October 26, 2012
Massachusetts

Sandy cancels Governor’s visit to Florida turbines

October 26, 2012 | www.iberkshires.com

Fourteen months after Irene deluged the region, another hurricane is headed our way. The sweetly named Sandy (now dubbed “Frankenstorm”) is expected to arrive early next week just in time for Halloween.

We’ll be meeting with North Adams officials this afternoon about emergency preparations and checking in with other towns. We’ll do our best to keep everyone as up-to-date as possible on cancellations and closures around the county.

Sandy could did dampen the opening of the Hoosac Wind Project, which has had its own stormy path to completion over the past decade.

Gov. Deval Patrick and EOEEA Secretary Richard Sullivan Jr. were scheduled to arrive on Florida mountain with other state and local officials on Monday morning to celebrate with turbine-developer Iberdrola the near completion of the state’s largest utility-scale wind power project. We learned Friday morning shortly after posting this that the press conference has been been canceled and will be rescheduled at a later date.

Meanwhile, the governor is warning state utiltities to have their ducks in row for this storm after complaints during last year’s disasters of delays and poor communication with local officials. He’s holding a press avail at noon to talk about the storm but no word yet on whether we’ll be able to listen in.

Berkshire Orthopaedic Associates has informed its patients some of the medications it has used were made at the Framingham facility now under investigation after two dozen deaths and more than 300 reported cases from fungal meningitis, reports The Eagle.

None of the contaminated steroids linked to the outbreak are known to have been used in the area, Berkshire Medical Center and North Adams Regional Hospital told us several weeks ago; since then, all products from the New England Compounding Center (now under criminal investigation) have been removed from their stock.

Remember Tom Finneran, once the most powerful man in the state? He’s not getting that taxpayer-funded pension.

Oops. Gene Shalit’s being charged after hitting a pole in Lenox on Wednesday and ending up  in someone’s front yard. Shalit, 86, reportedly told police he dozed off. No one was hurt.

Diana Bonneville of Becket is the new principal of South Hadley High School.

A reminder that tonight is the Halloween parade in Pittsfield; road closures can be found here. If you’re looking for a scare, try the North Adams Movieplex, which is offering a raft of horror movies and two Halloween-themed comedies.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/10/26/sandy-cancels-governors-visit-to-florida-turbines/