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By EMILY THURLOW

EASTHAMPTON — The committee tasked with ranking three proposals for the reuse of the city’s three former elementary schools heard detailed explanations from each the development teams this week.Up first was Way Finders Inc., the Springfield affordable...

By EMILY THURLOW

EASTHAMPTON — Massachusetts Superior Court Associate Justice Mark Mason pleaded guilty Monday afternoon before a classroom of Easthampton High School civics students — guilty of his passion for justice.Mason, who sits in Northampton, Springfield,...

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 — While much of the discussion on the proposed Sierra Vista Commons has been centered around affordable housing and traffic, volunteers from Pascommuck Conservation Trust worry about the environmental impact of the massive development on...

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 CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — What’s the first step in dealing with an overflowing bathtub?That’s the question MASSPIRG legislative director Deirdre Cummings asks to make her pitch for a sweeping new bill aimed at wrangling the presence of PFAS chemicals in food...

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 COLIN A. YOUNG

BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey, who made gun laws a central part of her eight years as attorney general, said Thursday that so-called ghost guns should be banned and that she would support legislation to do that in Massachusetts.Untraceable ghost guns can...

By EMILY THURLOW

SOUTHAMPTON — After five and a half years at the helm of the town’s Council on Aging, Joan Linnehan has announced she will retire in June.“It’s time another person takes the reins” and to see the success of a future new senior center, she wrote in a...

By EMILY THURLOW

EASTHAMPTON — A Westfield developer is seeking to renew an existing special permit that will allow him to construct the third Dunkin’ within the city’s limits.On Tuesday, the Planning Board will review the renewal special permit application of Emanuel...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

SOUTH HADLEY — An existing pay-as-you-throw system that includes curbside collection of trash and recyclables could remain in place for two more years, even as private vendors push for a transition to using toters, a more expensive but also more...

BY EMILY THURLOW

EASTHAMPTON — Home and business owners can expect to pay significantly more for water and sewer service over the next three fiscal years as the city moves to raise enough money to offset millions of dollars in upgrades to those systems. With little...

By EMILY THURLOW

EASTHAMPTON — In the next decade, city residents will be walking, biking and driving through a completely overhauled version of Main Street.But before that happens, city officials are seeking the public’s input to inform the reimagining of one of...

By COLIN A. YOUNG

Gov. Maura Healey tapped Lt. Col. John Mawn Jr., a 30-year veteran of the Massachusetts State Police, to serve as interim colonel of the department as she looks both inside and outside its current ranks for someone to assume the role on a permanent...

By EMILY THURLOW

EASTHAMPTON — The city’s health director is leaving her job next month to become a regional public health trainer for Hampshire and Franklin counties, one of the first positions being filled as part of a large overhaul of public health services in the...

By EMILY THURLOW

EASTHAMPTON — Easthampton is embarking on its first-ever, far-reaching climate action plan that officials believe will help the city tackle the looming effects of climate change and, in the long run, achieve a cleaner, net-zero carbon-emitting...

By EMILY THURLOW

EASTHAMPTON — A traffic expert hired by a developer of a proposed large-scale residential and commercial center at the former Tasty Top site has determined that the project will have “minimal” impacts to the traffic flow on Route 10.The findings for...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — An average Amherst homeowner could face a nearly $500 increase in their annual property tax bill should voters approve construction of a $98 million elementary school this spring.Finance Director Sean Mangano on Monday presented the Town...

By EMILY THURLOW

SOUTH HADLEY — Residents will have a chance to weigh at a virtual public hearing Monday on two proposed bylaws that, if approved, would allow up to 25 short-term rental licenses in town.Often referenced by online platforms like Airbnb or VRBO,...

By EMILY THURLOW

EASTHAMPTON — Much like her peers, 17-year-old Diya Bhatia can often be found with her head glancing down at her phone sending text messages to her friends.Unlike other typical teenagers, the subject of a majority of Bhatia’s text messages this school...