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By RUSS VERNON-JONES

Every Palestinian life and every Jewish life is precious.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Outdoor swim season is underway in Amherst, with the full-size pool at Mill River Recreation Area opening in early June and both War Memorial Pool and the wading pool at Mill River scheduled to be ready for swimmers this week.

By TOBIAS BASKIN

“What do you teach?” I am asked when I say that I am a professor at UMass. I teach plant physiology. But the question misses the core of what I do: run a research lab. Few ask me: “What do you research?” or “Why is a college professor doing research?”

By Grace Chai

This weekend, two Pride celebrations are set to happen in the region in Amherst and Holyoke.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Amherst residents are petitioning the Town Council to push back on Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions that might lead to immigrants being held against their will and possibly being deported from the United States.

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — An Amherst man has pleaded guilty to 11 charges stemming from a spate of crimes committed between 2017 and 2019, including forcible rape of a child, unlawful possession of a firearm and breaking and entering in the nighttime.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A sense of community and belonging at the Jones Library and the lasting memories at the building are as important to Emily Wang and her family as the books they regularly access there.

By CAROLYN BROWN

In Silverthorne Theater Company’s latest production, Jordan Harrison’s “The Amateurs,” a deft cast nimbly weaves their way through a complicated but comedic script with COVID-era resonance.

By JOHANNA NEUMANN

This week marks National Pollinator Week. This annual celebration in support of pollinator health reminds Americans how essential bees are to our environment and our lives, and what action we can take to protect these remarkable winged insects.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Just after Memorial Day, the first round of testing to determine the E. coli levels at Puffer’s Pond revealed the bacteria in the water exceeded acceptable state standards, requiring the temporary closing of the site for swimming.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Despite both written and oral appeals from advocates for the town’s unarmed community responders, two positions in the department will go unfilled for the next year after the Town Council approved a $103.3 million fiscal year 2026 budget for town, school and library operations.

By Grace Chai

HADLEY — Fourteen high schoolers bid farewell on Saturday to the place they had called home for their academic careers — the Hartsbrook School — in a song-filled ceremony with their teachers, family and friends watching.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — An initial meeting to collect feedback from residents about the town charter adopted by voters seven years ago, putting in place a council-manager form of government, takes place Wednesday.

By GARRETT COTE

The Amherst Regional High School girls varsity ultimate team traveled to Allentown, Pa. over the weekend to compete in its first-ever High School National Invitational tournament, earning the No. 10 seed in a field of 16 teams from all over the country – from California to Massachusetts and everywhere in between.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Two Community Responders for Equity, Safety and Service positions to remain vacant for the next year and the continued lack of directing emergency dispatch calls to these responders is alarming advocates for the unarmed police alternative.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Like their peers at the other elementary schools in Amherst and Pelham, students in the band and orchestra at Crocker Farm School took the stage at the Amherst Regional Middle School for an annual spring concert in early June, showcasing their musical talent and the instrumental music education they receive.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools, through its private transportation provider Highland Electric Fleets in Beverly, will continue to electrify school buses through a $500,000 grant from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — As a divided Finance Committee recommends the Town Council adopt the $103.3 million fiscal year 2026 spending plan brought forward by Town Manager Paul Bockelman, members are preparing a letter to school officials advising them that a portion of the elementary school budget is to be considered a one-time gift.

By MARIETTA PRITCHARD

We don’t often discuss the war, but one day last week Olesya and I spent a few minutes doing just that. She told me with some pride about the destruction of the bridge to Crimea, which I hadn’t yet heard about. Somehow tons of explosives had been planted there. And this came on the heels of daring drone attacks on Russian air force bases. Many drones were being made by Ukrainians in their homes, she said, using 3-D printers and other easily accessible materials.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A union representing teachers, paraprofessionals and clerical staff in the Amherst-Pelham public schools is renewing a call for action, first delivered to the Amherst Regional School Committee more than a year ago, that includes a 10-point plan for addressing racism against Black employees.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A regular presence at Amherst Town Hall for 20 years, Town Clerk Susan Audette recently retired after more than four years overseeing town elections and vital records.