Former Pittsfield Mayor Honored With Housing Public Service Award

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Linda Tyer Clairmont
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Linda Clairmont, former mayor of Pittsfield, has received the Canon Brian S. Kelley Public Service Award from the Massachusetts Housing & Shelter Alliance.
 
Clairmont accepted the award at MHSA's annual Home for Good fundraiser and award ceremony on May 16 in Boston.
 
She joined fellow award winners Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch and Brockton Mayor Robert Sullivan. The three were recognized for being "steadfast in their commitment to ending homelessness."
 
During her eight-year tenure as mayor, Clairmont sought to find effective ways to support those experiencing chronic homelessness, often partnering with social services agencies in the Berkshires. She targeted some $8.6 million dollars in American Rescue Plan Act to address housing insecurity and homelessness, including $750,000 toward rehabilitation of a historic building on North Street into affordable units. In a November 2022 editorial board meeting with The Berkshire Eagle, Clairmont said combating homelessness means being flexible and working at it constantly. 
 
Clairmont is currently executive director of workforce development and community education at Berkshire Community College, which she joined in February. 
 
She served as a public official for nearly 20 years. Before being elected mayor of Pittsfield in 2016 (as Linda Tyer), she was city clerk from 2009-2016 and city councilor for Ward 3 from 2004-2009. She is a graduate of Bay Path Junior College in Longmeadow.

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Truck Crashes Into Pittsfield's Samel's Deli

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

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.

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