Letter: Cancer Survivor Month

To the Editor:

June has a special significance for members of our community: it's the start of summer, end of school for students and teachers, and at the Phelps Cancer Center, we celebrate National Cancer Survivor Month.

As the medical director of the Phelps Cancer Center, I'm also proud to be marking the 10-year anniversary of the center's opening in 2014 and the progress we have made in delivering cutting-edge treatments and therapies to cancer patients here in Berkshire County for a full decade.

Being a cancer survivor myself, I know how a diagnosis changes your life. I hope that we never have to care for you or for your loved ones, but I want you to know that, if you need us, you will be able to receive world-class care, close to home at the Phelps Cancer Center. We provide the highest quality, personalized cancer care, including integrative health programs that support a patient's body, mind, and spirit. We are also proud to be the only Western Massachusetts member of the Dana-Farber Cancer Care Collaborative, giving our patients access to cutting-edge trials and Dana-Farber specialists for advanced care.

It is my greatest honor to care for patients in Berkshire County — the community I grew up in and still call home. Thank you to all of the providers, clinicians, and healthcare staff at the Phelps Cancer Center and Berkshire Health Systems who make this a community where a cancer diagnosis is marked by compassion and caring and no one has to make their journey alone.

Dr. Trevor Bayliss
Pittsfield, Mass.

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.