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It was a weekend Pittsfield drivers won’t soon forget. And here’s why

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It was a weekend Pittsfield drivers won’t soon forget. And here’s why








Snow Roads

A plow makes a go on North Road in Pittsfield Saturday after the storm. 

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PITTSFIELD — When a storm approached final Friday, Joad Bowman, a accomplice of three downtown institutions in Pittsfield, despatched employees residence early so they may race the snow.

On Tuesday, prospects who stopped in at a type of companies, LuLu’s Tiny Grocery, had been nonetheless speaking about final weekend’s frightful street circumstances — proof {that a} subject that’s now slated to come back earlier than the Metropolis Council stays on folks’s minds.

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Public Utilities Commissioner Ricardo Morales stated Monday that street cleanup efforts had been hampered, first, by the surprising quantity of snow that fell Friday after which by plunging temperatures that foiled the usage of regular ice-melting strategies.

Because of this, drivers in Pittsfield spent the weekend sliding round on ice-choked streets, main the Metropolis Council president to obtain extra complaints than ever earlier than about a problem in his 20 years on the panel.

Two councilors stated Monday that Morales will current a postmortem on final weekend’s expertise to the Metropolis Council — and recommend steps the town would possibly take to forestall a replay.







Snow Roads 2

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A girl crosses site visitors on Columbus Avenue close to the hearth station Saturday, after the current storm to buy groceries. 




Pittsfield police reported 69 minor motorized vehicle accidents between 4:15 p.m. Friday and three:51 p.m. Sunday. Across the metropolis Tuesday, folks had been nonetheless primed to speak about their weekend of white-knuckle driving.

Betty Baumert says she is used to traversing the town’s snow-slicked roads in her four-wheel drive Jeep. However by the top of the lengthy vacation weekend, with frozen precipitation nonetheless clinging to some streets, Baumert’s nerves had been shot.

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“Three days of it, I couldn’t take it. It was actually harmful, it was,” stated Baumert of street circumstances in Pittsfield.

The worst of the dangerous driving got here late Friday, when the storm swept into the area and created what Baumert described as white-out circumstances that stymied her journey to Lenox for a vacation dinner. She stated she watched a car spin out in entrance of her. She managed to keep away from a collision herself.

Days after a surprise blizzard, Pittsfield roads remained treacherous. Skip the 'blame game,' one councilor says

A site visitors mishap on South Road stopped site visitors for greater than an hour, making a scary scenario for drivers, she stated.

Street circumstances appeared to abate for her when she reached the neighboring city, the place she seen the roads had been salted. “After I bought to Lenox I might put my guard down,” Baumert stated.

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The roads in Pittsfield had been nonetheless slippery and scary to navigate on Saturday, Christmas Eve. That day, Pittsfield police reported 36 accidents.

Baumert understands the storm was a nasty one, however believes the town ought to have deployed extra plows.

Morales says that snow fell so quick Friday that crews couldn’t sustain, particularly with roads filled with rush hour commuters. He famous that in contrast to the state, the town doesn’t pre-treat roads magnesium chloride, which lowers the melting level of water to forestall build-ups of ice. The falling snow turned packed and become ice.

Although crews started distributing a mix of sand and rock salt, the snow had hardened to the purpose the place it resisted elimination by plows.

“Plowing doesn’t do something,” Morales stated Monday. “It’s hard-packed snow on ice on prime of the street. There’s nothing you are able to do to scrape it up. What must be achieved is breaking it, and that breaks down with supplies. With these chemical compounds the easiest way to make use of it’s pretreating earlier than it types.”

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A traveler’s lament







Pam Downing speaks

Pam Downing recounts her expertise on the roads in Pittsfield on Tuesday from her retail job at Dory & Ginger on North Road.

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“The Pittsfield roads had been terrible,” stated metropolis resident Pam Downing. She traveled out of city on Saturday. By the point she was coming residence, many Pittsfield roads had been nonetheless stippled with hardened snow and slicked with ice.

“It was nonetheless fairly bumpy,” she stated, including that it was like driving on a “washer board.”

Given the power of the storm, Haley Salzarulo borrowed her boyfriend’s Ford Escape for the weekend, trusting its hefty body over her personal Subaru Impreza sedan.

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Haley Salzarulo speaks

Haley Salzarulo of Pittsfield recounts driving over the vacation weekend from her job at Phoenix Theater in Pittsfield on Tuesday. Whereas Salzarulo needed to borrow a Ford Escape to get round as a result of she wasn’t in a position to navigate the roads along with her Subaru Impreza.


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SUV however, Salzarulo stated the driving circumstances in Pittsfield had been “very dangerous,” particularly on among the facet streets on the west facet of the town the place she lives — and the place her car nearly bought caught within the snow.

