north adams

It’s a busy week for North Adams, Massachusetts municipal politics. On Monday, Mayor Tom Bernard delivered his State of the City address. The next morning, he told WAMC he won’t run for a third two-year term this year. Soon after, City Council Vice President Jason LaForest confirmed what he described as “an open secret,” telling WAMC that he will pull papers for the mayoral race in April.

With municipal elections looming in the fall, North Adams, Massachusetts Mayor Tom Bernard tells WAMC he will not seek a third two-year term. One day after delivering his annual state of the city address, Bernard explained to WAMC why he’s stepping aside after four years leading the city of around 13,000.

In his virtual state of the city address Monday night, North Adams, Massachusetts Mayor Tom Bernard covered the COVID-19 pandemic, infrastructure concerns and the Black Lives Matter movement.

North Adams, Massachusetts Mayor Tom Bernard will deliver his annual State Of The City address tonight.

As North Adams, Massachusetts continues to struggle with malfunctioning fire hydrants, the city council heard a presentation on safety infrastructure Tuesday night.

The North Adams, Massachusetts city council has rejected a proposal to turn a former school building into 75 units of affordable and market rate housing.

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.

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.

The North Adams, Massachusetts city council got a COVID-19 update from Mayor Tom Bernard this week.

North Adams, Massachusetts city councilor Benjamin Lamb says he won’t seek a fifth two-year term this fall. The former city council president says he’s stepping aside to encourage more diverse candidates to seek office. Lamb spoke with WAMC about his decision, and what he’s most proud of after almost a decade in office.

Officials in North Adams, Massachusetts say a new wave of COVID-19 cases are connected to city restaurants.

After months of disease and economic downturn, smaller municipal governments are hoping for an easier 2021 even as they await federal relief and the COVID-19 vaccine. WAMC caught up with North Adams, Massachusetts Mayor Tom Bernard to find out what Berkshire County’s second-largest community learned from 2020 – and what 2021 may hold.

Democratic Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey says additional federal coronavirus relief funding is needed for the state and cities.

As Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker rolls back statewide reopening plans due to COVID-19 surges, Berkshire County municipal leaders are working on implementing the updated public health orders.

The North Adams, Massachusetts fire chief is retiring at the end of January.

The Vice President of the North Adams, Massachusetts City Council says Mayor Tom Bernard should take further action to curtail the spread of COVID-19 in the community of around 13,000. Jason LaForest – who is a nurse – tells WAMC that table service at restaurants should be suspended and all of the city’s schools should move to remote learning.

As new COVID-19 related public health orders from Governor Charlie Baker go into effect today across Massachusetts, Berkshire County communities are getting ready to implement them.

On Monday, 49-year-old Michael Lavigne of North Adams was found guilty on two counts of assault and battery on a household member in Northern Berkshire District Court. Berkshire County District Attorney Andrea Harrington has made domestic violence a policy focus, and her office pursued the conviction using evidence gathered from a correctional facility phone, with the victim unwilling to testify. Harrington spoke with WAMC.

A North Adams, Massachusetts advocacy nonprofit looking to transform the city’s waterways has new leadership — and a plan to aggressively seek federal funding.

The Pittsfield, Massachusetts public schools are planning for a return to in-person learning later this fall.

On October 15th, North Adams, Massachusetts will hold an auction for 10 city properties. The outdoor event will be held at Joe Wolfe Field, with seven residential properties, two business properties, and one zoned for urban renewal up for bid. The most expensive asset on the list is a 7-unit apartment building on Union Street, valued at over $108,000, while the least expensive is a $7,000 lot on Church Street. Mayor Tom Bernard tells WAMC that the move is part of a larger distribution strategy to move city-owned properties into private hands – and back onto the tax rolls.

COVID-19 cases have been reported at two of Northern Berkshire County’s major cultural institutions: MASS MoCA in North Adams, Massachusetts and Williams College in Williamstown.

North Adams, Massachusetts has put forward a draft of new municipal bylaws that would regulate short-term rentals.

The North Adams, Massachusetts city council voted Tuesday night to fill the seat of a disgraced former councilor with a history of racist public comments with a different city resident carrying similar baggage.

Seven North Adams, Massachusetts residents are in the running to fill a vacant seat on the city council.

The North Adams, Massachusetts city council is preparing to fill the seat of former councilor Robert Moulton, who resigned this week after making inflammatory comments about Black Lives Matter and COVID-19.

Public school superintendents around Berkshire County are working around the clock to prepare contingency plans for the fall semester.

North Adams, Massachusetts City Councilor Robert Moulton has resigned. The two-time mayoral candidate faced outcry after claiming last week that Black Lives Matter is a terrorist organization and that the threat of COVID-19 has been exaggerated by politicians.

Three North Adams, Massachusetts city councilors will present a motion to censure a colleague after he described Black Lives Matter as a terrorist organization and diminished the threat of COVID-19 last week.

The Black Lives Matter organization in North Adams, Massachusetts says it will protest city council meetings until a member who called the movement a terrorist organization steps down.