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The Amherst Regional girls tennis team has enjoyed a stellar start to the spring, and that continued on Thursday afternoon at the JFK Middle School tennis courts. Behind lights-out singles play, the ‘Canes cruised to a 5-0 win over Northampton to improve to 6-1 with their fourth consecutive victory.

By JIM BRIDGMAN

The Northampton recreation commission will ask the City Council tonight to take the first step toward constructing a new field sports recreation area for the city on 15 acres of land on Burts Pit Road. Patrick Goggins, director of the recreation department, said that the commission will ask the council for $3,900 to finance engineering studies for the project.

By RYAN AMES

AMHERST — A 6-0 third-quarter run from the Amherst girls lacrosse team was the difference in its 15-5 home win over Hampshire on Thursday following a 4-3 halftime lead for the Raiders.

By SAMUEL GELINAS

SPRINGFIELD — Bishop William Byrne not only introduced the Diocese of Springfield’s new executive director for its Catholic Charities Agency this week but also laid out the evolution that the agency will see now that protection of immigrants is no longer part of its agenda in the wake of federal cuts.

By SAMUEL GELINAS

CHESTER — When the retail cannabis industry was paving its way in 2019, advocates for the drug steered away from the stereotype of a reclining, Cheetos-eating stoner and instead promoted the idea that cannabis is a cure-all for a variety of ailments. “It’s natural” was a common mantra.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HADLEY — Before 2,000 cases of V-One Vodka produced in a Kamień, Poland, factory can be unloaded from a cargo ship, set to arrive in Port Elizabeth, N.J., next week, company founder Paul Kozub will have to pay the U.S. government an $8,000 fee.

By SAMUEL GELINAS

NORTHAMPTON — Who is the area’s person of the year?

By GARRETT COTE

AMHERST — UMass men’s basketball head coach Frank Martin landed a pair of commitments on Wednesday, as forwards Dimitri Clerc and Charles Outlaw – former junior college players – transferred to UMass out of the portal. That now makes four Minutemen transfers coming in (joining K’Jei Parker and Donovan Brown), and all four have either been from JUCO or Division 2.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Three full-time positions at the Jones Library will remain vacant, as they have for the past six years, in the $3.09 million budget proposal recommended by the elected trustees.

By EMILEE KLEIN

BELCHERTOWN — Demolition and abatement of the environmentally-contaminated old power plant on the Belchertown State School property is underway as part of the redevelopment of the sprawling site.

By RYAN AMES

It’s been an eventful start to the high school girls lacrosse season, as numerous area athletes have already reached career milestones less than a month into the spring season.

By CHRIS LARABEE

WHATELY — More than 120 area residents packed into Town Hall on Wednesday for a conversation with U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern to voice their ongoing concerns with the Trump administration.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

Several Amherst Regional High School students recently had the opportunity to travel to the State House to offer testimony to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means hearing, explaining to legislators why funding formulas for state aid to local school districts should be revised.

By RUSS VERNON-JONES

The COVID pandemic — with its fear, and its quarantine, and its ongoing recommendations for limiting social contact — is still affecting us. Even if we are not among the many unfortunate individuals who are still ill with long COVID, our situation has changed. We are now living in a society where loneliness has increased and trust has decreased. As Jeet Heer wrote in The Nation, “In the wake of COVID, Americans have become more individualistic, more conspiracy-minded, and less committed to collective social effort.” We tend to be more separate from each other.

I am the treasurer for the Campaign to Elect Laurie Loisel. People presume it’s a rather boring job, and it’s not all fun, but I find it exciting because money is energy. Potential energy, to be precise. For us ordinary, non-Elon Musk types, work is converted to money, and money is transformed into things. Often those things are personal needs, like housing and food for ourselves and our families. But some money can catalyze improvements in the community and the world.

I would like to formally introduce myself as one of the two candidates for the position of Granby town clerk. My name is Virginia Hajdamowicz and I believe we need a fresh set of eyes and a different perspective to improve our town. At my current position as the administrative assistant to the superintendent of Granby Public Schools, I have increased the communication and transparency among the district and to the families in my first few months. I have improved the school’s social media pages including Facebook and the website and I strongly believe I could do the same for the town.

By WILLIAM LAMBERS

The joy of finding an Easter basket filled with food and gifts is something you never forget. Even greater is the feeling of giving an Easter basket of food to someone in need. This has been a great tradition for many years.

AMHERST

By COLIN A. YOUNG

BOSTON — Economic Development Secretary Yvonne Hao is stepping down from her port at the end of the month, with Undersecretary of Economic Foundations Ashley Stolba in line to take over the secretary’s duties on an interim basis, the Healey administration said Tuesday.

By MARILYN MARKS

During these times of political, economic, and climate turbulence, anger and alarm surge and tensions run high. In responding to our poly-crisis situation, we quickly assign blame. However, pointing the finger at Washington, D.C. and shouting “Tyranny!” is ideally balanced with uprooting the tyranny we may unknowingly carry within ourselves.