News
Smith students occupy admin building, demand divestment from weapons manufacturers
By JAMES PENTLAND
NORTHAMPTON — Hundreds of students occupied Smith College’s administration building on Wednesday, demanding that the college divest from military contractors and weapons manufacturers they say are aiding in the slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza.The...
A Look Back, March 28
50 Years Ago ■Four young people from Northampton High School will be participating this weekend in two concerts in Hyannis, sponsored by the Massachusetts Music Educators’ Association. The four are: Lauress Wilkins, David Laband, Claire Murphy and...
A faster spinning Earth may cause timekeepers to subtract a second from world clocks
By SETH BORENSTEIN
Earth’s changing spin is threatening to toy with our sense of time, clocks and computerized society in an unprecedented way — but only for a second.For the first time in history, world timekeepers may have to consider subtracting a second from our...
Area briefs: S. Hadley to old commemoration for Vietnam vets; Holyoke receivership meetings; and more
S. Hadley to hold Vietnam Veterans Day ceremony SOUTH HADLEY — The town’s annual National Vietnam War Veterans Day Commemoration at the South Hadley Public Library will take place Thursday at 6 p.m. Doors open at 5:30 with light refreshments for...
Champions of change: NHS Student Union advocates for students before administrators, School Committee
By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL
NORTHAMPTON — When Giselle Ohm was in middle school, she enjoyed reading stories about the adventures and exploits of high school student councils, and she aspired to be on one someday. But when she began the transition to Northampton High School, Ohm...
DiZoglio, legislators clash over audit proposal
By Chris Lisinski
BOSTON — Did anyone really expect Auditor Diana DiZoglio’s pitch to lawmakers about why she should be able to audit them to be dull?A cart overflowing with stacks of old books, no-holds-barred warnings about government overreach, and personal feuds...
Three candidates in running for Amherst superintendent
By SCOTT MERZBACH
AMHERST — Three educators, two who work in Massachusetts and the other in the Virgin Islands, are finalists to become the next superintendent for the Amherst, Pelham and Amherst-Pelham Regional schools.The Superintendent Search Committee on Tuesday...
Hadley schools avoid ‘fiscal cliff,’ maintain level services next year
By SCOTT MERZBACH
HADLEY — Even as several school districts across the region anticipate reducing staffing levels before next school year as they face a so-called fiscal cliff, school officials in Hadley are maintaining the current level of services and teaching...
Valley Art Supplies finds right mix by adding bar to longtime Easthampton business
By EMILEE KLEIN
EASTHAMPTON — Unlike most bar logs, the pages of the small black book found on the homemade bartop at Valley Art Supplies are filled with doodles and scribbles: a cat Statue of Liberty, a skull cocktail glass and platypus gyroscope lily...
Groundbreaking: Amherst officials mark start of $97.5M elementary school
By SCOTT MERZBACH
AMHERST — As she got to the podium to speak to the more than 50 people gathered at the ceremonial groundbreaking for Amherst’s new elementary school, resident and Democratic state Rep. Mindy Domb said she had goosebumps that a project to replace the...
Making news in business, March 28
Paragus I.T. founder turns over business to employees HADLEY — After implementing an employee stock ownership plan in 2016 that turned over 40% of the business to its employees, Paragus I.T. has recently transitioned to 100% employee ownership.With...
Area property deed transfers, March 28
AMHERST Justin C. Ching to Yg Pond LLC, 8 Hillcrest Place, $542,000 Manuel R. Townes and Valerie A. Townes to Cil Rlty Of Massachusette, 51 Hunters Hill Circle, $450,000 Jennifer E. Lynn to Denis R. Bruno, 21 Pine Grove, Lot 21, $295,000 Robert...
Ex-super, medical director of Soldiers’ Home change pleas, upsetting some families of 76 who died during pandemic
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...
A Look Back, March 27
50 Years Ago■ Gary J. Mysorski, 12 Massasoit St., will brush up his French and tackle Arabic during the coming months in preparation for a job as a YMCA administrator. For Mysorski, the job will have an exotic bent, because he will be based in Beirut,...
Area briefs: Northampton school funding presentation; Hopkins Academy performance; Easter bake, soup sale at Haydenville church
Northampton to host school funding presentation NORTHAMPTON — Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra and Northampton Public Schools Superintendent Portia Bonner will host a Massachusetts Association of School Committees presentation on state school funding. The...
Amherst selects finalists for police chief, will meet public next week
By SCOTT MERZBACH
AMHERST — An Amherst police captain who has been the department’s temporary police chief since last May and a Chelmsford police lieutenant who has led the department’s wellness division are finalists to become the next chief for the Amherst Police...
Holyoke schools on path out of state receivership
By Sam Drysdale
HOLYOKE — Almost a decade after the state took control of Holyoke Public Schools through the controversial and rarely used receivership model, the district is now on the path back to local control.The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education...
A ‘hub’ blueprint begins: City kicks off planning for new Resilience Hub downtown
By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL
NORTHAMPTON — On Monday evening, Edwards Church became the site of a more secular sermon on the necessity of a new center to confront the challenges of both climate change and income inequality in Northampton, problems architect Dorrie Brooks said are...
Photos: ‘Morning meditation’
South Deerfield residents share views on senior housing options
By CHRIS LARABEE
SOUTH DEERFIELD — Three initial designs for a potential senior housing project that would serve as a key piece of the town campus is receiving positive feedback from residents.At an open house attended by more than 40 residents last week, town...