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By CAROLYN BROWN

One of the most prosperous individuals in early Southampton was Ichabod Strong, who dammed the Manhan River and established a sawmill there in the early 1730s; that mill complex, once known as the Strong’s Mills complex, now part of the Lockville Historic District. Strong, who was described in a genealogy book as “a man of stirring business qualities of character” and “best of all, a remarkably godly man,” also built four farmhouses in the area, which his sons and grandsons inherited. One of those farmhouses, part of the National Register of Historic Places, is on the market right now.

By CHRIS LARABEE

With bodies of water receding and brush fires throughout the state, it was clearly a dry fall for the Pioneer Valley and new data analysis confirms the season was historically dry for western Massachusetts.Preliminary National Weather Service data for...

By CAROLYN BROWN

An arcade near Boston will soon have a new location in Northampton.Hometown Arcade will open its third location in the basement of Thornes Marketplace this November, replacing what used to be Acme Surplus, though the exact opening date is yet to be...

By LISA GOODRICH

As National Farm to School Month unfolds during October, the Connecticut River Valley puts the idea in action. Nationally observed since 2010, the month highlights the collaboration between farms and local schools.Simply feeding children is the root...

By GARRETT COTE

AMHERST — Of course the fate of the UMass football team’s homecoming game against FCS Central Connecticut State University was going to come down to Blue Devils quarterback Brady Olson — who transferred from UMass in the offseason — having the...

By ANTHONY CAMMALLERI

BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey signed an attachment to the fiscal year 2025 budget banning municipalities from taking the entire equity in a home in the event of a tax lien foreclosure, a practice detractors call “home equity theft.”The budget attachment,...

By DOMENIC POLI

ASHFIELD — The town is seeking a “Climate Leader” designation from the state that would help it reduce emissions by increasing its use of equipment run on electricity rather than those requiring fossil fuels, and maximizing the efficiency of...

By EMILEE KLEIN

BELCHERTOWN — The state has approved funding for a new $6 million water system at Pine Valley Plantation Mobile Home Park to replace the park’s 45-year-old water pipes.Pine Valley Plantation, in the southern part of town across from Cold Springs...

By CHRIS LARABEE

Take a drive down Routes 5 and 10 and count the number of electric or hybrid vehicles you see. Compare those numbers to what you saw two years, five years or 10 years ago and you’re likely looking at a significant increase.Data from the Massachusetts...

By JAMES PENTLAND

NORTHAMPTON — Four years after reports of veterans’ deaths at the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke began to grow in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the legal cases against the home’s former superintendent and medical director came to an end at a...

By RUIHAN YANG

After years of being homeless, Amy “adapted” to living on the streets under insecurity.“I thought I wasn’t going to wake up, but I woke up, and I’m fine. The more I feel adapted to staying outside without a person that stays with me, the more I...

By CHRIS LARABEE

DEERFIELD — With the help of a $50,000 grant, the town will explore the feasibility of a geothermal heating and cooling system for the proposed town campus project.Over the next year, Deerfield will explore the possibility of using the earth below...

By MADDIE FABIAN

As the state considers the governor’s proposed $4.13 billion Affordable Homes Act — a comprehensive roadmap for affordable housing across the Commonwealth — a group of 16 western Massachusetts legislators are advocating for amendments to meet housing...

By MARY BYRNE

Social service agencies across the region will team up this month to get a head count of people sleeping in shelters and, in some cases, outside.The annual Point-in-Time count is a national initiative set up by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban...

By CHRIS LARABEE

A trend of warm years further cemented itself in 2023, as Massachusetts experienced, on average, its warmest year on record, according to new data from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.The average temperature around Massachusetts for the year...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL 

NORTHAMPTON — A planned Community Resilience Hub in the works since 2019 may finally have a building to host it.Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra announced Friday that the city has executed an option to purchase the former First Baptist Church building,...

By JACOB NELSON

WORTHINGTON — “Agriculture is going to have to look different,” says Lincoln Fishman of Sawyer Farm in Worthington, given the climate crisis. “And I’m just not interested in farming the old way.”Well-read and well-spoken, Fishman has a keen ability to...

By EVELINE MACDOUGALL

Those of us lucky enough to live in western Massachusetts sometimes feel at least partly insulated from global crises. Of course, our region is not immune to challenges. Fortunately, the creativity that makes us the envy of visitors helps us find...

By BRIAN STEELE

NORTHAMPTON — The Roundhouse municipal parking lot is fully fenced off as workers prepare to expand and repave it, while less than 50 feet away still sits the homeless tent encampment that Mayor David Narkewicz wanted vacated by Thursday.MASS-WEST...

By FRANCIE LIN

I should preface this review by saying that bidet attachments, like so much else in the COVID-19 world, have become wildly popular and can therefore cost up to three times the amount we paid for ours. However, if you want to take the plunge, here is...

By MICHAEL CONNORS

HOLYOKE — After a months-long investigation into a large-scale heroin distribution operation, police and federal authorities raided two addresses and arrested a city teenager on drug and firearm-related charges Wednesday. Luis Garcia-Figueroa, 19, was...