The Berkshire Innovation Center is scheduled to break ground this week after years of hiccups and funding gaps. The ceremonial turning of the dirt signifies the impending realization of a long-touted vision: an equipment and training hub to shepherd the next generation of advanced manufacturing the Berkshires.
The City Council will get another audience with Spectrum on Tuesday before councilors deliberate, during the 7 p.m. meeting in council chambers, on whether or not to approve the cable company's annual report. Councilors previously took issue with the contents of the report, arguing it was not informative enough and taking it as an opportunity to ask pointed questions about the type of service the company provides.
Council President Peter Marchetti has said Spectrum has been responsive via email to councilors' questions, and he remains unclear on what would happen if the council rejects the annual report.
The City Council will also consider reinstating the city's Committee for the Homeless, a measure that received unanimous support from the council's Ordinances and Rules Committee.
On Monday, the council's Committee on Public Health and Safety will begin its annual review of Building 71 and Hill 78, two city landfills where General Electric Co. put polluted sediments during its Housatonic River cleanup. Residents have long feared the effects the contaminated soils could have if left unchecked. The subcommittee meeting happens at 7 p.m. in council chambers.
Several liquor license holders in the city will face the Licensing Board on Monday afternoon for possible violations, including Methuselah Bar and Lounge, and Hangar Pub and Grill.
Five new police officers will join the ranks this week, and a new coffee kiosk kicks off at the First Street Common.
Faith and ethics
A new Berkshire Eagle conversation series kicks off at 7 p.m. Thursday at Barrington Stage Company with three former Berkshire County journalists whose careers evolved along religious lines. The topic is "faith, civility and ethics in the current national political atmosphere."
Executive Editor Kevin Moran will moderate the talk, which features R. Gustav Niebuhr, director of programs in religion and media at Syracuse University, author and former reporter for The Berkshire Eagle, Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Washington Post; the Rev. Jerome Day, assistant professor of English at St. Anselm College and pastor of St. Raphael's Parish in Manchester, N.H.; and Alan Cooperman, director of religion research at the Pew Research Center, former editor at The Associated Press and Washington Post, and former Eagle reporter.
Heads up
Want to fix or avoid credit issues? Greylock Federal Credit Union is offering a workshop on the subject at 11 a.m. Thursday in the Berkshire Athenaeum. Call the library's reference desk if you're interested, at 413-499-9480.
Watch out for single-lane closures on Crofut Street, McKay Street and Maplewood Avenue as city crews continue roadway reconstruction.
What's up in Pittsfield? Tell me via email at adrane@berkshireeagle.com, @amandadrane on Twitter, and 413-496-6296.
