choir. Participants are encouraged to wear yellow — a global symbol of peaceful resistance. (Berkshire Bateria and the Pittsfield Gospel Choir had to cancel.)

Speakers will Include John Bonifaz, a constitutional attorney and founder and president of national non-profit Free Speech for People; the Rev. Margo Page, president of Berkshire Interfaith Organizing; Rose Fiscella, a history student at MCLA and the leader of the grassroots group Frogs for Freedom; and Tara Jacobs, the Governor's Councilor for District 8. 


As part of a weeklong recognition of Trans Day of Visibility, Wander will host a combined crafting and karaoke night and No Kings sign-making workshop in partnership with Berkshire Sanity Posse on Thursday, March 26, from 6 to 8 p.m. 

The No Kings Boston rally at the Boston Common is set for 1 to 4 p.m., and is organized by a coalition of Indivisible Mass Coalition, ACLU of Massachusetts, and Mass 50501.

Indivisible MA noted that "Dozens of other local Indivisible groups and allies — from Pittsfield, Northampton, Lancaster, and Worcester to Framingham, Methuen, Lexington, and towns in southeastern Mass and the Cape" have also scheduled No Kings events. 

Other events: 

  • Adams Town Common, 11 to 12:30 
  • Dalton CRA sidewalk, 12:30 to 1:30
  • Great Barrington Town Hall, noon to 1:30 p.m.
  • Stockbridge Town Offices, 11 to 12:30 
  • West Stockbridge Congregational Church, noon to 1:30
  • Bennington, Vt., Skate Park, noon to 3:30.

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State Housing Secretary Tours Downtown Pittsfield Developments

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The state's new secretary of the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities on Monday saw how local developers are transforming historic buildings into downtown housing units. 

Secretary Juana Matias, appointed to the role in February, toured the former St. Joseph's High School on Maplewood Avenue and the near-complete Wright Building Block on North Street.   

Matias observed local leaders working collaboratively to dismantle bottlenecks in housing production, something she said the administration wants to see across all 351 municipalities.  

"This is a perfect model of the partnerships we want to see, and we love coming to the ground and seeing how people are leveraging public taxpayer dollars to help address the issue of our time, which is housing production," she said after the tours. 

Developer David Carver, of Scarafoni Associates & CT Management Group, is seeking support from the state Housing Development Incentive Program to transform St. Joe's into apartments, and Allegrone Companies has secured millions from the program towards the Wright Building renovation

They first visited the shuttered school that functioned as a shelter during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, greeted by broken windows and leaving with Carver's vision. 

The plan is to transform the school with good bones into 19 apartments, 20 percent designated affordable, and 30 percent of the building for commercial use.  Units are expected to cost between $1,700 and $1,900 per month; 14 one-bedroom units and five two-bedroom units are planned. 

The project team is in talks with the nearby Berkshire Family YMCA to expand their childcare activities to the building's lower level.  Residents and the daycare would use different entrances. 

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