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By STEVE PFARRER

NORTHAMPTON — The Workroom Theater at 33 Hawley, the largest section of the Northampton Community Arts Trust building, is facing an extended closure, as renovations and new construction will soon begin to complete the 3,800-square-foot space.But...

By EMILY THURLOW

EASTHAMPTON — Almost every morning, Robin Bialecki is up at 5 a.m. to make her rounds at grocery stores like Big Y and Stop & Shop, salvaging unsellable food items that can be distributed to those in need through the food pantry at the Easthampton...

By STEVE PFARRER

It’s been almost three years since Amherst Community Theater has presented its annual musical at Bowker Auditorium at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, given a little problem called COVID-19 that prevented the group from returning to UMass in...

By EMILY THURLOW

EASTHAMPTON — After a little over a year in operation, a city arts nonprofit organization is expanding and relocating to a bigger space.Resilient Community Arts, which has made it its mission to sustain collective efforts for social progress and...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL 

NORTHAMPTON — A planned Community Resilience Hub in the works since 2019 may finally have a building to host it.Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra announced Friday that the city has executed an option to purchase the former First Baptist Church building,...

By EMILY THURLOW

EASTHAMPTON — Residents who live in six Easthampton Housing Authority properties will soon decide whether to form a tenants organization to represent them — a move that, if successful, would be the first such organization formed since the housing...

By DUSTY CHRISTENSEN

NORTHAMPTON — The city has hired an “implementation director” to begin the process of creating a department that is meant to provide an alternative, civilian response to situations currently handled by police officers.Mayor David Narkewicz announced...

By DUSTY CHRISTENSEN

NORTHAMPTON — A small crowd gathered on Ladd Avenue Tuesday afternoon to welcome a new occupant to the neighborhood’s empty, former gun-manufacturing facility: a marijuana cultivator.“It has been years in the making,” said Charlotte Hanna, founder of...

By BERA DUNAU

EASTHAMPTON — Two city residents say they have been harassed for their positions on A Knee Is Not Enough (AKINE), a community organization calling for reforms to policing in the city.Jason Montgomery withdrew his name from consideration for...

EDITED BY MAX DUTZIK HENRICKS,PARKER PETERS, NICO RIBADENEYRA and MIRANDA DEBRUYN

Note: This is the first of three narrative reports in a special series produced by Professor Kathy Roberts Forde’s “Longform Narrative” class in the Journalism Department at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.Until the COVID-19 crisis disrupted...

By DOMENIC POLI

SOUTH DEERFIELD — The Channing Bete Company expects to cease operations June 30, the South Deerfield publisher announced Tuesday.The first position eliminations will come June 24, and most employees will be released between June 24 and July 3,...

By CAITLIN ASHWORTH

EASTHAMPTON — More than 100 people lined up in a parking lot behind the Mill 180 building Thursday afternoon, opening their bags and filling them with fresh produce from the new Easthampton mobile food bank. Frank and Shirley Colman stopped by,...

By STEVE PFARRER

 Carol Neubert took piano lessons for several years when she was growing up, learned to read music and figured out how to play the instrument — to a degree.“My right hand can play the piano well, and my left hand plays well, but they do not play well...

By JOSHUA SOLOMON

GREENFIELD — Here’s a prime example of how to turn a marketing class project into a job.This spring, Sierra Myers, a Northampton native, created a new Instagram account for Thornes Marketplace as part of a group project for a Greenfield Community...

By JACK SUNTRUP

AMHERST — Apryl Sabadosa was the first woman to finish a 5-kilometer race in Amherst Sunday — and she did it barefoot.Well, not technically. She wore two socks on each foot. Sabadosa, 33, of Westfield, crossed the finish line in 18 minutes and 2...

By DUSTY CHRISTENSEN

AMHERST — Around 100 people gathered Tuesday evening to watch as the Gazette presented its Person of the Year and Young Community Leader awards.Longtime early childhood educator Barbara Black and 18-year-old Hopkins Academy senior Allison Jenks...

By CAITLIN ASHWORTH

EASTHAMPTON – Kindergartners and first-graders got a surprise visit from the Pepin/Center Elementary Schools’ mascot, Eli the eagle, who came to thank students for raising a total of $701.74 for the Easthampton Community Center. “Guess how much money...