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By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Amherst officials will have until the end of April to sign a contract with a general contractor to begin work on the $46.1 million expansion and renovation of the Jones Library.

The Pioneer Valley Transit Authority has landed two grants totaling $435,000 from the state to expand mobility for older adults, people with disabilities and low-income individuals.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — The Natural Resources Conservation Service office for Massachusetts, located at 451 West St. since 1980, could close as part of 748 lease terminations posted online this week by the Trump administration.

By Staff Report

AMHERST — A portion of Henry Street in the Cushman section of town will be temporarily closed on some evenings as a way to protect salamanders, frogs and amphibians that will be migrating during cool and rainy weather, as well as the human volunteers who will be assisting them to get across the road.

John Cameron Mitchell, the writer, director and star of the movie musical “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” will take part in a screening and discussion of the movie at Mount Holyoke College’s Gamble Auditorium on Monday, March 10, at 5 p.m.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — In the midst of a search for a permanent principal to oversee the Amherst Regional Middle School, a new interim principal is being appointed for the remainder of the school year.

President Donald Trump did more than humiliate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He humiliated himself and the American people. He acted like a bully and an evil dictator — and a pawn of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

By Staff Report

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Improving pedestrian access and parking near Kendrick Park, where a downtown playground is located, and beginning predevelopment on a housing development at the former VFW site on Main Street that will include space serving homeless individuals, are projects being recommended for Community Development Block Grant funding.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

NORTHAMPTON — Collective Copies, a worker-owned, union copy shop, is in the midst of expanding and renovating its production facility at 93 Main St. in Florence, a project that will accommodate the consolidation of its longtime site at 71 South Pleasant St. in Amherst when that storefront closes on May 1.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Eliminating the reading intervention program, cutting five special education instructors and three paraprofessionals, and reducing hours for specialist instructors and band teachers, are among changes that could be implemented at Amherst’s three elementary schools beginning in the fall.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Even with the late start on constructing a new $97.5 million elementary school on South East Street, indications are that the building will still be ready for occupancy in the fall of 2026.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A full team of five teachers at Amherst Regional Middle School, who provide instruction in English language arts, mathematics, science, social studies and special education to seventh and eighth graders, would be eliminated as part of at least 18 staff cuts, saving around $1.39 million, at the regional schools if a proposal under consideration is adopted for next fiscal year.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Amber KaCey, a participant in Senior Center programs for almost 20 years, is pleased with the town’s plans for undertaking $2.8 million in upgrades to the Bangs Community Center building, beginning this summer.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Moving to ranked-choice voting for local elections, imposing a real estate transfer fee on some property transactions, and allowing permanent legal residents to vote in town elections are measures Amherst officials are continuing to support.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Less than two years since taking the helm as chancellor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Javier Reyes interviewed as a finalist to become the next president of West Virginia University.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A one-month extension is being sought from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners so Amherst officials have time to hire a general contractor to handle the $46.1 million expansion and renovation of the Jones Library.

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.

When presidential candidate Donald Trump was shot in Butler, Pennsylvania, he jumped up and shouted “Fight, fight, fight!” and was immediately accused of trying to incite violence.

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.