ON PAPER, Ben Downing looks very much like someone who might launch a run for governor while still in his 30s, which is what the 39-year-old Democrat did earlier this month, becoming the first declared candidate in the 2022 race. His dad was a popular elected official in Pittsfield where Downing grew up, elected four […]
Pittsfield
Posted inPolitics
Former state senator Ben Downing launches gubernatorial campaign
BEN DOWNING, a former state senator from Western Massachusetts, on Monday launched a run for governor, laying out a liberal policy platform that aims to address inequality amid the recovery from COVID-19. With a slogan of building a “fairer, stronger Massachusetts,” Downing, a Democrat, said in an interview that he thinks Republican Gov. Charlie Baker […]
Posted inThe Download
Will the shows go on in Pittsfield?
THE OLD ADAGE that the show must go on is facing a real test out in the Berkshires. The story begins in mid-March, when the coronavirus shut down the stage lights on Broadway and plunged regional theaters across the country into darkness. Actors’ Equity, which represents 51,000 actors and stage managers nationwide, barred its members […]