Clark Art Screens 'Girlfriends'

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — On Thursday, Feb. 20, the Clark Art Institute screens the latest installment in its Hollywood Auteurs film series, "Girlfriends" (1978), at 6 pm in the Manton Research Center auditorium.

Presented in partnership with Images Cinema, this series captures the explosion of creativity, critical acclaim, and box office success that Hollywood directors found after the fall of the studio system.

According to a press release: 

When her best friend and roommate abruptly moves out of their Manhattan apartment to get married, Susan (Melanie Mayron) finds herself adrift in both life and love. A wonder of American independent cinema by Claudia Weill (who, when she was admitted to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as a director in 1981, was one of only four women ever to have received that honor), Girlfriends is a remarkably authentic vision of female relationships that has become a touchstone for makers of an entire subgenre of films and television shows about young women trying to make it in the big city. This 1970s New York time capsule captures the complexities and contradictions of women’s lives and relationships with wry humor and refreshing frankness. (Run time: 1 hour, 26 minutes)

Free. Accessible seats available; for information, call 413 458 0524. For more information, visit clarkart.edu/events.

Concerns Over PFAS Spark Sewage Debate in Williamstown

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
05:50AM / Tuesday, April 01, 2025

The composting facility at the intermunicipal wastewater plant is operating at about two-thirds capacity. 

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Forever chemicals are the source of a protracted debate for the Select Board.

 

Out of 15 fiscal articles on the warrant for the annual town meeting in May, the board last Monday voted to recommend passage of 14.

 

It delayed its decision on Article 5, which concerns the budget for the sewer department, more specifically the town's share of operating costs for the Hoosac Water Quality District.

 

Some members of the community, including a member of the Select Board, say the district is choosing a course of action that is at odds with the environmental principles that the town espouses.

 

The HWQD is a 55-year-old intermunicipal entity shared by Williamstown and the city of North Adams.

 

Residents of both communities on public sewer service send their wastewater to a treatment facility in Williamstown off Simonds Road (Route 7).

 

The facility cleans and treats the wastewater and discharges it into the nearby Hoosic River.