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By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Black-owned business owners and supporters made a final appeal to the Town Council this week for $1.5 million of the $3.8 million in remaining American Rescue Plan Act money, though it appears that money is being directed to other...

CHESTERFIELD — The town will hold a special Town Meeting Tuesday, March 26, at 7 p.m. at the Community Center to allow votes on paying an unpaid bill from last year and amendments to the cannabis bylaw.Article 1 seeks voter approval for the transfer...

By JAMES PENTLAND

EASTHAMPTON — City councilors preparing to meet with Eversource representatives last month to discuss a permit for new and replacement utility poles on Loudville Road were shocked to find the job was already completed.In addition, several shade trees...

By Allison Kuznitz

BOSTON — With an array of more than 50 state financial aid programs available to college students, public higher education officials are embarking on an effort to simplify those offerings by 2026.The Department of Higher Education plans to evaluate...

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — More Massachusetts families would become eligible for subsidized child care and “transformational” grants that kept the early education system afloat during the pandemic would be made permanent, under a bill the Senate unanimously passed late...

By COLIN A. YOUNG

BOSTON — U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis wrote in 1913 that “sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants,” and Bay Staters on both ends of the political spectrum agreed this week that Beacon Hill could stand to open the curtains quite a...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HADLEY — Community Preservation Act money for an initial phase of fixing up an early 19th-century farmhouse at the Porter Phelps Huntington Museum and hiring an architect to evaluate and prepare the 1840 Town Hall for renovations is being recommended...

By COLIN A. YOUNG

BOSTON — Aiming to have its new executive director on board by this summer, the Cannabis Control Commission spent hours Thursday crafting the contours of the job and detailing what qualities a successful applicant will demonstrate.The CCC has not had...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — Mold grows out of several locations. Its structural support slowly deteriorates. And a large chunk of plaster has fallen from the ceiling, not far from an office desk where a worker sits.These are just some of the issues currently...

By BELLA LEVAVI

ASHFIELD — Six towns are pooling resources to hire a paid conservation agent to serve their communities as the number of permit filings exceeds the capacity of the all-volunteer conservation commissions.Williamsburg, Whately, Goshen, Ashfield,...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — Over more than three hours of discussion about a proposal to stop using MCAS exam scores as a high school graduation requirement, lawmakers kept returning to one specific question: If the ballot measure were passed, how would Massachusetts...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HADLEY — Hadley Media could see a small boost in revenue from a new 10-year contract with cable and internet provider Charter Spectrum, though there is uncertainty about the reliability of this funding source as people continue to choose streaming...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — The industry group representing package stores signaled this week that it’s ready to “beg” lawmakers to end the authorization for takeaway drinks, a pandemic-era policy allowing many bars and restaurants to sell beer, wine and cocktails to...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — With the Conservation Commission and Board of Health registering objections to the proposed poured-in-place rubber surface of a playground at the town’s new elementary school, the design team is asking the Elementary School Building...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — Activists in Northampton calling for a cease-fire in Gaza have stepped up their efforts in recent days, hoping to pressure the city to quickly pass a resolution in support of their goals and to condemn recent actions by the Israeli...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey’s proposal to give cities and towns new tax-hike authority would provide “game-changers” at the local level, especially for less populated areas, one mayor said Tuesday.A bill Healey filed last month would offer...

By COLIN A. YOUNG

BOSTON – Make it seven months.Having already made mid-year budget cuts and dimmed the outlook for tax collections through June based on six consecutive months of underwhelming receipts, the state reported Monday that tax revenue came in below even...

By MICHAEL P. NORTON

BOSTON — While the bill has a long path ahead of it, advocates for more government transparency are encouraged that a House-Senate committee on Tuesday gave a favorable report to a bill whose sponsors say it will bring needed “sunlight” to the...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A former Amherst finance director is returning to town for the next few months to assist officials in getting through the budget season.Sanford “Sandy” Pooler, who was Amherst’s finance director from 2011 to early 2016, will be coming back...

By Bob Katzen

THE HOUSE AND SENATE: Beacon Hill Roll Call records local senators’ votes from the week of January 15-19. There were no roll calls in the House last week.BAN DECLAWING OF CATS (S 2552): Senate 39-0, approved and sent to the House a bill that would...