Fully Told - The Berkshire Argus

The Uncertainty Machine: A Story of PCBs, Cancer, and Doubt

Concerned about PCB exposure and cancer, in January 2021, members of the Pittsfield City Council asked the Massachusetts Department of Public Health for an updated cancer-incidence study. After more than four years, they're still waiting. But when results are finally released, will they even matter?

By Bill Shein

/ 18 Jun 2025

The Uncertainty Machine: A Story of PCBs, Cancer, and Doubt

Will Trump’s January 6ᵗʰ pardons absolve a pipe bomber?

With conspiracy-minded leadership installed at the F.B.I., and federal prosecutors now broadly applying the president’s controversial pardon, will a still-unidentified bomber escape justice?

By Bill Shein

/ 2 Mar 2025

Will Trump’s January 6ᵗʰ pardons absolve a pipe bomber?

At the Pentagon, reality likely to trump rhetoric on climate change and national security

Even as the Trump administration rolls back climate-related initiatives, current and former Pentagon officials told The Argus that work related to climate and national security is likely to continue.

By Bill Shein

/ 7 Feb 2025

At the Pentagon, reality likely to trump rhetoric on climate change and national security

In race for state rep, Mitts and Davis navigate choppy waters of ‘Rest of River’ debate

As developments in a major Housatonic River remediation project accelerate, two candidates for state representative confront a challenging issue—and its sticky politics.

By Bill Shein

/ 3 Nov 2024

A graphic of the Rest of River map overlayed with photos of Marybeth Mitts and Leigh Davis.

Doing the Job: Paramedics, EMTs, and the Crisis in Rural EMS

Complex funding and staffing challenges have hampered rural EMS for years. Will elected officials finally step up to help those doing the job?

By Bill Shein

/ 22 Aug 2024

Doing the Job: Paramedics, EMTs, and the Crisis in Rural EMS

In Great Barrington, a tale of two sidewalks

Without the Select Board’s knowledge, town officials secured a million-dollar state grant to aid a developer’s struggling luxury housing project and pay for a landscaped “pedestrian walkway.” Meanwhile, across town, safe sidewalks for low-income residents remain elusive and unfunded.

By Bill Shein

/ 8 Mar 2024

In Great Barrington, a tale of two sidewalks

BOOK SEARCH: Twelve scenes from a narrative

Great Barrington police overstepped with their determined quest to find a copy of "Gender Queer" at Du Bois Middle School. But the full story of what happened that day, and why, is more complicated.

By Bill Shein

/ 8 Feb 2024

BOOK SEARCH: Twelve scenes from a narrative

As Great Barrington Airport ignores some special-permit conditions, the town's government takes no action

Some requirements related to the environment, taxes, emergency response, and others remain unmet—highlighting zoning-enforcement challenges in the Berkshires.

By Bill Shein

/ 22 Dec 2023

As Great Barrington Airport ignores some special-permit conditions, the town's government takes no action

FOLLOW UP (Part Two): Nearly two years on, a 'landscape hotel' is rising at Egremont's Prospect Lake

Long-sought parking and lake access for Egremont residents are both connected to an agreement for dam-repair funds. Whether—and how—that will work, and what it will mean in practice, is complicated.

By Bill Shein

/ 8 Dec 2023

FOLLOW UP (Part Two): Nearly two years on, a 'landscape hotel' is rising at Egremont's Prospect Lake

FOLLOW UP (Part One): Nearly two years on, a 'landscape hotel' is rising at Egremont's Prospect Lake

At the former campground, a zoning disagreement is escalating while questions linger about public parking, lake access, and vital dam repairs. An occupancy-tax windfall is also on the horizon.

By Bill Shein

/ 30 Nov 2023

FOLLOW UP (Part One): Nearly two years on, a 'landscape hotel' is rising at Egremont's Prospect Lake

THE AIRPORT (Part Eight): The arc of Great Barrington’s zoning history is long. With respect to the airport, which way does it bend?

In the final installment of THE AIRPORT, a detailed history of Great Barrington’s zoning bylaw and its role in the past, present, and still unknown future of the town’s 92-year-old country airport.

By Bill Shein

/ 20 May 2023

THE AIRPORT (Part Eight): The arc of Great Barrington’s zoning history is long. With respect to the airport, which way does it bend?

THE AIRPORT (Part Seven): Flight lessons, aviation careers, and questions about safety are all part of the conversation

The Great Barrington Airport offers lessons to those interested in aviation as a hobby and, in some cases, a career with the airlines. Some neighbors worry about the flight school and their safety.

By Bill Shein

/ 29 Apr 2023

THE AIRPORT (Part Seven): Flight lessons, aviation careers, and questions about safety are all part of the conversation