Holiday Hours: Martin Luther King Jr. Day

The Rev. King waves to the hundreds of thousands gathered on the Washington Mall in 1963 when he gave the 'I Have a Dream' speech.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is being celebrated Monday, Jan. 15. It is a federal holiday to commemorate the birthday of the civil rights activist born Jan. 15, 1929. It is observed on the third Monday in January.

King, a Baptist minister, led the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s by espousing nonviolent protest. His best-known address, the "I Have a Dream" speech, was given in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., to a crowd of 250,000 who participated in the March on Washington. The 1964 Nobel Prize winner was assassinated on April 4, 1968.

While the reverend was born in Atlanta, he has ties to Massachusetts. He earned his doctorate from Boston University and met and married his wife, Coretta Scott, in Boston. The state's U.S. Sen. Edward Brooke sponsored the first bill to declare a holiday in his honor in the 1970s. MLK Day was first observed as a federal holiday in 1986 but a number of states, particularly in the South and West, did not add it to their list of state holidays until some years later.

While federal and state offices are closed, only about a third of businesses give their employees the time off.

Northern Berkshire Community Coalition will hold its annual Day of Service on Monday and present the annual Peacemaker Award in MCLA's Venable Hall gym. This year's award will be presented to the Rev. Mary Frances Curns of All Saints Episcopal Church; the celebration begins with check-in at MCLA's Church Street Center at 8:30, volunteering at various sites from 9 to 11:30, then lunch and presentations beginning at 12:30 at the center. 

Berkshire Community College will start off its annual Day of Service event with a keynote speaker Michael Obasohan, Pittsfield's chief diversity officer, and breakfast at United Methodist Church. This event is co-sponsored by the Berkshire Branch of the NAACP. This will be followed by volunteer activities and lunch provided by Smokey Divas.

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Neal Secures $700,000 for North Adams Flood Chutes Project

12:13PM / Friday, May 17, 2024

Mayor Jennifer Macksey at last August's signing of an agreement with the Army Corps of Engineers. 

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — U.S. Rep. Richard Neal has secured $700,000 in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' budget to complete a feasibility study of the Hoosic River flood chutes.  

 

The Corps of Engineers is in the midst of a three-year, $3 million study of the aging concrete flood chutes that control the passage of the river through the city. 

 

North Adams has ponied up $500,000 as part of its share of the study and another $1.5 million is expected to come from state and federal coffers. Neal previously secured $200,000 in the fiscal 2023 omnibus spending package to begin the feasibility study. 

 

The additional funding secured by Neal will allow for the completion of the study, required before the project can move on to the next phase.

 

Neal celebrated it as a significant step in bringing the flood chutes project to fruition, which he said came after several months of communication with the Corps.

 

"The residents of North Adams have long advocated for much needed improvements to the city's decades-old flood chutes. This announcement is a substantial victory for the city, one that reaffirms the federal government's commitment to making this project a reality," said the congressman. "As a former mayor, I know firsthand the importance of these issues, especially when it comes to the safety and well-being of residents. 

 

"That is why I have prioritized funding for this project, one that will not only enhance protections along the Hoosic River Basin and reduce flood risk, but also make much critical improvements to the city's infrastructure and create jobs."