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By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — From the ashes of the fire that engulfed their Kennedy Road home in Leeds last December, Starr and Sherid Adams have managed to get their life back together — as well as the survival and newfound appreciation of Sherid’s diverse...

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 ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — When Sabrina Petrie thinks about Jane Lyons, she recalls fondly the woman who helped her navigate the beginnings of adulthood after a childhood spent in the foster care system.“She’s more than just a mentor, she’s been a great friend,”...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

BELCHERTOWN — Appearing in a suit and tie rather than his former priestly attire, Tomasz Gorny, 43, pled not guilty in Eastern Hampshire District Court on Friday to charges of larceny over $1,200 after allegedly stealing more than $100,000 from his...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra is set to receive a $37,500 pay increase in her annual salary next year, after a vote to increase the mayor’s salary was unanimously approved by the City Council Thursday night.The move to increase the mayor’s...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — Should key city and school officials receive a significant pay bump come next year? That was the question that the Northampton City Council’s Committee on Legislative Matters found themselves in the somewhat awkward position of...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

AMHERST — Krish Poudel speaks proudly about the Amherst-Pelham Regional High School Class of 2023, both for the many accomplishments its members faced and for how they dealt with the numerous challenges thrown in their way over the last four years....

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — In the ongoing attempts to revitalize the city’s downtown, local nonprofits and the Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce have pitched in to try to help bring some renewed vibrancy to the city.The Northampton Vibrancy Project, launched...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — When Patrick Goggins was growing up, downtown Northampton was a rather mild and plain place. There were many vacancies, with the area characterized mostly by stores selling men’s clothing and hardware appliances.“It wasn’t what we would...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — Chanel Lobdell, a graduate student at UMass Amherst, says she visits downtown Northampton once a month. On a particular sunny day in May, Lobdell was walking down the city’s Main Street with her family, who were visiting from Orlando for...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — After two years of operation in the state, cannabis company Trulieve has announced it will close its three dispensaries in Massachusetts, including one in Northampton, as well as its Holyoke cultivation business, citing a...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — When Roeun Chea was growing up in Cambodia in the 1970s, he was taken away from his mother and placed in a concentration camp, forced to do hard labor and given very little to eat or drink. He had to sleep on the floor in a crowded room...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — When Kathleen McCartney took the helm as president of Smith College in 2013, she concluded her inaugural address by describing people as “busy being born,” with birth serving as a metaphor for the constant change people undergo in their...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — A pedestrian was taken to the hospital after being hit by a passing vehicle Tuesday afternoon on Damon Road, according to police.  The person’s injuries were not considered life-threatening, police said.The pedestrian had started walking...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — Marion Shea may be 104 years old, but she shows no signs of slowing down. More than 25 family members, neighbors and friends gathered on the lawn of her Massasoit Street home on Monday to celebrate her 104th birthday, although her...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

HATFIELD — When U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern spoke in front of the crowd at Prospect Meadow Farms in Hatfield on Friday, he couldn’t help but to compare it to the halls of Congress in Washington, D.C.“Everyone’s so happy, and the reason everyone’s so happy...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

HADLEY — Family and friends gathered at the Hadley Young Men’s club Saturday for a celebration of life in honor of Jesse Johansmeyer, a 19-year-old from Florence who died in March as the result of an apparent hit-and-run in Hatfield.The celebration...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — As the school year winds down in communities throughout Massachusetts, legislators on Beacon Hill will soon determine whether students will continue to get free lunches, as they have throughout the pandemic, when they return to school...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — A perceived lack of transparency, a need for child care support and a fear of having to conform to prevailing ideologies were some of the reasons given by residents surveyed by the city to evaluate potential obstacles to serving on...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

CUMMINGTON — To most of their neighbors, not much was known about Jaye Brink and Shannon Haddock, the residents of the house on 9 Thayer Road that burned down on April 28. The two often kept to themselves, only leaving the home to go to work or get...