Small towns' fortunes, too, hinge on Amherst override vote

AMHERST - Amherst's decision whether to approve a $1.68 million Proposition 2½ override on March 23 isn't only about Amherst.

The towns of Leverett, Shutesbury and Pelham all share the cost of running the Amherst-Pelham Regional School District with their larger neighbor.

Pelham homes ID'd as historic

PELHAM - Twenty-six homes here have been added to the Inventory of Historic and Archaeological Assets of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Pelham Historical Commission announced this past week.

Briefs

EDUCATION IN AFRICA: The Munson Library, at 1046 South East St., will host Leah Danoff, co-founder of the Integrity School, a preschool and kindergarten school in Ongwedive, Namibia, Africa Sunday from 2 to 4 p.m. discussing goals for the school and how others can become a part of it. For more information about the school go to www.theintegrityschool.com.

Four teens charged in Montague break-in

GREENFIELD - Four teenagers - from Montague, Amherst, Pelham and Nelson, N.H. - were brought to court on felony charges Thursday after allegedly breaking into the now abandoned Montague Center School on Wednesday night.

Gun club settles over boy's Uzi death

SPRINGFIELD - A Massachusetts sporting club is donating $10,000 to children's charities as part of a deal settling criminal charges in the death of an 8-year-old boy who accidentally shot himself in the head with an Uzi during a gun fair.

Small-town school board puts opt-out stamp on state ed reform

SHUTESBURY - Depending upon who is talking, a new provision in state law that lets towns pull out of superintendency unions with a majority vote of their school board was ill-advised, or just what the doctor ordered to give towns more control of their fate.

Lawsuit delays land purchase in Amherst

NORTHAMPTON - A judicial ruling likely will delay the acquisition of 65 acres of conservation land by the town of Amherst.