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By SCOTT MERZBACH

SHUTESBURY — Kestrel Land Trust is permanently protecting a forest featuring more than 200 acres of white pine and mixed hardwoods on Montague Road, where a centuries-old dam was removed over the summer.A $327,000 grant from the Executive Office of...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Optimizing staffing and reviewing programming at the Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools are among strategies for confronting a likely deficit in next year’s budget, which Superintendent E. Xiomara Herman is anticipating even under the most...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — The state attorney general’s Fair Labor Division is rejecting protests seeking to disqualify the low bidder from handling the construction of Amherst’s $97.5 million elementary school.In a decision issued Dec. 4, the state office rejected...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

Contractors for the $4.47 million renovation of the track and field at Amherst Regional High School are expected to be sought beginning in January, when bids are posted, with construction on schedule to start in summer 2025.The Town Council at its...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — For one patient, the question centered on whether it would be appropriate to stockpile medicines, such as hormones, prior to Inauguration Day. For another patient, the question focused on getting a hysterectomy scheduled before Jan. 20,...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A 100-student enrollment increase at the Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School in Hadley is being opposed by the Town Council, which has adopted a resolution similar to ones passed by the Amherst, Amherst-Pelham Regional and...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

LEVERETT — Leverett residents are asking town officials to be skeptical of plans for turning the sprawling, 60-acre estate of Yankee Candle founder Michael J. Kittredge II into a 400-home development reserved for people 55-and-over, even if a portion...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A prominent shopping plaza’s Newton-based owner is pledging to preserve the Big Y Supermarket, CVS Pharmacy, Dunkin’ and other assorted businesses, even if the property is included in a new overlay district aimed at encouraging more...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Amherst could become the first Massachusetts community to define student homes, giving the town some control over who will live in what are expected to be a growing number of accessory dwelling units.With the state adopting a new law...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Hunting on Amherst conservation lands would be prohibited under rules being considered by the town’s Conservation Commission, which, if adopted as written, would closely mirror land-use regulations related to hunting in the city of...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A series of affordable housing developments in progress, construction beginning on a new elementary school and the possibility that an expanded and renovated Jones Library will get underway are being highlighted by town officials in their...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Town officials will have until the end of March to hire a general contractor to handle the $46.1 million expansion and renovation of the Jones Library.The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners voted unanimously Thursday to approve a...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HADLEY — An average homeowner will have a higher-than-usual $272 increase in property taxes next year, due in part to the costs for renovating the locker rooms at Hopkins Academy.The Select Board approved a series of recommendations Wednesday from the...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Amherst came close to a perfect score on the Municipal Equality Index from the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, earning 99 out of a possible 100 points.The Municipality Equality Index is a nationwide evaluation of cities and towns on how...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — As someone who takes care of and cleans buildings on the University of Massachusetts campus, Sun Chong’s workload doubles when her colleagues call out sick or leave university employment.“They don’t hire people, so then we have to cover each...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HADLEY — A nearly $20 million redevelopment of a former Route 9 hotel into a mix of 51 one-bedroom and studio apartments for low- and moderate-income residents will get an infusion of $100,000 from the Hadley Affordable Housing Trust Fund.At the...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A project to update downtown design standards for both public and private properties, as well as determine what the streetscape will look like, is continuing with both an in-person workshop set for Monday evening and an online survey...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

NORTHAMPTON — Whether it was helping to make birthday cakes or being called “Grandpa Paul,” Paul Roberts, and his wife Candy, often provided affection and attention for the children of family friends.Paul Roberts, who died Nov. 21, is being remembered...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Town Manager Paul Bockelman met or exceeded expectations in all 13 policy and management goal areas set by the Town Council this year, with more than two-thirds of the 13 councilors giving him high marks on climate action, economic vitality...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — The Department of Public Works is seeking money to pay for a study to determine if gaseous chlorine should continue to disinfect wastewater, as a growing number of discharge violations at the town’s wastewater treatment plant occur.The Town...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

SHUTESBURY — A general town bylaw creating a licensing process for large-scale battery storage in Shutesbury has been struck down by the state attorney general’s office, for both unreasonably regulating renewable energy and improperly regulating...