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By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — Northampton Fire Chief Jon Davine was 27 years old when he entered the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy as a new recruit, before joining Northampton Fire Rescue in 1998. Now 25 years later, Davine will soon be the highest-ranking...

By MERCY LINGLE

NORTHAMPTON — In the community garden at Hampshire Heights, there is a two-person bench, perfect for tenants to sit on and watch as bees pollinate their plants. The garden is modestly sized but hosts an ecosystem of flowers, vegetables, herbs,...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — Samuel Solano first arrived in the United States as a boy in 1971, seeking a better life for himself in America. Fifty-two years later and now in his mid-60s, he held up his right hand in the historic Hampshire County Courthouse on...

By HELEN BEZUNEH

NORTHAMPTON — For many residents, Northampton’s small Black demographic stands in stark contrast with its distinct political identity. The city boasts a mere 2.7% Black population in a nation with an average Black population of 12%.Yet Black Lives...

Staff Report

AMHERST — The Regional Tibetan Association of Massachusetts will celebrate the 88th birthday of the 14th Dalai Lama over the next week by sponsoring free meals for people in need locally.Millions of people, including Tibetans in diaspora, celebrate...

Staff Report

FLORENCE — Florence Bank is pledging $50,000 to Grow Food Northampton that will help provide healthy, local food to area residents who are food insecure at a time when federal food benefits are scaling back to pre-pandemic levels.Helen Kahn, the...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — When Sabrina Petrie thinks about Jane Lyons, she recalls fondly the woman who helped her navigate the beginnings of adulthood after a childhood spent in the foster care system.“She’s more than just a mentor, she’s been a great friend,”...

By VIVIAN ALMARAZ,VICTORIA GEORGIOUand CLARA LI

NORTHAMPTON — The city of Northampton might seem like the ideal place for queer-identifying adolescents to grow up — after all, it was historically dubbed the “Lesbianville” of the United States by the 1992 National Enquirer tabloid.During the...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra is set to receive a $37,500 pay increase in her annual salary next year, after a vote to increase the mayor’s salary was unanimously approved by the City Council Thursday night.The move to increase the mayor’s...

By MERCY LINGLE

NORTHAMPTON — In March of 2001, Tom McCusker found out that his sister-in-law, Donna, was diagnosed with colorectal cancer.She had learned about Relay for Life in Easthampton and recruited her entire family to go. When McCusker arrived, he felt that...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HATFIELD — In the 10 years since coming to work at Prospect Meadow Farm, one farmhand who began earning a paycheck for completing regular tasks at the site has graduated to become a job coach, welcoming new farmhands to the therapeutic vocational...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — In the ongoing attempts to revitalize the city’s downtown, local nonprofits and the Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce have pitched in to try to help bring some renewed vibrancy to the city.The Northampton Vibrancy Project, launched...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — Chanel Lobdell, a graduate student at UMass Amherst, says she visits downtown Northampton once a month. On a particular sunny day in May, Lobdell was walking down the city’s Main Street with her family, who were visiting from Orlando for...

By Mercedes Lingle

NORTHAMPTON — A new marker is now on display in Florence which celebrates the time that Sojourner Truth spent in western Massachusetts — one of five such historic women’s suffrage markers installed across Massachusetts along the new National Votes for...

By BOB FLAHERTY

NORTHAMPTON — The unusually cool weather Sunday did wonders for the packed house inside John M. Greene Hall celebrating Northampton High School’s 157th graduation. On many occasions held this time of year, families would be fanning themselves up in...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

NORTHAMPTON — A majority of the City Council on Thursday backed a $132.3 million budget for fiscal 2024, but not before significant debate about whether the Police Department should get more money to create so-called student police positions to...

By JAMES PENTLAND

NORTHAMPTON — Friends and family members joined the celebration Thursday evening as 126 seniors graduated under sunny skies from Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School.Thanking his parents, family, friends “and my cat, Elvis,” salutatorian Seth...

By CHAD CAIN

NORTHAMPTON — The next mayor, City Council and two school committees could be in line for significant pay increases starting in January should councilors go along with the recommendations in a recent report by an independent advisory board.The Elected...

By JAMES PENTLAND NORTHAMPTON — Heeding a call to return to the elementary school they left seven years ago, some 40 graduating high school seniors shared in the annual Jackson Street School graduate assembly Thursday afternoon.Hosted by the...

By STEVE PFARRER

NORTHAMPTON — The Bombyx Center for Arts & Equity says an order from the city’s Fire Department last week shutting down live music at the Florence center has been both “unexpected and alarming” and now threatens the long-term viability of the...