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By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — In advance of a final fiscal year 2026 budget proposal for the Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools being brought forward for an anticipated School Committee vote Friday, a three-member subcommittee is recommending preserving almost all student-facing positions at the high school and middle school by restoring $696,000 in possible cuts.

At a time when reactionary forces seek to undermine an open and inclusive society, Amherst must reaffirm its commitment to institutions that uphold our progressive values. Chief among them is the Jones Library, a vital resource for knowledge, civic participation, and cultural exchange. More than just a building filled with books, the library provides English language programs, historical archives, and shared public resources that ensure every resident, regardless of background, can fully participate in community life.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Life-threatening dangers are posed any time a migratory bird approaches a building, unaware that it could be on course to strike a window.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

SHUTESBURY — Hayley Bolton, who for the past six years has led senior centers in Amherst and Bernardston, is poised to become Shutesbury’s town administrator in April.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Identified last fall as the preferred location for a new fire station in South Amherst, Hickory Ridge Golf Course, the town-owned site on West Pomeroy Lane, is no longer being considered for that building project.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Three straight years of deficits at the Amherst Cinema, considered an unsustainable trend for the independent, nonprofit arts and education center, is prompting leadership to return the facility to its original three-screen site that opened in 2006, and to reduce the number of weekly showtimes.

It was a pleasure to read reporter Emilee Klein’s article on broom making by the students at the Hartsbrook School [”Fifth graders at Hartsbrook School make brooms from scratch,” Feb. 21]. Because the article describes Hartsbrook as “an agricultural school,” I would like to offer a fuller perspective on Waldorf education in general and the Hartsbrook School in particular.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A shift in culture has occurred at Crocker Farm School over the past decade, where even those students having a challenging time in their classrooms and in interactions with their peers are not sent to the main office.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — As Town Manager Paul Bockelman puts together a nearly $29.5 million fiscal year 2026 budget for Amherst’s municipal operations, the spending plan is currently projected at around a $540,000 deficit.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Dr. Khama Ennis, an Amherst resident and board-certified emergency physician with more than 20 years of clinical experience, is receiving the 2025 Black Excellence Award for the 3rd Hampshire District.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A three-building development featuring 140 residential units, 12,000 square feet of commercial space and 180 parking spaces is being proposed for 7.7 acres of vacant land owned by Hampshire College in the Atkins Corner area of town.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — An administrative request by the university demanding that a Pride flag flying from a flagpole at the UMass Transit Services area of the University of Massachusetts campus be removed is leading to the circulation of a petition calling out campus leaders.

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