Keyword search: AMHERST MA
By KEVIN A. YOUNG
By SCOTT MERZBACH
AMHERST — A $2.5 million donation from Amherst College will support the Amherst and regional schools, the town’s emergency services, and infrastructure work downtown over the next three years, as well as one of two municipal building projects the town is undertaking.
By DOMENIC POLI
AMHERST — As a teenager, Skye Wellington frequented Kelly’s restaurant, a nearly 30-year mainstay of a College Street business plaza until closing near the end of 2022.
By SCOTT MERZBACH
AMHERST — Amherst is facing a much larger than anticipated increase in health insurance costs for fiscal year 2026, with a projected jump of almost 20%, at the top range allowed for the town’s insurer, the Massachusetts Interlocal Insurance Association.
I beg to differ on a few points in the Jan. 30 guest column ”Just not ready for clean energy future” by Stephen Fox. First, Gov. Maura Maura Healey and the Legislature are quite aware of the concerns he lays out and are addressing the challenges of climate changes. They are putting policies in place to get us to net zero (i.e., not producing more carbon than the environment can sequester) by 2050.
In David Murphy’s Jan. 31 guest column ”All-electric rule: Costlier homes, worse efficiency” he erroneously calculates the overall efficiency of heating a home with electricity from the grid and compares it to the efficiency of the natural gas furnace in his basement. He concludes that Ordinance 24.170 would force homeowners to rely on electric heating that is 60% efficient rather than a home furnace that is roughly 90% efficient. He asks, “Am I missing something?” The answer is a definitive “Yes.”
By SCOTT MERZBACH
AMHERST — After more than a decade of rental housing oversight in Amherst being complaint-driven, with no regular evaluations of the habitability of rental properties, a more rigorous process that will lead to all apartments being inspected every five years starts July 1.
By SCOTT MERZBACH and SAMUEL GELINAS
The ever-shifting tariff landscape took a turn late Monday, as the U.S. agreed to pause tariffs on Canada for 30 days, several hours after agreeing to do the same with Mexico. China, meanwhile, was also preparing to talk trade with President Donald J. Trump about impending tariffs on its goods.
By SCOTT MERZBACH
AMHERST — Printed the day after an early morning fire gutted an Amherst College fraternity house, a headline in the Feb. 3, 1975 Daily Hampshire Gazette quoted the Amherst fire chief describing the incident as the “worst Amherst blaze in 15 years.”
By SCOTT MERZBACH
AMHERST — A briefly considered White House federal funding freeze order and other possible changes in how federal money is disbursed, including for grants related to diversity, equity and inclusion projects, is prompting University of Massachusetts leaders to keep researchers regularly updated about possible funding shortfalls and disruptions to their ongoing work.
With regard to the Jan. 30 letter ”Time to get things done,” I agree it is time to get things done. The question is what things?
While guest columnist Bob Couch has a point regarding the danger of ignorance, he looks in the wrong direction [“Let’s leave ‘Age of Ignorance’ behind,” Jan. 29].
By SCOTT MERZBACH
AMHERST — The use of a fuel known as “renewable diesel” being at the central heating plant at the University of Massachusetts on the coldest days of the year, in place of liquefied natural gas and ultra-low-sulfur diesel, is raising worries for some faculty members and other campus leaders about compromising the UMass Carbon Zero plan unveiled on Earth Day 2022.
By EMILEE KLEIN
AMHERST — Garcia’s Mexican Restaurant and Bar closed on Thursday amid a rumor that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents had raided and detained five employees the previous evening.
By SCOTT MERZBACH
AMHERST — A letter being drafted by members of the Amherst-Pelham Regional School Committee to the Amherst Town Council is challenging the idea that the school officials’ annual budget requests have been fiscally irresponsible, while at the same time seeking ways to gain more financial support in the face of up to 24 staff reductions projected for next year.
By SCOTT MERZBACH
AMHERST — Senior citizens active with the Council on Aging are renewing appeals for town assistance to modernize and improve the Bangs Community Center.
By SCOTT MERZBACH
AMHERST — Superintendent E. Xiomara Herman’s work to promote diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, and to combat a status quo in the schools that has been harmful to students, is winning praise from some in the community.
By SCOTT MERZBACH
AMHERST — The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection has fined a South Amherst landscaping and construction company for various hazardous waste and wetlands violations at its facility.
By SCOTT MERZBACH
AMHERST — Even though no civil immigration detainer requests were made to Amherst police and no individuals were transferred to the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2024, Amherst’s town manager told the Town Council this week that local officials are prepared for renewed federal efforts to locate undocumented immigrants in town.
By SCOTT MERZBACH
AMHERST — Significant cost increases to build affordable housing across the region pose a major challenge, but streamlining zoning rules, soliciting state and federal support, and pursuing local assistance can lead to successful developments, according to leaders with regional nonprofit housing developers.
By SCOTT MERZBACH
AMHERST — Losing two interior staircases and some original woodwork from the original 1928 Jones Library building, along with the proposed addition’s size, scale and “massing,” remain adverse effects to be resolved before the $46.1 million expansion and renovation project moves forward.
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