News

A Look Back, May 2

50 Years Ago ■William A. Burke, president of the First National Bank of Northampton, announced at the monthly meeting of the bank held in the banking room yesterday that Gordon A. Woodward Jr. was elected a member of the board of directors to succeed...

Services being held Thursday for Greenfield homicide victim

By ANTHONY CAMMALLERI

GREENFIELD — Services for Christopher Hairston, 35, who was identified as the victim in last week’s slaying on Chapman Street, will be held Thursday at the Devanny-Condron Funeral Home in Pittsfield from 4 to 6:30 p.m.Hairston, a drummer from...

Former Chicopee superintendent sentenced to year probation for lying to FBI

By JAMES PENTLAND

SPRINGFIELD — A former superintendent of Chicopee schools was sentenced this week to a year of probation for lying to FBI agents who were investigating scores of threats sent via text to a candidate for the city’s police chief.Lynn Clark, 53, who was...

Two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author Colson Whitehead to speak at UMass commencement

Staff Writer

AMHERST — An author who has twice received the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, earning that recognition and a National Book Award for 2016’s “The Underground Railroad,” will deliver the main address at the 154th undergraduate commencement at the...

Change in federal drug classification could help cannabis shops

By JAMES PENTLAND

NORTHAMPTON — In the wake of the Justice Department’s proposal to reclassify cannabis as a less dangerous drug, dispensary owners say the change would help their business, especially on taxes.“The immediate impact would be for the government to treat...

No contests on ballot for Willisamsburg election

WILLIAMSBURG — Monday’s town election will be held at the Town Offices in Haydenville from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.No contested seats appear on the ballot, which has one vacancy, for a three-year seat on the local school committee. Incumbent Marissa Nye is...

Photos: Special connection

Granby Bow and Gun Club says stray bullets that hit homes in Belchertown did not come from its range

By EMILEE KELIN

BELCHERTOWN — The president of the Granby Bow and Gun Club insists that stray bullets that hit two homes and a shed in the Turkey Hill area of town did not originate from the club’s long range.Club President Ryan Downing read a statement at the...

Glitz, glamour and all that jazz: ‘Chicago’ takes stage at Easthampton High starting Thursday

By Alexa Lewis

EASTHAMPTON — “I’m gonna tell you the truth. Not that the truth really matters, but I’m gonna tell you anyway,” says Devin O’Brien, covered in tassels and sequins as she took to the stage as Roxie Hart during a dress rehearsal for Easthampton High...

Healey expects $16B return on climate tech investment

By COLIN A. YOUNG

BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey is touting that her economic development proposal “goes big” on the burgeoning climate tech field with a $1 billion state investment and said a study to be published later this week will show that it could result in a...

Contested races shaping up in Chesterfield

By JAMES PENTLAND

CHESTERFIELD — Three contested races are on the ballot for this year’s town election scheduled to take place on Monday. Voting will take place at the Community Center from noon to 8 p.m.Additionally, voters will be asked to confirm the vote at the...

A Waterfront revival: Two years after buying closed tavern, Holyoke couple set to open new event venue

By JAMES PENTLAND

HOLYOKE — After almost two years of reconstruction and remodeling, the Waterfront, Holyoke’s new event venue, is ready for its public unveiling.Owners Carlos and Evelyn Colón and family will host a grand opening Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. with...

Making news in business, May 2

Ice cream product development competition at UMass AMHERST — UMass Amherst’s Department of Food Science and Herrell’s Ice Cream announce this year’s Annual Ice Cream Product Development Competition will be held on Tuesday, May 7, from 3-5 p.m., at...

Student voting petition rejected in Deerfield

By CHRIS LARABEE

DEERFIELD — While voters approved the first 20 articles on Monday’s annual Town Meeting warrant, residents did not follow in the footsteps of neighboring Sunderland, as they rejected a citizen’s petition seeking to ask the Legislature to lower the...

A Look Back, May 1

50 Years Ago ■Representatives of downtown merchants appeared before the Traffic and Police Committee of the City Council last night to request that free parking be allowed downtown on Saturdays. The merchants argued that because there are no longer...

Pro-Palestinian encampment disperses at UMass, but protests continue

By ALEXA LEWIS

AMHERST — At 6 a.m. on Tuesday, representatives of the University of Massachusetts administration arrived at the pro-Palestinian encampment that went up the previous day on the school’s South Lawn and issued a warning to protesters — take down their...

Amherst council hears call to scale back Jones work

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — In September 2022, the Town Council committed to keeping the $46.1 million project to modernize and expand the Jones Library going, at least until it reached the construction bid stage.For Amherst resident Toni Cunningham, that decision...

Amherst council confirms Gabriel Ting as police chief

AMHERST — A near-unanimous Town Council this week confirmed Police Capt. Gabriel Ting as Amherst’s next police chief.Six days after Town Manager Paul Bockelman said he would name Ting, a 27-year veteran and interim police chief since last May, to the...

Music key to Northampton’s downtown revival: State’s top economic development leader tours city

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — When she was a student at Williams College, Yvonne Hao recalls traveling to Northampton with friends to eat at local restaurants, shop at thrift stores and attend concerts held by the local music scene, although she isn’t quite sure of...