Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Superintendent contract gets OK, but with a catch


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Superintendent contract gets OK, but with a catch

The Mount Greylock Regional School Committee has approved a contract making Rose P. Ellis superintendent of the school district in addition to School Union 71, but there is a catch.



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Bill Densmore
Densmore Assoc. / CircLabs Inc
Reynolds Journalism Institute
413-458-8001

Hecht, Baker et al. Lead Williamstown Theatre Festival this Summer; Casting Announced


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Hecht, Baker et al. Lead Williamstown Theatre Festival this Summer; Casting Announced

Artistic Director Nicholas Martin has announced the casting for the next three productions of the Williamstown Theatre Festival 's 2010 Season: Our Town by Thornton Wilder , playing the Main Stage July 28 - August 8, Fifth of July by Lanford Wilson playing the Main Stage August 11 - 22, and the world premiere of After the Revolution by Amy Herzog ...



--------------------------------------------
Bill Densmore
Densmore Assoc. / CircLabs Inc
Reynolds Journalism Institute
413-458-8001

Williamstown Commons Welcomes New Administrator


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Williamstown Commons Welcomes New Administrator

We interviewed the new administrator over at Williamstown Commons on Tuesday night, or at least we tried - she's really popular.



--------------------------------------------
Bill Densmore
Densmore Assoc. / CircLabs Inc
Reynolds Journalism Institute
413-458-8001

Williamstown Native Draws Up Big Plans For Elm Tree House / iBerkshires.com - The Berkshires online guide to events, news and Berkshire County community information.

Greylock School Committee Offers Compromise to Lanesborough Voters - iBerkshires.com


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Greylock School Committee Offers Compromise to Lanesborough Voters - iBerkshires.com


iBerkshires.com

Greylock School Committee Offers Compromise to Lanesborough Voters
iBerkshires.com
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass — The Mount Greylock Regional School Committee has decided to make a compromise with the town of Lanesborough. ...

and more »


--------------------------------------------
Bill Densmore
Densmore Assoc. / CircLabs Inc
Reynolds Journalism Institute
413-458-8001

Saturday, June 26, 2010

A dozen Berkshire County public school officials are moving on


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A dozen Berkshire County public school officials are moving on

Public school administration in Berkshire County continues to be a revolving-door affair.



--------------------------------------------
Bill Densmore
Densmore Assoc. / CircLabs Inc
Reynolds Journalism Institute
413-458-8001

Reviving our river


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Reviving our river

From Cheshire in the south and Clarksburg in the north, the Hoosic River and its two branches link the major communities of North Berkshire, wending through Adams, North Adams and Williamstown en route to Vermont, New York and the Hudson.



--------------------------------------------
Bill Densmore
Densmore Assoc. / CircLabs Inc
Reynolds Journalism Institute
413-458-8001

Mass MoCA Looking Toward Solid Future - iBerkshires.com


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Mass MoCA Looking Toward Solid Future - iBerkshires.com


iBerkshires.com

Mass MoCA Looking Toward Solid Future
iBerkshires.com
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art is a sprawling complex covering 13 acres in the heart of the city. ...



--------------------------------------------
Bill Densmore
Densmore Assoc. / CircLabs Inc
Reynolds Journalism Institute
413-458-8001

Water Quality Report


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Water Quality Report

The 2009 2009 Consumer Awareness ("Water Quality") Report is on-line. As usual, Williamstown's well-fed water supply is clean and safe.



--------------------------------------------
Bill Densmore
Densmore Assoc. / CircLabs Inc
Reynolds Journalism Institute
413-458-8001

Town Manager Peter Fohlin


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Town Manager Peter Fohlin

Great article on Williamstown Town Manager Peter Fohlin. Since starting as town manager 10 years ago, one thing Peter L. Fohlin has learned is patience.



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Thursday, June 24, 2010

Stracuzzi selling local home


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Stracuzzi selling local home

Wednesday June 23, 2010 PITTSFIELD -- Angelo C. Stracuzzi, the former chief of Greylock Federal Credit Union, is selling his Pittsfield home.


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Williamstown FREE Event: July 1st, 7 pm, "Just For Laughs: a celebration of comedy and clowning"

Juliana Haubrich of the Williamstown writes:

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- Laughter is the best medicine, and on Thursday
evening, July 1st, from 7-8:30 pm, "Just For Laughs: a celebration of
comedy and clowning" proves this to be true. This entirely FREE
performance for all ages, courtesy of a grant from The Fund for
Williamstown, will take place in the Fellowship Hall auditorium of the
First Congregational Church, 906 Main Street, in Williamstown.

