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By SAMUEL GELINAS

WILLIAMSBURG — The snooze button has been repeatedly pressed on repairs to the town’s offices over the years — but the building is finally waking up.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — All current staff who work directly with students at Amherst’s three elementary schools, including teachers and paraeducators, would be preserved in a $28.59 million fiscal year 2026 budget being recommended by the School Committee.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Three sedimentation basins directly upstream from the reservoir at Atkins Reservoir, located in Shutesbury, will be dredged in the fall of 2026.

By ALEXA LEWIS

EASTHAMPTON — Grappling with both lower enrollment and higher levels of need among students, the Easthampton School Committee approved its $22.8 million fiscal year 2026 budget on Wednesday night.

By EMILEE KLEIN

BELCHERTOWN — Before chef Saul Ayala cooked in decorated Italian restaurants and high-end bars in Boston, Dallas and New York City, he learned about working in a kitchen from his cousin Roberto Saravia, owner of Masa Mexicano in Florence.

By SAMUEL GELINAS

WILLIAMSBURG — Town employees should expect to pay about $38 more a month for health insurance beginning July 1, as the town contends with an expected increase in premiums in fiscal year 2026.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

NORTHAMPTON — Vacancies for more than a third of the seats on the western Massachusetts Superior Court, causing some court sessions to be canceled and recall judges to be used to cover the workload, is prompting area legislators to appeal to Gov. Maura Healey for expediting the nomination of new judges.

By ALEXA LEWIS

WESTHAMPTON — The Hampshire Regional School District’s newly approved $18.2 million budget for next fiscal year presents a 4.5% increase in spending from the current year — but it carries with it the elimination of two full- and one part-time positions, which has raised concern from the district’s union.

By ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN

BOSTON — The state Department of Environmental Protection is fining Falls Farm, which has property in Montague and Sunderland, for violating the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act and Massachusetts Clean Water Act.

By CAROLYN BROWN

Author Margaret Atwood supposedly once said, “If I waited for perfection, I would never write a word.” With a new book, “Fierce Encouragement: 201 Writing Prompts for Staying Grounded in Fragile Times,” author and writing coach Jena Schwartz wants to inspire writers to build their own creative practices, no matter if the result isn’t entirely perfect.

By SAMUEL GELINAS

NORTHAMPTON — Homelessness and substance abuse are often two sides of the same coin — and a grant distribution of $150,000, matched by three municipalities, signals a focused effort to combat both in 14 Hampshire County communities.

By EMILEE KLEIN

BELCHERTOWN — Races are heating up for the May 19 town election, where two seats on the Select Board and one seat on the School Committee are up for grabs.

By ALEXA LEWIS

EASTHAMTON — The city has suspended its zoning enforcement on short-term rentals for review, hoping to clear up some confusion surrounding the regulation of these rentals in the community.

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

The Northampton Family Fourth Celebration is stepping up its call for donors ahead of its annual Fourth of July celebration, with the committee saying the event faces a “significant funding shortfall.”

By ALEXA LEWIS

EASTHAMPTON — The Easthampton Public School district joined a coalition of educators, school districts and unions Monday in filing legal action against the Trump administration’s dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — At least 1,000 students, staff and faculty, many from the Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools, descended on the Campus Center at the University of Massachusetts Monday morning, rallying to preserve 18 positions at the middle and high schools that could be lost due to budget cuts.

By SAMUEL GELINAS

HADLEY — Irate farmers, waving signs and pitchforks, gathered in front Town Hall on Sunday afternoon as tractors rolled in and the Expandable Brass Band played at the start of a “Attack on Small Farms” protest.

By EMILEE KLEIN

GRANBY — With the deadline to pull election papers set for Wednesday, contests are shaping up for a handful of municipal positions on the Select Board, Board of Health, Town Clerk and School Committee.

By EMILEE KLEIN

GRANBY — A fire tore through a barn on Morgan Street Sunday afternoon, ultimately resulting in a complete loss of the structure and its contents.

By ALEXA LEWIS

NORTHAMPTON — Physician assistants and health care advocates are hopeful a bill being considered on Beacon Hill could help to address a statewide shortage in primary care providers.

By ALEXA LEWIS

SOUTHAMPTON — Over 100 Southampton voters elected to pass all but one article at a special Town Meeting held on Saturday morning.