New England News

    With complaints rising about a slow and uneven rollout of the coronavirus vaccine in Massachusetts, the state legislature is planning to step up oversight.

Four city councilors in Pittsfield, Massachusetts have confirmed plans to seek re-election this fall. 

Berkshire Gas is a Pittsfield, Massachusetts energy company with more than 40,000 customers across 20 communities in Western Massachusetts. In January, industry veteran Sue Kristjansson took over as company president from Frank Reynolds. Kristjansson spoke with WAMC.

The Berkshire County Chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America is carrying out a countywide drive to collect items like warm clothing and toiletries for those in need. DSA member Michael Lavery – also a Becket, Massachusetts select board member – tells WAMC that the effort is focused at filling gaps in the American social safety net.

A University of Pittsburgh geriatric medical expert is giving a virtual talk for Berkshire Community College today. She says the elderly face outsized inequities in the American healthcare system.

Vermont Governor Phil Scott is taking action to address thousands of tax forms mailed in error by the state Labor Department.

At a virtual coffee hour today, the new Great Barrington, Massachusetts police chief introduced himself to the community.

After a fire at a public housing complex last week, the Vice President of the North Adams, Massachusetts city council says the municipality is falling behind on maintaining its safety infrastructure. Jason LaForest tells WAMC that up to a quarter of the fire hydrants in the community are out of order, and that the city has been putting off repairing them for long enough.

      Massachusetts now has a law that bans chemicals used as flame retardants in many consumer products.

Vermont Governor Phil Scott arrived late to his COVID briefing today after finishing a call with other governors and federal officials on vaccine distribution. Scott says he got good news on the call.

   The city of Springfield, Massachusetts kicked off Black History Month with an annual observance. 

Burlington, Vermont has sourced 100% of its energy from renewables since 2014.  In 2018, the city implemented a Net Zero Energy Plan to eliminate all fossil fuel use in its heating and ground transportation by 2030.  A program that provides incentives for residents and businesses to switch to such renewable energy technologies has been extended.

New Hampshire National Guard members, who have helped manage food banks and administer COVID-19 tests and vaccines during the pandemic, are preparing for at least a nine-month deployment to the Middle East in support of Operation Spartan Shield.

   Massachusetts moved today to phase 2 of its COVID-19 vaccine rollout with people age 75 and older now eligible.

Pittsfield, Massachusetts Mayor Linda Tyer delivered her 2021 state of the city address today.

Last week, the Pittsfield, Massachusetts school committee unanimously voted for a phased return to in-person education to begin today — the first time since COVID-19 concerns forced a move to remote learning in November. But United Educators of Pittsfield, the city’s teachers’ union, says the decision came out of nowhere and was not made in consultation with school district employees. Union President Melissa Campbell tells WAMC that the move violates an agreement with the city’s teachers signed in November. She says vital safeguards from COVID-19 are still not in place.

  Much to the consternation of local officials, a rural healthcare center east of Springfield, Massachusetts is facing closure.

        Frustrated by what they see as a lack of progress in reforming the police department, activists in Springfield, Massachusetts want the U.S. Department of Justice to step back in. 

Vermont Congressman Peter Welch recently met virtually with leaders from the state’s Northeast Kingdom to discuss a recovery plan for that region.

The Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield, Massachusetts is undertaking a $3.5 million improvement and redesign plan using money raised by a controversial art sale in 2018.

The mayor of Pittsfield, Massachusetts will deliver her state of the city address at noon on Monday.

Burlington, Vermont voters will be asked on Town Meeting Day March 2nd whether Ranked Choice Voting should be used to select city councilors. The charter change question is controversial as advocates say it’s a fairer way to choose city leaders.  But opponents point out the system has been used in the city in the past and discarded.

The Great Barrington, Massachusetts selectboard says it’s considering purchasing fairgrounds that have sat rotting and unused for years just south of town center.

The North Adams, Massachusetts city council heard updates Tuesday from Mayor Tom Bernard about the COVID-19 vaccination effort and news of a bank closure.

   A grassroots coalition is lobbying for more beds in a proposed replacement to the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home – the long term care facility where at least 76 veterans died in a COVID-19 outbreak.