Lucas Willard

Planners in Berkshire County are reaching out to organizations in the public and private sectors to request information on their upcoming economic development projects.

The Berkshire Regional Planning Commission is talking to private businesses, municipalities, non-profits, agencies, and others to collect data in order to update its Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy Priority Project List.

A statewide competition in Massachusetts hopes to help up to 20 small cities find ways to solve major problems through collaborations.

The Working Cities Challenge, which will launch on Friday, intends to revitalize small and medium sized post-industrial cities in the commonwealth by bringing together leadership from the public and private sectors to brainstorm and initiate their own solutions. Eligible cities in Western Massachusetts include Pittsfield, Westfield, Springfield, Holyoke, and Chicopee. 

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and other state officials announced yesterday a new target for solar energy installation in the commonwealth.

In his first term, Governor Patrick set a goal of reaching 250 megawatts of solar energy installed statewide by 2017. That goal has been reached four years early, prompting the Patrick-Murray Administration to set a new target of 1.6 gigwatts of solar power by 2020. 

Massachusetts Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Rick Sullivan said that the rate of solar installation is increasing rapidly.

The University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth has suspended one student charged in connection with the Boston Marathon bombings and says the other two aren't enrolled.

The university said Wednesday that Azamat Tazhayakov has been suspended "pending the outcome of the case." He and Dias Kadyrbayev were charged with conspiring to obstruct justice.

Robel Phillipos was charged with making false statements. The university says Kadyrbayev and Phillipos aren't enrolled.

Members of MCLA’s The Allegrettos sang to welcome the announcement that the Lift Ev’ry Voice Festival is returning for its second season beginning in June.

The festival, which will again feature special events and performances celebrating the African-American culture and heritage in the Berkshires, was first held in 2011, and was attended by more than 30,000 people.

Festival co-chair Don Quinn Kelly said that the festival will focus on making the special programs and events accessible to attendees of all racial and economic backgrounds.

Many towns across Massachusetts yesterday held local elections on the same day as the U.S. Senate primaries.

In addition to nominating their Democratic and Republican Senatorial candidates, Representative Ed Markey and businessman Gabriel Gomez, respectively, Tuesday was a day for Berkshire County voters to choose their selectmen and members of their local school boards. But for voters in North Adams, it was a day to vote for a nearly $30 million renovation project for the now-closed Conte Middle School.

Superstorm Sandy released 11 billion gallons of sewage from East Coast treatment plants into bodies of water from Washington, D.C., to Connecticut.

That's according to a study by the nonprofit science journalism group Climate Central. It says that's equivalent to having Central Park covered 41 feet high with sewage.

Most of the overflow was due to storm-surge flooding that inundated sewage treatment facilities.

The sewage spilled into surrounding waters and even some city streets, most of it in New York City and northern New Jersey.

Massachusetts Democratic Congressman Richard Neal joined city and public safety officials in Pittsfield today to announce a federal grant that will help the city upgrade its fire safety equipment.

It appears that interest for Massachusetts’ U.S. Senate primary election tomorrow is low, particularly for cities and towns in the westernmost part of the commonwealth.

Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy says it is unlikely the General Assembly will take up his proposal to slash local taxes on vehicles during this year's legislative session.

The Democrat told reporters on Friday that he's "accepted the reality that it's probably not going to be addressed this year."

Malloy had called for exempting the first $20,000 of a vehicle's assessed value from the local property tax. That would mean someone who owns a car with a market value of under $28,571 would pay no property tax.