December 31, 1999
By D.R. Bahlman
Berkshire Eagle Staff

History has not recorded his name, but it's likely that the man who addressed Stockbridge's Laurel Hill Society in 1853 on the subject of public improvement was well-known for plain speaking.

Infused with civic pride and determination, he articulated his vision of the town's future: "We mean to work until every street is graded, every sidewalk shaded, every noxious weed eradicated, every watercourse laid and perfected, and every nook and corner beautified -- in short, until Art combined with Nature shall have rendered our town the most beautiful and attractive spot in our ancient commonwealth."

One hundred forty-six years later, the desire to make communities attractive has not waned, nor has it much changed, except in the language of its expression: Today, the Laurel Hill guest's "noxious weed" could be read -- less colorfully perhaps -- as PCBs.

In 1853, the perfection of every "watercourse" required little more than strong wills and strong backs.

In 1999, a 3-foot-high stack of legal papers was needed to start the job.

On the afternoon of Oct. 7, the consent decree setting forth the PCB cleanup agreement among GE, the Environmental Protection Agency, the city of Pittsfield and other state and federal agencies was signed and presented to a federal judge in Springfield.

The document, a product of two years of often-tense negotiations and years of effort on the part of lawmakers and river advocates, details the manner in which the first two miles of the Housatonic River and the former GE transformer plant will be cleaned up.

Within a week of the filing of the decree, work in the river began.

Other beginnings were to be discerned:

w Days after the consent decree was filed, U.S. Rep. John W. Olver, D-Amherst, joined local officials in announcing the award of a $1.35 million federal grant that, if all goes well, would pave the way for a group of entrepreneurs to build electric-powered buses and delivery vehicles on the GE brownfields site. Electric Vehicles Worldwide anticipates creating 1,000 new jobs in Pittsfield by 2005.

w Renovations and additions to two of the city's public middle schools got under way in 1999, part of an ambitious $47 million school building-needs project.

w Two rival groups seeking the revitalization of the Colonial Theatre are still trying to resolve their differences and proceed with the task, for which at least $2 million is available from the state. The next step is expected to be the imminent purchase of the site by a group of private investors.

w The $10 million widening of Routes 7 and 20 from Lenox to the Pittsfield line was about 90 percent complete at the end of the year, following several delays in the construction timetable.

w Construction crews began the task of rebuilding Merrill Road in Pittsfield. They aim to eliminate numerous traffic bottlenecks on one of the city's busiest thoroughfares.

w As the year ended, the parent company of The Eagle and Berkshire Bank had pledged a total of $60,000 to fund a study of the feasibility of situating a $15 million multipurpose stadium for minor league baseball and other events on the vacant Falcon auto dealership site and nearby property adjoining West, South Church and Center streets.

The year also had its dark moments:

w In June, officials of Husky Injection Molding Inc. announced plans to close the large-tonnage manufacturing plant in GE's massive Building 100. Some 125 people lost their jobs by year's end.

w Harnischfeger Industries' reorganization under federal bankruptcy law cut off thousands of dollars in severance pay for laid-off workers of Beloit-Jones in Dalton. The fate of the Beloit plant in Lenox Dale remains up in the air.

w A fierce blaze in May destroyed an equipment shed and machine shop at Bousquet Ski Area, eliminating most of its snowmaking capacity. By year's end, though, snow was once again being made at Bousquet with new equipment.

w In Great Barrington in August, town and school officials, parents, young people and experts on substance abuse aired their frustrations, fears and anger at a meeting of a task force devoted to dealing with the ongoing heroin abuse problem in the town.

As landmarks such as the Colonial Theatre and The Mount in Lenox were assessed with an eye toward renovation, other notable places faded from the Berkshire scene.

One such place was the soda fountain at McClelland Drug Store in Lee. Installed in 1941, the fountain was removed on May 1. The drugstore's owner, Patrick F. Downing, recalled washing dishes behind the counter as a boy. Nevertheless, he said, the soda fountain had to go to keep the pharmacy competitive.

