North Adams Transcript

North Adams Transcript ADAMS -- The Adams Friends of Animals have found the shelves of their food bank bare this holiday season and are looking for a little help from the community to aid hungry pets. Roy Thompson of the Adams Friends of Animals said the group’s food bank has been empty off and on for months, but recently it really ran dry. Full Story »

North Adams Transcript WILLIAMSTOWN -- The Williamstown Youth Center has submitted a proposal to build a roughly 12,000-square-foot youth center with a projected construction budget of $3.5 million on the grounds of the Williamstown Elementary School. The private, nonprofit organization -- which offers after-school programming for children in grades one through nine, day camps during the Full Story »

North Adams Transcript WILLIAMSTOWN -- Despite a decrease in revenue, the town finished fiscal 2009 with a surplus of just under $350,000. Representatives from Adelson and Co. were on hand at the Selectmen’s meeting Monday night to present the annual audit of the town’s finances. While the total revenue for Williamstown was about $273,000 short of what was budgeted in FY09, Full Story »

North Adams Transcript NORTH ADAMS -- Although the H1N1 flu virus, commonly known as Swine Flu, hasn’t been making major headlines as of late, local health officials are urging anyone who falls into one of the high-risk categories to receive a vaccination during North County’s first public vaccination clinic on Saturday. Full Story »

North Adams Transcript WILLIAMSTOWN -- One of the events Christopher Fain remembers from his childhood was when his aunt died of lupus, and a church bought Christmas gifts for her family that year. Years later, Fain, who now lives in North Bennington, Vt., found himself buying and wrapping Christmas gifts for a Williamstown family with a member who has cancer. Full Story »

North Adams Transcript WILLIAMSTOWN -- Practical items and stocking stuffers are making the sales for local merchants this holiday season, as business is picking up in stores across town. Karen Pedercini, owner of Goodman’s Jewelers at 32 Spring St., said customers are buying gifts they know will be used such as watches and earrings. Full Story »

By Scott Stafford New England Newspapers The company that owns Prime Outlets in Lee has announced that it sold its 22 Prime Outlets properties for $2.325 billion. The Lightstone Group sold the properties to the Simon Property Group, one of the nation’s foremost mall operators. Center management officials in Lee declined to comment on the transaction, as did representatives of Full Story »

North Adams Transcript NORTHADAMS -- Joining forces has paid off for four area schools as the North Berkshire School Union and the Berkshire Arts and Technology Charter Public School have received a $100,000 grant designed to use technology to raise student achievement. BArT and the North Berkshire School Union submitted one of 81 proposals to the American Reinvestment and Recovery Full Story »

By Tony Dobrowolski Story Body: By Tony Dobrowolski New England Newspapers PITTSFIELD -- Bernard D. Pinsonnault and Conrad Bernier were formerly presented with the Berkshire Chamber of Commerce’s yearly awards on Friday at the chamber’s 98th annual meeting, which took place at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Full Story »

North Adams Transcript NORTH ADAMS -- Relief was the word on everyone’s lips at North Adams Regional Hospital on Friday -- following a late-night settlement the night before between the hospital and its unionized health care workers. The 174 members of Service Employees International Union 1199 are set to ratify the tentative contract on Tuesday, with the results of the vote and a Full Story »

North Adams Transcript WILLIAMSTOWN -- Neighbors of the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute came out in force Thursday night to express their concerns about the second phase of the museum’s expansion project. South Street and Sabin Drive residents, some of them represented by an attorney, encouraged the six-member Conservation Commission to postpone making a decision on the Full Story »

North Adams Transcript NORTH ADAMS -- Picket lines won’t be forming outside of North Adams Regional Hospital on Saturday. The Service Employees International Union 1199, which represents 174 health care workers at the hospital, called off Saturday’s strike after reaching a "mutually satisfactory" contract with hospital executives at 9 p. Full Story »

North Adams Transcript NORTH ADAMS -- A Facebook group, devoted to keeping a Walmart Supercenter from being built on Curran Memorial Highway, plans to meet at the Cup and Saucer on Saturday 11 a.m. to rally the troops. The group, "Stop the Walmart Supercenter in North Adams," which has 265 members, was started by Joshua Field, a city resident and business owner, just days after it was Full Story »

North Adams Transcript WILLIAMSTOWN -- After hearing concerns about a proposed cell phone tower on the grounds of Mount Greylock Regional Middle and High School, the School Committee decided Tuesday night to form a subcommittee to continue exploring the issue. Allen Hinkley, a site acquisition consultant contracted by AT&T, and Elizabeth F. Full Story »

North Adams Transcript WILLIAMSTOWN -- Nicholas Martin will walk away from his role as artistic director of the Williamstown Theatre Festival at the end of the 2010 season. The move should come as no surprise, according to Matt Harris, president of the festival’s board of trustees. "This was always the plan," Harris said Wednesday. Full Story »

North Adams Transcript NORTH ADAMS -- Two local legislators on Wednesday called for the 174 unionized health-care workers at North Adams Regional Hospital to delay a strike scheduled for Saturday and urged the union and hospital executives to settle their contract dispute. State Sen. Benjamin B. Full Story »

North Adams Transcript The first storm of the year came in like a lion for Berkshire County on Wednesday, dropping at least half a foot of snow on most of the cities and towns. Schools were closed all over North County as the area battened down for the storm. Shovels, plows and snow blowers were out in force battling the mounting snow for much of the morning and early afternoon. Full Story »

North Adams Transcript WILLIAMSTOWN -- For many students participating in a sit-in at Williams College’s Hardy House, finding homophobic slurs painted across a wall of a freshman dormitory over the Thanksgiving holiday was the breaking point. Junior Chelsea Luttrell, 20, said Monday that the vandalism was the most public of many events that have taken aim at sexuality and gender on Full Story »

North Adams Transcript NORTH ADAMS -- Although Gramercy Bistro’s move to Mass MoCA in the coming months will leave a temporary vacancy on Marshall Street, the restaurant’s relocation is being seen as a boon for both the city and the contemporary arts museum. Gramercy Bistro owner and chef Alexander "Sandy" Smith was looking for a new location -- which could have put his Full Story »

Associated Press BOSTON -- The relatively quiet campaign to fill the late Edward M. Kennedy’s Senate seat was matched by equally light turnout Tuesday as voters picked two state politicians to face off in next month’s general election. Attorney General Martha Coakley won a four-way race for the Democratic nomination, while state Sen. Full Story »

North Adams Transcript ADAMS -- What if they held a primary election and no one came? The turnout for Tuesday’s special primary election was exceptionally low according to Town Clerk Paul Hutchinson, even for a primary election. "Primaries are always slow," Hutchinson said. "But it’s one o’clock, and we’ve only had 288 voters come in out of nearly 6,000 registered Full Story »