Pittsfield Car Crash Knocks Radio Stations Off Air

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A police pursuit that ended in a crash reportedly cut power temporarily to four local radio stations on Monday. 
 
Live 95.9-FM and 1420-AM went off the air around 10:30 a.m., according to their Facebook posts. 
 
"Due to an emergency and technical difficulties, we are currently off-air. Engineers are working as quickly as possible to get the station back up and running. Thank you for your patience," 95.9 posted.
 
David Isby, with the stations' owner Townsquare Media, came by the accident, which he posted on Facebook. 
 
"High speed chase on Jason Street - driver snapped pole in half - then exited vehicle and ran," he posted, with pictures of the car catching on fire. "What's more 4 radio stations are off the air until power gets restored or the generator at studios (which kicked on) gets working properly!!"
 
The images show a dark colored, late model four-door car smashed front-end first into a guardrail — right below a deer crossing sign — and a pole and wires laying the road. First the car is smoking with driver's side door open and then fully ablaze. Firefighters reportedly had to wait until Eversource could cut power before attempting to douse the fire. 
 
It's not clear which other radio stations were affected by the collision or if the driver was apprehended. iBerkshires has reached out to Pittsfield Police for more information. 

Tags: police chase,   power outage,   

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Pittsfield BOH Condemns Two Homes

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Two more Pittsfield homes have been condemned.

The Board of Health voted Wednesday to condemn 86 John St. and 224 Fourth St. It came with a pang of sadness about demolishing homes during a housing crisis and a conversation about prevention.

"I would think many years ago this property had flowers in front of it," Chair Roberta Elliott said about the John Street home. "It was not like this."

Another member said it feels like capital punishment to the properties.

Both homes have no owner or heir who wants to take responsibility for them. The city has 43 open condemnation orders — about 20 residential.

"The condemnation can be as simple as no running water, no electricity," Code Enforcement Office Andrew Gagnon said. "So it is a spectrum of severity."

The four-bedroom John Street property has been sitting since 2018 and the Fourth Street multifamily has been subject to break-ins despite being secured and deemed unsafe by the Fire Department.

"It's unfortunate that so many properties on John Street have had to meet the wrecking ball," Gagnon said.

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