Williamstown.com

MEMBER SIGN IN
Not a member? Become one today!

Home

iBerkshires Williamstown Chamber Williams College Your Government Land & Housing Debate

Dining

Real Estate

Send feedback to info@williamstown.com

BCC Honors Academic Achievement at Upcoming Convocation

02:10PM / Friday, October 19, 2018

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire Community College will recognize the academic achievements of 120 students during an Honors Convocation Program on Thursday, Oct. 18.

Each honored student ranks in the top 5 percent of the college with a grade point average of 3.75 or better in courses totaling at least 12 credits.

Massachusetts

Rebekah L. Baker, Alexandria T. Brandon, Michelle M. Briggs, Laurie A. McArthur, Kelsy M. Nixon, Cameron J. Winter

Tracy M. Stoddard

Emily M. Linendoll

Shannon M. Gwozdz, Michaela M. Larkin, Melissa L. Pantano, Lillian R. Sartorius, Kia Yang

Ramsey A. El Taieb

Stephanie J. Rogers

Shaina R. Benham, Deidre S. Brainerd, Oksana O. Dix, Jessie C. Downer,

0 Comments
>> Read More

Accreditors to Visit BCC's Nursing Program Wednesday, Public Meeting Scheduled

By Andy McKeever, iBerkshires Staff
02:24AM / Friday, October 19, 2018

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — BCC's nursing program will be reviewed for accreditation during a site visit on Wednesday. The Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing's review includes a public forum on the accreditation process. ACEN has a full day scheduled and has set aside 1:45 until 2:45 p.m. to hear from the public on any questions, opinions, or concerns about the program. "It is just an open conversation ... they look at stakeholders and the community is a stakeholder," said program adviser Ann Tierney. "They really want it to be a free-flowing conversation." Tierney said program officials won't even be on hand during the

0 Comments
>> Read More

Mount Greylock Building Committee Nixes Overflow Parking Proposal

By Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires Staff
11:21AM / Monday, October 15, 2018

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — An evenly divided Mount Greylock Regional School Building Committee last week decided not to spend time and money looking at the creation of overflow parking on the north side of the new middle-high school. At issue was a patch of land currently occupied by trailers related to the $64 million building project. As construction winds down, construction manager Turner Construction plans to remove the trailers and return the land to its natural state. Over the years, there have been occasional discussions about whether that land -- currently covered by gravel -- could be kept as an alternative parking area for special events, especially since the newly

0 Comments
>> Read More

BCC Names Interim Director of Nursing

Staff Reports,
10:29AM / Friday, October 12, 2018

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Christine Martin is taking over as head of the nursing program at BCC. Berkshire Community College named Martin the interim director of nursing on Thursday. The appointment comes a month after former director Tochi Urbani resigned from the position in the midst of trouble with the program's accreditation. Martin is no stranger to the program. She has taught at the college since 1993 and has worked as a tenured Professor in the Practical Nursing Program as well as the Associate Degree Nursing Program, an Adjunct Clinical Nursing Faculty member, an instructor of the Bridge Course called LPN to RN Mobility, as a CPR Instructor, and as an

0 Comments
>> Read More

Williamstown Town Manager, School Building Committee Members Clash over Permit Fees

By Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires Staff
03:56AM / Friday, October 12, 2018

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Town Manager Jason Hoch on Wednesday explained to the Mount Greylock School Building Committee his rationale for assessing permitting fees on the district's $64 million addition/renovation project, including his words in an oft-quoted December 2015 email. At issue is about $154,000 billed to the regional school district for permitting. In fact, the town is owed about $295,000, based on its standard permit fee schedule, but about half of that has been passed through to subcontractors on the school building project. Hoch appeared before the committee on Wednesday to discuss the larger portion, the $154,000 which some argue should be

3 Comments
>> Read More

Berkshire Education Task Force Developing Models for Collaboration

By Tammy Daniels, iBerkshires Staff
01:13AM / Tuesday, October 09, 2018

LEE, Mass. — The Berkshire County Education Task Force has completed its initial mission of determining options for local schools facing difficult economic and academic futures. Now, it's hoping to offer pathways to school officials as they decide whether and how far to proceed toward the task force's solution of a single countywide school district. William Cameron, task force member and retired superintendent of the Central Berkshire Regional School District, presented the coalition's goals to the meeting of Region VI of the Massachusachusetts Association of School Committees last week. The task force last met on Sept. 22, he said,

0 Comments
>> Read More

County School Officials Press Legislators on School Funding Formula

By Tammy Daniels, iBerkshires Staff
03:52AM / Tuesday, October 02, 2018

LEE, Mass. — Local school officials pressed members of the Berkshire delegation to make education funding a priority in the coming legislative year. And the legislators urged them to keep up the pressure. "The pressure we feel at home can translate into action at the State House," said state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, explaining that when they speak with legislative leaders, "I can go and say this is the most important issue in Pittsfield." But while the Pittsfield representative is a firm believer in grassroots activism, she said the critical part of the equation is finding new revenue. "We're underfunding

4 Comments
>> Read More

Williamstown Town Manager: Inspection Fees 'Never Optional'

By Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires Staff
03:58AM / Thursday, September 27, 2018

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The town manager Monday explained to the Select Board his rationale for allowing the Mount Greylock School District to wait three years to pay its permitting fees on the addition/renovation projection at the middle-high school. Jason Hoch also talked about the process by which the town arrives at the fee schedule that has been called into question by some district officials and residents of Lanesborough and Williamstown. "If you go back to 2015, there were a couple of things that were in play at that point as we started to think about building fees for the high school," Hoch said at Monday's board meeting. "We had just come out of

1 Comment
>> Read More

Mount Greylock Regional Teachers End Job Action

By Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires Staff
12:20PM / Wednesday, September 26, 2018

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- The Mount Greylock Regional School District and its teachers union have reached an accord to end the job action that has limited extracurricular activities at the district's three schools.

Mount Greylock Superintendent Kimberley Grady late Wednesday morning sent an email to the Mount Greylock community announcing that, while contract negotiations continue, the teachers have agreed to end the job action that has affected students at Mount Greylock, Lanesborough Elementary and Williamstown Elementary.

"We understand that the negotiation continues to reach a final contractual agreement, but we are thankful that the parties were able to find common ground to

1 Comment
>> Read More

Ground Broken For Berkshire Innovation Center

By Andy McKeever, iBerkshires Staff
04:30PM / Tuesday, September 25, 2018

Gov. Charlie Baker helped break ground on the $13.7 million project.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Shawna Axenroth and her daughter go hiking in the scenic Berkshire Hills and talk about the environment. They run science experiments in their kitchen.

And they are both looking to pursue scientific careers.

Axenroth is at Berkshire Community College and her daughter is just starting the first year of high school. They both want to live and work fruitful careers in the science field in their hometown. But the way it has been going in the region, there hasn't been much reason to be optimistic about that prospect. The population has been declining, particularly with the younger

2 Comments
>> Read More

Page 1 of 42

...