Letter: Get Information About Dangers of Youth Vaping

To the Editor:

The start of the school year and new routines brings new worries about teen vaping. These concerns are important, especially now, because smoking and vaping may put people at higher risk of complications from COVID-19.

One in three Massachusetts teens vape and talking with young people about the dangers of vaping can make a difference. Learn more and watch videos at GetOutraged.org, part of a public information campaign from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Get Outraged! aims to spread the word that vaping products contain nicotine, can damage a teen's developing brain, and are addictive. The campaign also shares tips on talking with kids about vaping and resources to help them quit.

Get Outraged! complements "Facts. No Filters." a campaign with videos and information about vaping for youth at mass.gov/vaping by the Department of Public Health in collaboration with the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation.

In addition, handouts about vaping and quit resource cards for youth are available free of charge at the Massachusetts Health Promotion Clearinghouse.

For more information and to help you educate young people about vaping, contact Joyce Brewer at the Berkshire Tobacco-Free Community Partnership, jbrewer@berkshireahec.org
 

Joyce Brewer
Dalton, Mass.

Joyce Brewer is the program manager for the Berkshire Tobacco Free Community Partnership of Berkshire AHEC.

North Adams, Partners Celebrate $17.3M in Federal Money Toward Bike Path

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
01:11PM / Friday, January 10, 2025

U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, wearing an MCLA scarf, announces the funding for the project design and planning at City Hall on Friday morning. 

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — It's been 26 years since the concept of a Connecticut to Vermont bike trail was first proposed — and 130 since a proposal was put forward for a path between North Adams and Williamstown. 

 

Those dreams took another step forward on Friday with the announcement of $17.3 million in federal funding for the "Adventure to Ashuwillticook Trail," a 9.3-section from the Mohican Path at Williamstown's Spruces to Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art. 

 

"This is a major success because it connects Williamstown and Adams and North Adams," said U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, who was instrumental in obtaining the funding as chairman of Ways and Means Committee. "It's a big deal, and we're going to hear from experts, but I want to thank the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission. Great work on this. I can be helpful to you, for sure, as Eddie and Elizabeth were [U.S. Sens. Markey and Warren], but I can't be helpful to you unless you have a good product, and you had a good product."

 

The grant award is the result of a collaborative effort involving Berkshire Funding Focus, a government funding initiative of the BRPC, along with Adams, North Adams and Williamstown, Mass MoCA and the Tourists resort through which the bike path will run. BRPC is the lead agent and will coordinate the partnership and manage the grant award over the course of the four-year process.

 

Neal was joined at City Hall by Mayor Jennifer Macksey, state Sen. Paul Mark, state Rep. John Barrett III, BRPC Executive Director Tom Matuszko, Mass MoCA Director Kristy Edmunds and Benjamin Svenson and Eric Kerns, of the Tourists resort. 

 

Macksey explained why spending $17 million on bike path planning was important, in the same way she had to her 93-year-old mother. 

 

"She said, 'we need water improvements. We need bridges fixed. Why are you building this bike path? And we had a conversation about economic development. We had a conversation about recreation. We had a conversation about wellness in the community," the mayor said. "But most importantly, we had a conversation that our communities cannot be siloed anymore, that we have to connect them, and this is the way of the future."