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By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — In advance of a final fiscal year 2026 budget proposal for the Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools being brought forward for an anticipated School Committee vote Friday, a three-member subcommittee is recommending preserving almost all student-facing positions at the high school and middle school by restoring $696,000 in possible cuts.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HATFIELD — A member of the Hatfield Housing Authority who’s been absent from every meeting since September, not up to date on mandated state training, and whose behavior has concerned colleagues could be removed from the panel by the Select Board, pending a hearing later this month.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HATFIELD — Inside Jean Hobbie’s nurse’s office at Hatfield Elementary School on a recent morning, second grader Arun Bun drops by to make sure he can successfully address his low blood sugar level, a challenge of having Type 1 diabetes.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Life-threatening dangers are posed any time a migratory bird approaches a building, unaware that it could be on course to strike a window.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

SHUTESBURY — Hayley Bolton, who for the past six years has led senior centers in Amherst and Bernardston, is poised to become Shutesbury’s town administrator in April.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Identified last fall as the preferred location for a new fire station in South Amherst, Hickory Ridge Golf Course, the town-owned site on West Pomeroy Lane, is no longer being considered for that building project.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

SOUTH HADLEY — Despite Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter Public School administrators finding no wrongdoing by a middle school teacher, following a six-week investigation into sexual misconduct allegations that led to his removal from the classroom last fall, students concerned about his continued presence on campus staged a walkout demanding his termination Monday morning.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Three straight years of deficits at the Amherst Cinema, considered an unsustainable trend for the independent, nonprofit arts and education center, is prompting leadership to return the facility to its original three-screen site that opened in 2006, and to reduce the number of weekly showtimes.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HADLEY — A $2.5 million loan being sought by the Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School should provide the funding to create 14 classrooms inside a second campus building at 300 Venture Way, allowing an expansion of enrollment and possibly new initiatives as student applications to the school surge.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Annual pre-St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in Amherst, where numerous college-age people dressed in green began consuming alcohol early Saturday morning, led to 29 arrests and 23 medical transports to the hospital, according to information supplied by town and University of Massachusetts officials.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A shift in culture has occurred at Crocker Farm School over the past decade, where even those students having a challenging time in their classrooms and in interactions with their peers are not sent to the main office.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — As Town Manager Paul Bockelman puts together a nearly $29.5 million fiscal year 2026 budget for Amherst’s municipal operations, the spending plan is currently projected at around a $540,000 deficit.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HADLEY — A proposed $23.31 million fiscal year 2026 operating budget will maintain existing staffing and services at the public schools and in municipal departments, while supporting the continued transition to a town-operated Advanced Life Support ambulance.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Dr. Khama Ennis, an Amherst resident and board-certified emergency physician with more than 20 years of clinical experience, is receiving the 2025 Black Excellence Award for the 3rd Hampshire District.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A three-building development featuring 140 residential units, 12,000 square feet of commercial space and 180 parking spaces is being proposed for 7.7 acres of vacant land owned by Hampshire College in the Atkins Corner area of town.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — An administrative request by the university demanding that a Pride flag flying from a flagpole at the UMass Transit Services area of the University of Massachusetts campus be removed is leading to the circulation of a petition calling out campus leaders.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Amherst officials will have until the end of April to sign a contract with a general contractor to begin work on the $46.1 million expansion and renovation of the Jones Library.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — The Natural Resources Conservation Service office for Massachusetts, located at 451 West St. since 1980, could close as part of 748 lease terminations posted online this week by the Trump administration.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HADLEY — J. Crew Factory, a national clothing retailer, will be coming to Mountain Farms Mall later this year.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

NORTHAMPTON — Many members of the federal delegation from Massachusetts, including U.S. Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren and U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, defended the commonwealth and the city of Boston hours before an address by President Donald Trump before a joint session of Congress they anticipated would serve as an attack on the state.