Search Results

Keyword search: AMHERST MA

I have sent the following message to Congressman Jim McGovern and Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, and I would like to share it here: I am honored to have you as my representative in Congress, but I must ask you now to step outside of your comfort zone as a representative and a lawmaker. I am asking you to become a leader. Our country is now under the control of a man of the lowest, most dangerous character. In the Trump regime, as they say in Russian, “Dna ne sushchestvuet,” which means “there is no bottom.” I am asking you, imploring you, to join with other Democratic leaders in the House and Senate to call a general strike. It is time to shut the country down, even at risk that MAGA cult members will bring out their guns and shoot people in the streets, even at risk that the regime will declare martial law and order American troops to use violence to suppress protest by the American people. It is time for millions and millions of Americans to take to the streets and take down this vile and intolerably corrupt regime. At a recent town hall meeting in Northampton, a member of the audience shouted out a question to Jim McGovern: “How will you lead us?” Perhaps as your constituents, it is incumbent on all of us to rise up in massive protest. But the fact remains that we need we need leadership to make these protests happen. Without action now, our democracy will be permanently destroyed and the entire world put in jeopardy. Please lead us!

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools’ $37.08 million budget for fiscal year 2026, recommended by the Amherst Regional School Committee, won final approval Monday, with the Amherst Town Council unanimously agreeing to the town’s $19.74 million assessment.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — With markers in their hands, students and staff from both Fort River and Wildwood schools throughout the day on Monday inscribed their names on a beam that will become part of the entrance canopy at the town’s first new elementary school building in more than 50 years.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — An inexpensive way to turn disposable forks, knives and spoons used in the school cafeteria and other recycled plastics into filament for the school’s three-dimensional printer is the purpose of a prototype machine being built by Amherst Regional High School students.

It makes no sense to dial back clean energy tax credits for solar and energy-saving tech

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Year-long delays on demolition are being imposed by the Historical Commission on two Amherst College-owned residential properties, though college officials have permission to raze a dilapidated estate on South Pleasant Street, as soon as its history is professionally documented.

By JUSTIN TAYLOR

The recent commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord begins the celebration of the nation’s Semiquincentennial. At first glance, the struggle of eighteenth-century America may seem unrelated to the issues we face today and for many, the American Revolution can seem like a distant event, completely removed from the modern American, and therefore easy to ignore. This is a mistake: the American Revolution should not be treated like a relic or merely a holiday to be celebrated. It is an ongoing experiment, and the people of Amherst and of the United States today are as much a part of it as the early patriots of 1776.

Despite the Gazette’s somewhat misleading recent headline stating that the FY26 budget submitted for the town of Amherst “nearly meets school requests,” the town manager’s budget does not grant what the schools actually need.

By SAMUEL GELINAS

AMHERST — Change is a theme common enough at college commencements — a beginning and an end. But for the UMass Amherst class of 2025, change seemed more pressing and obvious when they received their diplomas Friday night.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A $1 million National Endowment for the Humanities grant awarded to the Jones Library two years ago is being canceled by the Trump administration.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — In separate trips to the plaza outside Hampden Commons on the University of Massachusetts campus Wednesday morning, sophomore Grace Altman hand-delivered an upholstered headboard with outlets, and a rug and ottoman, furnishings she had in her Southwest Residential Area dorm room.

By CAROLYN BROWN

After 65 years playing and directing church music, 17 of those as First Church Amherst minister of music, Dick Matteson is ready to celebrate his legacy with the Pioneer Valley. He plans to retire next month, and a farewell concert will be held this Saturday, May 17, at 2 p.m.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Falling ceiling tiles, locked bathrooms with broken stalls and a class schedule that regularly drops a guided academic study and advisory period are among concerns Amherst Regional Middle School student leaders are bringing to the Regional School Committee.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Bradley James Driscoll, 26, of Amherst, will spend the next five years in prison for distribution and possession of child sexual abuse material, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.

By RUSS VERNON-JONES

Donald Trump and his minions are deliberately destroying our federal government and the economy, giving control to billionaires and far-right extremists, enriching themselves, waging war on workers, immigrants, and marginalized populations, worsening the climate crisis, stealing our private data, and eliminating government services that have protected our health, safety, and security.

Amherst is blessed with outstanding EMTs! I know because I have needed their services several times over the past year. The EMTs come promptly, listen carefully to one’s health issues, do a thorough exam including an EKG, are always kind, courteous and completely respectful. All of this care is critical when one is upset, afraid and in pain. Many thanks to our excellent, professional EMT department!

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A barn preservation program aimed at protecting iconic and historically valuable barns across Amherst is being introduced by the Historical Commission.

By Staff Report

AMHERST — A smoke detector covered in plastic in a University of Massachusetts dormitory room, delaying firefighter response and evacuation of the building during a fire that started in a trash can and spread to a bed Wednesday evening, is prompting a criminal complaint for tampering with a fire alarm against the student tenant, according to the Amherst Fire Department.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — During his military service, Charles Thompson, a Black soldier from Amherst serving in the 54th regiment during the Civil War, recounted his thoughts and feelings of his experience in a handwritten letter to his sister, Mary Thompson.

Throughout the world people are honoring the life of Pope Francis who was both a spiritual and political leader. He called on all of us to make it a priority to protect the environment, provide justice for all, especially the poor and marginalized, and to work for peace. In our country flags flew at half-mast in his honor. But to truly honor Pope Francis, it is not enough to lower our flags, light candles, and bow our heads. May we all reflect on and be guided in our actions by the Pope’s words and deeds.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A consolidation from three elementary school buildings to two is expected to mean some savings for the school budget beginning in July 2026, but Superintendent E. Xiomara Herman is cautioning the spending reductions may be limited.