pittsfield

On Wednesday, water use restrictions in Pittsfield, Massachusetts are moving from voluntary to mandatory as the city’s water supply continues to drop amid a statewide drought. Outdoor water activities like watering lawns and gardens, washing cars or filling swimming pools must happen before 7 a.m. or after 7 p.m. and only on alternating days. Pittsfield’s Department of Public Services and Utilities will be enforcing the new restrictions, with fines issued for all offenses after the first. WAMC spoke with Department Commissioner Ricardo Morales.

Residents of a Pittsfield, Massachusetts neighborhood brought their frustration with a construction project to this week’s city council meeting.

The Berkshire District Attorney’s office has confirmed the identity of an Pittsfielder who took his own life in a homeless encampment Tuesday evening. 

Amid a pandemic, a rising population of unhoused city residents, the economic downturn, and a volatile national election, a hyper-local issue took much of the Pittsfield City Council’s attention Tuesday night.

In August, the Massachusetts Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs declared that the state was experiencing significant drought conditions. This morning, city leaders in Pittsfield announced new water conservation measures for the community. WAMC spoke with Commissioner Ricardo Morales of the city’s Department of Public Services and Utilities about the new voluntary restrictions — just the first level of a multi-tiered plan if the drought continues to intensify.

Voters across Massachusetts are going to the polls for primary day today.

As Massachusetts prepares for in-person voting in Tuesday’s primary, town and city clerks around Berkshire County have already seen unprecedented turnout through mail-in and early balloting.

From confronting the mounting challenge of housing city residents to broken water mains, it’s been an unusually busy August in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. WAMC got an update today from Mayor Linda Tyer.

With the Massachusetts primary coming up on September 1st, many residents are taking advantage of early and mail-in voting during the COVID-19 pandemic. As of this week, Pittsfield City Clerk Michele Benjamin says over 7,000 requests for early voting ballots have been registered in the city of around 43,000. She spoke with WAMC about voting security and turnout so far.

The school committee in Pittsfield, Massachusetts has voted to retire Taconic High School’s use of the name “Braves” for its sports teams and mascot.

Civic leaders and family of former Pittsfield, Massachusetts Mayor Gerry Doyle are sharing remembrances after his death on Sunday.

In a dramatic meeting that lasted over six hours, the Pittsfield, Massachusetts city council Tuesday explored and ultimately rejected a petition asking if one of its members had left the city.

Former Pittsfield, Massachusetts mayor Gerald Doyle has died, according to city hall.

As Holyoke, Massachusetts Mayor and congressional candidate Alex Morse responds to allegations of sexual misconduct, his supporters in Berkshire County are responding as well.

A citizen’s petition on Tuesday’s Pittsfield, Massachusetts city council meeting agenda calls into question the residency of a sitting councilor. 

The superintendent of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts public schools is leaving for another job in Berkshire County. 

At a time of uncertainty in education, the Pittsfield, Massachusetts public schools will receive level funding from the state for at least the beginning of the coming school year – with a bump to accommodate for inflation.

School districts around Massachusetts are racing to assemble plans for the fall semester to meet the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s August 10th deadline. They’ve been asked to establish three plans – one for a full return, one for full remote learning, and one hybrid of the two. Already, the largest community in Berkshire County, Pittsfield, has taken a full return off the table. WAMC spoke with school committee chair Katherine Yon about how union demands, safety concerns and simple logistics informed the decision. Yon says the state’s move to allow school to start in mid-September has taken a little of the pressure off. She also discusses the newest wrinkle to fall preparations: word that superintendent Jake McCandless intends to leave Pittsfield to take over the neighboring Mount Greylock Regional School District.

Congressman Joe Kennedy campaigned in Pittsfield, Massachusetts this morning in his Democratic primary battle against incumbent Senator Ed Markey.

Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey campaigned in Berkshire County Friday as he looks to defend his seat against Congressman Joe Kennedy in the September 1st Democratic primary.

Pittsfield, Massachusetts City Councilor Helen Moon is no longer an employee in the Berkshire County District Attorney’s office.

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

Residents in Berkshire County’s largest community have begun to receive documents on how to vote by mail in the state and federal elections in September and November. WAMC spoke with Pittsfield, Massachusetts City Clerk Michele Benjamin about the mail-in voting process amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

There has been outcry in Pittsfield, Massachusetts following the closure of an emergency housing shelter set up in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. ServiceNet, the mental health and human services group running the shelter at the former St. Joseph Central High School, shuttered the operation on July 13th. Subsequently, there have been reports of new encampments for unhoused residents forming in city parks, prompting dismay from the community. WAMC spoke with Mayor Linda Tyer about the shelter’s closure and the city’s Police Advisory and Review Board’s first annual report.

Pittsfield, Massachusetts police are investigating vandalism that caused extensive damage to a city art center that they say occurred between July 10th and July 13th. The Whitney Center for the Arts, which has been in operation since 2012, sits in a historic building just outside of downtown Pittsfield on Wendell Avenue. While the investigation continues, WAMC spoke with Executive Director Ghazi Kazmi to find out more about the damage and why he thinks it was a targeted move.

The Pittsfield, Massachusetts Police Advisory and Review Board presented its first annual report this week.

At-Large Pittsfield, Massachusetts City Councilor Earl Persip is chiding long-serving Ward 4 City Councilor Christopher Connell for posting a link to  an article about the oft-debunked narrative of Irish slavery on Facebook. Persip says the post is an attack on the Black Lives Matter movement often deployed by racists online. Connell has openly voiced skepticism of the Black Lives Matter movement at city council meetings. He declined to comment about the now-deleted post when reached by WAMC News. WAMC spoke with Persip, the council’s only African American member, about why he chose to speak out against Connell.

Pittsfield, Massachusetts Mayor Linda Tyer says the city has had just seven new COVID-19 cases over the past two weeks. Now, the city is undertaking a new effort to monitor its sewage for evidence of the virus spreading. Tyer spoke today with WAMC.

A fire in Pittsfield, Massachusetts left a woman dead Monday night.

A new documentary by Pittsfield Community Television traces the Massachusetts city’s 4th of July parade back to the turn of the 19th century.