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By SCOTT MERZBACH

HADLEY — Voters at Town Meeting this spring will get their say on the future of the historic Russell School building in town center.The Community Preservation Committee on Monday voted 5-1 to recommend that the town spend $1.25 million from the CPA...

SOUTH HADLEY — Know Your Town of South Hadley will host a candidates’ night Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in the Community Room of the Main Public Library.The town election is April 11. The following candidates for public office have agreed to appear:Andrea...

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 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 SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Amherst’s dormant Veterans of Foreign Wars building at 457 Main St. is now owned by the town, which intends to demolish the 1960s-era structure and have the site redeveloped for both affordable housing and a permanent homeless shelter.The...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Making sure that children of undocumented immigrants get to school, providing rides for people to urgent medical appointments and interacting with people living on the streets and in the woods are among tasks a new municipal department has...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HADLEY — Many transfer stations around the region have become more than just places to bring household trash, recyclables and compost, becoming part of the fabric of the community with take-it-or-leave-it facilities and book sheds.Hadley’s transfer...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — New sidewalks along Belchertown Road and infrastructure improvements near the East Street common are a focus for the town’s capital spending requests for this year’s Community Development Block Grant.The $1.66 million in capital projects,...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Amherst is asking the area’s legislative delegation in Boston to file special legislation that would allow the town to impose real estate transfer fees on residential transactions, with money generated from this supporting affordable...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HOLYOKE — Citing an incompatibility with where the city is going, Mayor Joshua Garcia has informed the chairwoman of the Holyoke Historical Commission that he intends to remove her from the panel.On Monday afternoon, during a 90-minute hearing on her...

By CHRIS LARABEE

SOUTH DEERFIELD — A Franklin County Superior Court judge has ruled that a resident appealing the town’s North Main Street park project can conduct an independent review of the property’s wetlands, as an appeal of the project continues.In a decision...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HATFIELD — Two West Hatfield parcels situated between Routes 5 and 10 and Interstate 91, including a property where a plumbing and heating business operated for many years, could be rezoned to allow commercial uses.At a public hearing Wednesday, the...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HADLEY — Email correspondence to all commissioners on the Hadley Housing Authority is prompting a board member to bring an Open Meeting Law complaint against her colleagues.Risë Smythe-Freed on Tuesday filed the complaint against commissioners John...

By Chad Cain

HOLYOKE — The ambitious, $61 million effort to reopen the Broadway-style Victory Theatre moved $2 million closer to becoming reality this week after the city made a significant commitment of American Rescue Plan Act money for the project in its...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Continued complaints from residents on a downtown street about difficulties in exiting their driveways, and congestion caused by those who take advantage of free year-round on-street parking, is prompting the Town Council to revisit possible...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HADLEY — A requirement that dogs be on leashes and a prohibition on people swimming in the reservoirs are likely to be among rules the Select Board will ask to have placed on a new kiosk being installed on Bay Road by Kestrel Land Trust.Board members...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A new town department that will provide an alternative to police, with unarmed employees responding to calls that don’t feature violence of serious crime, has its inaugural leader.Earl Miller, regional director of recovery for the...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HADLEY – A three-story storage building proposed to be built on 4.2 acres of farmland on South Maple Street is nearing approval from the Planning Board.For Ideal Movers and Storage to construct the 96,500-square-foot temperature-controlled building,...

By DUSTY CHRISTENSEN

HOLYOKE — Across the city, intricate brickwork and beautiful architecture are found around every corner. But the Paper City also has its fair share of vacant, crumbling, and tax-delinquent buildings that cause city leaders plenty of headaches.When the...

By EMILY CUTTS

SOUTH HADLEY — The Select Board will have a new member as only one incumbent sought re-election in Tuesday’s annual town election.Voters will chose between Select Board member Sarah Etelman and newcomers Andrea Miles and Scott Moore for the two seats...