Registrations Open for 2nd Street Workshops

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — 2nd Street has opened registrations for free workshops focused on drawing, creative writing and poetry. 
 
The workshops, open to formerly incarcerated men and women in Berkshire County, are associated with the new programs Insight Out and Using Our Outside Voices, created by 2nd Street in partnership with Berkshire Museum and Berkshire Community College.
 
All workshops will be held at 2nd Street, located at 264 Second Street in Pittsfield. To register, call (413) 443-7220, ext. 1275. 
 
Drawing workshops: Tuesdays, April 4 through May 23, 4:30-6 pm. Workshops will be led by Phyllis Kornfeld, who has taught art in correctional facilities for 40 years, including at the Berkshire County Jail. She is the author of "Cellblock Visions: Prison Art in America."
 
Creative writing workshops: Wednesdays, April 5 through May 24, 4:30-6 pm. Workshops will be led by Liesl Schwabe, Berkshire Community College Coordinator of Writing Across the Curriculum.  Her essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Review of Books and many other publications and anthologies.
 
Poetry workshops: Thursdays, April 6 through May 25, 4:30-6 pm. Workshops will be led by Benjamin Grimes, a review writer and copyeditor for Muzzle Magazine. His work has appeared in New Ohio Review and is forthcoming in Sycamore Review.
 
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Concerns Raised About Intersection Near Nessacus Middle School

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

DALTON, Mass. — The Traffic Commission is looking into safety concerns with the intersection in front of Nessacus Regional Middle School.

On Thursday, the panel voted to send a letter to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation voicing the concerns and providing crash data for the intersection of Hinsdale Road, East Housatonic Street and Fox Road.

"Almost every crash at that intersection has injuries because of the high-speed road," Police Chief Deanna Strout said. "And it is usually a pretty decent collision there."

Resident Paul Tabone brought the item forward after hearing a significant crash from his home in Stonemill Condominiums at the end of August.

He has lived at the condos right next to the intersection for 14 years, seven full-time.

"Always noted the traffic. Didn't really pay much attention to things until we started living there regularly. A lot of near misses but specifically on the 26th of August, there was a direct contact," he said.

"I was not a witness to it. However, I was standing grabbing my coffee. I heard the bang, I got to the window, and watched both the pickup truck and this giant dump truck literally sliding into the intersection, of course, into Fox [Road]."

Tabone said one person was taken away in an ambulance and that "it’s a dicey spot even on a good day." He feels the intersection is poorly designed and drivers speed onto Housatonic Street to avoid going through the town center.

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