The evening begins with an "opening act" performance by the Williamstown
Youth Center's Clown Workshop Gang, directed by David Lane, Theatre Arts
professor, local actor and puppeteer from Main Street Stage in North
Adams. These kids will show off their clowning skills to get the crowd good
and warmed up for our headline performer: Alex the Jester (
www.alexthejester.com).

Alex the Jester has performed all over the word, headlining comedy festivals
in Montreal, Singapore, Vancouver, Australia, Russia, Mexico...and now he's
performing for us in the Berkshires, right here in Williamstown. And it's
FREE!

"Everyone who saw [the] show loved it!" - Barbara Absolon, World Expo -
Australia

"When this gem of an artist performs, audiences cheer and roar with
laughter. By the end of the show he makes everyone feel good." - Vancouver
Weekend Edition

Alex appeals to all ages, using classic jester antics, magic tricks, and
hilarious scenarios, you'll leave the show feeling like you just experienced
an amazing, one-of-a-kind performance. It's a great way to kick-off the 4th
of July holiday weekend.

So join us on July 1st, 7 pm, at the First Congregational Church in
Williamstown, for a good laugh. For more information, contact event
organizer Juliana Haubrich at the Milne Public Library, 413-458-5369.

Friday, June 18, 2010

Farmers Market Saturday


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Farmers Market Saturday

Williamstown Farmers Market on Spring Street in the parking lot at the end of Spring Street from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m every Saturday into October.



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Lanesborough still must pay off portion of debt - North Adams Transcript

Locals Get Involved In Our Town at Williamstown - Playblog

Founder of Bennington conservatory named Smithsonian researcher


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Founder of Bennington conservatory named Smithsonian researcher

Scott Hoover of Williamstown, Mass., founder of the nonprofit New England Tropical Conservatory in Bennington, has been named a research collaborator at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History.



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Sunday, June 13, 2010

Mount Greylock's Non-Conforming Class of 2010 Receives Diplomas - iBerkshires.com


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Mount Greylock's Non-Conforming Class of 2010 Receives Diplomas - iBerkshires.com


iBerkshires.com

Mount Greylock's Non-Conforming Class of 2010 Receives Diplomas
iBerkshires.com
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Mount Greylock Regional High School's graduating class of 2010 might be remembered best for going against the grain. ...
Williamstown Greylock grads stride into futureBerkshire Eagle

all 3 news articles »


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Saturday, June 12, 2010

Madden awarded Pearl scholarship - North Adams Transcript

Commission on Women Welcomes New Members, Celebrates Unsung Heroines - iBerkshires.com


[Link] http://news.google.com/news/url?fd=R

Commission on Women Welcomes New Members, Celebrates Unsung Heroines - iBerkshires.com


iBerkshires.com

Commission on Women Welcomes New Members, Celebrates Unsung Heroines
iBerkshires.com
The third new commissioner, Abbie J. von Schlegell of Williamstown, was unable to attend. All three will serve until 2013. "The commission really stands for ...



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Friday, June 11, 2010

Williamstown Theatre Festival has announced the...


[Link] http://www.topix.net/city/williamstown-ma/2010/06/williamstown-theatre-festival-has-announced-the?fromrss=1

Williamstown Theatre Festival has announced the...

Artistic Director Nicholas Martin has announced the casting for the next two productions of the Williamstown Theatre Festival's 2010 Season: Six Degrees of Separation by John Guare playing the Main Stage July 14 25, and the world premiere of Samuel J. and K. by Mat Smart on the Nikos Stage July 7 - 18.



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Sol LeWitt, In Hartford, Beacon, N.Y. - Hartford Courant


[Link] http://news.google.com/news/url?fd=R

Sol LeWitt, In Hartford, Beacon, N.Y. - Hartford Courant


Hartford Courant

Sol LeWitt, In Hartford, Beacon, N.Y.
Hartford Courant
Two big shows open this week at the Starline and Francine Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Mass. "Picasso Looks at Degas" features more than 100 works ...

and more »


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Thursday, June 10, 2010

REMINDER: 12 days until Blueprint Building congress at RJI-Mizzou -- join us or sign up for updates

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- What will finance journalism in the digital age?

More than 18 months of research, six months developing a business plan,
and multiple open meetings set the stage for a major announcement on June
24 at the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute (RJI) at the Missouri
School of Journalism.

On that day, a task force of U.S. newspaper publishers and state press
associations will unveil a 148-page business plan for the American
Newspaper Digital Access Corp., a news-industry consortium for managing
information usage and payments on the web.

