Lucas Willard

A request from Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick to local officials to fix potholes near his Berkshire home before a visit from First Lady Michelle Obama has created a media buzz. WAMC’s Berkshire Bureau Chief reports that the local officials are left scratching their heads at the attention.

Massachusetts legislators are considering an August sales tax holiday. WAMC’s Berkshire Bureau Chief Lucas took a look at the effect of the popular measure in the Bay State.

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — A year after Vermont inmates at a Massachusetts jail rioted over conditions there, Vermont has discontinued the contract under which it sent inmates there.

Vermont Corrections Commissioner Andy Pallito says the Franklin County Jail and House of Detention in Greenfield reduced the number of Vermont inmates it would take from about 100 to below 50. He says at that point, it didn't make sense to continue the contract, which was allowed to expire June 30.

Vermont inmates rioted at the jail last July, amid complaints about conditions at the facility.

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Emails between top state officials show that a week before Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced last year that the state will build a costly and contentious bus-only corridor between Hartford and New Britain, federal transportation officials still did not know if he would support or kill it.

According to a recent report, capital investments in health care have fallen in Massachusetts, while investments in New York have made modest gains. WAMC’s Berkshire Bureau Chief Lucas Willard reports…

In a report released by venture capital database CB Insights, the numbers show that investments in the Massachusetts health care industry are down to a five quarter low in deals. CEO of CB Insights Anand Sanwal explains that investing firms target a large variety of sectors in the health care industry.

An invasive insect has been discovered moving further into the forests of Southern Vermont. WAMC’s Berkshire Bureau Chief Lucas Willard brings us a report about a migrating pest.

According to the State of Vermont, the hemlock wooly adelgid – a tiny invasive insect – has been found for the first time in Bennington County in the town of Pownal. The insect, which feeds on the sap from hemlock trees, was first brought to the US from Japan in the 1950s. In Vermont, the animal was first found in neighboring Windham county five years ago.

A combination of state, federal, and local funding has been collected to continue expanding biking trails in Berkshire County. WAMC’s Berkshire Bureau Chief Lucas Willard reports…

The Ashuwillticook Rail Trail – a former railroad corridor that runs North to South from the Berkshire town of Adams through Cheshire to Lanesborough – will we be given a paved expansion to North Adams.

Two Berkshire communities are participating in a statewide effort to expand the use of solar energy in private homes and small businesses. WAMC’s Berkshire Bureau Chief Lucas Willard reports…

The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center is partnering with the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources to expand small-scale solar projects throughout the state with in its Solarize Massachusetts program.

Pittsfield and Lenox, two designated Green Communities, will be holding community forums to educate the public about solar energy and the Solarize Mass program.

Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin recently announced three initiatives that would be included on the upcoming November ballot. WAMC’s Berkshire Bureau Chief Lucas Willard reports…

Galvin on Wednesday announced that voters will be the ones to decide on three controversial ballot questions this November.

Numbers released by the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles show that almost 1,000 drivers with five or more drunk driving convictions are still legally driving in the State. WAMC’s Berkshire Bureau Chief Lucas Willard reports…

The numbers initially obtained from the Registry of Motor Vehicles by the Boston Herald indicate that 947 chronic drunk-drivers with five or more offenses in the Commonwealth are still on the road.