Dalton Town Hall Reopens, COVID Cases Drop

DALTON, Mass. — Town Hall is once again open to the public after about two months of closure because of the winter COVID-19 surge. The change is due to a decrease in Dalton's case counts.

Health Agent Agnes Witkowski reported the doors opened last Tuesday when there were seven COVID-19 cases during the previous week. The threshold for reopening Town Hall is 25 cases or fewer in seven days.

"Our latest information is eight for the last seven days," Witkowski wrote in an email to iBerkshires, adding that this number doesn't include at-home tests.

In mid-December, the offices closed to the public until further notice because of an uptick of the virus. The 25-case cutoff was established as a measure for closure based on the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's original guidance for schools.

In early January, the Board of Health reaffirmed this standard.  At the time, the case count was more than 102 with 68 cases occurring in the prior week.

According to state data, the town saw 473 new cases in the two weeks ending Feb. 19, for a total of 1,133 cases. The numbers have dropped off dramatically in the past week, with the entire county recording only 231 cases between Feb. 17 and 24.

During the closure, Dalton's Selectmen as well as boards and commissions met virtually. According to the town's calendar, some meetings are back to being in person.

For masking, the town is following the state Department of Public Health's guidance updated on Feb. 15 that states that unvaccinated people should continue to wear face coverings indoors in public places and that fully vaccinated people should wear a mask indoors if they have a weakened immune system, are at increased risk for severe disease because of age or an underlying medical condition, or if a person in the household has a weakened immune system, is at increased risk for severe disease.

Truck Crashes Into Pittsfield's Samel's Deli

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
10:55AM / Wednesday, April 30, 2025

Elm Street will be partially closed as cleanup continues. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Wednesday morning was busy for Pittsfield first responders, as a pickup truck crashed into Samel's Deli & Catering and a fire broke out on First Street.

Around 9:45 a.m., the police reported that the street in front of Samel's Deli & Catering would be closed or down to one lane as a result of a two-car collision that sent the truck careening into the deli.

The department posted two photos on Facebook, one depicting the silver truck with New York license plates crashed through the glass of the front entrance and another of a white Honda CR-V with significant damage to the front end.

"A vehicle was coming out of one of the alleyways here and struck this truck, which continued into the building," Police Officer Craig Jones explained when iBerkshires arrived on the scene.

Jones reported that there was one injury but whether it was someone in the vehicles or in the deli. A crossing signal near Samel's front entrance was also taken out by the truck.

Around this time, crews worked to clear debris in front of the restaurant as the truck was towed away. That section of the road reopened around 11 a.m.

The police, firefighters and an ambulance responded to the accident and police intend to release a statement on the incident.

Around 6:15 a.m., the Fire Department reported that it had responded to a possible structure fire at 233-235 First St. Windows on all three floors of the multi-family building are now broken or boarded up and the cause is under investigation by the Fire Investigation Unit and investigators from the State Fire Marshal's Office.