A number of days have handed because the storm, however Salzarulo stated Tuesday that many Pittsfield streets nonetheless hadn’t been utterly cleared of snow.

“Even nonetheless at the moment I seen that it’s nonetheless fairly dangerous, particularly on smaller streets,” stated Salzarulo. “It’s shocking.”

Lately, Bowman, the downtown enterprise proprietor, stated he finds he’s “slightly extra forgiving” of metropolis officers whose job it’s to plan for and reply to conditions like storms.

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When requested what he considered the town’s winter street upkeep, he cited the miles of roads that have to be handled in Pittsfield, all with restricted monetary sources.

“I believe they’re doing higher than lots of people give them credit score for,” he stated.







Road surface on North Street in Pittsfield

By Tuesday, essentially the most traveled half North Road in Pittsfield was clear, nonetheless facet streets had been nonetheless snow lined.

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Massachusetts

What’s open and closed on Veterans Day 2024 in Massachusetts – The Boston Globe

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What’s open and closed on Veterans Day 2024 in Massachusetts – The Boston Globe


Here’s a look at how the federal holiday might impact your plans, from altered store hours and train schedules to heavier traffic and shifts in local services on Monday.

Holiday observed: Monday.

Retail stores: Open at owners’ discretion after 1 p.m., unless retailer obtains permit to open earlier.

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Liquor stores: Closed until 1 p.m. Monday.

Supermarkets: Open at owner’s discretion.

Convenience stores: Open at owners’ discretion.

Taverns, bars: Open at owners’ discretion.

Banks: Closed.

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Municipal buildings: Closed.

Libraries: Closed.

Schools: Closed.

Mail: Post offices closed. UPS and FedEx will operate as usual.

MBTA: All modes of public transit will operate on a regular schedule.

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Boston traffic rules: Parking meters are free with no time limit. All other parking rules apply.

Trash/recycling collection: Collections will be delayed in some neighborhoods.


Kiera McDonald can be reached at kiera.mcdonald@globe.com.





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Massachusetts

Massachusetts voters reject proposal to legalize certain psychedelic drugs

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Massachusetts voters reject proposal to legalize certain psychedelic drugs


Psilocybin mushrooms stand ready for harvest in a humidified “fruiting chamber” in the basement of a private home on July 28, 2023 in Fairfield County, Conn.

John Moore/Getty Images North America


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John Moore/Getty Images North America

This piece originally appeared as part of NPR’s live coverage of the 2024 election. For more election coverage from the NPR Network head to our live updates page.

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BOSTON – Massachusetts voters rejected a proposal to legalize natural psychedelic drugs, according to a call by The Associated Press, representing a setback for what’s been a growing legalization movement.

The measure would have allowed people 21 and older to consume psychedelics like psilocybin mushrooms at licensed therapy centers, as well as grow small amounts at home.

The proposal came on the heels of successful campaigns to legalize and regulate psilocybin in Oregon and Colorado. The New Approach PAC, a national advocacy group, poured millions of dollars into all three states’ campaigns, and will likely keep pushing similar proposals across the country.

Opponents, including several large medical associations, argued these drugs can be harmful, especially for people at risk for schizophrenia or psychosis. They also feared the law would fuel a black market of home-grown psychedelics.

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Advocates point to a growing body of research that shows psychedelics’ potential as a treatment for conditions like depression and PTSD.



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Massachusetts

Live updates: Latest election results in Massachusetts, New Hampshire

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Live updates: Latest election results in Massachusetts, New Hampshire


What to Know

  • Democrat U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren secured another term over challenger John Deaton
  • Republican Kelly Ayotte will be the next governor of New Hampshire after defeating Democrat Joyce Craig
  • Vice President Kamala Harris is the projected winner in the presidential race in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, Connecticut, and New Hampshire; Maine remain too close to call
  • Results remain too close to call in some key races that will determine the balance of power in the House of Representatives
  • With a win in Wisconsin, Donald Trump has won a second term in the White House, defeating Vice President Kamala Harris, NBC News projects
  • Republicans have taken control of the U.S. Senate, NBC News projects, propelled by wins in West Virginia and Ohio. Democrats previously held a narrow majority

Election Day 2024 has come and gone, and NBC News has projected that Donald Trump is now the president-elect after key victories in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin were called early Wednesday. Republicans have also taken control of the U.S. Senate, NBC News projects, propelled by wins in West Virginia and Ohio. Results however remain too close to call in some key races that will determine the balance of power in the House of Representatives.

Vice President Kamala Harris, who lost her bid to become the nation’s first female president, did win five of the six New England states, with only Maine outstanding Wednesday morning. Follow along here for updates in Massachusetts and New England, including results in key races and ballot questions.



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