The Williams Record

Photo courtesy of Max Billick/The Williams Record

Town residents vote in presidential primaries, elect party committees

Max Billick March 6, 2024
Town residents and voters across the commonwealth cast their ballots in the Massachusetts presidential primary election on Tuesday, March 5.
Sammy Anzer, a traveling stand-up comedian, was heckled by a Williams employee at Bright Ideas Brewing. (Photo courtesy of Sammy Anzer)

Comic’s ‘racist’ heckler claimed to be College employee

Luke Chinman and Palvasha Khan February 28, 2024
A woman who identified herself as a College employee heckled Sammy Anzer, a traveling stand-up comedian, with comments he described as “racist” at his comedy show at Bright Ideas Brewing in North Adams on Feb. 3.
Kiara Royer/The Williams Record

Water St. ‘dirt lot’ to close effective March 1

Izzy Polanco and Haley Zimmerman February 28, 2024
The Town will permanently close and ban parking in the empty lot off Water Street, colloquially known as the “dirt lot,” on March 1, the Williamstown Police Department (WPD) announced in a Facebook post on Feb. 22.
Town residents spoke during Monday’s Select Board meeting. (Photo courtesy of Shirley Lin)

Town residents, students advocate for Select Board resolution on Gaza ceasefire

Max Billick February 14, 2024

Members of Berkshires for Collective Liberation, a group made up of Town residents, and students from the College’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) spoke in favor of a proposed resolution...

Raphael Picciarelli (left) joined WTF as managing director of strategy and transformation, and Jenny Gersten (right) will exit as interim
artistic director following the 2024 summer theatre season. (Photos courtesy of the Williamstown Theatre Festival.)

Williamstown Theatre Festival shifts artistic leadership model following management shake-up

Luke Chinman February 14, 2024

The Williamstown Theatre Festival (WTF) will shift to a “rotating collective artistic leadership model,” the organization announced in a press release on Feb. 8. Jenny Gersten will conclude her...

Tatiana Geroulanou/The Williams Record

New tea and boba café to open as Spring Street businesses shuffle

Elizabeth Cheng and Hannah Marx January 24, 2024
Following the long-awaited opening of Crust pizzeria, Spring Street will see a shuffle of its businesses. A new café, Tea and Boba Lounge, will open at 76 Spring St. on Feb. 2. The A Better Community Clothing Sale (ABC), the previous occupant of the space, moved to 30 Spring St.
Noor Naseer/The Williams Record

Charter Review Committee proposes recall provision, other amendments

Max Billick and Sonia Zinkin-Meyers January 24, 2024
The Charter Review Committee (CRC) presented its proposed amendments to the Town Charter to the Select Board on Jan. 22. The Select Board is now drafting warrant articles based on the proposals, which voters can approve at the Town Meeting on May 21.
The proposed rail line will run from Boston to North Adams. (Photo courtesy of MassDOT).

Students, faculty continue advocating for Northern Tier Rail Expansion

Ellie Davis December 6, 2023
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) is finalizing its report on the feasibility of the Northern Tier Rail Expansion Project, which would bring passenger rail service between Boston and Northwestern Massachusetts for the first time since 1956, with a likely terminus in North Adams, Mass. 
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers presented the scale of their flood risk management study along the Hoosic River, as shown by their map above. 
(Beatrice Larzul/The Williams Record)

City of North Adams, Army Corps of Engineers consider flood risk management plans for the Hoosic River

Beatrice Larzul November 8, 2023

The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the city of North Adams hosted a public listening session on Nov. 2 on the Corps’ plans to reduce flood risks from the Hoosic River to the city’s...

The new facility will be completed by spring 2025. (Photo courtesy of Mount Greylock Regional School Committee)

Mount Greylock Regional School to build $3.5 million track facility

Max Billick November 8, 2023
The Mount Greylock Regional School Committee voted unanimously on Thursday to accept a $3.5 million bid by construction firm William J. Keller & Sons to build a new track and field facility at Mount Greylock Regional School (MGRS), pending the successful completion of negotiations. 
An illustration of a typical cottage court shown in a Planning Board presentation. (Photo courtesy of the City Council of Ashland, Ore.)

Planning Board considers cottage court bylaw to increase housing supply

Max Billick and Alina Ramirez October 25, 2023
The Williamstown Planning Board is continuing to draft a warrant article for Town Meeting this spring that would allow for the construction of denser and more affordable housing as part of “cottage court” developments, which would consist of four to 12 buildings, the majority of which would be single-family homes, built around one common area. Under the bylaw, developers would be able to build “cottage court” developments in the Town’s general residence district “by right,” without any special approval from the Zoning Board of Appeals. Residents will have the chance to vote on the bylaw’s adoption at Town Meeting. 
Rhiana Gunn-Wright, a climate activist, holds a lecture on the Green New Deal.

Town releases CARES report on residents’ sense of safety, wellbeing

Julia Goldberg October 25, 2023
The Williamstown Community Assessment Research (CARES) team published a qualitative report on Oct. 16 exploring Williamstown residents’ perceptions of their wellbeing and safety. The report sets forth concrete recommendations for the Town — though lead researchers expressed uncertainty that their initiatives would actually be implemented.
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