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By JAMES PENTLAND

CUMMINGTON — Voters will be asked to approve a budget totaling $2,579,950 when Town Meeting convenes Friday. The bottom line is slightly lower than this year’s spending plan, aided by school spending that has dropped by $53,676 due to lower...

By JAMES PENTLAND

BELCHERTOWN — As Town Administrator Gary Brougham prepares to step down, Town Meeting voters will be asked next Monday to approve a change that would give Belchertown a town manager for the first time.The article asks voters to authorize the Select...

By JAMES PENTLAND

NORTHAMPTON — A Supreme Judicial Court ruling that alcohol tests given with a certain type of breathalyzer were invalid evidence in drunken-driving prosecutions between 2011 and 2019 will not affect area prosecutors’ approach to such cases.The Boston...

By JAMES PENTLAND

WILLIAMSBURG — Election to the library board of trustees is drawing interest this year, with three candidates declaring for the two three-year seats.Joy Kinigstein, Kevin McAllister and Anna Seren are all newcomers vying for seats being vacated by...

By JAMES PENTLAND

WORTHINGTON — Three candidates are seeking a single seat on the Select Board in town elections May 6.Edward “Ned” Ferguson, Ron Sampson and incumbent Stephen Smith are vying for the position. Each has posted statements on the town website.Ferguson, a...

By JAMES PENTLAND

SOUTH HADLEY — Fire District No. 1 voters will be asked to approve a $5,184,876 fire department budget and a $2,940,672 water budget at the district’s annual meeting next week.The warrant for the annual meeting contains 38 articles, including a...

By JAMES PENTLAND

SOUTH HADLEY — Town Meeting members will be asked to approve an annual operating budget of $54.27 million, an increase of 4.6%, when they gather May 10. The spending plan includes proposed general fund expenditures of $24,348,907 and a school budget...

By JAMES PENTLAND

GOSHEN — Capping a gradual transition from the business world to small-town law enforcement, Fred Bezio was recently named chief of police in Goshen. Bezio, 53, started working as a police officer seven years ago in neighboring Ashfield, where his...

By JAMES PENTLAND

SPRINGFIELD — New England Public Media’s Latino Advisory Board has resigned en masse over recent layoffs that its members say disproportionately affected people of color, despite NEPM management’s repeated assurances of its commitment to a...

By JAMES PENTLAND

SOUTH HADLEY — A Newton Street liquor store has been issued a warning after police determined that it had sold alcohol to underage customers, sometimes without checking identification.South Hadley Police said they received a tip last month from a...

By JAMES PENTLAND

NORTHAMPTON — The damage to gravestones at St. Mary Cemetery that were hit by a motorist last week could amount to $125,000 or more, according to an estimate from Dorsey Memorials of Amherst.Roy Chapman, the cemetery supervisor, said Thursday it will...

By JAMES PENTLAND

NORTHAMPTON — The motorist who plowed into St. Mary Cemetery early Saturday was traveling at such high speed that portions of the damaged gravestones appeared to have landed 20 to 30 feet from their original positions, according to police...

By JAMES PENTLAND

NORTHAMPTON — A tangled 3½-year court battle among family members with an interest in one of New England’s largest potato growers has been substantially resolved, with rulings in favor of the Szawlowski companies of Hatfield and their principal...

By JAMES PENTLAND

After taking in the largest number of dogs it has received in a single rescue effort in its 54-year history last month in Plainfield, the Dakin Humane Society has made good progress in finding homes for them.“We have so many applications for them that...

By JAMES PENTLAND

PLAINFIELD — Police and representatives of various animal welfare groups removed more than 70 small dogs from a North Union Street home Monday.The animals were reportedly well cared for and in good health.Police Chief Justin Litchfield said the...

By JAMES PENTLAND

NORTHAMPTON — Supporters of enhanced passenger rail service in western Massachusetts packed the Senior Center Tuesday to testify before the legislative commission studying the project’s governance and funding.From as far afield as Greenfield, Palmer...

By JAMES PENTLAND

NORTHAMPTON — On the heels of the second- and third-largest bank failures in U.S. history, local bankers said they see little chance of the problems spreading far, and no chance that any Massachusetts banks will be in trouble.“All of our deposits are...

By JAMES PENTLAND

HOLYOKE — City councilors, the mayor and the police chief vowed this week to work together to fix shortcomings highlighted in a consultants’ report that found substantial “physical, financial and reputational risk” in the Police Department’s current...

By JAMES PENTLAND

GRANBY — Recent advances in DNA technology and dogged police work have confirmed the identity of a woman who had been known only as “Granby Girl” since her extensively decomposed body was found in the woods off Amherst Road in November 1978.The woman,...

By JAMES PENTLAND

HOLYOKE — A consultant’s audit of police practices in the city has found that the department “represents a substantial risk to the city,” and suggests that “drastic steps” are needed to alleviate some of these risks.The 132-page report from Municipal...