Hadley planners OK used car business across from Hopkins Academy on Russell Street

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HADLEY — A used car business that can display up to 10 vehicles for sale at a time will be allowed to set up at a 1.4-acre parcel at the corner of Route 9 and Goffe Street.

Juneteenth celebrations on tap in Amherst, Holyoke

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Black military service, music, education, artistry, entrepreneurship and civil rights will be part of the fifth annual Ancestral Bridges’ Juneteenth Legacy Celebration on Saturday.

Amherst Finance Committee backs plan for steep water, sewer rate hikes

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — With the Finance Committee advising the “worst is yet to come” for the town’s aging sewer system, members are unanimously supporting steep increases to the town’s proposed sewer and water rates.

Beacon Hill Roll Call, June 2-6

By Bob Katzen

A Look Back, June 10

By JIM BRIDGMAN

James F. Cahillane, chairman of the Northampton Redevelopment Authority and board member for five years, announced last night that he will step down on June 30. Under Cahillane’s term, the city has seen the growth of two NRA projects. The Northampton Industrial Park was completed in the fall of 1972 and the Pleasant/River Urban Renewal project is nearing the completion of the survey and planning phase.

Area briefs: No Kings rally in Northampton Saturday; Adult drawing for beginner classes; ARHS Class of ‘75 reunion; Historic Deerfield offers inside look at Stebbins House project

NORTHAMPTON — A No Kings rally is being held on the steps of Northampton City Hall Saturday at 10:30 a.m.

The ‘Falls’ on the rise in South Hadley

By EMILEE KLEIN

SOUTH HADLEY — Smack in between the lush pathway along the Hadley Falls Dam and the stately Old Firehouse Museum — in the town’s newly designated historical district — sits a heaping pile of bricks, metal and trash loosely enclosed by a wire fence.

Northampton council backs Medicare for All resolution in state

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — Count the city among those advocating for universal health care in the state of Massachusetts.

Trump yanks $87M clean energy grant from Sublime Systems for its low-carbon cement plant in Holyoke

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HOLYOKE — Recent cancellation of an $87 million federal grant to support construction of a low-carbon cement startup’s manufacturing plant in Holyoke is not expected to derail plans that would have that facility open by 2028, though the company is reviewing backup options.

Dufresne Park in Granby to lose 2,300 more dead, infested trees in second phase of removal

By EMILEE KLEIN

GRANBY — A second phase of the Dufresne Park forest management plan will remove more trees than the first — 2,300 dead, fallen or infested trees — after the Select Board previously said the additional round of management would remove fewer trees compared to two years ago.

Hadley retains Action EMS to handle service for two more years

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HADLEY — A new two-year contract with a private ambulance service, with an option for a third year, will mean emergency medical care at the Advanced Life Support level for Hadley residents will continue to be provided by Action EMS Ambulance.

Equipment failure at Turners Falls dam leads to 300-gallon hydraulic fluid leak

By ANTHONY CAMMALLERI

TURNERS FALLS — An equipment malfunction caused FirstLight Hydro Generating Co.’s Turners Falls dam to leak roughly 300 gallons of hydraulic fluid into the Connecticut River last week, marking the facility’s fourth such incident since 2021.

A Look Back, June 9

By JIM BRIDGMAN

The Family Planning Council of Western Massachusetts is conducting its first large-scale fundraising drive to make up for government cutbacks in the council’s funding. The council, which serves 7,500 clients in the four Western Massachusetts counties, hopes to raise $10,000 from private sources, according to Leslie Laurie, its executive director.

Smith Academy celebrates its virtuous, close-knit Class of 2025

By SAMUEL GELINAS

HATFIELD — “Drive safely, drive slowly, and support public works.”

House passes bill overhauling cannabis laws, CCC

By COLIN A. YOUNG

The House approved a significant overhaul of marijuana oversight in Massachusetts on Wednesday, passing a bill that would downsize and reorient the scandal-hounded Cannabis Control Commission that has kept tabs on the legal industry since it launched almost eight years ago.

Vacant former school in South Amherst could become anchor for housing development

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Even with several residential developments in the pipeline or under construction in Amherst, including some aimed at providing homes for low- and moderate-income individuals and families, the town is looking at creating new opportunities for addressing a continued housing shortage.

Area briefs: Neal to headline ‘Building & Sustaining Livable Communities’ event; Comic show to benefit Tides for Reproductive Freedom; Father’s Day concert for the children of Gaza

HOLYOKE — OneHolyoke CDC will host a lunchtime event, “Building & Sustaining Livable Communities” featuring U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, on Monday, June 16, at 12 p.m., at Wyckoff Country Club, 233 Easthampton Road, Holyoke.

Marijuana product manufacturing proposal rejected at Whately Town Meeting

By CHRIS LARABEE

WHATELY — Eighty-six residents approved all but one of the 25 articles on Tuesday’s Annual Town Meeting warrant, rejecting a petition that would have added a “Marijuana Product Light Manufacturer” to the town’s table of use regulations.

Highway chief: work zone ‘crisis’ demands blue lights solution

By ELLA ADAMS

BOSTON – Massachusetts is mired in a work zone safety “crisis,” and allowing state transportation vehicles to utilize blue lights at sites on high-speed roadways would slow down drivers and save lives, the state’s top highway official told lawmakers on Tuesday.

‘That’s my graduate!’: Granby High School celebrates its 52-member Class of 2025

By Lily Reavis

GRANBY — Hundreds of family members, friends, former teachers, and loved ones filled the Granby Junior Senior High School gymnasium on Saturday morning to celebrate the school’s Class of 2025.