"To survive and do well in the future, it's a necessary change," he said.

Business/Commerce

Expansions and the formation of alliances were a major feature on the Berkshire County business landscape in 1999.

In July, Berkshire Healthcare Systems announced plans to buy four Willowood nursing homes -- in Pittsfield, North Adams, Williamstown and Great Barrington. The purchase price was not disclosed.

The deal adds another 765 beds and $43 million in annual revenue to the Pittsfield-based long-term care corporation.

Berkshire Healthcare is a sister corporation to Berkshire Health Systems, which owns Berkshire Medical Center and the Hillcrest campus, and Fairview Hospital in Great Barrington.

In a related development, Berkshire Healthcare temporarily closed Edgecombe Nursing Home in Lenox, which had lost $4 million in the past eight years. Edgecombe's 90 residents and staff were relocated to other nursing homes in the county; plans call for Edgecombe to be gutted, updated and -- possibly -- converted to use as the nursing facility for the Kimball Farms assisted-living center.

Longtime North County ski resort rivals Jiminy Peak and Brodie Mountain merged in November through Jiminy's purchase of Brodie. The resorts will operate as "separate but cooperative corporations" under the control of Jiminy Peak principals Brian H. Fairbank and Joseph J. O'Donnell. The total purchase price, which included a $600,000 real estate transaction, was not disclosed. The deal, which had been a topic of discussion for a decade between representatives of Jiminy and the James Kelly family, owners of Brodie, was closed in less than a month.

Also in November, Lenox Healthcare Inc., a Pittsfield-based company that owns and manages nursing homes in 15 states, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization.

The company, which has grown exponentially over the past two years, owes creditors $72.7 million in secured and unsecured debt, including $31.3 million in unsecured debt.

Lenox Healthcare is headed by Thomas M. Clarke, former chief financial officer of Berkshire Health Systems, and his wife, Linda M. Clarke. It employs about 110 people in Pittsfield and 10,000 nationwide in the care of 8,000 nursing home residents. The company occupies offices on the entire sixth floor of the Clock Tower Business Park at 75 South Church St.

Thomas Clark said that the reorganization was "preplanned" and will help the company reduce debt and losses by a combined $7.5 million and bring new equity partners into the fold. He attributed the bankruptcy filing primarily to cuts in Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements.

As the year neared an end, doctors associated with Berkshire Physicians & Surgeons, the county's largest group medical practice, told The Eagle that the corporation is in financial trouble.

In mid-December, Dr. Peter Zwerner, president of BP&S, confirmed that the practice is negotiating a sale of its laboratory in Pittsfield to Berkshire Health Systems. However, Zwerner said that the talks are part of BP&S' proposed collaboration with BHS and are unrelated to financial problems.

A BP&S member physician, who spoke on condition of anonymity, disputed Zwerner's statement.

"[Physician] shareholders have not been paid in three months," the doctor said. "The reason we're selling the labs is to scare up cash."

Asked whether that is true, Zwerner said, "Again, in the partnership, there are certain amounts of monies available for compensation. There is no question that physician compensation is under duress, and the amount and timing are always an issue."

In November, Zwerner said that member shareholders -- some 60 of the 80-plus physicians in BP&S -- and salaried employees had been paid, but he acknowledged that there had been some "internal reconciliation" of compensation issues.

Other business highlights of 1998 included:

Northern Berkshire Health Systems' purchase of Sweet Brook Care Center's nursing home and retirement community in Williamstown for $20 million in May. The health system is the parent corporation of North Adams Regional Hospital.

 The sale of Berkshire Energy Resources, better known as Berkshire Gas Co., to Energy East Corp. of Albany, N.Y., for $136 million. The merger, which officials said will not affect employment levels or leadership at Berkshire Gas, must be approved by shareholders and state and federal regulators. The deal was announced in November.

