From the Desk of the Chief of Police Darrell Fennelly

I just wanted to bring to light a recent scam being reported by the Berkshire County Sheriff. Scammers are calling people in Berkshire County and claiming to be Deputies with the Berkshire County Sheriff's Office. They are requesting money in order to clear a warrant or requesting money to clear a financial freeze on people's social security income due to legal troubles. The Sheriff's Office would never do this.

Also, it is that time of year again, that's right, tax season. That means the scammers are out in force. Five common scams to look out for are as follows: Tax related identity theft, the gift card scam, the refund recalculation scam, the stimulus payment scam and the taxpayer advocate scam. More information about these scams and others can be found at www.irs.gov/newsroom/common-tax-scams or www.use.gov/irs-scams .

Please remember do not send money, gift cards, bank checks or money orders to anyone soliciting it over the phone or email. Think twice about sharing any of your personal information to anyone over the phone or email. If any solicitation feels suspicious just hang up the phone. Give the Stockbridge Police Department a call if you feel suspicious about any solicitation.

II Reprise

The oval in the middle of the intersection is were installed last year are intended to provide a more orderly path of direction by shrinking the vast area of the intersection. If used properly, motorist should be driving around the oval instead of cutting directly through the intersection in a direct angle line. It is a traffic calming device created there to give motorists a sense of direction.

While the intersection is unique by utilizing a three way stop formation, the same rules of the road apply to the three stop signs as would be applicable to a four way stop intersection. Motorists at the stop signs must yield the right of way to:

Traffic heading west on Main Street to south onto South Street
Another vehicle that has already come to a full stop
A vehicle directly to your right that has stopped at the same time as you.

Unfortunately, with the size of the intersection and the aggressive and distracted driving that we so often see it is important to proceed with extreme caution and at slow speed.

This information can be found at the Mass Gov website under Chapter 4 Rules of the Road.

III Preview

Next issue The Chief will discuss Mass Casualty Incidents. He writes, it is "a sensitive subject but one that is very, very important. I don't want to alarm anyone but...it is imperative that people are aware."

Photo: Blue Moon Images/Dana Goedewaagen