Search Results

Keyword search: news

By SAM DRYSDALE

The state will close its remaining motel and hotel shelters this summer, Gov. Maura Healey announced Monday, as the governor and lawmakers have imposed restrictions on the emergency housing system over the past year and family enrollment has declined.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A barn preservation program aimed at protecting iconic and historically valuable barns across Amherst is being introduced by the Historical Commission.

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — At least three candidates are making a run for Northampton City Council’s at-large seats, while the School Committee’s Ward 2 member looks to make her position permanent.

By ALEXA LEWIS

Western Massachusetts stands to “greatly benefit” from a $1.33 billion spending plan for education and transportation adopted by the state Senate last Thursday, thanks in part to lengthy debates leading up to a vote on the package that sought to reverse an initial proposal that Sen. Jo Comerford called “skewed” and “wildly unfair” to this region.

HAYDENVILLE — Local artisans are invited to apply now to reserve a table at the annual Haydenville Artisan Show and Collectibles Sale on June 7.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Amherst Recreation Department’s work at expanding accessibility and empowering youth is being recognized through an award presented by the Massachusetts Recreation and Park Association.

By LISA GOODRICH

For Kimberly Longey, farmer-florist at Wild Life Flowers in Plainfield, the idea of the slow flower movement began with an appreciation for local food. “As a lover of flowers, I have purchased out-of-season blooms at the grocery store because they brightened my mood in the dead of winter. Even though I was conscious of where my food came from, I wasn’t really thinking about where my flowers came from,” says Longey.

By JIM BRIDGMAN

Coretta Scott King, widow of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, told Smith College women yesterday that they should become part of the “creative, dedicated minority” that is seeking to alleviate poverty, war, racism and other injustices in the world. Speaking at Helen Hills Hills Chapel, Mrs. King told the students that as “privileged women” they had a special obligation to help their fellow human beings.

By CAROLYN BROWN

EASTHAMPTON — The city will bid farewell to its outgoing poet laureate, Carolyn Cushing, and welcome its new poet laureate, Carolyn Zaikowski, this weekend.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — More than 100 residents at Applewood Retirement Community made their voices heard on the Saturday morning before Easter, appealing to preserve democracy and fight against actions by the Trump administration during a “No King” protest.

NORTHAMPTON — Sunday April 27, 2025 marks the 188th anniversary of the death of August Malczewski vel Jakubowski, an exile from a revolution in Poland. To mark the occasion, the Polish Heritage Committee of Northampton will gather on Sunday at noon at the gravesite for a brief memorial service at Bridge Street Cemetery to commemorate his death in Northampton. The public is invited to attend.

By ALEXA LEWIS

NORTHAMPTON — As the weather warms up and the outdoors become lush with greenery again, Cyrus Copen is looking forward to tidying up overgrown spaces.

NORTHAMPTON — Northampton Jazz Festival Board President Ruth Griggs, of Northampton, has been named a Jazz Hero by the Jazz Journalists Association in its 25th annual recognition of “activists, advocates, altruists, aiders and abettors of jazz” across the United States.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

Several Amherst Regional High School students recently had the opportunity to travel to the State House to offer testimony to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means hearing, explaining to legislators why funding formulas for state aid to local school districts should be revised.

HAYDENVILLE — Haydenville Congregational Church is having its annual Easter Soup & Bake Sale on April 19, the Saturday before Easter, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the church.

Former director of development and alumnae relations at Smith College, Herbert Heston, has agreed to volunteer his services to help the St. Michael’s Alumni Association and the Mr. and Mrs. Club, an organization of parents, mount a capital funds campaign to provide continuing support to families of children enrolled at St. Michael’s schools.

By Alison Kuznitz

With three state-funded youth mental health programs at risk of closing, lawmakers and providers ramped up their opposition this week to Gov. Maura Healey’s proposed budget cuts that come as Massachusetts continues to grapple with a behavioral health care crisis.

NORTHAMPTON — The Northampton Center for the Arts (NCFA) announces the inaugural Main Street Banner Project, an opportunity for artists of all ages and experience levels to showcase their work in the heart of downtown Northampton. Local talent is invited to submit their creative images for this community initiative.

By AMY NEWSHORE

Our thoughts and beliefs about ourselves greatly impact how we feel and act in our close relationships. Humans are the only species that engage in “self-talk.” Many of us find ourselves having both positive thoughts about ourselves (for example, “I feel proud for what I just accomplished”) and other times negative and self-defeating thoughts (such as, “I am not attractive enough”). In my work with couples, it is often the derogatory self-talk that each individual engages in that contributes to the difficult and painful dynamics between partners.