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By EMILEE KLEIN

GRANBY — Nearly 15 months after the town approved $5.6 million to renovate the former West Street School into municipal offices and a senior center, the committee in charge of the project is proposing a $14.4 million restoration that would require passage of a Proposition 2½ override.

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

HOLYOKE — The city of Holyoke is set to lose out on $20 million in previously anticipated federal grants, as the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump continues to halt federal funding and grants that stand in contrast to his own political agenda.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

LEVERETT — An archaeological survey and mapping of the historic Graves’ Ironworks site, located downstream from the 1774 Slarrow Sawmill, will be supported with a small donation from the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s small-dollar grant program.

By ALEXA LEWIS

SOUTHAMPTON — With its sights set on replacing its timeworn fire and police stations, the town acquired the sprawling property referred to as 0 College Highway to serve as the site of a new public safety complex.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — An investigation has cleared Amherst Superintendent E. Xiomara Herman of allegations of threatening harm to a district employee, creating a hostile work environment for an employee and retaliating against employees who are part of a protected class.

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — Donaven Gibbs remembers the first time he heard about Northampton’s Division of Community Care, the agency that acts as an alternative response unit to assist people experiencing mental health crises or homelessness in the city.

By CHRIS LARABEE

WHATELY — A big increase driven by special education costs is projected in Whately Elementary School’s fiscal year 2026 budget.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HADLEY — A Worcester company denied permission to place a standalone battery in a Breckenridge Road gravel pit is suing the town’s Planning Board, contending its Jan. 7 decision is legally untenable and “unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious.”

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — An Orchard Valley home was destroyed, and a cat living at the residence likely killed, by an early Saturday morning fire, with the initial attack by firefighters compromised by a fire hydrant covered in snow and ice and frozen shut, and a second fire hydrant only working after being forced into operation.

By MADISON SCHOFIELD

As uncertainty swirls around Washington regarding the release of allocated federal funds, farmers throughout the Valley are beginning to feel the freeze.

By CHRIS LARABEE

WHATELY — Residents with thoughts on where they would like to see pollinator-centered landscape projects are encouraged to join town officials for a community forum on Thursday.

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — Despite a persistent strong division of opinion on how to support education in the city, everyone who attended Thursday’s City Council meeting agreed on one thing: The situation at Northampton Public Schools has reached a crisis.

By ALEXA LEWIS

Small, rural towns like many of those in the Pioneer Valley are often lauded for their sense of community. What makes that community feel so welcoming and vibrant is often a small group of hardworking volunteers — people who keep town governments running, plan local events, and make sure food pantries stay stocked with nutritious foods.

By ALEXA LEWIS

EASTHAMPTON — The City Council is seeking to fill an at-large council seat vacated by former councilor Owen Zaret, who resigned from his post earlier this month amid a request for censure by the School Committee.

By EMILEE KLEIN

SOUTH HADLEY — The Select Board is contemplating raising fees for trash and recycling over the next two fiscal years, a decision that if approved would come on the heels of a $100 increase this fiscal year to fund implementation costs for a new automated, cart-based trash system.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Town leaders continue to reaffirm its status as a sanctuary community, even as the Trump administration is threatening to cut off funding to any city or town not complying with the federal government’s immigration efforts.

By SAMUEL GELINAS

AMHERST — Researchers at the University of Massachusetts flagship campus are anxiously awaiting a courtroom showdown in Boston on Friday that may determine whether the Trump administration can follow through on its plan to slice National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding.

By ALEXA LEWIS

EASTHAMPTON — The city strengthened its commitment to being a welcoming community for all at Wednesday’s City Council meeting by reaffirming its Welcoming City Trust Ordinance — a move that drew mixed reactions from residents in the audience.

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — After more than 20 jobs were cut from city schools before the beginning of this school year, a measure has been put forward that may bring some of those positions back.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Over the last nine months of 2024, Amherst’s unarmed community responders handled 696 calls for service, either from people making direct appeals for help by walking into or calling the office, or having calls relayed from the town’s emergency dispatch center.