 The groundbreaking for City Savings Bank's $7.2 million, six-story headquarters on the site of the former England Brothers department store on North Street in Pittsfield. Bank officials heralded the event as "the biggest investment in North Street in the last 100 years."

 Henry D. Vara's placement of the Great Barrington Fairgrounds on the market for $2.9 million in June.

The owner of the fairgrounds said that even with simulcasting of horse races, "I don't believe there would have been a profit." Town residents soundly rejected a plan to permit simulcasting, or betting on televised races, in a nonbinding referendum in May. Two days later, Vara announced that he would not host horse racing at the fairgrounds.

 The abrupt closing in May of Falcon Cadillac Oldsmobile Chevrolet of Pittsfield. Inventory was shipped to sister Condor dealerships in Great Barrington and Catskill, N.Y. Representatives of General Motors declined to comment on the closing, and the dealership's general manager refused to elaborate on what economic conditions led to it.

 The award in February to Crane & Co. of a 3 1/2-year contract worth up to $260 million to supply U.S. currency paper. The award ended a competitive two-year battle for a contract whose worth was initially estimated at $400 million.

 Germany-based Bayer Group's purchase of Sheffield Plastics for $7.9 million in April. Although most people know Bayer for its aspirin and health-care line, the $33 billion corporation also has a multibillion-dollar plastics and chemical arm with plants throughout the world.

 Some Adams residents' objections to the decision by McDonald's restaurant officials to paint the Adams restaurant fire engine red. Selectmen were told in August that the paint is "garish" and makes the restaurant stand out among other, more conservative, area businesses.

 The decision in August by employees at Crane & Co. not to hold a union representation election. The employees, who had been working with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters to organize hourly workers at the Dalton firm, decided to wait and see if the company continues to adequately address employees' concerns.

 September's closing of the Old Chatham (N.Y.) Sheepherding Co. Inn, one of the region's most recognized hostelries and restaurants. The inn's owners said that the decision was brought about by the labor and stress associated with maintaining the restaurant's reputation. The farm's 1,000-animal herd and prize-winning sheep's milk cheese-making operation were left intact. The closing coincided with chef Melissa Kelly's decision to move to Maine and to go into business for herself.

 Hoosac Bank officials' announcement in September of plans to build a three-story financial center at the city-owned parking lot on St. Anthony's Drive in North Adams.

 The decision by members of Williamstown's Richard A. Ruether Post 152, American Legion, to reject Williams College's offer to purchase the post. College officials said that while acquisition of the Legion property is not a requirement for construction of a dance and theater center near Spring and Walden streets, it would "increase flexibility for the design." The vote was taken in September.

 An announcement in September that the General Cable Corp. factory on Water Street in Williamstown would close in December. The 61 General Cable employees in Williamstown were offered severance packages, company officials said. Within a day of the announcement, the building was touted as a "mini [Mass] MoCA" if a group of local investors acquires the site as planned.

 The opening in May of the Williamstown Financial Center, which houses branch offices of Hoosac Bank; Coakley, Pierpan, Dolan & Collins Insurance Agency, and True North Financial Services. The businesses occupy the former Howard Johnson's Restaurant on Route 2, for many years a local landmark.

Politics

Elections in Pittsfield and North Adams returned those cities' incumbent mayors, Gerald S. Doyle Jr. and John Barrett III, to office in 1999, which also saw ballot recounts in both communities and a repeat preliminary election in Pittsfield.

Misprinted ballots in the September preliminary election gave voters too many choices: eight candidates in a field of 11 for councilor at large and two candidates in individual ward races.

A second preliminary election, in which the number of choices was cut precisely in half, was held in October. Estimates of the cost of the new election ranged from $10,000 to $20,000. Acting Pittsfield City Clerk Jody L. Phillips, under whose auspices the ballot mix-up occurred, was the top vote-getter in the three-way race for the office in both preliminaries and the general election in November.

