Lucas Willard

The owners of an historic campus in western Massachusetts have announced they'll give it away to a Christian college from Arizona that plans to eventually host 5,000 students there.

The Green family of Oklahoma, who founded the Hobby Lobby craft store chain, said Friday that they've selected Grand Canyon University as the recipient of the Northfield campus.

A select group of Berkshire youths are attending ceremonies at the United Nations today for the fifteenth observance of the International Day of Peace. WAMC’s Berkshire Bureau Chief Lucas Willard has more…

A housing symposium was held yesterday to address the challenges faced by communities in Eastern New York, Northwest Connecticut, and the Berkshires. WAMC’s Berkshire Bureau Chief Lucas Willard reports…

The symposium hosted by the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation at the Mahaiwe Theater in Great Barrington laid out a series of housing options for the Berkshire Taconic Region. Jennifer Dowley, President of the Foundation put the familiar problem facing those looking for housing in the area into just a few words:

Connecticut's Labor Department says the state's unemployment rate jumped to 9 percent in August amid a record one-month decline in the labor force.

The department announced Thursday that data compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show the state's unemployment rate increased half a percentage point from July to August, making it the largest monthly percentage point increase since 1976. Officials said the state lost 6,800 jobs from July to August.

The national unemployment rate in August was 8.1 percent.

Next week, Berkshire residents can safely dispose their old and unused prescription medications in a county-wide effort to reduce drug abuse and addiction. WAMC’s Berkshire Bureau Chief Lucas Willard reports…

On Saturday, September 29th, officials and organizations throughout Berkshire County are cooperating in their sixth semi-annual drive to reduce and safely dispose unused prescription meds. Lois Daunis of the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition says her organization is just one of the parties organizing and participating in the event.

The small town of Monterey, Massachusetts is rejoicing with the reopening of the town's general store.

The 225-year-old store reopened Wednesday under new ownership after the previous owner shut down April 2011, saying poor sales had made it difficult to pay the mortgage.

The closure left a void in the Berkshire County community's downtown, as residents had to drive to Great Barrington for milk, bread, a cup of coffee or other staples, and were left without a place to gather and gossip.

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick says he has accepted the resignation of the commander of the Massachusetts National Guard, who was under investigation for an alleged rape in Florida in 1984.

Maj. Gen. Joseph Carter was placed on paid leave by Patrick in March, pending a criminal investigation by the U.S. Army.

The outgoing head of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health department says he believes a "single rogue chemist" was responsible for the mishandling of drug evidence at a now-closed state laboratory.

Public Health Commissioner John Auerbach spoke to reporters on Wednesday for the first time since announcing plans to resign in the wake of the scandal.

Auerbach said he personally accepted no responsibility for what occurred, but thought it proper to resign because as head of the agency, the buck stopped with him.

Great Barrington is now a sister-city with a community in West Africa. WAMC’s Berkshire Bureau Chief Lucas Willard has more…

Great Barrington has become twins with Fada N’Gourma, a city of similar size in Burkina Faso. Burkina Faso is a landlocked country about the size of Colorado in Western Africa.

Massachusetts utility NStar is proposing lowering natural gas rates to their lowest level in a decade. WAMC’s Lucas Willard has more…

NStar Gas announced Tuesday that it has submitted a new supply rate proposal that if approved by state regulators would lower the average heating customer's bill by more than $15 a month compared to last year.

The proposed new rate would bill customers 57.32 cents per therm, down 18 percent from last year's price of about 70 cents.