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By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Both Chelmsford Police Lt. Todd Ahern and Amherst interim Police Chief Gabriel Ting are citing their lived experiences, as well as their significant service to public safety, as reasons they should become the next police chief of the Amherst...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Construction of a new trail system on portions of the former Hickory Ridge Golf Course, including a loop trail for recreation and a north-south trail that will provide a more direct connection for East Hadley Road residents to Pomeroy...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Parents, educators and members of the Regional School Committee are making direct appeals to the Amherst Town Council to support a $35.75 million fiscal year 2025 budget that is nearly $1 million above the financial guidance provided by...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A University Drive office building will be the temporary location for the Jones Library during the renovation and expansion of the library’s home at 43 Amity St. over the next year and a half.Trustees for the Jones Library and town officials...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HADLEY — The Zoning Board of Appeals is taking a dim view of a variance requests from a Route 9 Hadley car dealership that would allow the installation of a new business sign exceeding the size limits imposed by town regulations and violating a...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A Belchertown resident with experience in promoting economic development, leading community events and building coalitions begins his tenure as executive director of the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce this month.Jacob Robinson, most...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Featuring a horn extending from its violet-colored head and a lower body resembling that of a lobster, with elements of a dolphin and turtle thrown in for good measure, the creature is quite a sight in its doll-like form.“It flies. It has...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — An Amherst councilor may seek to place some restrictions on how public comments are made at Town Council meetings, such as requiring advance sign-up for those participating remotely, as a way of combating potential hate speech.At a Town...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Climate change’s impact on farming, as well as emerging areas like urban agriculture, soil health and pollinators, are a focus for the University of Massachusetts Agricultural Extension Program, which continues to help farmers adapt and...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Skepticism and uncertainty from officials in Pelham, Leverett and Shutesbury over Amherst Regional School Committee’s appeal for nearly $1 million more from the four member towns is prompting the convening of a four-town meeting next month...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Collective Power for Reproductive Justice, based on the Hampshire College campus, recently received a $1 million grant from Yield Giving, a foundation created by philanthropist MacKenzie Scott.The organization, founded in 1981 as the Civil...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A dedicated outdoor fitness space could be added to the town’s recreational sites through support from a national initiative that would provide grant money to cover most costs of its installation.The Amherst Recreation Commission recently...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Three educators, two who work in Massachusetts and the other in the Virgin Islands, are finalists to become the next superintendent for the Amherst, Pelham and Amherst-Pelham Regional schools.The Superintendent Search Committee on Tuesday...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HADLEY — Even as several school districts across the region anticipate reducing staffing levels before next school year as they face a so-called fiscal cliff, school officials in Hadley are maintaining the current level of services and teaching...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — As she got to the podium to speak to the more than 50 people gathered at the ceremonial groundbreaking for Amherst’s new elementary school, resident and Democratic state Rep. Mindy Domb said she had goosebumps that a project to replace the...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — An Amherst police captain who has been the department’s temporary police chief since last May and a Chelmsford police lieutenant who has led the department’s wellness division are finalists to become the next chief for the Amherst Police...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — An overhaul of the greenspace in front of Town Hall and removal of the adjacent 34-space parking lot is resuming this week, with the $1.79 million North Common project on track to be completed this summer.Crews from Caracas Construction of...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HADLEY — During a summer in which area farms dealt with significant rainfall and flooded fields, keeping agricultural drainage ditches cleared became essential to protecting crops by ensuring excess water could be removed.Often, though, farmers found...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A Black-owned business organization is continuing its campaign to elicit financial support from the town, including money that it claims was unfairly withheld from those who run shops in town and needed the funds to recover from the...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HADLEY — A battery storage project proposed for a Breckenridge Road gravel pit is raising public safety concerns for town planners, even as the municipal board brings forward revisions to Hadley’s solar energy bylaw that would explicitly allow such...