Attorney Jeffrey T. Collins Appointed to State Ethics Commission

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BOSTON — Jeffrey T. Collins, a partner at Boston-based law firm Morgan, Brown & Joy, LLP, has been appointed by Governor Maura Healey to the State Ethics Commission. Commissioner Collins succeeds former Commission member Wilbur P. Edwards Jr.
 
Prior to joining Morgan, Brown & Joy, Commissioner Collins worked for 18 years at the Office of the Attorney General of Massachusetts, where he was an Assistant Attorney General and served as Deputy Chief of the Government Bureau's Trial Division. Before joining the Attorney General's Office, he was Legal Counsel and Senior Policy Analyst for the Massachusetts House of Representatives and the Joint Committee on Commerce and Labor. Commissioner Collins served for two decades as an intelligence analyst and officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve and is a veteran of the Iraq War.
 
Commissioner Collins earned a B.A. degree from the University of Massachusetts and a J.D. degree from University of New Hampshire School of Law. He teaches at the National Institute for Trial Advocacy, has served as an adjunct professor at Suffolk University Law School, and has taught at the National Attorneys General Training & Research Institute.
 
The State Ethics Commission is a non-partisan, independent state agency which administers, provides advice and training concerning, and civilly enforces the conflict of interest and financial disclosure laws. There are five Commissioners: three, including the Commission Chair, are appointed by the Governor, one is appointed by the Secretary of the Commonwealth, and one is appointed by the Attorney General. No more than two of the Commissioners appointed by the Governor, and no more than three Commissioners overall, may be from the same political party.
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Pittsfield's Ward 2 Councilor Petitions to Explore Police Station at Morningside

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Ward 2 Councilor Cameron Cunningham wants the city to explore turning Morningside Community School, which will not reopen in the fall, into a police station. 

He announced on social media that he will file a petition requesting the city to study converting the Morningside Community School building into a new Pittsfield Police Department headquarters and community resource hub.

"Morningside families deserve to feel comfortable and safe in their neighborhood. Converting the building into a police headquarters at 100 Burbank Street could put an integrated, visible public safety presence in the heart of a neighborhood that has asked for an end to this pattern of violence, he wrote. 

"Combined with youth programming, violence prevention resources, and community services in the same building, this is the kind of structural change that Morningside needs. The building must not be allowed to sit vacant deteriorating. It's time to use it to make Morningside safer. 

Cunningham's petition, which he posted, asks that Pittsfield conduct a feasibility study on the proposal, considering at minimum, considering the building's physical condition and cost of necessary rehabilitation, an estimated cost of relocating the Pittsfield Police Department, opportunities for the co-location of community services, available funding mechanisms to offset costs, and a recommended timeline. 

The pattern of violence references a deadly shooting near Morningside last week. 

Police are seeking an "armed and dangerous suspect," identified as Terry Martizna, for the murder of 29-year-old Pittsfield resident Justin Crawford.

Crawford was one of two individuals who were shot on Thursday, June 18, near the intersection of Pleasure Avenue and Tyler Street in Pittsfield. The second person, who has not been identified, was treated for a non-life-threatening injury at Berkshire Medical Center.

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