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The elementary school project that would have been completed in 2019 had a total estimated cost of $67.2 million, of which the town would have paid $33.2 million with a grant from the MSBA of $34 million. The current elementary school project, if it...

Kate Lindroos’ column “In the fight against logging, conspiracy takes the (profitable) reins,” (Gazette, Jan. 18) points out how the International Panel on Climate Change acknowledges that forest management can help mitigate climate-related risks to...

Almost every time we plan or discuss AHRA (African Heritage Reparations Assembly) listening sessions or forums, some of our members inevitably say that we must provide “a safe space for Black people to speak,” or some variation on that theme. This...

Every evening I go for a sunset walk. On Saturday, I put my jacket and gloves on, but when I went out my front door, my eyes were telling me something too extraordinary to take in. The house across the street from me was on fire. I ran for the phone...

On Jan. 30, 2017, Rita K. Burke and 91 other Town Meeting members voted to overturn the results of a fair and legal election in which the voters of Amherst accepted a 5% override for two co-located schools. According to your article on last week’s...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A series of cost-saving measures, along with lower anticipated expenses for contingencies and furnishings, are bringing the latest cost estimates for a new elementary school to below $100 million.Projections for the total cost of building...

By CHRIS LARABEE

SOUTH DEERFIELD — Newell Brands, the parent company of Yankee Candle, announced the closure of the South Deerfield corporate offices on Monday, citing a need to adjust to “the reality of the economic environment.”In a letter from Newell Brands CEO...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — As the number of fights between students in the bathrooms at Amherst Regional High School appears to be declining, school administrators report that vape detectors continue to show that the number of students vaping in the lavatories is not...

By CHRIS LARABEE

SOUTH DEERFIELD — As the Frontier Regional and Union 38 school districts continue the diversity, equity and inclusion work that started three years ago, they are prepared to undergo an “equity audit” to examine how it can provide an equitable...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HADLEY — A Route 9 crosswalk where a Hopkins Academy student was seriously injured by a hit-and-run vehicle last fall will continue to be improved by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, but there is little likelihood the pedestrian...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HADLEY — More than two-thirds of people surveyed on the future of the deteriorating Russell School in Hadley center want the 1894 building preserved.With results of this input presented to the Select Board by the Russell School Building Committee, the...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HADLEY — Ever since the Windfield Estates affordable housing opened in 2002, becoming the first apartment complex in a town where zoning prohibits more than one dwelling unit on a lot, preventing similar projects has been an objective for Hadley...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Complaints brought by the teachers union alleging that the Amherst School Committee unlawfully retaliated against two school employees for protected union activity will be subject to a hearing after a state Department of Labor Relations...

By CHRIS LARABEE

SOUTH DEERFIELD — After several months of discussion, the town has appointed an eight-person ad hoc group that will be charged with outlining the role and responsibilities of a full Human Rights Committee.The ad hoc committee will be tasked with...

By CHRIS LARABEE

What better way to build community than to break bread? Or, in this case, bake it.The fourth, fifth and sixth grade classes at Sunderland Elementary School came together last week for one of the school’s first assemblies since the pandemic, during...

By CHRIS LARABEE

SOUTH DEERFIELD — Each year, the graduating senior girls of Frontier Regional School would walk across the street to join Principal Martha “Marti” Barrett for a traditional tea time at her home.“She used to invite the graduating girls to her house for...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

AMHERST — Daniel Ellsberg, the whistleblower who leaked classified information pertaining to the Vietnam War known as the “Pentagon Papers,” was awarded an honorary degree from University of Massachusetts Amherst in a ceremony held in San Francisco...

By STEVE PFARRER

Illustrator and children’s book author Christian Robinson calls his website “The Art of Fun,” and it seems an appropriate title. Robinson’s colorful and whimsical art — a mix of detailed collage, acrylic paint and colored pencil — transmits the sense...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

NORTHAMPTON — At a standstill more than three months after a Hadley teen was struck and seriously injured in a Route 9 crosswalk, authorities took a rare step last Friday morning of holding a press conference in the hope that someone, somewhere will...

By STEVE PFARRER

AMHERST — After almost 15 years leading the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, Executive Director Alexandra Kennedy plans to step down from her post this year.But Kennedy, known at the Carle as Alix, says she hopes to stay engaged with the museum...