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By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — After more than five years of sitting vacant, the site of the old Faces store at 175 Main St. will finally have a new occupant, one that’s already established itself as a downtown mainstay of downtown.

By DOMENIC POLI

NEW SALEM — Chris Ames has been chosen as North Congregational Church’s interim pastor, replacing a man who held the job for more than half a century.

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — For Sarah Ahearn, the movement to legalize overdose prevention centers in Massachusetts is a deeply personal one.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A section of North Pleasant Street north of the University of Massachusetts campus, incorporating the Puffton Village, Presidential, Townehouse and Brandywine apartment complexes, will be examined by Planning Department staff as an appropriate area to significantly increase housing density.

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — Downtown Northampton is about to get a whole lot sweeter.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

Amherst Global Village Festival, an event to celebrate cultural diversity and promote inclusivity in the community, will be held for the first time at the Amherst Regional Middle School, 170 Chestnut St., on Saturday.

By ANTHONY CAMMALLERI

GREENFIELD — Sixty-two-year-old Tammy Baxter never received her high school diploma. With help from The Literacy Project, though, the Turners Falls resident is seeking to finish what she started.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — State education officials were crystal clear with the Amherst Regional School Committee on Monday night, warning members that they are not to vary from an agreement that determines how much each of the district’s four member towns must pay each year.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Potential layoffs of educators at K-12 schools across the state next fiscal year, which Massachusetts Teachers Association President Max Page said could be catastrophic, is prompting his organization to ask the Legislature to take a three-prong approach to addressing the problem — use Fair Share Amendment surpluses, find ways to increase corporate tax revenues and dip into the state’s reserves.

By EMILEE KLEIN

SOUTH HADLEY— Almost the entirety of the 479 members of South Hadley High School student body walked out of the building on Monday afternoon to advocate for changes to the state education funding formula.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — The Amherst Survival Center’s largest fundraising event of the year is being held Saturday, at a time when demand for its food pantry is much higher on a monthly basis than during the COVID pandemic and as federal support is being slashed for food banks and food programs.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HADLEY — Concerns about the possible impact to property taxes for homeowners of even a smaller Department of Public Works headquarters is giving town officials pause about bringing the full project to voters at annual Town Meeting on May 1.

By EMILEE KLEIN

SOUTH HADLEY — The town will break ground next week on a second round of renovations for Buttery Brook Park that will further expand recreational offerings with the addition of more pickleball courts, a disc golf course and a band shell, among other items.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A half-mile section of University Drive could become ripe for both mixed-use developments and apartment-style housing as the Town Council nears adopting a long-awaited zoning change.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — More stringent oversight of spending on salaries, capital projects and various non-personnel expenditures at the University of Massachusetts, and both reducing graduate admissions in some departments and notifying some prospective graduate students that they will not be able to study in Amherst, are underway, according to a letter sent to the campus from UMass Chancellor Javier Reyes.

By CHRIS LARABEE

SOUTH DEERFIELD — One of the prospective owners of Magic Wings often thinks back to fond memories of celebrating a life milestone at the nearly quarter-century-old butterfly conservatory and gardens on Routes 5 and 10.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

NORTHAMPTON — A decision by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to terminate a $3.4 million allocation to Massachusetts for purchase of 121,830 cases of food items, including eggs, chicken, milk, fruit, pasta, beans and salmon for food banks across the state is being criticized by representatives of food security organizations and the Healey-Driscoll administration.

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.