Cheshire Woman Was Killed in Aug. 7 Crash

Print Story | Email Story
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — The victim of a fatal motor vehicle crash on Aug. 7 has been identified as Susanna Thomas, 47, of Cheshire.
 
Thomas was believed to be traveling at a high rate of speed on Partridge Road, which has a speed limit 35 mph, when she struck a tree. 
 
A neighbor reported hearing a large boom and called 911. There were no tire tracks on the road or sounds heard to indicate the driver had attempted to brake prior to the collision, according to authorities.
 
The accident was reported at about 1:10 p.m. and Lanesborough Police, Fire and ambulance were dispatched to an area in between 782 and 785 Partridge Road.
 
First responders were able to reach the scene within 90 seconds to find a Nissan Rogue had collided with a tree and was engulfed in flames. 
 
First responders extinguished the flames and found one individual located in the driver's seat later identified as Thomas. She had suffered severe burns and was declared deceased at the scene. 
 
Thomas was a graduate of Hoosac Valley High School in Cheshire and previously worked as pastry chef and at Greylock Elementary School in North Adams. She did volunteer work, including in the kitchen at Berkshire Pathways. 
 
Law enforcement response also included the State Police Detective Unit assigned to the Berkshire District Attorney's Office and the State Police Crash Analysis and Reconstruct Section.

Tags: fatal,   MVI,   

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

Hoosac Valley School Committee Approves $23M Budget for Fiscal 2026

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
CHESHIRE, Mass. — The Hoosac Valley Regional School Committee approved a fiscal 2026 budget of $23,136,636 on Monday. 
 
The budget consists of a foundation budget of $21,038,650, a transportation budget of $1,013,986 and a capital budget of $1,084,000.
 
The vote was 5-1 with member Fred Lora voting in opposition. 
 
The spending plan is up $654,917, or 2.9 percent, over this year. Out-of-district special education tuitions and a 16 percent hike in health insurance are major drivers of the increase. 
 
"Between those two pieces alone, we're about a $1.5 million increase in our budget," said Superintendent Aaron Dean. "That doesn't take into account any of our obligations contractually, and things like utilities. So the bottom line is we have limited resources."
 
The town assessments will be within their levy limits with Adams seeing a 2.3 percent increase of $135,391 for a total of $5,958,203, and Cheshire a 3.623 percent increase of $104,773 for a total of $2,996,643.
 
"I will point out that both of these assessments are lower than the municipal minimum that was put out by the state," said Dean. "So we did a lot of work and continue to do to get these to a range that I think was respectful to the towns. As you look around, there's a lot of towns that are that are going to go up, 7, 8, 9 percent."
View Full Story

More Adams Stories