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By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra is set to receive a $37,500 pay increase in her annual salary next year, after a vote to increase the mayor’s salary was unanimously approved by the City Council Thursday night.The move to increase the mayor’s...

By EMILY THURLOW

EASTHAMPTON — The City Council approved a $52.2 million budget for next fiscal year Wednesday night, but not before council members engaged in significant discussion on the importance of maintaining specific programming in the city’s...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

NORTHAMPTON — A majority of the City Council on Thursday backed a $132.3 million budget for fiscal 2024, but not before significant debate about whether the Police Department should get more money to create so-called student police positions to...

By CHAD CAIN

NORTHAMPTON — The next mayor, City Council and two school committees could be in line for significant pay increases starting in January should councilors go along with the recommendations in a recent report by an independent advisory board.The Elected...

By EMILY THURLOW

EASTHAMPTON — Two former School Committee members will fill vacancies on the committee for the rest of the year, and they’re already hitting the ground running. Sarah Hunter and Laura Scott were sworn in to their new roles Wednesday night after being...

By EMILY THURLOW

EASTHAMPTON — With varied backgrounds, nine city residents have volunteered to serve on the School Committee until Dec. 31.Eight of those in the running for the spots vacated by Laurie Garcia and Shannon Dunham in the wake of the failed superintendent...

By EMILY THURLOW

EASTHAMPTON — The City Council and School Committee will jointly decide who will replace the two School Committee seats vacated by Shannon Dunham and Laurie Garcia, who resigned in the wake of the failed superintendent search.“The City Council and...

By EMILY THURLOW

EASTHAMPTON — Whether it’s swastikas and “gas the Jews” messages appearing along the summit of Mount Tom, racist and antisemitic slurs spray-painted on trees at a conservation area, or racial comments on social media directed at a city councilor,...

By EMILY THURLOW

EASTHAMPTON — The deluge of public records requests during the continued saga in the city’s search for a new superintendent had grown so large in recent weeks that it often crashed a software system that handles such queries — a problem city officials...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — The city’s municipal election is still months away, but a significant makeover is already in the works for the City Council as three councilors won’t seek reelection and a ward representative will run for an at-large position.At-large...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — The City Council unanimously approved significant water and sewer rate increases for the coming fiscal year, although not without first questioning why the increases had to happen in the first place.Property owners can expect to pay 210%...

By EMILY THURLOW

EASTHAMPTON — Easthampton will soon require property owners sitting on vacant storefronts to register their buildings and pay a fee that will be used to create and maintain an online database of spaces available to rent in the city.The new...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — The average homeowner in the city is expected to pay 210% more in base water rates next fiscal year — as well as a new base sewer rate — as the city seeks to make up for expected lost revenue when the Coca-Cola bottling plant closes...

By EMILY THURLOW

EASTHAMPTON — In nearly nine months since being sworn in as a city councilor, David Meunier has missed eight of 16 council meetings. No other councilor has missed more than two in that timeframe.The at-large councilor has missed four of the council’s...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra has unveiled a Capital Improvement Plan for the next five fiscal years, previewing some of next year’s upcoming projects like improving public school infrastructure, hybrid police cruisers and a type of outdoor...

By EMILY THURLOW

EASTHAMPTON — A supplemental appropriation of $510,000 from the city’s cannabis stabilization to Easthampton Public Library’s operational account will help keep the institution’s doors open for the next six years, according to the library’s board of...

By EMILY THURLOW

EASTHAMPTON — As the board for the Emily Williston Memorial Library and Museum continues to take steps toward moving to a new location, they’ll also be using a new name — the Easthampton Public Library.Elizabeth Appelquist, president of the library’s...

By EMILY THURLOW

EASTHAMPTON — Dan Rist, the longest-serving member of the City Council first elected when the council form of government was adopted in 1996, will not seek reelection when his term ends at year’s end.An emotional Rist shared his decision with his...

By EMILY THURLOW

EASTHAMPTON — A high school student is advocating that the city require all of its employees to undergo training on microaggressions after she and others in the district have had their “ethnic hair” touched by others without consent.The Easthampton...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — After nearly three years of remote meetings over Zoom, the City Council may soon reinstate in-person meetings with a hybrid option for people to continue to attend virtually. The move would bring Northampton in line with several other...