St. Stanislaus School benefit, 9 to 4 in Kolbe Hall, Adams. Bake sale, snack bar, games, Chinese auctions, money raffle, crafts, and pierogi.
Blackinton Union Church, 1373 Massachusetts Ave., North Adams; 10 to 2. Crafts table, bake sale, Chinese auction, the Christmas table, and kid's grab bag. Lunch $4, $2 kids.
First Congregational Church, North Adams, 9-2.
Nov. 28 Becket Federated Church, Route 8, holiday bazaar from 9-3. Lunch, crafts, baked goods, holiday and other items. Information: Mary Peltier, Parish House, 413-623-5217.
Dec. 5
Holiday Fair at First Congregational Church, 25 Park Place, Lee, from 10 to 3; handcrafted items, raffles, children's shop, bake sale, cut Christmas trees and lunch from 11 to 1. Includes angel-themed goods from SERRV. Information, 413-243-1033 or www.ucc-lee.org.
Dec. 12-13
North Adams Country Club, crafts 9-4; food from That's a Wrap from 11-2. Information: Sheryl Morehouse at 413-822-3329.
Planning a bazaar this season? Submit information to info@iberkshires.com to have it listed here.
We're trying out blogs to offer shorter, easy-to-find news. Let us know what you think.
Send press releases and announcements to info@iberkshires.com. Need to contact someone at iBerkshires? Here's how.
Mammography Dispute The government's issued controversial new guidelines stating that women shouldn't get annual mammograms until age 50, rather than age 40.
iBerkshires will be meeting with local medical experts Monday. Have a question you'd like answered on this issue? Send it info@iberkshires.com with "mammogram" in the subject line.
Staff reports iBerkshires 07:14PM / Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Brooke Bennett
ROYALTON, Vt. — Police say the body of missing 12-year-old Brooke Bennett was found about 4:45 p.m. in Randolph.
"The death is clearly suspicious. It appears to be foul play," said Col. James Baker, state police director, at a press conference. "The painful discovery of Brooke's body today is tragic and heartbreaking."
"With the discovery of Brooke, our investigation is now narrowed and focused."
Baker admitted that the information provided was vague but asked for patience because the investigation is still in "a crucial stage." More information would be forthcoming in the morning, he said.
The body was found on Crocker Road in Randolph in an area where dirt had been disturbed; police excavated the area today. Media reports state that a 14-year-old interviewed in relation to sexual assault charges against her uncle Michael Jacques of Randolph said she had been used to lure Brooke to Jacques' home as part of an alleged sex ring.
The information was taken from an affidavit in the sexual assault case against Jacques.
The 14-year-old said she and her boyfriend left Brooke at Jacques' home the day she disappeared.
Brooke's stepfather, Ray A. Gagnon, has been charged with destruction of evidence related to Brooke's disappearance. The nature of the evidence has not been revealed.
Brooke disappeared last Wednesday morning after Jacques dropped her off at a convenience store. Her presumed abduction had triggered the state's first AMBER Alert.
A vigil for Brooke was to be held tonight in Randolph at 8.
Update: July 1, 2008, at 7:26 p.m.
ROYALTON, Vt. — Police have arrested Brooke Bennett's stepfather, Ray A. Gagnon, 40, in relation to an investigation into sexual assault charges against her uncle, Michael Jacques.
Vermont State Police issued a press release earlier Tuesday saying the arrest of Gagnon is not the result of his sexually assaulting Brooke, but for an alleged assault on another minor in the Royalton area during the summer of 2007. He is being held on $250,000 bail on a charge of aggravated sexual assault on a minor. The charge carries a 10-year sentence.
Gagnon, of San Antonio, who is believed to have separated from Brooke's mother some years ago, is being held in federal custody in relation to destruction of evidence in the Bennett case.
Police and FBI declined to expand on what evidence was, saying the case was "at a crucial stage."