Other developments on the political scene during the year included:

 Berkshire County Treasurer Peter G. Arlos' failed attempt to regain the Pittsfield City Council seat that he lost in 1997. Arlos ran fifth in a race that also saw the defeat of incumbent two-term Councilor at large Jamie R. Williamson. Former Pittsfield police Chief Gerald M. Lee was the top vote-getter in the at-large race, followed by James Massery, a councilor from Ward 6 who was making his first at-large run. Matthew M. Kerwood, in his first run for political office, took third place. Incumbent Councilor at large Paul M. Dowd ran fourth. Angelo C. Stracuzzi, the city's longest-serving sitting councilor and the top vote-getter in the 1997 municipal election, decided against seeking another term.

 The resignation of Town Manager Stephen W. Patch of Williamstown, who accepted a post with Inland Management Corp., a firm that buys and sells large tracts of real estate around the country. Patch left his municipal post on Dec. 1.

 Lee town representatives' decision in October against relinquishing their seats. The vote -- 23-18 against a proposal to open town meetings to all voters -- disregarded a nonbinding referendum that sought to end the town's representative system. In 1992, representatives voted to keep the current system, despite another referendum for change that passed 426-368. The margin in the 1999 nonbinding referendum was considerably wider: 613-249.

Some representatives considered the open meeting proposal an insult to their performance.

"I don't think we need the slap in the face we're getting now," said Edward Briggs. "I think we're doing a good job."

Education

As the second year of Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System testing was announced in December, showing county students scoring at or near state averages, Berkshire educators joined ranks and called for a broader assessment of student performance. Roughly half of all students fell into the needs-improvement or failing categories. But the results for some school districts were skewed when nonexistent students were added to the score sheets, bringing down the averages.

Nonetheless, the results are worrisome. By 2003, all 10th-graders must pass the English/language arts and mathematics tests to graduate from high school.

Holders of the top jobs in several public school districts and some private institutions announced plans to retire or to move on in 1999.

And, as businesses made investments, so did taxpayers in some of the county's school districts, among them Williamstown's. In November, voters approved the borrowing of $14.5 million to build a new elementary school. The state will reimburse 64 percent of the cost, leaving the town to repay $5.2 million over 20 years.

In Pittsfield, students in the city's two public middle schools settled in other buildings for the academic year as additions and renovations began at Herberg and Reid middle schools.

Changes in educational leadership marked 1999.

In June, after heading the district for more than 25 years, Lenox Superintendent of Schools Roland M. Miller announced that he will retire this fall.

"I'm older than I look," the 60-year-old Miller said at a news conference. "Every superintendency has its ups and downs. But we're in a good place now, and I think we'll be in a good place when I call it quits.

A search for a successor to Miller was under way as the year ended.

In Williamstown, Elementary School District Superintendent Paul D. Jennings retired to become general manager of a corporation that operates an education and religious facility in Maine. Jennings departed in August.

Mark N. Matthews, principal of Pittsfield High School and a 35-year veteran of the public school system, retired at the end of the 1999 school year. He was succeeded by Steven G. O'Brien, who had been principal of the Jakarta International School in Jakarta, Indonesia. One of the new principal's first official acts was to designate the front steps of Pittsfield High School as an area for special events instead of an entrance under a new policy designed to end cigarette smoking in front of the school.

In Great Barrington, Linda B. Day, who has served the Berkshire Hills Regional School District for 32 years, announced her intention to resign as superintendent on June 30, 2000.

Henry T. Zukowski, the voluble superintendent of schools in Lee, retired in the fall after serving the town's schools for 47 years, 11 of them as superintendent. The 73-year-old Zukowski was succeeded by Robert Siminski.

