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By MADDIE FABIAN

NORTHAMPTON — After longtime clerk Harry J. Jekanowski Jr. announced earlier late last week that he would not seek reelection for Hampshire County Clerk of Courts, state Rep. Daniel Carey, D-Easthampton announced his candidacy for the position on...

By MADDIE FABIAN

As the state considers the governor’s proposed $4.13 billion Affordable Homes Act — a comprehensive roadmap for affordable housing across the Commonwealth — a group of 16 western Massachusetts legislators are advocating for amendments to meet housing...

By MADDIE FABIAN

As coyotes become more active during their mating season, spanning January through March, pet owners are urged to stay vigilant.The eastern coyote — which resembles a medium-sized dog in its size and shape, but has pointed ears and denser fur — can be...

Another talented class of runners will be inducted into the Western Mass Runners’ Hall of Fame in March.The WMRHOF’s Board of Directors announced the inductees for the third class to enter the hall this week, with induction set for March 8 at the...

By MADDIE FABIAN

On any given weekday morning, upward of 40 people fill the Holyoke Community College gymnasium to partake in the sport that has become a favorite pastime for those looking to socialize and for people of all ages and abilities looking for a little...

By MADDIE FABIAN

Editor’s note: This is the fourth and final article from the Western Mass. Solar Forum series. The first three forums took place in September, and another series of forums is in the works for this spring. AMHERST — Most experts agree solar energy is...

By DON STEWART

As an inquisitive boy growing up in Amsterdam, he kept a menagerie of snails and toads and other small woodland fauna in his room, populating the glass terrariums he’d filled with mosses and ferns.Influenced by one uncle, an architect, and two others...

By EMILY THURLOW

A woman dressed in pajamas walks into a Cottage Street bar and challenges a random stranger to an arm-wrestling match.The circumstances sound like the set-up of a joke. It’s not.The woman is Rose Lynch of Easthampton, and over the next few weeks...

By MADDIE FABIAN

Ask almost any conservationist about an Endangered Species Act (ESA) success story and they will tell you about the bald eagle.“Growing up, I would have never seen a bald eagle in western Massachusetts,” said Jeff Collins, senior director of...

By HANNAH BEVIS

Kacey Schmitt never meant to coach the Amherst Regional High School volleyball team for longer than a season. Frankly, she thought she’d be done after a couple weeks. She was talked into the job by then-athletic director and friend Tom Cullen, and...

By SHEL HOROWITZ

Remember when the previous administration tore babies and children from their families’ arms and locked them in little cages? Bad news: Republicans in Congress and far-right activists, including that former president, are heating up even worse...

By MADDIE FABIAN

For farms across western Massachusetts, the effects of climate change were tangible during the 2023 growing season.At Red Fire Farm in Granby, co-owner Sarah Voiland said that after the May frost event, the farm’s full harvest on multiple acres of...

By MADDIE FABIAN

EASTHAMPTON — Growing up, Luzed Guzman Romano was raised to believe that she could do and become anything she put her mind to.Her mother grew up in a modest home in Puerto Rico, came to New York at around 15 years old, and had Guzman Romano at 19...

By MADDIE FABIAN

NORTHAMPTON — Like many of their peers, 15-year-old Kai Imperial-Jewett experienced “some pretty dark times” during the quarantine and isolation days of the pandemic.Even with supportive parents, as an only child and middle-schooler without any...

By MADDIE FABIAN

In response to the youth mental health crisis, as many experts have called it, the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts has worked with over 25 organizations and many stakeholders on a regional roadmap designed to get youth the help they...

By DOMENIC POLI

GREENFIELD — Though gender inequities continue, many women and girls have reported improved outcomes over the past 10 years, according to the Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts.The nonprofit that provides funding to agencies working to increase...

By MADDIE FABIAN

NORTHAMPTON — This year was a tough run for Massachusetts farmers, with over $42 million and 13,000 acres of crop losses reported due to extreme weather events during the spring and summer.Despite the Feb. 4 freeze, May 18 frost and July 10 flooding...

By IAN RHODEWALT

My first union job, and my first strike for cost of living increases, was as a teacher in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. Several weeks ago, trade unions in Palestine put out an urgent call of solidarity to unions around the world on on Oct. 16 to...

By DOMENIC POLI

Don’t worry, radio personality Christopher “Monte” Belmonte will still push a shopping cart 43 miles from Springfield to Greenfield to raise money to combat food insecurity. The journey will simply have a different name.This year marks the first March...

By ROB OKUN

Another American first. We’re closing in on 600 mass shootings in 2023 and — good news, people — there’s still two months left in the year. Can we get to 650? 700? USA! USA! USA!Banks. Bars. Beauty Salons. Big box stores. Bowling alleys. Concerts....