"It is absolutely critical that we don't comment on evidence. We are at a very crucial stage in this investigation and for us to comment on evidence could endanger our ability to close this case out," said Col. James Baker, director of the state police, a press conference Tuesday afternoon. "Our efforts right now, our unfettered efforts, are to locate Brooke and bring her back to her family."
Police said an interview with a minor resulted in Jacques', and now Gagnon's, arrests. Baker declined to comment on whether Brooke had had communication with Gagnon through MySpace. The 12-year-old was believed to have planned to meet someone she communicated with through the social networking site.
The press conference on the Brooke Bennett case was held at 4 p.m. The video is available here.
Posted June 30, 2008
ROYALTON, Vt. — State police on Monday said the investigation in the disappearance of Brooke Bennett now includes the uncle who dropped her off at a convenience store last week.
State police searched his Randolph home on Monday.
Michael Jacques, 42, was arraigned in Vermont District Court on Monday on a sexual assault charge unrelated to Brooke's disappearance last week. The Rutland Herald reported he pleaded not guilty to aggravated sexual assault and is being held on $250,000 bail.
Jacques, who according to reports has a prior sexual assault conviction dating from 1993, was arrested Sunday after police said he had sexually assaulted a minor who was being interviewed in the disappearance.
"As a result of that, Michael Jacques became a person of interest into the disappearance of Brooke," Col. James Baker, state police director, said at a news conference Monday afternoon. "This is not the only avenue we continue to pursue and we continue to explore other investigative leads."
Baker also reconfirmed his statement that "this case is about social networking on the Internet."
Police believe Brooke, of Braintree, had been planning to meet with someone she encountered online through MySpace.
The 12-year-old was dropped off by Jacques (the husband of her mother's sister) and a cousin on Wednesday morning. She had purportedly told family members she was meeting a friend to go with her to visit a relative in a New Hampshire Hospital.
Police said surveillance tapes at the Cumberland Farms store show Jacques and Brooke heading in different directions.
She was reported missing about 12 hours later; an AMBER Alert, the state's first, was issued shortly before 6 p.m. on Thursday.
Items related to Brooke were found over the weekend on Route 65; police have not identifed what the items are. An extensive ground and air search occurred over the weekend and the Federal Bureau of Investigation is assisting in the investigation. Brooke's computer is also being analyzed.
Anyone who may have seen Brooke or has any information pertaining to her disappearance, is asked to notify the Vermont State Police at 1-802-234-9933.
Original posting, dated June 29, 2008
ROYALTON, Vt. — Vermont initiated its first-ever AMBER Alert on Thursday after 12-year-old Brooke Bennett of Braintree went missing and is believed to have been abducted.
Brooke was last seen at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, June 25, at the Cumberland Farms in Randolph. According to reports, Brooke was dropped off by her uncle and had told her family she was going with a girl friend to visit the friend's relative in a New Hampshire hospital.
Police believe Brooke was actually planning to meet someone she'd meet online, possibly through MySpace. Video from the convenience store show Brooke walking toward the village of Randolph alone.
The Vermont State Police and Federal Bureau of Investigation are working jointly to investigate Brooke's disappearance. Some evidence of kidnapping is required for an America's Missing Broadcast Emergency Response to be activated; as yet, police have released no descriptions of the kidnapper or of a vehicle.
Police said investigators are following up on more than 150 leads that have been generated through the investigation and from information received since the alert was posted Thursday evening.
An extended ground search was conducted early on Saturday in the area in which items that were believed to be linked to Brooke were found. The state Forensic Laboratory is analyzing the items and forensics analysis is also being conducted on her computer. In addition, footage from video cameras located in the area of Brooke's disappearance and elsewhere is being reviewed.
Because the analyses take time, police said no additional information is available at this time. At least two press conferences have been held to update the media.
Brooke was last seen wearing blue jeans, a pink sweater and white sneakers with pink lettering. She stands 5-foot-3 and weighs 98 pounds, with brown hair with purple highlights and blue eyes. She has a 3-inch-long scar on one calf, both ears are pierced at bottom and top and a birthmark on her upper left arm.
