image description — The Berkshires spent the three-day weekend dealing with snow, ice and high winds.

Berkshire Residents Snowed In For Long Weekend

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:58PM / Monday, February 17, 2025Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Many Berkshire County residents were snowed in for Presidents Day. Instead of buying large appliances, the long weekend was spent shoveling.

Pittsfield's second annual Winter Festival at Clapp Park fell victim to the storm, which dumped up to 6 inches of snow or more on higher-elevation communities. On Monday, the area was under a wind advisory until 7 p.m. for winds of 25 to 35 mph with gusts up to 65 mph.

The winter fest was postponed to Friday, Feb. 21, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The outdoor family event includes hot cocoa and s’mores, cardboard sled races, a snow sculpture contest, snowshoeing, and more.

Trash and recycling collection was also canceled in Pittsfield on Monday. For the remainder of the week, a one-day delay is in effect for all routes.

On Monday morning, the Monterey Fire Department reported that there were 177 National Grid customers in the town without power.

"The outages include a large area of Main Road near Bidwell Road, all of Hupi Woods Circle, and various parts of New Marlborough Road," the department wrote on Facebook.

"Please treat ALL downed wires as being live. Seek alternative routes if trees and wires are blocking the roadways."

Dalton residents also reported power outages on several streets and trees and lines down on Route 8 near Cheshire Reservoir caused detours in the morning.

On Sunday evening, Pittsfield reported a significant amount of rain mixed with some freezing rain. This caused localized flooding, "and with the expected drop in temperature to 15 degrees overnight we are in for a very challenging second half of this event."

"Our crews are working on mains, hills, and bridges ensuring ice accumulation is not an issue. We are also responding to and addressing flooding issues as they arise. Contractors are starting to come back from taking a break after a 12-hour shift. We currently have 10 on the road with 6 more coming in," the city wrote on Facebook.

"We are assigning multiple routes to several contractors in order to cover all neighborhoods. This however will result in longer completion times and we continue to ask for patience as we work on each route."

On Sunday, a utility pole was struck between Pecks Road and Vin Hebert Boulevard, closing the road to through traffic for some time.

"If you see the flashing blue lights with a cruiser parked across the road, the road is still closed," The Pittsfield Police Department posted on Facebook on Sunday.

Adams, North Adams and Pittsfield declared a snow emergencies over the weekend, banning overnight parking or, for Pittsfield, opposite parking.

"Please be reminded that all snow must be removed from sidewalks within 24 hours of the end of the storm per City Ordinance," the city of North Adams reminded residents on Facebook.

Great Barrington's transfer station also closed on Sunday due to the weather.

Tags: snow & ice,

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Fenton: Governor's Council Must Deliver for the Berkshires

Community submissionGuest Column
10:22AM / Friday, August 28, 2026

I am a Springfield lawyer running for Governor's Council and I am asking for Berkshire County residents to support me over an incumbent from North Adams.

Here's why: Last year I learned about staffing issues in our regional courts that I could not ignore. In 2025, it was reported that four of Western Massachusetts' 11 Superior Court judgeships were vacant, all at the same time. A few weeks later, that grew to five vacancies. This meant there were only six Superior Court judges serving all of Western Mass at a time when Berkshire, Hampshire, Franklin, and Hampden counties had more than 100 pending homicide cases.

Those numbers were alarming to me, so I started to engage with leaders in the community who work most closely with the court system and I came to learn that these vacancies were only the tip of the iceberg here in Berkshire County.

I learned that no Superior Court or District Court judge had been appointed from the Berkshires since the current incumbent took office. As a result, there is not a single Superior Court judge who lives in the Berkshires today, and several of the District Court judges drive in from other counties to support Berkshire courts in Pittsfield, Great Barrington, and North Adams. Court staff also informed me about severe staffing shortages at the Berkshire Clerk of Courts office resulting in other counties needing to loan staff to the Berkshires just so hardworking employees can take a brief and planned summer vacation. This is not normal. These issues are a reflection of genuine problems with the Berkshire County court system and show a lack of proactive attention from our Governor's Councilor.

Instead of focusing on regional equity, I watched as the current incumbent celebrated that she has voted against the governor's nominees more than any other councilor, without much explanation as to why. Most recently, she voted against two extremely qualified former prosecutors for the Parole Board. This was despite an in-person plea from the governor and a letter of support from all the three of the district attorney's from Western Mass. Those votes do not show independence or standing up for principles, they demonstrate naivete, and an unwillingness to work with the key stakeholders.

I had seen and heard enough. I decided to jump in the race and challenge the incumbent to address these problems head-on.

I am a partner of a regional law firm. I understand our courts and the importance of having qualified, fair and hardworking judges. And I know how important it is to have judges from the Berkshires serving the Berkshires. To achieve that, you need strong relationships with the legal community and local stakeholders. You need to know how to use the power of the Governor's Council to fight forcefully for our region. And you need to be laser focused on identifying vacancies before they occur so that they can be filled quickly with local candidates.

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