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By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Over the last nine months of 2024, Amherst’s unarmed community responders handled 696 calls for service, either from people making direct appeals for help by walking into or calling the office, or having calls relayed from the town’s emergency dispatch center.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — The Massachusetts Historical Commission (MHC) is asking that all millwork in the original part of the Jones Library be preserved in some form, and for all windows in the expanded and renovated library building to take on an historic appearance, as final stipulations in a memorandum of agreement under the Section 106 Historic Preservation Review.

By Staff Report

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

Harsh weather conditions of significant snow combined with freezing rain, a lack of adequate salt supply and a shortage of available workers has left residents up and down the Pioneer Valley in slippery situations.

By RICHARD S. BOGARTZ

I’ve observed groups online discussing how to resist what is happening to our government. Mostly people are expressing their frustration at knowing something should be done but not knowing what, or how, and feeling so alone in their frustration.

Actions by the current administration’s elected officials and unelected operatives to gut the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) are disastrous on three levels: economic, diplomatic and spiritual. These actions, justified with a litany of falsehoods from both official administration sources and right-wing influencers, will result in economic pain for many Americans.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — An enhanced Strong Street crosswalk to make it safer to get to and from Wildwood Cemetery, Station Road improvements aimed at bettering connections to the Norwottuck Rail Trail and enhancing the use of a community garden at Butternut Farm are among more than $200,000 in resident requests coming before the Joint Capital Planning Committee.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Her class in Amherst College’s Science Center over, first-year student Zalia Salley pulled up a chair at a table set up near the building’s cafe, took some of the available blue, purple, violet and white yarn, and began crocheting.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Although only half the amount originally sought by the town manager, the Town Council is providing an extra $500,000 from free cash for resurfacing roads and doing sidewalk repairs this spring, summer and fall.

By MARIETTA PRITCHARD

Are we getting stupider? David Brooks writes in the New York Times that stupidity has come to define our politics. Even intelligent people can also be stupid, he argues. They can come to believe in conspiracist theories and make decisions against their own interests.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A Greenfield resident hired by the town to compile minutes for meetings, including Town Council sessions, is contending that Amherst officials are violating the state’s Open Meeting Law by not posting minutes in a timely manner.

Staff Report

AMHERST — A retail, event and satellite meeting space for the University of Massachusetts is open in Amherst center.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Before local and school celebrities took time out of their day to read stories to classes at Wildwood School this week, two sixth graders reflected on the power of dreaming and the importance of self expression.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Members of the Amherst Pelham Education Association remain divided over whether to offer support to Superintendent E. Xiomara Herman in the face of an ongoing investigation, led by the Regional and Union 26 school committees, into accusations of mismanagement and abusive behavior in the central office.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A consignment store to serve college campuses, offering inexpensive clothes and low-priced household items, was an idea hatched by students in a University of Massachusetts classroom.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Construction on a new track and field at Amherst Regional High School, at a cost of $4.11 million, should begin in late June.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — WinterFest Amherst, being called eight days of frosty fun, is beginning with cold-weather games and activities at Mill River Recreation Area and the Mill District in North Amherst on Saturday afternoon.

In a recent article, John Hornik, a former chair of the Amherst Housing Trust, incorrectly asserted that the university “has severely restricted housing for families on campus while only providing a small boost in graduate student housing” [“Nonprofit developers say cost, siting chief barriers to affordable housing in Valley,”Gazette, Jan. 29]. While housing availability and affordability are undeniably challenges that must be addressed, both locally and statewide, UMass Amherst is working to provide concrete solutions.

Given his actions, there can be no doubt that Donald Trump is bent on increasing the power and authority of the president well beyond the limits set by the Constitution. Virtually no Republican office-holder is courageous enough to resist this usurpation of power, despite their oath to “support and defend” the Constitution.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — New sprinkler and fire alarm systems, upgraded heating, ventilation and air conditioning, and accessibility enhancements are among $2.8 million in improvements planned for the Bangs Community Center — upgrades that fall short of addressing calls from members of the Council on Aging and senior residents to improve Senior Center facilities and immediately provide more space for activities.