At the same time, RJI will lay out a proposal for a non-profit standard-
and protocol organization, the Information Trust Assocation, and seek
input on how it should be governed and supported.

TO REGISTER:
http://www.infotrust.org

"From Blueprint to Building: Making the Market for Digital Information" is
an action congress for trust, identity and Internet information commerce
serving newspapers and beyond.

"These ideas have been in the oven for awhile, but neither is completely
baked," says Bill Densmore, a consulting researcher at Reynolds who is
helping with "Blueprint to Building." "Consider joining us in Columbia
from Wed. afternoon, June 23 through Fri. afternoon, June 25, to lend a
hand in the kitchen."

Among fellow "chefs" will be members of the Multistate Digital Task Force,
experts from The Associated Press (to talk about AP Exchange and other
intiatives) and several vendors, including CircLabs Inc., Clickshare
Service Corp., CentraMart Inc., and GeoTel Corp.

For more than 15 years, there's been a need for a clearing house and
infrastructure to manage identity and digital information commerce on the
web.

If you are a news, magazine or other publishing executive, a technologist
working in the areas of trust, identity management or information
commerce, a resarcher with important data on those topics, or a citizen
concerned about the future and sustainability of journalism, you should
attend "From Blueprint to Building" -- or ask for email updates.

TO JOIN OUR MAILING LIST:
mailto:updates@infotrust.org

TO LEARN MORE:
SEE: http://wwww.rjiblog.org/blueprint-congress

TO PRINT A ONE-PAGE FLYER:
http://www.newshare.com/blueprint.pdf

WHEN/WHERE
============

June 23-25, 2010 / Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute, University of
Missouri, Columbia, Mo. Full registration, including meals: $95.00.

WHY
==========

Eighteen months ago, about 60 people gathered on the American prairie and set
out to describe a blueprint for a new information economy that would be based
upon trust, identity and commerce. On June 24, at that same prairie meeting
spot, some of them will start building it. Do you want to be among the 80
founders, architects and builders? You're invited.

BACKGROUND
=============

This is not a conference, or a summit. It's a public ***congress*** -- of news
and information service providers -- organized by U.S. state press associations
and the Reynolds Institute, an ideas-experiments-research center affiliated
with the Missouri School of Journalism, the nation's oldest.

In this ultra-fast-moving information ecosystem, we have two intentions:

-- Consider establishing a non-profit collaborative that will specify
standards, platforms and protocols for a digital information marketplace;
supporting investment and partnering with operating companies and,

-- Define and start raising money for an operating company or association that
answers to, and primarily serves and benefits, ***all*** America's newspapers --
and is focused on profitably sharing, protecting and managing their digital
content.

WE'RE OPEN
===============

Questions? Do you have a paper or presentation you want to add to our
pre-congress reading list? Materials about a service or product you'd like to
have made available? Contact us at beta@infotrust.org


-------------------------------------
Bill Densmore, Consultant
Reynolds Journalism Institute
201 RJI Hall
University of Missouri
Columbia MO 65211
VOICE MAIL/CELL: 617-448-6600
densmorew@rjionline.org FOLLOW: @infovalet
DISCLOSURE: http://newshare.com/disclosure

Bill Monroe, consulting director
Multistate Digital Task Force
c/o Iowa Press Association
515-422-9060
bmonroe@inanews.com
http://www.infotrust.org

Thursday, June 03, 2010

Williamstown: WilliNet airs new segment on the Future of Williamstown

Juliana Haubrich <julianav7@gmail.com> writes:

On April 14th, Williamstown's public
access television station, WilliNet,
recorded a new and innovative edition of Citizens in League, a monthly
program sponsored by the Williamstown League of Women Voters. The segment
was created as "a conversation about the economic future of
Williamstown," and as a way to answer the many concerns about the changes
being seen on Spring Street, Williamstown's main comercial hub. For
example, McClellan's Stationary store closed, Helen's Place closed, Zanna's
clothing store closed, and the historic Hart's Pharmacy was sold to new
owners and no longer fills prescriptions. These, and other troubling
changes, have provoked a lot of conversations between citizens on the
street, in the libraries, at public meetings, and in our local coffee
shops. Citizens are concerned about the economic stress our town appears to
be facing.

