Search Results

By Line search: By JAMES PENTLAND

By JAMES PENTLAND

NORTHAMPTON — A change-of-plea hearing in Hampshire Superior Court for a 62-year-old man originally charged with rape and strangulation was almost derailed Tuesday when the defendant contested the prosecutor’s statement of facts in the case.After a...

By JAMES PENTLAND

NORTHAMPTON — Joining a rising wave of fledgling student worker unions nationally and locally, student dining workers and residential advisers at Smith College have announced the formation of new unions to represent their interests.Those moves come on...

By JAMES PENTLAND

NORTHAMPTON — Smith College is set to break ground in the spring on a 15,500-square-foot building that will bring its career development and leadership centers together under one living roof. Kathleen McCartney Hall — named after the college’s most...

By JAMES PENTLAND

HADLEY — Sixteen months after the Hadley store became the first Trader Joe’s in the nation to unionize, a group of workers is calling it a failed experiment and pushing for decertification.Crew members at the grocery store are accusing the union of...

By JAMES PENTLAND

NORTHAMPTON — Along with its announcement this week of a new State Police unit to combat hate crime, the Healey administration awarded $462,000 in hate crime prevention grants to 10 school districts, including Gateway Regional and Granby.The grants...

By JAMES PENTLAND

SPRINGFIELD — The family of a woman who died after suffering an asthma attack from working in a Holyoke cannabis production plant is suing the corporation that employed her, a health and safety manager and a contractor.Lorna McMurrey, 27, died in...

By JAMES PENTLAND

NORTHAMPTON — The applications are in, the vouchers are going out and the presents are ready to be claimed.It’s that time of year again when the Sidney F. Smith Toy Fund launches its appeal and generous donors respond. The fund provides vouchers for...

By JAMES PENTLAND

NORTHAMPTON — Two men indicted on cocaine trafficking charges pleaded not guilty at their joint arraignment Wednesday in Hampshire Superior Court.Judge James Manitsas ordered Jarell A. Smith, 38, of Springfield released on $10,000 bail, previously...

By JAMES PENTLAND

NORTHAMPTON — While extremist Republicans in Congress are trying to gut programs that provide food to those in need, Massachusetts could become the first state to end hunger, U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern told a special state commission on agriculture...

By JAMES PENTLAND

HOLYOKE — A secondary school that offers student-centered learning out of a leased space on Race Street has been awarded a $500,000 state grant to buy the Sons of Zion building at 378 Maple St.The grant, through the Community One Stop for Growth, will...

By JAMES PENTLAND

HOLYOKE — A Somerville company pioneering a method of producing low-carbon cement is eyeing construction of a Holyoke production plant that could bring 70 new manufacturing jobs to the city. Holyoke has approved five-year tax increment financing (TIF)...

By JAMES PENTLAND

HOLYOKE — A major housing redevelopment project on Appleton Street has received a $600,000 state grant, which will serve as initial funding for the $55.3 million project’s second phase. The Holyoke Redevelopment Authority is working with Winn...

By JAMES PENTLAND

NORTHAMPTON — A 34-year-old Amherst man faces multiple charges of possessing and disseminating child pornography, as well as disseminating images of bestiality, after a woman reported being surreptitiously filmed in a gas station restroom.The Sept....

By JAMES PENTLAND

NORTHAMPTON — A city resident has been jailed without the right to bail after being charged with several felony counts, including attempted murder, while on probation for other offenses.Principe Matrille, 30, is accused of assaulting his girlfriend in...

By JAMES PENTLAND

SPRINGFIELD — A longtime leader in the public health sector with a commitment to equity and community well-being has taken the helm at Tapestry.Mavis Nimoh comes to the regional nonprofit health organization from Rhode Island, where she was executive...

By JAMES PENTLAND

GOSHEN — Voters agreed to appropriate $410,000 in Community Preservation Act funds for the second phase of the Town Hall rehabilitation project after brief discussion at a special Town Meeting Monday.Some 30 residents came out for the evening meeting...

By JAMES PENTLAND

NORTHAMPTON — Weighing emotional stories of loss from the victim’s family members and a tearful plea for leniency from the defendant’s daughter, Hampshire Superior Court Judge Francis Flannery sentenced Cara Rintala to 12 to 14 years in prison for...

By JAMES PENTLAND

NORTHAMPTON — Police and crime scene analysts who responded to 18 Barton St. in Granby in the wake of Annamarie Cochrane Rintala’s 2010 slaying shed light in court Thursday on the extensive blood evidence found at the scene.A State Police sergeant...

By JAMES PENTLAND

NORTHAMPTON — Jurors on Wednesday watched surveillance videos and police interviews with Cara Rintala, while the defense tried to show that investigators failed to thoroughly question other possible suspects in the strangulation death of Annamarie...

By JAMES PENTLAND

NORTHAMPTON — A few hours after finding her wife’s lifeless body on their home’s basement floor, Cara Rintala sat for a 2½-hour interview with police in which she described feeling threatened and bullied in her marriage.During the interview, she...