National Grid Offers Holiday Safety Tips

WALTHAM, Mass. — With the holiday season upon us, National Grid is encouraging customers to stay safe.

Whether hanging outdoor lights, installing inflatables or decorating trees, safety should be top of mind as the holidays approach and colder weather settles in.

As festive light displays begin to appear across the region, National Grid offers these tips to help customers guard against accidents and injuries this season.

• Safely decorate the Christmas tree. According to the National Fire Protection Association, electrical cords or lighting equipment were involved in more than 40 percent of home Christmas tree fires, and nearly one in five Christmas tree fires was started by decorative lights.
  • Make sure natural trees are well-watered to prevent the heat of incandescent light bulbs from igniting a fire.
  • Decorate the tree in moderation, avoiding the temptation to overload branches or hang ornaments on wires.
  • Keep extension cords and strings of lights away from the tree stand and water bowl.
  • An artificial tree should carry the Underwriters Laboratories label, signifying that it has been tested for flammability.
  • Never use electric-powered decorations on trees with metallic needles or branches.
  • Only use tree trimmings and decorations that are noncombustible, flame resistant and nontoxic.
  • Always keep pets away from the light strings, extension cords, tree stands and water bowls.
• Look up before decorating outdoors.
• Do not hang decorations near or on electricity lines, which carry live electricity. Coming into contact with a power line could cause serious or fatal injury.
• Keep at least 10 feet between decorations and any lines.
• Never use an aluminum ladder within 10 feet of power lines or related equipment.
• Make sure the ladder is on firm, level ground. Wear slip-resistant shoes. To prevent collapse or falls, never use the top two steps on a ladder.
• Test smoke alarms to ensure they are in good working order and change their batteries, if necessary.
• Decorate outside using lights and other fixtures specifically labeled and rated for outdoor or all-weather conditions.
• Keep outdoor cord connections dry by using waterproof cord covers to protect connections, or by keeping them off the ground.
• Fasten all outdoor lights securely to prevent wind damage. If using nails or hooks, ensure they are insulated to prevent fire or shock.
• Plug exterior lighting into ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCI), available at hardware and home improvement stores. These devices will automatically cut power when faults occur, preventing electric shock.
• If a circuit breaker trips, unplug decorations connected to that breaker and power it back on, adding less decorations back to that plug.
• Never double up extension cords or power strips.
• Light strands should carry an Underwriters Laboratories label, noting they have been tested and safe to use.
• Unplug lights before going to bed or leaving home.
• Do not use a strand of incandescent lights with burned out or missing bulbs to reduce the risk of electric shock.
• Discard any light strands with cracked sockets and frayed or bare wires.
• Stay safe outdoors.
• Don’t overload circuits. Overloading a home’s electricity circuits can trip fuses and breakers.
• Practice lightbulb safety.

BCC Trustees Vote to Hire Hara Charlier as Next President

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:23AM / Tuesday, March 17, 2026

Catheryn Chacon Ortega, the alumni appointment, liked how Hara Charlier easily connected with students faculty; Melissa Myers, alumni representative, also noted how comfortable Charlier was with various groups. Charlier, right, was called after the vote and accepted pending negotiations and state approval. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — It wasn't hard for BCC's Board of Trustees to elect a new president from Minnesota on Monday.

One by one, during a special meeting at Berkshire Community College, board members expressed their conviction that Hara Charlier was the best candidate to lead after Ellen Kennedy retires. They unanimously recommended Charlier as the next president of BCC to the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education.

"We're not trying to hire a replacement for Dr. Kennedy; We are trying to hire our next leader," Chair Julia Bowen said.

Charlier, currently the president of Central Lakes College in Brainerd, Minn., was one of four finalists identified by the Presidential Search Committee who visited the campus. She was not on site, but was called after the vote.

Catheryn Chacon Ortega was impressed by how Charlier connected with students and faculty, as well as her passion and breadth of experience.  

"As the appointed alumni, I put myself in the students' shoes when I was thinking about this, and I think I feel very represented by her, like if I come back as a student here, I think she will be a person that will be open doors to me, to my community, to the immigrant community, to everybody," she said.

Danielle Gonzalez feels Charlier has a "very" clear commitment to the community part of community college, and a deep experience of serving underserved populations, "really just with great enthusiasm."

"I think that in addition to having really deep community college leadership experience, she was able to articulate a very thorough understanding of the issues of the college of Berkshire County, of what those opportunities might look like, and how she would connect what her experience has been with how she could drive the school forward," said Julie Hughes, a newer member of the board.