Shana Dixon defeated Jane Patton for a one-year seat on the Select Board in yesterday’s Town election, according to unofficial election results. Matt Neely and Peter Beck were both elected unopposed to three-year terms.
The National Endowment for the Arts has canceled grants to several organizations in the Northern Berkshires, including the Williamstown Theatre Festival, the Clark Art Institute, and the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art.
Shana Dixon and Jane Patton will vie for a spot on the Williamstown Select Board in the annual Town election on May 13. Either Dixon, who chairs the Town’s Diversity, Inclusion, and Racial Equity Committee (DIRE), or Patton, who has served on the Board for the last 12 years, will serve one year of a three-year term, filling the seat that was vacated by Andy Hogeland ’76 after his resignation last year.
The Williamstown Select Board voted to recommend against Town voters approving the Hoosac Water Quality District’s proposed sewer rate at Town Meeting next month, in protest of a potential deal that would compost sewage sludge from outside the district in the Town.
The Williamstown Select Board completed voting on its recommendations for Town Meeting warrant articles at its April 14 meeting. At Town Meeting on May 22, voters will decide on the articles.
Williamstown began reconstructing South Street between the Field Park traffic circle and the Clark Institute of Art on Monday, April 16. The project is expected to conclude in summer 2026.
Williamstown Fire Chief Craig Pedercini will soon retire after 23 years. In an interview, Pedercini reflected on memorable fires, the expansion of the student volunteer firefighter program, and the department's future.
Two warrant articles drafted by the Planning Board will be voted on at Town Meeting on May 22, after the Williamstown Select Board voted to add them to the Town Meeting warrant on Monday. One measure aims to regulate short-term rentals in the Town, while the other would regulate the installation of geothermal heating wells.
The Williamstown Planning Board approved Northern Berkshire Habitat for Humanity’s application to develop a 1.75-acre lot on Summer Street in the Town’s White Oaks neighborhood at its Jan. 14 meeting. Habitat for Humanity is set to acquire the land from the Williamstown Affordable Housing Trust, and the development, which will be called the Meadowlands Subdivision, will comprise four 1,200 square-foot houses for residents earning 30-percent to 60-percent of the Town’s median income.
One person was wounded in a shooting at the Cole Avenue Apartments, a housing complex at 330 Cole Avenue, at 10:15 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 22. In response to the incident, the College imposed an 87-minute lockdown of campus.
Students and administrators at Mount Greylock Regional School District established a Black Student Union at the high school last month with support from students at the College.
The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning for Western Massachusetts on Nov. 6, signaling a high risk of brush fire amid unseasonably low humidity, warm temperatures, and strong winds. In response to these conditions — which have created the second driest season in Williamstown since 1982 — more than 200 municipalities across the state, including North Adams, have prohibited all outdoor fires.