Saying that he wants "the freedom to do more things," A. Michael DeSisto resigned his post as headmaster of the school he founded in 1978 with the mission of helping troubled, bright teen-agers in a boarding school setting in Stockbridge. Paul R. Babeu, a former North Adams city councilor and Berkshire County commissioner, succeeded DeSisto, who will continue to remain closely involved with the school and will keep his title as executive director.

In September, Williams College President Harry C. Payne announced his plan to step down in October, rather than in June 2000, as he had previously announced. Carl W. Vogt, a 1958 Williams graduate and three-year member of the board of trustees, agreed to serve as interim president until the liberal arts college's 15th president is appointed in July 2000.

Payne, who came to Williams in 1992 from the presidency of Hamilton College, took a job as headmaster of a large private boarding school in the Atlanta area.

Other developments in education that made news in 1999 included:

The elimination of 17 paraprofessional positions from the Central Berkshire Regional School District's operating budget. A consequence of the budget cut was the closing of the library at Craneville School. The library later reopened under the supervision of volunteers.

 The approval by voters in the New Lebanon (N.Y.) Central School District of a $9.5 million bond to fund upgrades at three of the district's buildings.

Courts and Crime

It was a busy year for the county's courts and police agencies.

Although the Superior Court in Pittsfield is often the setting for unpleasant occurrences, it formed the backdrop for ceremonial celebration on a September afternoon, as Francis X. Spina was sworn in as the newest member of the state's highest court.

Spina, 52, is the first Berkshire County resident named to the Supreme Judicial Court since Justice Francis J. Quirico of Pittsfield. Quirico died in October.

The same afternoon saw Judith Locke of Williamstown, an attorney with long experience in family law, sworn in as a Juvenile Court judge.

Also in September, a Pittsfield man was sentenced to spend a year in jail for the car-bicycle crash that killed 15-year-old Mondy Garcia in 1998. Charles M. Henault was ordered to serve one year of a 2 1/2-year sentence to the Berkshire County House of Correction for leaving the scene of a fatal accident, a felony. Henault was also fined $1,000 and placed on three years' probation. In addition, Superior Court Judge Thomas J. Curley Jr. ordered Henault to pay $100 for one count of speeding.

After deliberating for almost eight hours over two days, a jury found Henault guilty of the more serious of two charges lodged against him in connection with the accident, which occurred Oct. 17, 1998, on Crane Avenue in Pittsfield.

The verdict pleased neither side's legion of supporters. The jury acquitted Henault of one count of motor vehicle homicide by negligent operation, which was tried as a misdemeanor.

Two days after the Henault sentencing, Curley ordered Kenneth Getchell of Columbus Avenue, Pittsfield, to serve concurrent 15- to 20-year sentences in state prison on rape and assault charges. Getchell, 68, had been convicted of sexually assaulting two teen-age boys. The sentence amounts to life: Getchell will spend between 30 and 40 years in prison.

The teens testified that Getchell dressed as a priest and befriended them by buying food, drinks and gifts. Promised that they would be paid for work done at Getchell's apartment, the boys, ages 16 and 17, were sexually assaulted there, they said.

Other developments in the courts and police agencies in Berkshire County in 1999 included.

The appointment of Paul M. Vrabel to the Northern Berkshire District Court bench. Vrabel, 45, was a partner with the Adams law firm of Donovan & O'Connor.

 The April sentencing of a 16-year-old Becket youth to state supervision until he is 25. Jason N. Greene admitted raping an 8-year-old boy while baby-sitting him in October 1997. Greene also admitted that in November 1997, he sexually assaulted an 11-year-old boy, exposed himself to the boy and the boy's 12-year-old sister, and showed them pornographic videos.

 Changes in leadership at several police departments in the county: Karl G. Cooper was named in March to succeed Michael Kirchner as police chief in West Stockbridge; Williamstown police Chief John M. Kennedy Jr. announced that he will retire in March 2000 after 30 years of service in the local department, 11 of those years as chief; the retirement in August of Adams police Chief Herman G. Bishop; and the appointment of Timothy Face as police chief in Lenox, succeeding David W. Berkel, who took a job with The Kids' Place in Pittsfield, working with abused children and their families.

