Lucas Willard

Dan Bianchi announced Friday that he has taken out nomination papers to run for a second term as mayor of Pittsfield.

In a statement Bianchi said that in his next term he intends to continue building his economic development program for the city. He also said that he plans to continue his work on improving the city’s schools, including strengthening career vocational programs at Taconic High School.

Dan Bianchi announced Friday that he has taken out nomination papers to run for a second term as mayor of Pittsfield.

In a statement Bianchi said that in his next term he intends to continue building his economic development program for the city. He also said that he plans to continue his work on improving the city’s schools, including strengthening career vocational programs at Taconic High School.

A funeral service with full military honors today for a Western Massachusetts soldier killed earlier this month by an attack in Afghanistan included family, friends, and U.S. and state officials.

Under a grey sky and drizzling rains in Dalton, American flags lining Main Street welcomed the arrival of the body of 24-year old Specialist Mitchell Daehling, a Dalton native who was killed, along with two of his fellow soldiers, earlier this month in an attack while serving in Afghanistan.

At a meeting of the Massachusetts Governor’s Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Advisory Council in Pittsfield today, resigning Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray said that the collaborative work done between the public and private sector to strengthen students’ opportunities in the STEM fields must continue in his absence. 

The body of a Berkshire County native killed in Afghanistan earlier this month was welcomed home by supporters who lined the streets of downtown Pittsfield.

The body of 24-year old U.S. Army Specialist Mitchell Daehling arrived Wednesday morning at Barens Air National Guard Airport in Westfield, and shortly after 10:30 was transported through downtown Pittsfield to the Dery Funeral Home.

A long line of supporters gathered along South Street and North Street, many holding American flags.

Massachusetts Republican U.S. Senate Candidate Gabriel Gomez made campaign stops in the Berkshires yesterday where he stressed a bipartisan message. And according to local GOP officials, he’ll have to continue to work hard to win more support in a solidly Democratic part of the state.

The MTA train collision near Fairfield that injured 72 last Friday is still under investigation.

Connecticut Congresswoman Elizabeth Esty, a Democrat from the 5th District, said that investigators are still attempting to determine if the derailment was caused by track in disrepair or another factor. Esty, who said that a Congressional hearing will be held on railway safety later today, also said that funding to maintain one of the busiest railway corridors in the Northeast has been “an issue.”

Esty spoke on WAMC’s Congressional Corner…

Monday’s ceremony marked the installation of the Born Learning Trail, a series of signs along a pathway through a playground at Springside Park in Pittsfield, aimed young children and their families to encourage outdoor activity and reading.

The Born Learning Trail comes from efforts by Pittsfield Promise, a city-wide coalition that is working through a variety of projects with a goal of boosting  reading proficiency levels among Pittsfield third-graders to 90 percent by 2020.

The Southern Berkshire Regional School District, which operates in the Berkshire County towns of Sheffield, Alford, Egremont, Monterey, and New Marlborough, recently chose its next superintendent. WAMC’s Berkshire Bureau Chief Lucas Willard spoke with David Hastings, who is currently employed as the district’s Curriculum and Professional Development Coordinator, about his transition into his new role as superintendent that will happen this summer.

A U.S. Army soldier from the Berkshire County town of Dalton was among three killed Tuesday in an attack in Afghanistan.

According to military officials 24-year old Army Spc. Mitchell Kirk Daehling was killed along with fellow soldiers Spc. William Joseph Gilbert and Sgt. 1st Class Jeffrey C. Baker. The soldiers were killed by an improvised explosive device.

Daehling was a 2006 graduate of Wahconah Regional High School. On the school’s website a statement reads in part, “Mitch was a true "Warrior" in every sense of the word.” The school’s mascot is the Warrior.