Anyone who may have seen Brooke or has any information pertaining to her disappearance, is asked to notify the Vermont State Police at 1-802-234-9933.
MY HEART GOES OUT TO BROOKE'S FAMILY AND OTHER LOVED ONES.I AM A SURVIVOR AND I PRAYED THAT BROOKE TOO WOULD FIND HER WAY HOME. HOWEVER, IT WAS NOT TO BE. WHOMEVER IS RESPONSIBLE PLEASE DO THE RIGHT THING AND GIVE THE FAMILY PEACE AS TOO BROOKE'S LAST MOMENTS...
LAST BUT NOT LEAST MAY THE COURT SYSTEM FOR ONCE LISTEN TO THE CRIES OF THE VICTIM AND THE VICTIM'S FAMILY AND LOVED ONES AND MAKE THIS PERSON OR PERSONS PAY WITH THE ULTIMATE PRICE. A LIFE FOR A LIFE.
MAY GOD BLESS ALL THOSE WHO TRIED TO BRING BROOKE HOME AND MAY GOD BLESS ALL HER FAMILY AND LOVED ONES.
WITH MY DEEPEST HEARTFELT SYMPATHY
DANI JO
ORIGINALLY FROM BENNINGTON VERMONT....
from: JOJOGRL13
on: 07-04-2008
hung by the balls...beating like a pinata
from: jenciv
on: 07-03-2008
I hope they get what they deserve
from: kev
on: 07-03-2008
death penalty for the both of them
from: Donovan
on: 07-03-2008
Death Penalty.
from: chris tremblay
on: 07-02-2008
The Associated Press is reporting that her uncle is now believed to have used another 14 year old girl to get her back to his house for an alleged sex ring. So clever to give the police information about MySpace throw people off his trail. Poor girl
from: concerned parent
on: 07-02-2008
I can not begin to imagine how her parents and friends must fell. I have kids of my own and, I am so over protected that, I will not let them do anything. I am afraid of them getting hurt or something like this happening to them. May God watch over this child and bring her back safely. My thoughts and prayers go out to her family and friends.
from: Ann Silva
on: 06-29-2008
I was very worried when I was reading the news about the 12 year old. I hope she is found safe.
from:
on: 06-29-2008
I have a 14 year old daughter who had a MySpace I did not know about. She had guys on there she did not know... I have taken this off my computer and have passwords in my computer now and she is banned from it until I can trust that she knows how dangerous it can be. I have shown her this story and it just puts goosebumps up my arms thinking about this. My heart goes out to this family and they are in my prayers that their daughter comes home safely. Teenagers really do not understand the real dangers of this MySpace and meeting people they do not know.
from: Concerned Mom in NY
on: 06-29-2008
If this is an abduction, and if it's the result of MySpace interraction, there will be extensive information both on the child's harddrive and in the MySpace databank revealing EVERY interraction, from mundane to suspicious. That information should be gathered immediately, moreover, it should have been gathered in the first 24 hours of her disappearance. If it was not, then her fate is the fault of Authorities.
from: Mark
on: 06-29-2008
I had just found out that my twelve year old daughter had a myspace and had her remove it last month. We have had long talks and are following this case closely and hope for the safe return of this child. It is hard to raise and protect a child in a society functioning on technology. Cell Phones and computers are nice, but they can also cause great harm. I hope they find the person resposible for this and I won't say what I think should be done. My daughter and I are thinking of this family.
A concerned Mom in Vermont.
from: Mother in Vermont
on: 06-29-2008
I have a daughter that I worry about. I cannot imagine going through what this family is going through....what was this uncle thinking????? In my opinion he is partially responsible. If my brother would have done something as crazy as this...I would never have been able to forgive him. Appears the father of this young girl was involved in her life enough to monitor her use on myspace...what about the mother? I hope this all turns out alright for this young girl. My thoughts are with her and pray for her safe return.
from: Therese
on: 06-29-2008
May God Bless and Keep this child, please comfort her family in this time of uncertainty and fear. We hope and pray she will be found safe.
from: justamidwife in kansas
on: 06-29-2008
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