The League of Women Voters recently had the advantage of hearing Peter
Fohlin, Williamstown's Town Manager, give a talk about the prognosis for
Williamstown. The League and WilliNet began to wonder if similar
conversations were taking place at Town Hall, Williams College and the
Williamstown Chamber of Commerce. In an effort to better understand the
town's situation and to inform the public, WilliNet and Citizens in
League invited representatives from those three organizations to take part
in a panel discussion on the economic future of Williamstown. Jim Kolesar,
Assistant to the President for Public Affairs at Williams College, Steve
Klass, Vice-President for Operations at Williams, Chamber of Commerce
Co-Presidents, Bonnie Clark, also the Physician Liason at Northern Berkshire
Healthcare, and Mary Morrow, VP of Retail Banking for Hoosac Bank &
Williamstown Savings Bank, Town Manager Peter Fohlin, and Williamstown
Planning Board member Dick DeMayo, all accepted the invitation to discuss
this challenging issue from their group's perspective.

To see the results of this dynamic discussion, go to www.willinet.org and
click on Watch!, or tune in to WilliNet, Monday, June 14th, at 9 pm,
on Channel 16, to see the show on cable TV. For more information you can
call WilliNet at 413-458-0900.

Wednesday, June 02, 2010

Fwd: To the Editor re: Mount Greylock Building Permits



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Begin forwarded message:

From: "Peter Fohlin" <pfohlin@williamstown.net>
Date: June 2, 2010 12:56:21 PM EDT
To: "Bill Densmore" <densmore@densmoreassociates.com>, "Patrick Dunlavey" <pat@pdcarto.com>, "Heather.Williams@williams.edu" <Heather.Williams@williams.edu>
Cc: "Charlie Fox (chaswfox@hotmail.com)" <chaswfox@hotmail.com>, "Dan Gendron (dangendron@verizon.net)" <dangendron@verizon.net>, "Doris Karampatsos" <dorisk@truenorthfs.com>, "Jefferson Strait (Jefferson.Strait@williams.edu)" <Jefferson.Strait@williams.edu>, "K Elaine Neely" <kelaineneely@gmail.com>, "Paula Consolini (pconsoli@williams.edu)" <pconsoli@williams.edu>, "Suzanne Dewey (srdewey@yahoo.com)" <srdewey@yahoo.com>, "Suzanne Stinson (sjstinson@verizon.net)" <suzanne.stinson@verizon.net>, <Thomas.P.Murtagh@williams.edu>
Subject: To the Editor re: Mount Greylock Building Permits
Reply-To: "Peter Fohlin" <pfohlin@williamstown.net>

 

I was very disappointed to read the reporting in Wednesday's Transcript concerning the building permits for Mount Greylock Regional High School. I have not yet viewed the videotape, so I do not know if the shortcomings are in what was said at the school committee meeting or in the reporting of it.

 

The content of the story was summarized in the headline – "Mount Greylock locker room repairs on hold." Never mentioned is the fact that both Phase II of the boiler replacement and the locker room repairs were given a green light in the meeting Tuesday afternoon in my office with Bob Ericson, Building Commissioner Michael Card, and Building Inspector Ryan Contenta. Bob Ericson explained that the boiler project would soon stall without additional permissions, which were granted. Tuesday's handshake was confirmed in writing Wednesday morning. Bob further explained that there is much demolition necessary in the locker rooms before reconstruction can begin, and permission was granted. As of 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, well before the school committee meeting, there was no reason for the boiler and locker room projects to proceed at anything less than full speed ahead.

 

There remain complicated life safety and handicap accessibility issues that Bob, Mike, and Ryan agreed to set aside for the moment and work to resolve while Phase II boiler replacement and locker room demolition move forward. Those issues were acknowledged in Hesnor Engineering's report to the school committee on November 9, 2009: "It is understood that prior to proceeding with work associated with Phase II of the Heating Plant and Locker Room repairs, a full Chapter 34 evaluation shall be prepared by Hesnor Engineering Company and Barry Architects, respectively." Seven months later we await completion of that evaluation. Bob Ericson in good faith disputes the authority of DIS to require the evaluation, but has agreed to provide basic information by the end of this week. Inspection Services maintains both its right and its responsibility to require the life safety and accessibility evaluation under the Massachusetts State Building Code, but has agreed to allow work to proceed while we work to resolve. The basic information being requested will allow responsible, cost effective, and timely decisions to be made in the best interests of the building occupants and the taxpayers. If we are unable to resolve those decisions while work continues, we will agree to disagree and travel together to the Board of Building Regulations and Standards for a determination.

 

The Secretary of State's office has determined that most e-mails to and from municipal offices and officials are public records.  Consequently, confidentiality should not be expected.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Town of Williamstown

Peter L. Fohlin

Town Manager
pfohlin@williamstown.net

31 North Street

Williamstown MA 01267

v (413) 458-3500

f (413) 458-4839

http://www.williamstown.net

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