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By EMILEE KLEIN

AMHERST — UMass doctoral candidate Shannon Callaham had initially planned to spend last week analyzing interview data between Holyoke community members and energy industry professionals as part of a grant-funded project that centered around environmental justice in Holyoke’s transition to renewable energy.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Being enacted for the first time during construction of the new elementary school, Amherst’s Percent for Art program will continue to bring in around $250,000 for a public art installation, after members of the Town Council rejected cutting this spending, citing the importance of promoting public art in the face of hostility from the White House.

By MARTHA HANNER and ASH HARTWELL

We are deeply concerned regarding the potential cutback of funding for CRESS in the proposed FY2026 town operating budget being presented to the Town Council. In the aftermath of the national reaction to George Floyd’s murder in 2020, the council passed a resolution, committing Amherst to ending structural racism and achieving racial equity.

In regards to the May 17 article (“Feds strip Jones of $1M grant), I read with dismay that an Amherst resident appealed to DOGE and federal officials to halt funding for the planned Humanities Center. Apparently this resident took exception to the Civil War tablets and gender neutral bathroom aspects of the project. This shows a chilling disregard for the history and people of Amherst. I sincerely hope that the Civil War tablets and exhibit will find their promised home in the new library. The tablets list the names of all 300 or more local residents who fought in the Civil War, regardless of “color.” The exhibit showcases and honors the 54th MA Volunteer Regiment and Calvary. Yes, these soldiers were Black. Yes, there have been people of many ethnic backgrounds in Amherst for hundreds of years — including the Bridges family whose efforts preserve and commemorate this part of our history. I am happy that the library will have climate-controlled space for our famous literary figures. They, too, are an important part of our history, but only a part. As for gender neutral bathrooms, please, this is 2025. We can do better, as I hope that the Jones Library will continue to demonstrate.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — CRESS Connections, a new program of the Community Responders for Equity, Safety and Service, is bringing together the unarmed public safety professionals with local youths to build more meaningful relationships.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HADLEY — A sewer backup that caused wastewater to enter a Hadley apartment building on Greenleaves Drive Wednesday morning temporarily displaced more than 30 residents, and likely will force most first-floor tenants to seek other living arrangements for several days.

As the Trump administration’s immigration authorities detain, imprison and transport residents of our communities, the silence and inaction of our state leaders is shameful. Worse still, Gov. Maura Healey is constantly repeating that “Massachusetts is not a sanctuary state.” Incredibly, she seems to have more sympathy for the ICE thugs than for their victims.

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.

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 — 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.