News

A Look Back, April 24

50 Years Ago ■Earth Day 1974 came and went without much fanfare. “I hate to admit I didn’t even know it was Earth Day,” said Bradlee Gage, a former member of the Amherst Conservation Commission. “Every day, especially in Amherst, conservation seems to...

Amherst poised to hire police department veteran as new chief

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Temporary Police Chief Gabriel Ting, who has led the department since last May and been a member of the force for almost 27 years, will become Amherst’s permanent chief, pending approval by the Town Council.Ting’s appointment to serve a...

Contentious dispute ends as Hampshire Regional schools, union settle on contract

By EMILEE KLEIN

WESTHAMPTON — After over a year of contentious negotiations and 224 days without a contract, Hampshire Regional Education Association and the School Committee have agreed to a contract.The tentative contract between the school district and the...

Donating hope: Survivors share stories at Northampton event as part of Organ Donation Month

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — The day before Thanksgiving in 2016, Northampton resident Bob Wood got a life-changing call — literally. A 42-year-old woman in Pennsylvania had recently died, and her liver would be a perfect fit for Wood, now 68 years old, who...

Treehouse, Big Brothers Big Sisters turn race schedule snafu into positive

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — The second annual Runway 5K to support the Easthampton nonprofit organization Treehouse will occur Sunday, after the group turned a scheduling mishap into a positive partnership opportunity.Treehouse officials originally scheduled the...

Shutesbury TM on Saturday will rule on battery storage, lighting bylaws, citizen petitions and hold elections

By SCOTT MERZBACH

SHUTESBURY — Bylaws to regulate large-scale battery storage, limit outdoor light pollution, reduce greenhouse gas emissions in new housing construction and control door-to-door solicitors will be considered by residents at annual Town Meeting...

Prescription drug take back day set for Saturday in 15 communities in Hampshire, Franklin counties

STAFF REPORT

NORTHAMPTON – Communities in Hampshire and Franklin counties have signed on to the National Prescription Drug Take Back Day planned for Saturday, April 27, to offer residents a chance to safely dispose of unwanted and unneeded drugs.People are...

Area briefs: Suicide prevention forum; ‘American Symphony’ screening; Zonta grant awards

Haydenville church to host suicide prevention forumFLORENCE — Suicide prevention is the topic for a community forum Sunday from 12-1:30 p.m. at the Bombyx Center in Florence.“Talk Saves Lives: A Brief Introduction to Suicide Prevention” is sponsored...

Neighbors lifting neighbors: Demand at South Hadley’s food bank spiking as more families seek help

By Emilee Klein

SOUTH HADLEY — Never go hungry.It’s the one rule that must not be broken at Neighbors Helping Neighbors, the organization that over the last 14 years has helped thousands of people from South Hadley and surrounding towns keep food on the table during...

Senate may reform trio of consumer laws: competitive electricity, used car sales, heating oil leaks

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — Senate Democrats plan this week to make a big push for reforms to the state’s motor vehicle “Lemon Law,” insurance coverage for home heating oil leaks and the controversial competitive electric supply industry.The Senate on Monday formally...

Granby man admits guilt, gets 2½ years in vehicular homicide

By James Pentland

BELCHERTOWN — A Granby man pleaded guilty Monday in Eastern Hampshire District Court to motor vehicle homicide and reckless assault charges stemming from a motor vehicle crash that killed his longtime partner and the mother of his child last July, the...

LightHouse Holyoke to buy Gateway City Arts, expand offerings and enrollment at alternative school

By JAMES PENTLAND

HOLYOKE — After months of work on securing a new home elsewhere, LightHouse school plans to buy Gateway City Arts in a move that will allow the burgeoning alternative secondary school to meet its growing demand and expand its offerings.LightHouse...

Photos: Hangers for history

South Hadley residents will pay more for trash, wastewater rates next fiscal year

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...

Area briefs: Transhealth to celebrate 3 year; Holyoke to plant tree at museum; Documentary film about reparations focus of Unitarian talk

Documentary film about reparations focus of Unitarian Society talkNORTHAMPTON — A public showing of the new documentary film “The Cost of Inheritance,” about the issue of reparations owed to African Americans for historic and current racialized harms...

Leverett Town Meeting voters will decide cease-fire call, budgets, town elections

By SCOTT MERZBACH

LEVERETT — Money for continued restoration of the North Leverett Sawmill, a citizen petition calling for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza, and a $7.56 million budget for fiscal year 2025, which adds a fourth police officer to the Police Department, are...

A Look Back: April 23

By JIM BRIDGMAN

50 Years Ago■More than half of the physicians at Northampton State Hospital may leave the hospital in July because of recent changes in state regulations requiring that foreign graduate physicians take a special licensing exam. Nine of the hospital’s...

Beacon Hill Roll Call, April 8-12

By BOB KATZEN

THE HOUSE AND SENATE: Beacon Hill Roll Call records local senators’ votes on a roll call from the week of April 8-12. There were no roll calls in the House last week.$375 MILLION FOR ROADS AND BRIDGES (H 4529)Senate 39-0. approved a bill that includes...

Photos: Springing forth