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By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Rafters Sports Bar and Restaurant, an institution since 1991 that was often filled with patrons before and after sporting events at the University of Massachusetts, closed Wednesday to make way for a new marijuana dispensary.The Jolly...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HADLEY — Hilda Gruber remembers making and selling ice cream to families at the public swimming hole on her family’s dairy farm in Pennsylvania in the 1930s.“We made homemade ice cream in those days,” Gruber says. “We had a farm and a swimming pool,...

By BERA DUNAU

NORTHAMPTON — A mural is going up on the 135 Main St. building, highlighting a history that includes a notable bank robbery and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.The artist is Ramiro Davaro-Comas. Based in Brooklyn, Davaro-Comas, 32, is an alumnus of...

By BERA DUNAU

HADLEY — Faces is officially back.“Our dream was to keep it open,” said Amy Gallant, one of Faces’ four owners.The iconic western Massachusetts gift shop, which suddenly closed its downtown Northampton location earlier this month, opened its doors for...

By DAVID McLELLAN

GREENFIELD — Isaiah Buckner would be 16 years old today.Nearly six years after the 10-year-old boy from Athol died July 10, 2013, due to severe injuries to his abdomen and internal organs, Christopher Vinsant, 33, pleaded guilty to involuntary...

By DAVID McLELLAN

GREENFIELD — Lewis H. Starkey III was handed a life sentence without the possibility of parole Tuesday for the 2017 killing of Amanda Glover, in what prosecutors called a “classic” case of domestic violence.The 55-year-old was also sentenced to 10 to...

By DOMENIC POLI

SOUTH DEERFIELD — The Channing Bete Company expects to cease operations June 30, the South Deerfield publisher announced Tuesday.The first position eliminations will come June 24, and most employees will be released between June 24 and July 3,...

By BERA DUNAU

Correction: An earlier version of erroneously reported Tiffany Hannoush’s first name.NORTHAMPTON – Iconic Northampton shop Faces closed its doors Sunday.Jennie Hall, who worked there for four years, says the news still hasn’t fully hit her yet.“I...

By LUIS FIELDMAN 

FLORENCE — Sam Ostroff is making the rounds inside the spacious workshop of Salmon Studios one recent morning, so forgive him if this takes awhile. There’s a lot going on.In one area of the company’s 17,000-square-foot studio inside a former assembly...

By BERA DUNAU

WORTHINGTON — New details have emerged about the Tuesday crash between a U.S. Army helicopter and a snowmobile in Worthington that left a local man badly injured.In an email from the Fort Drum Army base in New York, a spokeswoman said the helicopter...

By JACQUELYN  VOGHEL

SOUTH HADLEY — A man who was sentenced to probation in connection with 15-year-old Phoebe Prince’s suicide nearly a decade ago in South Hadley is being accused of raping a college student.Court documents show that a plaintiff at Mount Holyoke College...

By BERA DUNAU

NORTHAMPTON — First Assistant District Attorney Steven Gagne on Thursday apologized in writing to a defense attorney he accused of threatening a Northampton police officer last month.In the initial Feb. 5 letter to Northampton District Court Judge...

By DUSTY CHRISTENSEN

This article was updated to reflect that the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education received documentation in December 2012 from the state Department of Children and Families determining that allegations of neglect of a student by...

By BERA DUNAU

NORTHAMPTON — Family and friends of Jose “Joselito” Rodriguez packed the courtroom as his killer, Soknang Chham, pleaded guilty Wednesday to manslaughter and related charges before being sentenced to 22 to 25 years in prison.The small confines of...

By BERA DUNAU

NORTHAMPTON — A business that has been around since the 19th century will stay open on Main Street, as its owner for the last 15 years enjoys some well-earned retirement.Harlow Luggage began in 1875, when it was known as W. L Chilson. And then, as...

By JACQUELYN VOGHEL

NORTHAMPTON — Over the decades, the train car diner on Strong Avenue has been known under various names, including Red Lion Diner, Miss Northampton Diner, and most recently, Kathy’s Diner.Now, the familiar sight is set to reopen under the name...

By DUSTY CHRISTENSEN

NORTHAMPTON — The history of the Clarke School provides a window into the longstanding controversy over deaf education in the United States.Clarke was the first oralist school in the country and played a leading role in promoting that educational...

By DOMENIC POLI

DEERFIELD — A former English teacher is suing Deerfield Academy over alleged gender discrimination and retaliation during her 18 years at the prestigious prep school.Sonja Krusic O’Donnell has filed a federal lawsuit against her former employer,...

Story and photos by KEVIN GUTTING

According to Alix Kreder, his college buddy Steve Denette had been working on a certain project for years — but only in his head.“Years and years,” added Denette as he broke for lunch in the kitchen of his Granby home one weekday last month. “Building...

   By STEVE PFARRER

It began during a warm, beautiful summer, when many still viewed war as a glorious and noble pursuit, a rite of passage for men marked by dressed battle lines, colorful uniforms, dramatic cavalry charges and quick and decisive campaigns.But when the...