Student's backers petition DA on UMass assault case

AMHERST - In an unusual move, supporters of former University of Massachusetts student Jason Vassell appealed to the district attorney Monday to "seriously and carefully re-evaluate" assault charges brought against Vassell this year.

Police arrest Northampton man after Main Street robbery

NORTHAMPTON - A woman who was allegedly robbed by a man claiming to have a gun on Main Street was clear-headed enough to supply police with information that led to the arrest of a suspect hours later.

Police said a man claiming to have a gun tucked in his waistband forced a woman to withdraw money from an ATM and give it to him Monday evening.

Falling revenues squeeze cities, towns

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BOSTON - Despite a spike in homicides, Brockton cannot afford to replace retiring police officers who account for nearly 8 percent of its force. Franklin is cutting nearly $142,000 in overtime salaries for firefighters. Randolph schools are so short on funds that a selectman describes them as almost "a day care instead of a school system." As state government faces a $1.3 billion budget deficit, Massachusetts towns and cities are being overwhelmed by a budget predicament of their own.

Chesterfield residents OK $2.5 million budget, wind turbines, farming bylaw

CHESTERFIELD - Voters Monday night unanimously approved a $2,557,672 town operating budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1, and also united to support zoning that allows residential wind turbines to generate electricity, and adopt a bylaw to support agriculture in town.

Officials: Amherst barn blaze suspicious

AMHERST - Troopers with the state fire marshal's office and Amherst fire officials are investigating a suspicious barn fire at the University of Massachusetts that caused $75,000 in damage Monday.

Search on for cause of tack shop fire

GREENFIELD - The former Route 2 tack shop destroyed by fire Sunday was filled with furniture and antiques, its owner said Monday. He was about to open as an antique business in the long-vacant Mohawk Trail building just west of Staples

Local authorities were still investigating the cause Monday.

Car strikes PVTA bus, injuring 4 children

AMHERST - A Greenfield woman driving her two children and her sister's two children crashed into a stopped PVTA bus near a busy intersection in Amherst Monday morning, police said.

Mieczkowski claims slander by Board of Selectmen

HADLEY - Selectmen have backed off from a threatened suspension of John Mieczkowski's license to run an auto-sales business on Lawrence Plain Road.

But Mieczkowski is still upset, saying selectmen slandered him just before the April 8 town election, in which he lost his bid to join the board, and didn't adequately research its case against him.

Housing hard to find for 16 displaced by fire

northampton - As of Monday, 16 fire victims were still in search of permanent housing after the May 4 blaze at 11 Bridge St. that left 21 people homeless, according Mayor Clare Higgins.

The second- and third-story rooming house, known as "Augie's," remains uninhabitable.

Amherst Town Meeting: Session 4

Session 4

Date: May 12

Next Session: May 14

The Jones Library is expected to be closed on Mondays this year after Town Meeting approved a $2.13 million operating budget and rejected amendments that would have increased the budget.