Page 3 - Christopher Connell News Today

The Pittsfield, Massachusetts city council has postponed a proposed overhaul of its trash system until at least 2022.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — City Clerk Michele Benjamin wants City Council meetings to end by 11 p.m.  Council meetings have often stretched into the wee hours of the morning and her request by petition was discussed during Tuesdays meeting — which went 4 1/2 hours.  "I just feel strongly that after 4, 5, and 5 and a half hours of a meeting nobodys thinking clearly when its midnight or 12:30 in the morning," Benjamin said. "Weve gone until 1 in the morning and I just feel strongly that we sho...

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Pittsfield will say goodbye to two longtime city councilors this year. Ward 2 Councilor Kevin Morandi and Ward 4 Councilor Christopher Connell simultaneously announced that they would not be running for re-election. The two councilors began together and represented their wards for five consecutive terms over nearly a decade. Both Morandi and Connell find it fitting that they are ending their careers as city councilors together.   "I came in with Connell," Morandi said...

  Commissioner of Public Services and Utilities Ricardo Morales told the City Council last week that Pittsfield has been short-staffed for contractors. The number of contractors that sign up for work with the city has reportedly dwindled in the past three years, the city faced shortages in 2018, 2019, and 2020.     "Its a demand game," he said. "We offer a rate and if some contractors do not see that as appealing, they wont sign up."   His comments came during an update on the use of...

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Pittsfield received its second allocation of Community Development Block Grants in the amount of $475,103.00. The federally funded program is designed to help small cities and towns meet a broad range of community development needs. In total, the city has received $1,264,444. The first allocation was accepted by the City Council on April 28, 2020. These two allocations are separate and in addition to the citys annual entitlement allocation. At Tuesdays City Council mee...

6:10 In a look back at the biggest stories of 2020, WAMC has this review of how the Black Lives Matter civil rights movement led to a historic outpouring of support in Western Massachusetts. The shockwaves from the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May were felt across the United States – and while in larger cities, protests led to protracted, violent police crackdowns and looting, demonstrations remained peaceful in the Berkshires. Berkshire County NAACP Chapter President Dennis Powell...