News
A Look Back, May 10
50 Years Ago■Modular homes, once touted to be the housing wave of the future, have not proved very popular in the Northampton area. Friday, Fontaine Modular Structures Inc., in Northampton, suspended operations due to lack of business. ■Navy S.CPO...
South Hadley Town Meeting OK’s budget that lays off 24 school staff; nuisance bylaw tabled
By EMILEE KLEIN
SOUTH HADLEY — Town Meeting voters signed off Wednesday on a $56.4 million budget for fiscal year 2025 that creates a new Human Services Department and lays off 24 staff members in the school system.In the four-hour meeting, the 84 Town Meeting...
Host of road projects to begin Friday in Amherst
AMHERST — Paving on four Amherst streets by Warner Brothers LLC is beginning Friday, the start of $2.75 million in projects getting underway now that asphalt plants are open for the season.From 6 a.m. to 5 p.m., construction crews will put down the...
UMass graduation speaker Colson Whitehead pulls out over quashed campus protest
By SCOTT MERZBACH
AMHERST — Disturbed by the arrests of 132 protesters on the University of Massachusetts campus this week during a pro-Palestinian encampment, Colson Whitehead, the two-time Pulitzer Prize winning author scheduled to deliver the keynote address at the...
Valley lawmakers seek shorter license for FirstLight hydropower projects
By ANTHONY CAMMALLERI
TURNERS FALLS — Area lawmakers are asking the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to limit the relicensing of FirstLight’s hydropower projects from 50 years to 30 years and to mandate the company disclose more data to the public about its...
VA preps for birthday bash: Leeds medical center to mark 100 with circus acts, games and visits by prominent leaders
By JAMES PENTLAND
NORTHAMPTON — Marking a century of caring for veterans and their families, the VA medical center in Leeds is holding an anniversary event from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, including entertainment, food, speakers and a historical sign tour.The...
UMass student group declares no confidence in chancellor
By CHAD CAIN
AMHERST — A day after 132 people were arrested in pro-Palestinian protests on the University of Massachusetts campus, the university’s student government Wednesday night formally declared it had no confidence in Chancellor Javier Reyes and his...
Chesterfield budget, up 4.5%, faces Town Meeting vote Monday
By JAMES PENTLAND
CHESTERFIELD — Voters will be asked to approve the town budget, two petition articles and 34 other items on the Town Meeting warrant when they meet Monday at 6:30 p.m. at Town Hall.The proposed 2025 operating budget weighs in at $5,031,755, an...
No contested seats in Southampton election May 21
Staff Report
SOUTHAMPTON — Southampton’s annual town election will take place on Tuesday, May 21. Residents will vote for a moderator, town clerk, almoner, Board of Health member, cemetery commissioner, Park Commission member, Personnel Policy and Procedure...
Health board seat sole contested race in Pelham election Tuesday
Staff Report
PELHAM — A three-year seat on the Board of Health is the only contested race on the ballot in the town election being held Tuesday.Polls will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Ramsdell Room at the Pelham Library, 2 South Valley Road.William E....
Area briefs: Walk for peace in Gaza; high blood pressure support group forms; Velis honor work recovery work
Walk for peace in GazaLEVERETT — The Village of Light Ashram in Leverett is sponsoring a walk for peace in Gaza on Saturday, May 18 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Walk organizers say the walk is an effort to stand with those who are suffering in both Israel...
Photos: Making science fun
A Look Back, May 9
50 Years Ago ■Betsy E. Vaundell, a teacher in Northampton, was elected director for Hampshire County District of the Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA) at their annual meeting held this weekend in Northampton. Miss Vaundell is president of the...
With Jones project in question, Amherst won’t sign lease for temporary digs
By SCOTT MERZBACH
AMHERST — A significantly higher bid for construction of an expanded and renovated Jones Library is causing Amherst officials to scrap plans for leasing a temporary location elsewhere in town, as well as raising worries about whether the new $97.5...
Amherst College faculty join students in urging divestment from military suppliers to Israel
By SCOTT MERZBACH
AMHERST — The faculty of Amherst College is joining the college’s Student Senate in asking trustees to divest from corporations supplying military equipment to Israel in its ongoing war in Gaza.The divestment appeal, made last week, came with support...
Hampshire Regional School Committee signs off on new three-year deal with union
By Alexa Lewis
WESTHAMPTON — The fraught debates surrounding the Hampshire Regional Education Association’s contract have come to an official end, with the School Committee voting to ratify a new three-year contract during at its Monday meeting.The contract, already...
Political newcomer defeats Shores Ness for Deerfield Selectboard seat
By CHRIS LARABEE
DEERFIELD — In the town’s highest-turnout race in at least a decade, political newcomer and longtime resident Blake Gilmore defeated Deerfield political fixture Carolyn Shores Ness, 898-857, for a seat on the Select Board.Gilmore claimed victory on...
Around the Hamptons: City Arts to unveil Cottage Street sculpture
By Alexa Lewis
EASTHAMPTON — The Easthampton City Arts (ECA) Public Art Committee will host an unveiling on Saturday of its newest sculpture on the Nashawannuck Pond Promenade. The sculpture has been years in the making, with the initial idea proposed in 2019 by...
‘Knitting treasure’ of the Valley: Northampton Wools owner spreads passion for ancient pastime
By EMILEE KLEIN
NORTHAMPTON — Above the rows of shelves at Northampton Wools, amid all of the yarn of different colors, materials and thickness that fill every cubby in sight, sits a famous sweater worn by Charlize Theron in the Academy Award-winning film “The Cider...
Making news in business, May 9
Heisler, Feldman, & Ordorica announce new shareholder SPRINGFIELD — Heisler, Feldman, & Ordorica, P.C., a Springfield-based public interest law firm, has promoted attorney Dan Ordorica of Amherst to shareholder.This new partnership, effective Jan. 1,...
