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The Pittsfield Fourth of July Parade has been canceled for a second year.

Pittsfield 4th of July Parade Canceled Again

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Pittsfield's famed Fourth of July Parade has fallen victim to the COVID-19 pandemic once more.
 
On Friday morning, Mayor Linda Tyer delivered "breaking news" that the parade will be canceled this year for the second time since 1977. It was also canceled last year due to the novel coronavirus.
 
"It's disappointing to have to put another pause on the Fourth of July parade, but I just don't think that we can safely hold it this year," Tyer told local radio station Live 95.9.
 
Though large outdoor gatherings of 250 people and parades will be permitted at 50 percent capacity beginning on May 29, Tyer said this does not help the parade because there is no way of determining the capacity and then limiting it to half. The parade regularly brings thousands of people to North Street and involves hundreds of participants and volunteers.
 
Pittsfield Fourth of July Parade Committee President Peter Marchetti added that the committee is brainstorming alternative options such as a citywide July 4 house decorating event.
 
Based on COVID-19 restrictions, he said, the panel wants to try and plan a belated event in the fall. The committee will meet on May 12, when alternative parade plans will be deliberated and announced shortly afterward.
 
In January, the parade committee was hopeful about the event's fate and was making plans despite many unknowns. At the time, members felt that vaccinations could help make the parade possible and that the thousands of attendees could stay 6 feet apart for social distancing during the more than two-hour march.
 
The committee has put parade fundraisers on hold until the May decision.
 
If it had gone forward, the theme would have appropriately been "An Old-Fashioned 4th: The Way We Were."
 
Additionally, Tyer announced that for the same capacity issues, monthly Third Thursday events will be on hold until the fall.

Tags: 4th of July,   parade,   

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Pittsfield City Council Weighs in on 'Crisis' in Public Schools

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff

A half-dozen people addressed the City Council from the floor of Monday's meeting, including Valerie Anderson, right.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — After expressing anger and outrage and making numerous calls for accountability and transparency, the 11 members of the City Council on Monday voted to support the School Committee in seeking an independent investigation into allegations of misconduct by staff members at Pittsfield High School that have come to light in recent weeks.
 
At the close of a month that has seen three PHS administrators put on administrative leave, including one who was arrested on drug trafficking charges, the revelation that the district is facing a civil lawsuit over inappropriate conduct by a former teacher and that a staff member who left earlier in the year is also under investigation at his current workplace, the majority of the council felt compelled to speak up about the situation.
 
"While the City Council does not have jurisdiction over the schools … we have a duty to raise our voices and amplify your concerns and ensure this crisis is met with the urgency it demands," Ward 5 Councilor Patrick Kavey said.
 
About two dozen community members attended the special meeting of the council, which had a single agenda item.
 
Four of the councilors precipitated the meeting with a motion that the council join the School Committee in its search for an investigation and that the council, "be included in the delivery of any disclosures, interim reports or findings submitted to the city."
 
Last week, the School Committee decided to launch that investigation. On Monday, City Council President Peter White said the School Committee has a meeting scheduled for Dec. 30 to authorize its chair to enter negotiations with the Springfield law firm of Bulkley, Richardson and Gelinas to conduct that probe.
 
Ward 7 Councilor Rhonda Serre, the principal author of the motion of support, was one of several members who noted that the investigation process will take time, and she, like Kavey, acknowledged that the council has no power over the public schools beyond its approval of the annual district budget.
 
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