DIAL/SELF Youth and Community Services faces nearly 40% funding cut

By ANTHONY CAMMALLERI

GREENFIELD — DIAL/SELF Youth and Community Services, a Greenfield nonprofit that serves youths across Franklin, Hampshire and Hampden counties and the North Quabbin region, announced Tuesday that the federal Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is expected to cut nearly 40% of its roughly $2 million budget.

Cummington Town Meeting on Friday will take up $3.3M budget

By SAMUEL GELINAS

CUMMINGTON — When annual Town Meeting is called to order on Friday at 7 p.m. in the Community House at 33 Main St., voters will be asked to approve a budget for next fiscal year that’s $500,000, or 17%, higher than the current year.

‘More than a building’: Ancestral Bridges to open 1st location to share history of Black, Afro-Indigenous families

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Ancestral Bridges’ first physical location at 29A Cottage St. will serve as a new cultural anchor for Amherst and the Connecticut River Valley, and a place where archives come alive through community engagement with art, culture and history, according to founder Anika Lopes.

High winds send Westhampton canoer into Oxbow, where he nearly drowned swimming to shore

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — As he fought to swim to the shore along the Oxbow of the Connecticut River Tuesday afternoon, his lungs taking in heavy amounts of water, thoughts of his own mortality began to enter the mind of James Roberts.

Springfield man who allegedly sexually assaulted minors arrested at Hadley hotel

By Staff Report

Teen voting petition falls short for second year at Deerfield Town Meeting

By CHRIS LARABEE

DEERFIELD — For the second time in two years, annual Town Meeting voters have rejected a citizen’s petition that would have asked the state Legislature to lower the municipal voting age to 16.

Pelham poised to become 2nd in Hampshire County to adopt nicotine-free generation policy

By SCOTT MERZBACH

PELHAM — Even with no retail stores in town, meaning there are no places to legally buy tobacco or nicotine products, the town’s Board of Health could become the second Hampshire County community, after Belchertown, to adopt a so-called nicotine-free generation policy as part of its regulations.

A Look Back, April 30

Couple displaced in Leverett house fire

By ANTHONY CAMMALLERI

LEVERETT — A couple was displaced from their home at 101 Teawaddle Hill Road Tuesday night after a fire caused a partial collapse of the single-story house.

Jurors hear testimony in second Karen Read trial

By HOLLY RAMER and PATRICK WHITTLE

Consumer confidence at COVID-era low

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER

At least 10 perish in sectarian clashes near Damasacus

By OMAR SANADIKI

Small businesses finding ‘nowhere to turn’

By MAE ANDERSON

Belchertown man guilty of murder in 2021 Springfield shooting

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

SPRINGFIELD — A Belchertown man was found guilty of one murder and cleared of another after a lengthy trial stemming from a gun battle that took place in Springfield in 2021.

Northampton schools to get nearly 6% budget increase next year; amount short of demands by advocates

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra has signaled she intends to give the school district $43.8 million in the city’s upcoming fiscal 2026 budget, a 5.8% increase from the current year but likely not enough to appease advocates of higher school spending.

Senate Democrats take turns slamming President Trump

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — While Senate Democrats do not have much legislative action ready to launch in response to President Donald Trump, they spent more than two hours Monday ripping into the administration’s immigration crackdown and warning about damage to the rule of law.

Photos: Playground face-life at Buttery Brook

Hampshire Pride going bolder: Saturday’s event will feature rally led by LGBTQ+ activists, in addition to traditional parade, entertainment

By EMILEE KLEIN

NORTHAMPTON — Whether it’s injecting more whimsy in festivities or rallying to preserve civil protections for queer communities, Hampshire Pride promises to be bigger and bolder for its third year under new leadership.

A Look Back, April 29

Hatfield residents last night approved a $3.25 million junior-senior high school by a vote of 183 to 72. Plan 6b was passed by 13 votes more than the 170 necessary to constitute a two-thirds vote. Voters also unanimously approved the purchase of the Blauvelt site for the new school at a cost of $120,000.