New England News

Pittsfield, Massachusetts-based Albany Berkshire Ballet is marking its 50th anniversary in 2019. Associate Artistic Director Mary Giannone Talmi tells WAMC that the half-century celebration will see ambitious new works alongside the staples the company is known for.

    New York, beginning next March, will ban retailers from giving customers single-use plastic shopping bags. Is Massachusetts next?

The Vermont Senate has approved a proposal to amend the state constitution to preserve a woman's right to an abortion.

During a stop in Burlington Thursday morning, Vermont Governor Phil Scott discussed the status of the current legislative session in Montpelier.

On Saturday, the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts hosts the sixth annual Live Out Loud Community Conference on its North Adams campus.

The mayor of North Adams, Massachusetts, says the city’s search for a new police chief is narrowing down.

A dancer, an actor, and a drummer are joining forces at MASS MoCA in North Adams, Massachusetts, to present a work in progress this weekend.

A Vermont health center has announced it received a $125,000 donation, which is the largest private family donation in the organization's five-year history.

Vermont's top Fish and Wildlife official says a coyote that attacked a Salisbury couple outside their home tested positive for rabies.

A legendary New England jam band with Berkshire County roots is celebrating almost a half century in Pittsfield, Massachusetts this weekend.

      More supervisors have been added to the ranks of the troubled police department in Springfield, Massachusetts. 

       With a recent measles outbreak in the news and the on-going opioid addiction crisis, it is an opportune time to bring attention to public health resources.

As it faces power outages, store closures, and financial strains, the Berkshire Mall in Lanesborough, Massachusetts, continues to face an uncertain future. But to some entrepreneurs, the ample empty space in the 700,000-square foot retail center is a beacon. Lev Kelman is the founder of Brooklyn Dark, a New York City-based hemp chocolate company. He’s eyeing the Berkshire Mall for a new cannabis undertaking that’s gotten the attention of Lanesborough’s select board, and shared his vision for it with WAMC.

As dairy farms continue to go out of business around the country, farmers and industry experts met for a two-day summit in Vermont to discuss steps they can take to improve business.

Vermont state and local leaders are planning to meet to discuss the upcoming closure of Green Mountain College.

The U.S. Forest Service is temporarily closing some cliffs in the Green Mountain National Forest to protect the nests of peregrine falcons that are known to raise young there.

Monday was the beginning of a new term for Burlington, Vermont city councilors as re-elected and new members were sworn in. Mayor Miro Weinberger then delivered his annual State of the City address.

     The bare outside walls of 10 buildings in Springfield will be the canvases for professional artists when a mural festival comes to western Massachusetts later this year.

The Vermont Senate has been considering a bill that would not only ban the use of single-use plastic bags but also bar plastic straws and expanded polystyrene products.  On Friday, the chamber gave preliminary approval to a bill that some advocates say is the most comprehensive in the country.

In late March, the Berkshire Mall – currently owned by the New York-based Kohan Retail Investment Group – closed for almost a week due to a power outage. The mall – built in Lanesborough, Massachusetts in 1988 – has been hemorrhaging occupants for years, with stores like Sears, JC Penney, and Best Buy closing their locations in the 700,000-square foot retail center. As its star continues to dim as an economic magnet for the region, WAMC spoke with 1Berkshire president and CEO Jonathan Butler about the mall’s significance for the county’s economy.

With spring arriving, paving will soon begin on stretches of Vermont's Interstate 89.

Under a new Vermont law, a working group will be formed by Sept. 1 to advise the State Board of Education on making student performance standards more inclusive.