New England News

By Charlie Deitz

Williamstown, Ma – Lara Shore-Shepard is an Associate Professor in Economics at Williams College who has been studying public health coverage options for children. Our Berkshire Bureau Chief Charlie Deitz had a chance to speak with her at length about her work, they start their conversation talking about her most recent project which looks at dental coverage for low income children

By Charlie Deitz

Pittsfield, MA – With a 600 million dollar budget gap projected for Massachusetts this fiscal year, the Joint Committee on Revenue is hitting the road to see what citizens think about the current tax structure. Our Berkshire Bureau Chief Charlie Deitz attended a public input session held at Berkshire Community College

By Charlie Deitz

Berkshire County – Anti-homelessness advocates in Berkshire County are saying that the state overlooked them when it handed out almost 18 million dollars in stimulus money for prevention and re-housing programs. The Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development says they had to concentrate their resources on the urban areas, where the problem is growing. Our Berkshire Bureau Chief Charlie Deitz has the report

By Charlie Deitz

Pittsfield, MA – Miss Hall's School in Pittsfield convened some of the nation's most prominent voices in women's equality this weekend. The all girls school hopes to prepare their students for a workforce that still caters to males. Our Berkshire Bureau Chief Charlie Deitz was invited to attend this year's event which focused on training young women on how to advocate for themselves

By Charlie Deitz

Pittsfield, MA – With less than 3 weeks left until election day, the Pittsfield Mayoral candidates squared off Thursday in a public debate. The two contenders went for 90 minutes over jobs, crime, community development and education. Our Berkshire Bureau Chief Charlie Deitz was there

By Charlie Deitz

North Adams, Ma – This week, Governor Deval Patrick signed into order the Science, Technology Engineering and Math, or STEM Advisory Council. Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray will chair this council, and his first piece of business is to travel the state to find out about successful STEM programs. He spent Thursday afternoon at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts hearing about their programs, our Berkshire Bureau Chief Charlie Deitz was there

By Charlie Deitz

Berkshire County – Lenox, Massachusetts is the next town in the region taking a hard look at using wind power to reduce their carbon footprint, and their utility bills. But they need state and federal assistance to move forward. Our Berkshire Bureau Chief Charlie Deitz reports that a new study out of Northeastern University says wind power can be viable without any big government assistance

By Charlie Deitz

North Adams, Ma – The North Adams mayoral race is turning out to be one of the closest races in over a decade. Massachusetts' longest serving mayor is challenged by a long time city councilor, and the voters are divided. The two candidates debated last night at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, our Berkshire Bureau Chief Charlie Deitz was invited to be one of the panelists for the debate, he files this report

By Charlie Deitz

Pittsfield, MA – The city of Pittsfield has already received over 9 million dollars in stimulus funding for road projects, and another 16 million dollars is on its way. Our Berkshire Bureau Chief Charlie Deitz reports on the city's current and future plans for that money

Massachusetts Blog On Transportation Money

By Charlie Deitz

Lenox, Ma – Shakespeare and Company in Lenox, Massachusetts has been running on a deficit for at least the last 5 years. Leadership at Shakespeare says the recession has finally brought their bad bookkeeping to light, and they now have to grapple with a 10 million dollar debt. Our Berkshire Bureau Chief Charlie Deitz says the company has a new plan to become financially viable again