 The indictment in September of Karen L. Gaudette of Pittsfield, a former bookkeeper of the Christian Center in Pittsfield, on four charges in connection with the alleged embezzlement of funds from the center.

 The arrests, in September and November, of teen-agers accused of carrying out graffiti sprees in Pittsfield. A total of more than 100 counts were brought against the youths.

 An "unclean getaway" accomplished by an inmate at the House of Correction in February. Raymond I. Thomas, 28, was being held on $100,000 bail on a drug charge when he escaped through a garbage chute. He was recaptured later in the year.

 A state appeals court's finding that a judge should have determined whether 17-year-old Alexis Demos of Lenox was mature enough to refuse lifesaving treatment. Appeals Court Judge Elizabeth A. Porada noted that the court order that Berkshire Medical Center sought to provide an emergency blood transfusion for Demos -- whose Jehovah Witness religious beliefs dictate that a transfusion would rob her of her chance for eternal life after death -- was moot because the girl was released from BMC without requiring a transfusion.

But in language that could affect future cases, Porada also noted that Superior Court Judge Judd Carhart neglected to consider Demos' maturity in determining what was in her best interests.

Calamities

Tragedy tempered by the support of friends, family and community made headlines in 1999.

In August, as smoke continued to seep from the charred roof of Matt Reilly's Pub on Route 7 in Lanesboro, dozens of neighbors, employees and firefighters pitched in to salvage what little they could.

An early-morning blaze, which started in the kitchen, destroyed the popular local hangout, owned by members of the Reilly family since 1943, for the second time in its history. No one was injured; reconstruction of the tavern was nearing completion as the year came to a close.

A midair collision that claimed the lives of two stunt pilots over Harriman-West Airport in North Adams in September was likely not the result of mechanical problems, state and federal investigators concluded. The probe will focus on pilot error as a potential cause of the crash that killed George Frederick Shelton, 68, of the Brighton section of Boston, and 67-year-old Paulus Kraaijvanger of North Stonington, Conn.

Both men were experienced pilots who had practiced and flown together in other air shows.

In May, a Lee High School senior died from injuries sustained in an alcohol-related car accident. Cory R. Vincent, 18, of Becket lost control of his Jeep and crashed into a guardrail on Route 57 in Monterey.

Earlier in the year, 15-year-old Claire White, a student at Monument Mountain Regional High School, was killed when she crashed a car on Route 20 in Becket.

In April, former Monument student Craig Finkle, 19, died April 4 after losing control of his car, traveling at about 70 mph on Route 23 near the Hevreh Synagogue in Great Barrington.

"Kids don't understand how deadly and serious this is," Monterey Police Chief Gareth Backhaus said of drunk driving and underage drinking.

In May, five Pittsfield firefighters were injured when a ceiling collapsed as fire raced through the old Pittsfield News building at 180 South St. Three of the firefighters were trapped in the wreckage and had to be freed by other firemen. All five were treated at Berkshire Medical Center and released.

While fixing a fence at his East Street home in June, Robert B. McNinch of Eastover Resort in Lenox was attacked by a steer and seriously injured. After a lengthy hospital stay, McNinch recovered.

The steer had been a pet of sorts for the McNinch family for years, inhabiting the land behind the family's home along with their horses. Eastover is distinctive for the herd of buffalo that inhabits the grounds.

The Arts

Enthusiasm and financial generosity took center stage on the county's cultural scene.

The grand opening gala for the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, the museum's major fund-raiser, netted $200,000 and drew more than 1,200 people.

Held the night before the museum's opening day on May 30, the gala was a sold-out event, with Gov. Paul Cellucci and Lt. Gov. Jane M. Swift among those in attendance.

Tickets ranged from $4,500 to $6,000 for a table for 10. Tickets for the gala that followed were $125.

