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By Chris Lisinski

BOSTON — Legalizing online lottery sales and giving expected wagering revenue to child care providers, significant spending on environmental agencies, and major new investments in education and transportation headline the $56.2 billion state budget...

By EMILEE KLEIN

SOUTH HADLEY — Property owners can expect to pay more starting July 1 for trash removal and wastewater service following the Select Board’s recent decision to increase rates for both services.At its April 16 meeting, the board adopted a new automated...

By EMILEE KLEIN

SOUTH HADLEY — Residents will have a chance to weigh in on separate proposals that call for increasing wastewater rates and adopting a new trash system during two public hearings on Saturday at the Senior Center.Beginning at 9 a.m., the wastewater...

By EMILEE KLEIN

BELCHERTOWN — A week after the town’s school system laid off 17 staff members due to funding woes, the Select Board had a simple message for state Rep. Aaron Saunders during a recent meeting — help us.Saunders, D-Belchertown, however, was not brimming...

By EMILEE KLEIN

SOUTH HADLEY— The school district anticipates cutting at least 27 positions — the most any school system in Hampshire County has announced so far this spring — next fiscal year as officials grapple with a $1.2 million budget deficit being driven by...

By EMILEE KLEIN

SOUTH HADLEY — By a wide margin, voters at Tuesday’s election said they want the town’s two fire districts to merge.Of the 2,973 residents who answered the nonbinding ballot question, 2,029 people voted “yes” to petition the Prudential Committees of...

By EMILEE KLEIN

SOUTH HADLEY — Facing a $2.3 million budget gap for the coming fiscal year, government and school officials agreed this week to head back to the drawing board to craft a spending plan that adequately meets the town’s needs.“I think what’s keeping us...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — The Northampton Public School district is facing a potential budget shortfall of more than $2.75 million next fiscal year, with school administrators signaling that staffing cuts were not off the table to close the gap — a potential...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — The first day of school for Northampton Public School students begins Thursday, but for new Superintendent Portia Bonner, it feels more like homecoming.Though most of her broad and deep educational career over the past three decades has...

By MADDIE FABIAN

NORTHAMPTON — Registered pharmacists in Massachusetts can now prescribe hormonal birth control under a bill passed in the state budget this week.The legislation, “An Act Relative to Hormonal Contraceptives,” which is co-sponsored by state Rep. Lindsay...

By Sam Drysdale

BOSTON — Described as wins by education advocates across the state, all public school students will have access to free breakfast and lunch, and undocumented immigrants who went to high school in Massachusetts can now qualify for lower in-state...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — In the coming weeks, Police Chief Jody Kasper expects to hire three new “student officers” to join the department, the start of an initiative that she believes will help recruit new talent, relieve a stretched-thin police force and...

By EMILY THURLOW

EASTHAMPTON — The City Council approved a $52.2 million budget for next fiscal year Wednesday night, but not before council members engaged in significant discussion on the importance of maintaining specific programming in the city’s...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — Next fiscal year will bring several significant developments for the city, including the creation of a new climate action department, the opening of a new Resilience Hub, a proposal to hire student officers to address a staffing shortage...

By EMILY THURLOW

SOUTHAMPTON — The town will soon have around the clock paramedic service and police coverage after voters narrowly approved a $332,500 Proposition 2½ override at Tuesday’s municipal election.The approval, by a vote of 441-352, will give the town the...

By EMILY THURLOW

SOUTHAMPTON — The leader of the town’s Finance Committee has resigned after a rocky budget season, saying that the panel doesn’t have enough volunteers to meet its obligations and that even if it did, the town often provides out-of-date or inaccurate...

By EMILY THURLOW

SOUTHAMPTON — As one of the smaller municipalities in the region, the town relies on part-time employees to maintain police, fire and emergency medical services.However, in the last decade, Southampton’s call volume has nearly doubled and finding...

By EMILY THURLOW

EASTHAMPTON — Mayor Nicole LaChapelle is proposing a “very prudent” $52.2 million budget for next fiscal year that calls for the addition of staff positions and an increase in expenses in every city department.The budget proposal for fiscal 2024...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — The city will use some of its emergency funds to provide relief to the Northampton Public School district’s $2.3 million budget deficit, avoiding many of the proposed cuts the district had planned for the coming fiscal year.Mayor...

By EMILY THURLOW

EASTHAMPTON — The public delivered a resounding message to the City Council on Wednesday — help the city’s only library stay in operation.The Emily Williston Memorial Library is currently on slippery financial footing, with its leaders predicting...

By Rebecca Mullen

SPRINGFIELD — After weeks of rising alarm over its proposed route cuts, the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority advisory board on Wednesday adopted a revised plan to eliminate four of its 63 bus routes and reduce service to nine more. Spared the ax were...