Letter: International Women's Day

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To the Editor:

This letter was ignored by the Berkshire Eagle

Friday, March 8, was International Women's Day. Here in the Berkshires, it was celebrated by the Zonta club, an International Women's Leadership organization, by honoring six dynamic women from our community at a special dinner that attracted over 200 attendees.

This diverse group of women has made monumental contributions from coaching young professionals to build careers here to providing over two million diapers to those in need. These women aren't CEOs of big corporations and they didn't develop the latest app. They excelled by giving their time, skills and in most cases their own money for the benefit and betterment of the Berkshires. Their stories are inspirational, serving as powerful testaments of selfless service to guide young girls and women.

On Saturday morning, I sat down with my digital copy of the Berkshire Eagle–our Hometown Newspaper– expecting to read about this event and the special women leaders who are uplifting our community but there was no story or photo. Making headlines was the lead story with photos about “Drag Time Story Hour for our Children.”


I seriously question the Eagle's editorial decision and judgment. How do you ignore this opportunity to illustrate International Women's Day through local coverage of Zonta's six remarkable honorees, from diverse backgrounds and roles, who are leading the Berkshires to build a more equitable, desirable and respectful place to live?

I've met the editor and publisher of the Eagle. He's a smart guy. This wasn't a mistake. I believe this was an intentional effort by our hometown newspaper to advance a political agenda while ignoring real community heroes. Eagle editors have demonstrated irresponsible behavior and a lack of leadership and judgment by propagating a targeted narrative.

Get the focus where it belongs.

Respectfully,

Roger Gibboni
Lanesborough, Mass. 

 

 

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Community Conversation for Opioid Response Funding

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Massachusetts is expected to receive a billion dollars through settlements with various companies that have supplied opioids. 
 
Sixty percent of these monies will go toward the Opioid Recovery and Remediation Fund to help manage state efforts with 40 percent going towards municipalities.
 
State public health officials have been holding listening sessions on how to best to use the settlement. Some of those ideas in Berkshire County were drug courts and mandatory treatment, recovery programs for mothers with small children, and lowering barriers for transitioning into treatment. 
 
On March 12, epidemiologist Casey Leon and Director of Opioid Abatement Strategy and Implementation Julia Newhall from the Bureau of Substance Addiction Services, and Erika Hensel project manager for opioid response with the Attorney General's Office, attended a session at the Living in Recovery Center. 
 
Andy Ottoson, who co-facilitates substance prevention and overdose reduction programs at the Berkshire Regional Planning Commissions through the Berkshire Overdose Addiction Prevention Collaboration, led the conversation.
 
In attendance were also District Attorney Timothy Shugrue, state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, Berkshire Athenaeum social worker Gabriela Leon, and city and recovery center representatives.
 
Shugrue said low-level drug cases should be diverted into treatment pretrial rather than prosecuted. He said many courts and counsels are not using the programs available or are unaware of diversion options. He asked if there could be training for judges to promote diversion as an option and to coordinate so that more people are diverted early, which could help reduce overdose risk.
 
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