NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The City Council will hold a public hearing on Tuesday night at 6 p.m. on whether to pull OTT Taxi's operating license.
The taxi service was put on probation back in February for violations including unlicensed and underage drivers and unmarked cars being used to pick up fares.
Councilors at the time had little sympathy for owner John Lord's claims that he didn't know or understand the city's ordinance regulating taxi services.
But they did not wish disrupt the livelihoods of his drivers and the customers who needed the company's services and so issued a "stern warning" and 30 days probation.
Tuesday's public hearing is prompted by what officials say are continued violations.
A document supplied by interim Police Chief Mark Bailey refers to 14 violations, four parking citations and seven instances of drivers operating taxies without valid licenses. These violations were between Sept. 30, 2022, and July 22, 2023.
"Although there are reports of further violations occurring, these are the ones that have been documented by the North Adams Police Department, Bailey wrote.
In July, police say Lord was again seen driving taxi cabs, for which he does not have a license.
OTT has also moved out of its River Street offices this summer but has not changed the address on its license as required by ordinance.
Lord was informed by letter that "due to the continued issues, the City Council has determined they will need to reconvene to discuss them and determine its course of action."
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Myotherapy Practice Opens in North Adams
By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
Holistic Myotherapy in Greylock Works offers a calming area for clients to discuss their treatment and problems.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — A new mind and body therapist has opened for business in Greylock Works.
Owner of Holistic Myotherapy, Georgette Yannetti, started her muscle therapy practice in her native Brooklyn, N.Y., to help those with spinal problems like herself.
"I started my practice in Brooklyn in 2015 specifically to help teenagers with spinal deformities, scoliosis, because I myself struggle with that since I was an adolescent, I had four spinal surgeries and was disabled," she said.
Yannetti worked as a massage therapist at the Greenwich Hotel and started doing myotherapy as a side project until it took off and she could focus on it full time.
Myotherapy is a deep-tissue massage and stretching treatment that focuses on muscle and joint pain.
"The practice just took off, and it wasn't just for scoliosis," she said. "It branched out to other spinal deformities and just other kind of people suffering with other kind of disabilities, and not even just physical disabilities, but psychological, you know, anxiety, depression, anything that people really needed space to be held for."
She explained her process as building a connection with clients and being able to talk with her about their problems before they get on the table.
"It needs to be more than just like, well, you're gonna get undressed and now I'm gonna touch you for like 60 minutes. To go from I don't know you to now get on the table — you can't, there needs to be more," Yannetti said. "So I provided this seating area and tea and like a little bit of connection. So even though I'm not a psychotherapist, I mean, I am very clear with people, like I'm not your therapist ... but I provide the space for people to also share more about themselves, what's happening."
She said she couldn't find the type of service she is now giving and wanted for herself.
"I basically started my practice, and I was like, when I receive body work, this is what this is the kind of work that I would want because this is what I need when I'm receiving body work because of my trauma, and I can't find that," she said.
Yannetti moved to Berkshire County earlier this year because she had always enjoyed visiting the area, saying this was her preferred vacation spot and even came here for her honeymoon.
"I've been visiting consistently for the past 10 years, specifically to Berkshire County, just because I love it here. It's been a safe space for me. I never wanted to leave," she said. "Every time I came, I was always like, I don't want to leave, and that said something to me. Whenever I had the opportunity to travel, if it wasn't internationally, I was like, I want to go to the Berkshires."
She was looking online one day and found a house, and her husband agreed it was their perfect place. On a whim they decided to buy it and move out here. While she was not initially planning to restart her practice, she decided to do a free class with Greylock Yoga and fell in love with the renovated mill building. She immediately asked about a space for rent and signed the lease in early June.
She held her soft opening on July 1.
She hopes her clients know this is a safe space where she will support them.
"That I'm here to support them in whatever their process is. That this is a safe space. A lot of people release emotionally in here, because the body stores emotion. A lot of people are still learning that."
Check out the events happening in the Berkshires this weekend including a circus, movie nights, parties and more. (Note that the Clarksburg Pickle Fest has now been postponed to Aug. 29.)
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It was the year that Arlene Vachereau, clad in a skirt suit and white gloves, had an interview with attorney Walter J. Donovan. She was immediately hired.
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