Letter: North Adams Students and Teachers Deserve Our Support

To the Editor:

The start of the school year is full of excitement and anticipation for both students and teachers. North Adams is no exception. The recent tours of the Brayton and Greylock elementary schools brought home the culture that teachers create to bring out the best in their students.

Signs were posted everywhere to reinforce the qualities and culture needed to make students successful. At the same time, one cannot ignore the physical plant that creates an uphill climb for students and teachers to realize their aspirations even when they bring their best game to the table. The recent concerns about mold at Brayton School serve to reinforce these challenges.

We must face the fact that the $45 million for the extensive renovations required to transform Brayton into a safe, healthy, and nurturing environment are, as Mayor Macksey stated, beyond the means of the city, which would be required to bear the entirety of this financial burden. The bottom line is that we cannot afford to make Brayton the school that our children can thrive in. The citizens of North Adams have a better option. With a contribution of $45.6 million from the state and an average $270 per year temporary increase in local taxes we can provide our students and teachers with an environment in which they can learn, grow, and become all that we might wish for them.

I urge every voter in North Adams to come to the polls on Oct. 8 and vote for the bond issue to construct and furnish a new Greylock Elementary School.

Virginia Riehl
North Adams, Mass.

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."