Tom’s Top 3 for 1/17: Authority Given For A 2nd One-Day Nurses Strike

A second one-day strike is now possible at Berkshire Medical Center after registered nurses granted their negotiators the power to call that action at what is the region's largest employer. The Berkshire Eagle reports that in a second day of balloting Tuesday, members of the Massachusetts Nurses Association voted 369-80 to authorize their bargaining committee to set a strike, if that panel deems it necessary. A particular date was not specified. The vote does not mean necessarily that a strike will be called, but it hands that option to the union for the second time in the same contract negotiations that have been going since September of 2016.

Documents In North Adams Slaying Give Grizzly Details

There are more details today in the January 4th North Adams slaying of 42 year old Christa Steele-Knudslien. When Mark Steele-Knudslien struck the first blow against his wife's head with a hammer, he heard her say softy, "Baby, what are you doing?" The Berkshire Eagle reports that those would be her last words. Steele-Knudslien told police that his heart sank when he heard his wife speak, but knew the crime had already been committed and continued striking her. He told police he believed he hit her 20 to 30 times with the blood-slick hammer before taking a knife and stabbing her – in his words, "as hard as he could" in her back. He told police, "She wouldn't die." The 47 year old husband is being held without the right to bail on a lone count of murder.

Dalton Avenue Medical Marijuana Dispensary Looks To Also Sell Recreational

A medical marijuana dispensary that is setting up on Dalton Avenue in Pittsfield is asking the city to approve additions that would equip the facility to sell for recreational purposes. The Berkshire Eagle reports that Berkshire Roots, which is scheduled to open at 501 Dalton Avenue in March, was scheduled to appear Wednesday before the Zoning Board of Appeals. The company seeks to expand the shop's parking lot, upgrade utility lines and the stormwater management system, and revise the property's use to include sale of marijuana for recreational purposes.