Included on the warrant for June s annual meeting is a resolution calling on the town to commit to pursuing a net zero greenhouse gas emissions goal. Members of the town s Carbon Dioxide Lowering (COOL) Committee, which drafted the resolution, first presented the idea to the board last month. On Monday, the Select Board discussed the proposal during a review of the warrant s first draft. And next week, the whole town is invited to a virtual panel discussion on the initiative with state Sen. Adam Hinds, D-Pittsfield. This basically says that Williamstown should pursue a net zero goal consistent with the limits established by the commonwealth, Town Manager Jason Hoch advised the board. The intent here is to actually do the local plan rather than having something foisted on us by the state.
Wendy Penner likes to be able to âpop inâ to a town government meeting remotely on her computer. ¶ Sheâll typically view discussion about the agenda item she finds of interest, possibly add a comment and then pop out of the meeting and get on with her evening. ¶ Penner, a member of the Williamstown COOL Committee, said she likes many aspects of the now-ubiquitous remote civic meetings through Zoom or other teleconferencing software.
âItâs like a whole new paradigm â a whole new world,â she said. âAnd a lot of it has been absolutely fabulous. I think there is a democratizing element in some ways. More people can access the meetings, and they donât have to rearrange their whole lives to go there in person.â
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Northern Berkshire Community Coalition volunteer Alex Daugherty checks in a bag of donated goods as part of this yearâs Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service on Monday at the UNO Center in North Adams.
Donations of nonperishable food and other items are collected for Northern Berkshire Community Coalition as part of scaled back events to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service in front the First Congregational Church in Williamstown. Monday, January 18, 2021. Volunteer Jennifer Ceolinski of Williams oversaw the donations from 10 a.m. to noon.
Donations of nonperishable food and other items are collected for Northern Berkshire Community Coalition , as part of scaled back events to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, in front the First Congregational Church in Williamstown. on Monday, January 18, 2021.
NORTH ADAMS â If you are not talking to your kids about drugs, sex and alcohol, they inevitably will get their information elsewhere.
That is what Wendy Penner, director of Prevention and Recovery at the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition, wants parents to know. Kids pick up information about alcohol and sex everywhere, she says, including in advertising, media and their own social circles.
âJust because theyâre not saying anything doesnât mean theyâre not forming beliefs,â Penner said.
The good news, she says, is that parents can shape those beliefs just by having simple, regular conversations about how to make good decisions: Studies show that young people who openly communicate with their parents are less likely to engage in risky behaviors.