Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll waves in the Fall Foliage Parade.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll said she sees optimism and potential in the Steeple City after marching in Sunday's Fall Foliage Day Parade.
Driscoll is the first sitting lieutenant governor to appear in the parade since Timothy Murray and his family back in 2007. She and Gov. Maura Healey were elected to four-year terms in 2022.
"Absolutely picturesque to be able to see, you know, this time of year in this region, and then this parade, the history of it, like multiple generations of families on the sidelines, excited to either watch the parade or be in the parade, participate in it," said Driscoll at a fundraiser meetup at Hotel Downstreet hosted by the local town and city Democratic committees. "It's a perfect New England day, and I was glad to be a part of it."
Driscoll had traveled to Dalton in the morning to endorse Leigh Davis, the Democratic candidate for the Third Berkshire District. In North Adams, she made some brief remarks then mingled with the dozen or so attendees, including city councilors and Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts President Jamie Birge, who hoped to bend her ear on relevant issues.
Driscoll said she was hearing "lots of enthusiasm for the work that's already happening here" including opportunities to leverage hospitality and tourism challenges around infrastructure and what the state could to support those efforts.
She touched on the hopes for funding toward a public safety building and the city's two bridges — the closed Brown Street bridge and the deteriorating Veterans Memorial Bridge. The memorial bridge, constructed as part of the Central Artery project in the 1960s, is being studied for reconstruction or removal under a federal grant with the goal of better connecting Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art to the downtown.
"I think generally, people are really optimistic about the possibilities that exist here in leveraging off of the things that are already working well, whether it's a university or a cultural asset like Mass MoCA, or a downtown that's beautiful, that has some some rough patches that need to be prettied up, like, how can we work together to accomplish that?" the lieutenant governor said.
Her official duties include chairing the Governor's Council and the Seaport Economic Council, as well as the Governor's Council on sexual abuse and domestic violence. But, she said, as the former mayor of Salem, "I'm definitely the go-between for a lot of cities and towns, their needs and how we can support and empower and uplift what those needs are at the state level."
That includes looking at state formulas for aid and how to ensure geographic equity between rural communities and urban centers.
"I'd say two other areas are arts and culture," Driscoll said, expanding on a question about her "porfolio" on Beacon Hill. "Having worked in a community that focuses on arts and culture and tourism, those are the areas that I get to really lift up. And you know, when you're a mayor, you do a lot of things, from chairing a school committee to driving economic development. So I'm fortunate that I have a partner in the governor who really wants us to be force multipliers, like, how do we use the strengths that we have as a team to deliver for people who live in the commonwealth and make it a better state? So we work on that together every day."
Her predecessor, Republican Karyn Polito, had also carved out a role as liaison to cities and towns and frequently visited the area to tout the administration's Community Compact program. Driscoll said it was "almost a natural alignment for those of us who have been in local government to kind of love language, right? Like, how do we really make sure we're fostering strong relationships?"
She said she's also pushed for more tools for the state's public higher education "knowing that those are our future teachers, nurses, bankers, entrepreneurs, lieutenant governors who stay in Massachusetts."
Driscoll was asked about Salem's recent ranking as one of the "hottest ZIP codes" for real estate and how that could translate to North Adams.
"Honestly, lots of these older gateway cities have transformed themselves and their identity. For Salem, it was obviously tourism or coastline city. We're close to Boston," she said. "For North Adams, this is a place that has a cultural richness — look at the architecture, it's beautiful. How do you leverage getting more people here in density because then that'll help drive the economy. In our case, we've got that density component, and that helps you know have robust businesses and success and drives it. I think there's more we can do here to support that."
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Snow, Sleet & High Winds for Presidents Day Weekend
Another weekend, another storm for the Berkshires.
The National Weather Service in Albany, N.Y., is forecasting 3 to 7 inches of mixed precipitation beginning Saturday afternoon. Ice accumulations may be between one-tenth and three-tenths of an inch.
A winter weather advisory is in effect from 1 p.m. on Saturday to 7 p.m. on Sunday.
Snow will continue through this evening before transitioning to a wintry mix overnight into Sunday afternoon. Some areas may change over to plain rain before precipitation tapers off.
This expected to followed by high winds Sunday night with gusts reaching up to 60 mph. Strong winds combined with any ice on trees could result in additional power outages. A high wind watch is in effect from 7 p.m. Sunday through Monday evening.
Roads, and especially bridges and overpasses, will likely become slick and hazardous from snow, sleet and ice accumulations. Plan on slippery road conditions. Power outages and tree damage are possible due to the ice, snow and winds.
North Adams, Pittsfield and other communities have declared snow emergencies which means no parking on the street. In Pittsfield, parking is allowed only on the odd side of the street on Saturday beginning at 7 a.m. and the even side, also beginning at 7 a.m., on Monday. Downtown residents are being encouraged to the McKay Street parking garage free of charge during the emergency.
Travelers should allow for extra travel time and check forecasts for their routes and destinations and, if possible, consider using public transportation in place of a personal vehicle. MassDOT crews have been pretreating roadways in advance of the storm and will be deploying snow removal staff and equipment as necessary across the commonwealth. Download the?Mass511?mobile app or visit?www.mass511.com?to view live cameras, travel times, real-time traffic conditions.
National Grid is preparing for icing, snow, hazardous winds and cold temperatures. Wind gusts have the potential to damage trees and knock down power lines, causing power outages in impacted locations. Icing can lead to sagging powerlines and tree limbs. The timing of the changeover to snow and freezing rain will influence snow and ice amounts, with higher snow totals across Western Massachusetts.
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Roads, and especially bridges and overpasses, will likely become slick and hazardous from snow, sleet and ice accumulations. Plan on slippery road conditions. Power outages and tree damage are possible due to the ice, snow and winds.
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