Large Scale Power Outage Impacting North County

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — National Grid are attending to a substation after a large scale power outage through Northern Berkshire County.

According to National Grid, Nearly 3,000 customers have been impacted in North Adams and Clarksburg and over 4,000 have been impacted in Williamstown and Hancock on Friday.

Power went out around 11 am. In North Adams outages have been reported on Veazie Street, River Street, Mass Ave., Bracewll Ave, and State Road.

In North Adams Police are directing traffic where traffic lights are out.

National Grid estimates that power will be restored by between 1 and 2 pm.

Williamstown and North Adams Police took to social media asking residents to avoid calling their respective dispatches to report the outage as they are aware of the situation. 

North Adams Police recommend that If anyone has medical equipment that is affected by the outage that they reach out to their equipment provider or call NAPD and an ambulance can be dispatched to assist.

MCLA Graduates Told to Make the World Worthy of Them

By Tammy Daniels iBerkshires Staff
05:27PM / Saturday, May 16, 2026

Keynote speaker Michael Bobbitt was awarded an honorary doctor of fine arts. He told the graduates to make the world worthy of them. See more photos here.  

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Amsler Campus Center gym erupted in cheers on Saturday as 193 members of class of 2026 turned their tassels.

 

The graduates of Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts' 127th commencement were sent off with the charge of "don't stop now" to make the world a better place.  

 

You are Trailblazers, keynote speaker Michael Bobbitt reminded them, and a "trailblazer is not simply someone who walks a path. A trailblazer makes one, but blazing a trail does not happen alone. Every trailblazer is carrying tools made by somebody else. Every trailblazer is guided by stars they did not create. Every trailblazer stands on grounds shaped by ancestors, teachers, workers, neighbors, friends, and strangers."

 

Trailblazing takes communal courage, he said, and they needed to love people, build with people, argue with people, and find the people who make them braver and kinder at the same time.

 

"The future will not be saved by isolated geniuses, it will be saved by networks of people willing to practice courage together. The future belongs not to the loudest, not to the richest, not to the most certain, but to the most adaptive, the most creative, the most courageous, the most willing to learn."

 

Bobbitt was recently named CEO of Opera American after nearly five years leading the Massachusetts Cultural Council. He stressed the importance of art to the graduates, and noted that opera is not the only art form facing challenges in this world. 

 

"Every field is asking, who are we for now? What do we, what value do we create?" he said. "What do we stop pretending is fine. This is not just an arts question, that is a healthcare question, a climate question, a technology question, a community question, a higher education question, a democracy question, a life question. ...