News
Northampton man held without bail in December shooting
By JAMES PENTLAND
NORTHAMPTON — A city man facing four counts of assault to murder and four felony weapons charges after allegedly trying to kill his neighbors by firing an assault rifle through a shared interior wall at their Wright Avenue home in December will remain...
Hadley eyes smart growth zoning district
By SCOTT MERZBACH
HADLEY — Of seven area communities with smart growth zoning districts, Northampton has been among the most successful at developing new homes and apartments, bringing on 211 housing units, 151 of which are affordable, since the district was approved...
Hatfield Town Meeting to consider $1.4M for plant upgrades as part of 28-article warrant on Tuesday
By SCOTT MERZBACH
HATFIELD — An additional $1.4 million for wastewater treatment plant upgrades, special legislation to allow golf carts on the town’s public ways and zoning amendments to promote cluster housing developments and permit detached accessory dwelling units...
Extreme weather forces valley farmers to adapt
By TANISHA BHAT
Ben Clark, the owner of Clarkdale Fruit Farms in Deerfield, received $120,000 from the $20 million Natural Disaster Recovery Program created last year after he lost the entirety of his peach crop and 70% of his apples and pears due to sudden cold...
Area briefs: Hadley candidates forum slated for Monday
Candidates forum to take place in Hadley on MondayHADLEY — A forum for candidates running for elective office at the town’s May 21 election will be held by the Hadley Mothers’ Club on Monday.The Hadley Mothers’ Club, turning 80 this year, has...
A Look Back, May 11
200 Years Ago ■Luke Sweetser has taken the store recently occupied by Strong and Heath, a few rods south of Boltwood’s Hotel in Amherst, where he has just opened an extensive assortment of British, French, India, and American piece goods. Having...
‘None of us deserved this’: Community members arrested at UMass Gaza protest critical of crackdown
By SCOTT MERZBACH
AMHERST — An Amherst resident with two children in the public schools, Jill Brevik made her way to the University of Massachusetts campus Tuesday evening to offer protection to students at a pro-Palestinian encampment, by bearing witness and...
Northampton school budget: Tensions high awaiting mayor’s move
By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL
NORTHAMPTON — As the deadline for Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra to a submit a budget proposal for the city draws near, an entrenched battle over the city’s public school budget is coming to a head.The Northampton School Committee defied the mayor’s...
A rocky ride on Easthampton’s Union Street: Businesses struggling with overhaul look forward to end result
By ALEXA LEWIS
EASTHAMPTON — Outside of Small Oven bakery on Union Street, customers walk carefully around puddles, leaving footprints in the muddy strip where the sidewalk had been just days before. Inside, a line still forms at the register, but according to owner...
Two-part Town Meeting in Granby begins Monday night
By EMILEE KLEIN
GRANBY — Town Meeting members will consider capital purchases, money transfers to stabilization accounts and a handful of operational budgets for ambulances and sewer, for a total of $5,019,193, at the first of a two-part annual Town Meeting on...
Four-way race shapes up for Granby Select Board
By EMILEE KLEIN
GRANBY — Candidates in the coming town election — including the seven candidates in contested races for Select Board and Housing Authority — recently outlined their views at a candidate night forum in hopes of swaying residents to vote for them when...
Belchertown voters to consider $61.6M budget at Monday’s annual Town Meeting that lays off 14 school staff
By EMILEE KLEIN
BELCHERTOWN — Town Meeting voters will consider codifying the new town manger position, authorizing two public roads, adding bylaws for battery storage system installations and approving a contested school budget that will cut 14 people, including 10...
Beacon Hill Roll Call, April 29-May 3
By Bob Katzen
THE HOUSE AND SENATE: Beacon Hill Roll Call records local senators’ and representatives’ votes on roll calls from recent sessions during the week of April 22-26. There were no roll calls in the House or Senate last week. TAX CREDITS FOR CONSERVATION...
South County Senior Center opts not to renew church lease after rift over LGBTQ program
By CHRIS LARABEE
SOUTH DEERFIELD — The Senior Center Board of Oversight has opted to not renew the center’s lease to use the Holy Family Roman Catholic Church’s function hall after a disagreement over the Rainbow Elders program.With the current lease expiring May 31,...
Photo: Music from the bridge
Photo: Field of dreams
A lot of imagination: Hopkins seniors bring art to parking lot spots
By SCOTT MERZBACH
HADLEY — A Jeep that is her pride and joy, after her older sister gave her the vehicle, is at the heart of Hopkins Academy senior Jayce Lanzafame’s painting.A few feet away, also using pavement as the canvas, classmate Alma Gorman wields several paint...
Around Amherst: Bockelman joins in launch of governor’s housing push
By SCOTT MERZBACH
AMHERST — A statewide launch of a housing agenda by Gov. Maura Healey that began in Lynn this week included participation by Amherst Town Manager Paul Bockelman and Easthampton Mayor Nicole LaChapelle, who leads the Massachusetts Mayors...
A Look Back, May 10
50 Years Ago■Modular homes, once touted to be the housing wave of the future, have not proved very popular in the Northampton area. Friday, Fontaine Modular Structures Inc., in Northampton, suspended operations due to lack of business. ■Navy S.CPO...
South Hadley Town Meeting OK’s budget that lays off 24 school staff; nuisance bylaw tabled
By EMILEE KLEIN
SOUTH HADLEY — Town Meeting voters signed off Wednesday on a $56.4 million budget for fiscal year 2025 that creates a new Human Services Department and lays off 24 staff members in the school system.In the four-hour meeting, the 84 Town Meeting...
