News
Opioid settlement to provide state $525M for treatment, prevention
By CHRIS LISINSKI
BOSTON — Massachusetts cities and towns will split more than $210 million in money paid by opioid manufacturers and distributors, while state government will get another $310 million to invest in ongoing efforts to rein in the addiction and overdose...
A sticky situation: Littleville students ace reading challenge, get to tape principal to gym wall
By BERA DUNAU
HUNTINGTON — Human beings have many incentives in life that drive them to feats great and small, with food, love, religious faith and patriotism being some of the common ones.This year, Littleville Elementary School students were given the incentive...
From Coco to Calico: Restaurateurs, former employees relaunch famed eatery under new name
By EMILY THURLOW
EASTHAMPTON — A shuttered Main Street restaurant that beckoned national attention has reopened its doors under a new name.Three former employees of Coco and The Cellar Bar and two area restaurateurs have relaunched the 95 Main St. hot spot under the...
Ex-UMass student gets 3-5 years in prison for rape
By BRIAN STEELE
NORTHAMPTON — A former UMass Amherst student convicted of raping a woman who accidentally fell asleep in his dorm room was sentenced to three to five years in state prison on Tuesday.Judge Richard Carey sentenced Ryder Chilcoff, of Villa Park,...
8 years after arrest, ex-Holyoke business owner sent to prison for role in cocaine, heroin conspiracy case
By DUSTY CHRISTENSEN
HOLYOKE — Eight years after he was first arrested, a Chicopee businessman who owned a Holyoke auto shop was sentenced this week in a cocaine and heroin conspiracy case.U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni on Wednesday sentenced Jamil Roman,...
South Hadley election will feature municipal light board contest
By DUSTY CHRISTENSEN
SOUTH HADLEY — With town elections approaching on April 12, the only contested races in South Hadley are for two seats on the Municipal Light Board.When voters cast their ballots next month, they’ll be voting on 13 townwide seats: one on the Select...
Developer acquires commercial properties for $5M in Amherst
By SCOTT MERZBACH
AMHERST — Demolition of vacant commercial properties at the northern end of downtown, to make way for a new mixed-use building, could be imminent following the recent sale of four parcels to an Amherst developer.Archipelago Investments, LLC, of South...
Amherst selects developer for $27M affordable housing project
By SCOTT MERZBACH
AMHERST — Two sites in the East Amherst village center, including a vacant school building, will be developed into a $27 million, 70-apartment affordable housing project by Way Finders Inc., a Springfield nonprofit housing organization.Amherst...
Something wicked this way comes: New wine bar, French bistro opens in Northampton
By Monte Belmonte
NORTHAMPTON — Chef Michaelangelo Wescott has opened a new restaurant on Main Street in Northampton, in the old Belly of the Beast spot. And he’s calling it Wine Witch, a new French-inspired bistro right in the heart of downtown.Wescott’s “familiar” in...
Green purchase: Amherst buys former Hickory Ridge Golf Course
By SCOTT MERZBACH
AMHERST — A 150-acre parcel featuring more than a mile of frontage on the Fort River, including mostly greenspace used as a golf course since 1969, is now owned by the town.Amherst officials announced this week that the West Pomeroy Lane site,...
Westhampton Dems to hold caucus Thursday
By BERA DUNAU
WESTHAMPTON — Town Democrats will hold a party caucus Thursday, giving them a voice in the selection of candidates for governor and other statewide offices. However, eight other Hampshire County communities will not be sending caucus delegates to the...
Amherst picks leader for new CRESS department
By SCOTT MERZBACH
AMHERST — A new town department that will provide an alternative to police, with unarmed employees responding to calls that don’t feature violence of serious crime, has its inaugural leader.Earl Miller, regional director of recovery for the...
Holyoke lands $555K-plus grant to address youth, gang violence
By SOFI SHLEPAKOV
HOLYOKE — Holyoke and Chicopee have landed a large state grant to help pay for programs — from career exploration to youth development and recreation — designed to address gang and youth violence in their communities.The Shannon Community Initiative...
Police keep lid on unsanctioned UMass party day
By SCOTT MERZBACH
AMHERST — As hundreds of green-clad college-age people filled streets and lawns in town Saturday morning and afternoon, one party-goer suffered serious injuries when he was impaled while trying to climb a fence at a North Amherst apartment...
Vexed Easthampton Housing Authority residents look to organize
By EMILY THURLOW
EASTHAMPTON — Residents who live in six Easthampton Housing Authority properties will soon decide whether to form a tenants organization to represent them — a move that, if successful, would be the first such organization formed since the housing...
Four men arrested in Easthampton cocaine bust
By EMILY THURLOW
EASTHAMPTON — Four men have been arrested in connection with an alleged Easthampton cocaine distribution ring.After receiving a number of complaints of suspected “narcotics activity” at 11 Chapman Ave., Easthampton Police detectives launched a formal...
Route 9 widening project imminent in Hadley
By SCOTT MERZBACH
HADLEY — Demolition of a former auto repair shop and trees being cut down will be among the first signs that a $25 million project to widen a section of Route 9 between town center and the shopping malls is underway.Town Administrator Carolyn Brennan...
Mount Holyoke College president Sonya Stephens stepping down in August
By DUSTY CHRISTENSEN
SOUTH HADLEY — Yet another local college president is stepping down, the third such announcement in less than six months.On Wednesday, Mount Holyoke College President Sonya Stephens announced that she will part ways with the school in August to take a...
Smith speaker Luma Mufleh is founder of school for refugees
By BERA DUNAU
NORTHAMPTON — Luma Mufleh, who was shaped by her experience at her beloved alma mater, Smith College, and went on to found the refugee and immigrant education nonprofit Fugees Family, will be Smith’s commencement speaker this year.“I thought it was...
East Gables housing project in Amherst set to break ground in March
By SCOTT MERZBACH
AMHERST — Construction of 28 small studio apartments for low-income individuals, including more than a third that will be set aside for those who have recently been homeless, is expected to begin by mid-March.The Valley Community Development project...
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