"It was successful beyond our wildest dreams," museum spokeswoman Jennifer Trainer said.

Earlier in the year, Shakespeare & Company announced that it will leave its home at The Mount when its lease expires in 2001.

The theater company also negotiated the purchase of the former National Music Foundation campus in Lenox for $4.1 million. The foundation left the Berkshires in disgrace after failing to fulfill its mission of creating a museum and retirement community for musicians. It was credited, however, with beginning the process of renovating the decrepit Walker Street site.

In May, members of the Edith Wharton Restoration and local officials raised glasses of champagne in honor of "the two first ladies of The Mount" and in celebration of a $2.8 million federal challenge grant for the restoration of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist's historic home.

Some 23,000 people attended the 1999 Tanglewood on Parade in August, breaking the all-time single concert attendance record. It took at least two hours to empty all the parking lots after the concert ended with a fireworks display.

The previous record -- 21,370 -- was set at a Jackson Browne concert in 1978.

Other notable occurrences during the year included:

 The breakage of all attendance records in the 66-year history of Jacob's Pillow. Ella Baff, Jacob's Pillow's executive director, said that more than 60,000 people attended performances at the renowned dance mecca in Becket. Jacob's Pillow had a close brush with bankruptcy just several years ago.

 Hancock Shaker Village's raising of $3.5 million toward its $4.5 million goal in a capital campaign.

 The signing of luminaries including Gwyneth Paltrow, who had won the Academy Award for best actress for "Shakespeare in Love," for the Williamstown Theatre Festival's 45th season.

 The naming of a theater at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in honor of the Hunter family, which presented a "substantial" cash gift. The Hunter Center for the Performing Arts honors the family that founded Hunter Machine Co. in 1843. The company was the forerunner of what is now Morrison Berkshire.

 Performances by nearly 20 bluegrass bands at the fourth annual Noppet Hill Bluegrass Festival on a farm in Lanesboro in July.

Weather

As the year ended, so did the delay in the arrival of winter weather conditions. Through October, November and much of December, the Berkshires basked in unseasonably warm temperatures. The lack of snow at year's end shattered a 62-year record.

Less surprisingly, the same was true in July, but the month went down in the record books as one of the hottest in the county's history.

Eight times, the thermometer reached or topped 90 degrees, equaling 1988's apparent record of 90-degree days for the entire summer. According to Eagle records, five 90-degree days had been recorded by July 31, 1988. Three more were logged that August. Stores sold out of air conditioners.

The Berkshires averages two 90-degree days per summer.

In September, high winds and heavy rains assaulted the county, as Tropical Storm Floyd made its presence known in New England.

Reports of fallen trees, downed electrical wires, power failures and flooding increased as the storm's edge passed, although emergency crews characterized the damage as minimal.

Fallen trees and power lines, not flooding, seemed to present the biggest problem in the county.

Deaths

The county lost a number of notable citizens during the year. N. Robert Theriot of Monterey, who dedicated his life and much of his considerable fortune to preserving nature's open spaces and woodlands in his native California and Massachusetts, died of brain cancer on the last day of 1998 at 52.

Those who died in 1999 included:

 Bill Crofut, a musician whose repertoire ranged from Bach preludes to Delta blues, 64.

 Del P. Virgilio of Pittsfield, a construction company owner and land developer, 84.

 Vincent J. Hebert, Pittsfield's longtime superintendent of parks and recreation, 81.

 Lucien Aigner of Great Barrington, a photojournalist who captured the face of Europe in turmoil during the 1930s, 97.

 John J. Denelli of Williamstown, a longtime selectman who was described as "the ultimate citizen volunteer," 78.

 Lester J. Clarke of Lee, an artist, 87.

 Francis J. Quirico of Pittsfield, the first Italian-American to be appointed to the highest court in Massachusetts, 88.

 Anne M. Kendall, an assistant Berkshire County district attorney, 43.