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The Berkshires online guide to events, news and Berkshire County community information.           
Saturday November 7, 2009
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Election

Barrett Reflects on Accomplishments with Capital News 9
Alcombright's Victory Speech

Which election's more important?
Pittsfield
North Adams
Neither, nothing will change
  
pollcode.com free polls

Trying to remember who won what and why? All the information is right here.

Daily Digest


This is Jake
He's been lost in Pittsfield for weeks but frequently sited. He was last seen heading toward the fire station on Peck's Road. He's tired, dirty and needs seizure medication. He's chipped. If you see him, call Julie at 413-537-5616, the vet 24/7 at 413-499-2820 or animal control at 413-448-9700.
How Much is Heating Oil this Week?
It's breaking $2.50 but still cheaper than gas.
Thanks to Gabriella Bond for sharing her memories of the Quincy Street house torn down last week.
Send press releases and announcements to info@iberkshires.com. Need to contact someone at iBerkshires? Here's how.

Obituaries

Alice R. Filiault, 87
Lucille Burt, 92
More obituaries
Mary M. Hanlon, 82
George F. Sarrouf, 73

Sales Fliers

 
 

 

What's Playing


The popular anime character "Astro Boy" searches for acceptance on the big screen.


'Serious Man':
The Unbearable Lightness of Being Confounded
Movie schedules and times

Bazaars

Nov. 7:

VNA & Hospice, Community Room, North Adams

North Adams Elks
10-4; Nov. 8, 9-2
Crafters, Chinese auction, bake sale
For vendor information, Melanie at 413-743-5562.

Nov. 14

Berkshire Community Church, Richmond
10-4; Crafters, bake sale. Contact Evelyn Goggia at 413-445-5747

Lanesborough Elementary School annual Fall Craft Fair from 10 to 4. Free admission, huge variety of arts and crafts, raffles, food and more. Proceeds go to sixth-grade trip to Cape Cod.

Vendors can contact Deb at 413-738-5349 or debhutton@aol.com or Lori at 413-499-0065 or lorittod@yahoo.com to secure a spot.

Dec. 12-13

North Adams Country Club, crafts 9-4; food from That's a Wrap from 11-2. Contact Sheryl Morehouse at 413-822-3329.

Planning a bazaar this season? Submit information to info@iberkshires.com to have it listed here.

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Sports

Fall Basketball Clinics

Thursday, Nov. 06

Boys' Soccer: State Vocational Championship Game
McCann Tech 3, Keefe Tech 2

Girls' Soccer: State Vocational Championship Game
Blackstone Valley 8, McCann Tech 0

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Storm's Icy Grip Leaves Thousands Without Power

Staff reports
iBerkshires
06:53PM / Friday, December 12, 2008

An ice storm that barely tapped North Adams left much of the rest of Western Mass. with downed power lines, flooded roads and icy conditions.

National Grid
was reporting that some half-million homes and businesses in New England and New York were without power; Western Mass. Electric was reporting about 8,000 without power at 6 p.m., primarily in Becket and Otis.

Florida Mountain was particularly hard hit, with one resident saying it "looked like a war zone."

More than a million electric customers from New York to Maine were out of power. Entergy Corp. told Bloomberg that ISO New England power grid operators had asked it to lower the Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor capacity because "massive power outages" threated the grid's stability.

Gov. Deval Patrick declared a state of emergency early this morning and nonessential state workers in executive state offices in Western Mass. were given the day off.

The National Weather Service had forecast up to an inch of ice as two powerfullow pressure systems worked their way northeast. Higher-than-expected temperatures kept the precipitation to rain — 2 inches or more — in most of the lower elevations of the Berkshires, but the heavy rains turned to sleet and ice in the hilltowns. 

The town of Florida was hit badly by the ice storm and parts of Route 2 were closed several times because of downed trees and power lines. A MassHighway worker described the conditions as "constantly changing" at mid-morning.

Gabriel Abbott Memorial School was closed and the Senior Center opened as an emergency shelter.

Related Story
Storm Leaves 1.25M without Power
"In my 55 years living here, I have never seen anything like this," said David Burdick of Florida, who was manning the Senior Center at about 6 p.m. Burdick was relieving another volunteer after being on the road since early in the morning. "It looked like a war zone."

"There's a stretch from the Senior Center to firehouse, about 2 1/2 miles ... well, for close to two miles, the power lines are down," he said.

About seven people were taking advantage of the warmth and light at the Senior Center, the town's emergency evacuation center. Burdick said the center would be open all night and that residents had been told not to expect the power back for another 48 hours.

There were reports of road closings on Massachusetts Routes 116, 9, 23 and 20; Vermont Route 9 was closed because of downed trees and is not expected to reopen until Saturday morning.

In addition to Florida, the hardest-hit towns appear to be Otis and Becket, where thousands are without power. Power also was out in portions of Pittsfield, Richmond, Dalton and other communities. There were scattered reports of flooded basements.

The power outage and heavy rain forced Jiminy Peak Ski Resort to close for most of the day. Power was restored earlier this afternoon and snowmaking is expected to begin tonight.

The storm produced almost 2 inches of rain as measured at Pittsfield Municipal Airport and more than 2 at North Adams' Harriman and West Airport. Temperatures are expected to drop below freezing tonight with sunny skies and temperatures in the teens on Saturday.

Information from iBerkshires' media partner Berkshire News Network was used in this report.
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