Letter: North Adams Airport a Disappointment

To the Editor:

I submit my letter today as a commercial pilot and avid tourist of the Greater Berkshire region. In relative terms, and to be blunt, the current state of North Adams airport is in shambles. As a commercial pilot who often brings customers to the North Adams region by way of Harriman & West North Adam Airport, I am often left dumbfounded by the gross mismanagement of even the most basic of services my clients and fellow commercial pilots expect of an airport.

The airport is unattended, notice to air missions are not issued in a timely or safe manner, and other basic services typically provided by a fixed based operator (FBO) are completely absent: food, restrooms, and transportation. The lack of these services is disappointing considering the beautiful city of North Adams as an entry point to an area of our country that rivals all others, particularly in the autumn season. I've landed with clients at this airport and have had issues with arranging transportation, using a bathroom, finding food, or even just getting in and out of the gate to my own aircraft, is a major deterrent to my clients, fellow pilots, and other potential customers.

I don't presume to know or want take part within the financial and political specifics of the city of North Adams, but what I do know is that by bringing these basic services to North Adams airport, not only will the revenue create a thriving and self-sustained airport, but the town of North Adams will relish in the increased business and tourist traffic, as well.

Sean Falzarano
Southbury, Conn. 

Jillian Tatro's Killer Guilty of First-Degree Murder

Staff Reports 03:25PM / Tuesday, May 12, 2026

Jillian Tatro

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — A Berkshire County jury on Tuesday returned a verdict of guilty in the murder of Jillian Tatro four years ago. 

 

Luis Rosado, 53, was found guilty of murder in the first degree with extreme atrocity for stabbing his 38-year-old wife to death in an apartment they shared at 46 Charles St. on May 28, 2022.

 

He and Tatro had been married five months and during that time, Tatro had sought a restraining order against her husband.

 

Rosado had been convicted of domestic violence on another individual in October 2020. At the time, he was charged with three counts of assault and battery on a household member, strangulation and larceny and was sentenced to a minimum of a year in the Berkshire County House of Corrections.

 

He went on trial for murder this past week in Pittsfield and was found guilty by a Berkshire Superior Court jury. Sentencing has not yet occurred. 

 

The conviction was announced on Tuesday morning by Berkshire District Attorney Timothy Shugrue at the arraignment of David L. Boucher, who is charged with murder in the death of his father. 

 

"While we were waiting here this morning, [a jury] returned a verdict of guilty in the first degree, cruel and atrocious behavior. So I don't know when the sentence will be. I don't know whether it will be life without parole," he said. "Obviously, I really want to congratulate the North Adams Police Department and all the departments of law enforcement that worked hard on this case."