INVESTIGATIONS: After the East Palestine and Ohio derailment, wonder about freight cargo has turned to worry for some Berkshire residents. The railroad companies aren't divulging, but we can see and hear those 80 to 100-car ethanol trains.
Heather Bellow
Reporter
Greta Jochem
Reporter
EAGLE INVESTIGATIONS: Of 41 high-hazard dams in the Berkshires, three are in the worst two condition categories. Here's what you need to know.
Greta Jochem
Reporter
EAGLE INVESTIGATIONS: The "inundation area" should the dam fail also includes one of the region's major hospitals — Berkshire Medical Center.
Heather Bellow
Reporter
EAGLE INVESTIGATIONS: At some point, everyone stopped paying to maintain "Stonegate Mansion." The trustees resigned. No one was left holding the bag – except the town of Great Barrington. And no one is sure what really happened with this timeshare. Not yet, anyway.
Heather Bellow
Reporter
EAGLE INVESTIGATIONS: The Berkshire Eagle obtained the final report of the Pittsfield Police Department’s force investigation team tasked with investigating the fatal shooting of Miguel Estrella on March 25. The release of the — highly redacted — final report comes more than three months after the release of the preliminary report.
Meg Britton-Mehlisch
Pittsfield Reporter
EAGLE INVESTIGATIONS: "Just plain ugly." That's how North Adams Mayor Jennifer Macksey describes parts of the concrete channels that carry the Hoosic River through her city. This distressed system of "flood chutes," which has protected North Adams since the 1950s, may get a fresh look. That's welcome news to people who want the river to be less an urban captive — and more a public gem.
Greta Jochem
Reporter
EAGLE INVESTIGATIONS: Some Berkshire public schools saw a dramatic rise in chronic absenteeism in the 2020-21 year. Educators blame the pandemic. But chronic absenteeism has been a fact of school life longer than that.
Greta Jochem
Reporter
Meg Britton-Mehlisch
Pittsfield Reporter
EAGLE INVESTIGATIONS: Three years after Theory Wellness opened as the first retail cannabis outlet in Berkshire County, 24 licensed recreational-use companies in the Berkshires pull in roughly $200 million in yearly sales. One company accounts for more than a quarter of that, according to estimates The Eagle derived through public records requests.
Most Popular this Week
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Fire outside Ward's nursery in Great Barrington causes large plumes of black smoke seen all over town
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A moose is on the loose and touring through Lenox. Where will he turn up next?
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It's been over a year since missing Boston man Giuseppe Musto's truck was found in Mount Washington. His disappearance remains a mystery
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Former Nudel restaurant regulars have reopened the Lenox favorite under a new name, Cello
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You voted: Here's who scoops the best ice cream sundaes in the Berkshires
EAGLE INVESTIGATIONS: Shootings have jolted Pittsfield neighborhoods. Residents say that in the weeks and months since, they’ve tried to go back to life as normal, but can’t get images and sounds out of their heads.
Meg Britton-Mehlisch
Pittsfield Reporter
EAGLE INVESTIGATIONS: The court battle over Very Good Properties LLC has involved allegations of fraudulent billing, threats, defamation, side deals and stolen business opportunities.
Greta Jochem
Reporter
EAGLE INVESTIGATIONS: Twelve families in the city's Morningside neighborhood, most with school-aged children, lost their homes in fires that hit three buildings April 22. A month later, their lives remain in flux, as assistance wears thin and new apartments prove scarce.
Amanda Burke
Cops and Courts Reporter
More than 100 Massachusetts police departments have or have promised the state to start a body camera program. The Pittsfield Police Department is playing catch-up. We look into how other departments are using the technology and answering handling the legal concerns cited by Pittsfield police.
Meg Britton-Mehlisch
Pittsfield Reporter
EAGLE INVESTIGATIONS: Friends and family say that in the last years of his life, Miguel Estrella tried to break free from troubles of his youth, including links to people with criminal records. One night in February 2020 showed how hard that can be, when Estrella tried to claim he owned the gun Adams police found in his car. Police believe he was coerced to say that.
EAGLE INVESTIGATIONS: Investigators hired last year to probe complaints at Town Hall found the Monterey town’s administrator central to most conflicts, engaging in a misuse of power though “a pattern of conduct” that is retaliatory and manipulative — findings she strongly denies.
Heather Bellow
Reporter
When Berkshire Flyer service got the green light this week, it seemed a dream of easier rail trips linking New York City with Berkshire County had been achieved. But simply getting to Berkshire County isn’t the whole story for rail travelers. We follow one family trying to get four miles in Pittsfield without a car.
Meg Britton-Mehlisch
Pittsfield Reporter
EAGLE INVESTIGATIONS: Over the past two decades, Pittsfield police officers have shot seven people. In four instances, the shootings were fatal. In all but the most recent incident, which remains under investigation, the shootings were deemed justified and the officers were cleared of wrongdoing.
Amanda Burke
Cops and Courts Reporter
Things to do this week in Berkshire County
The Nonprofit Center of the Berkshires presents the 2023 Berkshire Nonprofit Awards
A tribute to those we have lost, December 2022 - February 2023
Prepare for the long-term with The Berkshire Eagle’s annual guide to financial readiness and life planning.
A tribute to those we have lost, September - November 2022
The best of the best of Berkshire County, chosen by Berkshire Eagle readers
1Berkshire presents the official guide to the 66th Annual Fall Foliage Parade.
