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By MARIETTA PRITCHARD

When he’s not coaching basketball for a community league, our grandson is waiting to hear from the law schools he’s applied to. He is ambitious, with hopes for a top school and plenty of grant money. He thinks about a clerkship and then possibly a job in academia. For more than a year he studied for, took and retook the LSAT exam until he got the grade he expected from himself. His family looked on amazed at his gritty persistence.

By HOLLY RAMER and PATRICK WHITTLE

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER

By OMAR SANADIKI

By MAE ANDERSON

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

SPRINGFIELD — A Belchertown man was found guilty of one murder and cleared of another after a lengthy trial stemming from a gun battle that took place in Springfield in 2021.

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra has signaled she intends to give the school district $43.8 million in the city’s upcoming fiscal 2026 budget, a 5.8% increase from the current year but likely not enough to appease advocates of higher school spending.

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — While Senate Democrats do not have much legislative action ready to launch in response to President Donald Trump, they spent more than two hours Monday ripping into the administration’s immigration crackdown and warning about damage to the rule of law.

By EMILEE KLEIN

NORTHAMPTON — Whether it’s injecting more whimsy in festivities or rallying to preserve civil protections for queer communities, Hampshire Pride promises to be bigger and bolder for its third year under new leadership.

By KATHY GREGG

This is not April 1968.

You can refuse to march in Pride parades, disapprove of transgenderism and men in women’s sports, be anti-abortion, and still have some empathy for those who are struggling with personal issues. You can certainly still be aghast at this administration’s scapegoating of vulnerable peoples for political gain, its blatant attacks on rule of law and free speech, its lies and love of autocracy. You can still stand in solidarity with the Constitution and the rights that it guarantees to all citizens, not just the ones you agree with. I do not sneer at your views and, while I might disagree with them, you have a constitutional right to peaceful protest.

Regarding the Phillips Place proposed development, please check your facts before resorting to the all too familiar name calling.

An Italian friend reminded me recently about the resonance of Trilussa’s poem “The Numbers” in today’s world. Here is an English translation:

Hatfield residents last night approved a $3.25 million junior-senior high school by a vote of 183 to 72. Plan 6b was passed by 13 votes more than the 170 necessary to constitute a two-thirds vote. Voters also unanimously approved the purchase of the Blauvelt site for the new school at a cost of $120,000.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

LEVERETT — Accepting a gift of an actively managed 146.3-acre woodlot and recommending resurfacing and possibly paving the length of Dudleyville Road are among actions to be decided by residents at annual Town Meeting Saturday.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Work on the $46.1 million expansion and renovation of the Jones Library is expected to begin in mid-June after low bidder Fontaine Brothers, Inc., of Springfield signed a contract with the town to be the project’s general contractor.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HADLEY — Banners recognizing the town’s past and present military veterans, as well as those continuing to actively serve in the armed forces, lined Hadley streets for the first time in 2024.

By BILL DANIELSON

Last week I started telling the story of a particular expedition into the woods and I ended up writing a column on the basics of fern biology. I covered the evolution of ferns, their place in the general evolution of terrestrial plants, and the curious nature of their reproductive cycle. To put it plainly, things got away from me and I didn’t notice until it was too late. The beauty of time, however, is the fact that there is always next week. So, without further adieu, I transport you back to a morning in early April…

By MADISON SCHOFIELD

SUNDERLAND — Residents approved all 20 articles on the Annual Town Meeting warrant on Friday, including a $10.56 million operating budget for fiscal year 2026 and a citizen’s petition to create a land acknowledgment.

By GARRETT COTE and RYAM AMES

HADLEY — When the Hopkins and Northampton softball teams met earlier this season, the Golden Hawks handled the Blue Devils with ease – winning 15-2 back on April 9. But on Monday, the two sides matched up a second time and Northampton more than held its own.