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By DUSTY CHRISTENSEN

HOLYOKE — It was with music, chants of “freedom” and fists raised high in the air that Holyoke welcomed the controversial, long-jailed Puerto Rican nationalist Oscar Lopez Rivera on Thursday.Lopez Rivera, 74, is known for his role as a leader of the...

By DUSTY CHRISTENSEN

SOUTH HADLEY — The Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Public Charter School is looking for a new director after trustees voted Monday to fire head of school George Simpson. The board’s decision comes a month after Reading police arrested Simpson on...

By DUSTY CHRISTENSEN

AMHERST — The first of two listening sessions on the composition of a school building committee for the Fort River site will occur next Tuesday.In May, Town Meeting appropriated $250,000 for a feasibility study that is to include an in-depth...

By DUSTY CHRISTENSEN

NORTHAMPTON — A man suffered minor injuries Wednesday when he crashed his vehicle through a large bush and into the side of the Whiting Energy Fuels building off Barrett Street. The man, whom officials did not identify, was taken to Cooley Dickinson...

By DUSTY CHRISTENSEN

U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Springfield, is one of 237 members of the House to co-sponsor a controversial bill that the American Civil Liberties Union says would impose harsh penalties on U.S. citizens who support a boycott of Israel.The bill, known as...

By DUSTY CHRISTENSEN

PELHAM — School officials here say their district is facing a troubling budget shortfall after a local charter school erroneously listed two students as living outside the Pelham district last fall. The recent correction of that mistake, coupled with...

By DUSTY CHRISTENSEN

NORTHAMPTON — Health care, Donald Trump and war were some of the topics of conversation when U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Worcester, visited 19 residents of Rockridge Retirement Community for an intimate conversation on Friday.Earlier in the day,...

By DUSTY CHRISTENSEN

HADLEY — After more than four years of talks, planning, setbacks and fundraising, work finally began Tuesday to repair the historic dam at Lake Warner, also known as North Hadley Pond.The repairs will save both the deteriorating historical structure...

By DUSTY CHRISTENSEN

BELCHERTOWN — After almost a year without a new contract for workers, Belchertown teachers and their school district have agreed to tentative terms, though custodial, secretarial, food service and paraprofessional bargaining units continue to...

By DUSTY CHRISTENSEN

A new public-private initiative could see drug education programs instituted at many of the state’s middle schools by next academic year.The program, dubbed “Project Here,” is a $2 million addiction-prevention and education initiative that state...

By DUSTY CHRISTENSEN

AMHERST — The American Institute of Architects and its Committee on the Environment have recognized a Hampshire College building as one of this year’s greenest structures.As part of the institute’s yearly “Top Ten Awards,” the AIA has recognized...

By DUSTY CHRISTENSEN

Several local colleges have been included on a list of schools “doing the most for the American dream.”In The New York Times’ third annual College Access Index measuring colleges’ commitment to economic diversity, Amherst College was ranked No. 7 —...

By DUSTY CHRISTENSEN

EASTHAMPTON — The state attorney general’s office has launched an investigation after months of racial tensions at Easthampton High School.During an update on race-related incidents and the school district’s response, Superintendent Nancy Follansbee...

By DUSTY CHRISTENSEN

NORTHAMPTON — Since immigrating to the Pioneer Valley from Venezuela last year, Biani Salas has faced many of the obstacles that so many in her situation find in the United States: racism, workplace discrimination, language barriers and difficulty...

By DUSTY CHRISTENSEN

AMHERST — Local jazz legend Tom McClung, a pianist and composer known for his versatility, died Saturday at the age of 60 after a yearslong battle with cancer.McClung was born in New York in 1957 to Robert McClung, the acclaimed Amherst author of some...

By DUSTY CHRISTENSEN

AMHERST — In his short story “The Daughters of the Moon,” the writer Italo Calvino described a mythological New York City “where every object was thrown away at the slightest sign of breakage or aging, at the first dent or stain, and replaced with a...

By DUSTY CHRISTENSEN

AMHERST — Earth is in the midst of a mass extinction of animal life, and the term “Anthropocene extinction” gives an obvious clue as to the cause: human activity.Due to everything from habitat destruction to environmental degradation and climate...

By DUSTY CHRISTENSEN

AMHERST — As a first-generation college student, 22-year-old Kalsang Nangpa was thrilled to take part in the University of Massachusetts commencement ceremony next week.As part of the ceremony, there is a parade of flags from the different nations...

By DUSTY CHRISTENSEN

AMHERST — Around 100 people gathered Tuesday evening to watch as the Gazette presented its Person of the Year and Young Community Leader awards.Longtime early childhood educator Barbara Black and 18-year-old Hopkins Academy senior Allison Jenks...

By DUSTY CHRISTENSEN

NORTHAMPTON — Anti-Semitic vandalism, harassment and assaults surged in Massachusetts last year as the state saw the fifth-highest number of such incidents in the country, a new report finds.Information released Monday by the Anti-Defamation League...

By DUSTY CHRISTENSEN, MORGAN HUGHES and NICOLE DEFEUDIS

NORTH ADAMS — Speaking to the public for the first time in seven weeks, law enforcement officials on Friday tied an Easthampton woman to an investigation involving her deceased ex-boyfriend and his missing wife. Laura J. Reilly, 42, has pleaded not...