Search Results

Keyword search: Amherst MA

By CAROLYN BROWN

Fans of the Disney musical “Newsies” generally know the titular group of characters as boys, but a local theater company’s upcoming production is expanding the show to include female and nonbinary characters.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Responding to Massachusetts Historical Commission concerns about aspects of the planned expansion and renovation of the Jones Library, library officials are recommending a new slate roof be installed on the historic portion of the building, and that a book drop cut into the front facade be removed from the plans.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — An overlay zoning district for some or all existing apartment complexes in Amherst, which if created would make it easier for developers to bring more housing density to those properties, could be considered by the Planning Board.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Amherst’s efforts to ensure there is housing for people of all income levels, including through a revised housing production plan and various rezoning initiatives, is underway.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Companies, rather than families or individuals, acquired an average of more than 10 single-family homes each year from long-term residents over a recent five-year period, according to information presented to the Amherst Affordable Housing Trust.

On the precipice of a new quarter-century, where do we stand? Amherst remains both a quintessential New England college town and a vibrant global village. Downtown boasts 45-plus eateries serving flavors from around the world, unique boutiques, and top-notch museums and cultural institutions including Amherst Cinema, The Drake, and the Jones Library.

Rentheads, rejoice! Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp (who played Roger and Mark, respectively, in the movie adaptation of the Broadway musical) will perform together at the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s Bowker Auditorium on Friday, Jan. 31, at 8 p.m.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A New Hampshire timber company has closed on a massive land buy of nearly 2,400 acres in seven communities in Hampshire and Franklin counties, acquiring five parcels for more than $20 million from Amherst-based W.D. Cowls Inc.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A 500-acre section of forested land connected to Mount Toby in Sunderland, west of Route 63, is being returned to the Hassanamisco Nipmuc Band as a gift from W.D. Cowls Inc.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Nearly half of residents completing a survey focused on ways Amherst can produce more housing, especially for low- and moderate-income families and individuals, say they intend to leave town over the next five years, with a majority citing the high cost of buying or renting residential properties.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — The town is accepting proposals for $850,000 in Community Development Block Grant funding available to support the mission of social service agencies and complete capital projects benefiting low- and moderate-income families and neighborhoods.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A possible reconstruction of the War Memorial Pool bathhouse, a centerpiece of a larger overhaul of downtown’s Community Field, is in line to get an additional $500,000 from the town’s Community Preservation Act account.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A final 2025-2026 school calendar that likely will see public schools open before Labor Day could be brought before the Amherst, Pelham and Amherst-Pelham Regional school committees later this winter.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Embracing change through an equity lens, putting new protocols in place that don’t rely only on past practices, and improving communication while also speaking hard truths are at the heart of Superintendent E. Xiomara Herman’s approach to improving education for students in the Amherst, Pelham and Amherst-Pelham Regional schools.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Work crews with CTA Construction Managers LLC of Waltham will begin constructing Amherst’s $97.5 million elementary school on South East Street during the week of Jan. 13, with occupancy of the building for students and staff remaining on track for the fall of 2026.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Friends of the Jones Libraries are making a $500,000 donation to the expansion and renovation of the 43 Amity St. building, drawing the money from what is known as the Woodbury Fund.

By RAZVAN SIBII

The anti-immigration people won the elections. They campaigned successfully on the “mass deportation” of undocumented immigrants and they have every intention of fulfilling that threat. And, if the first Trump administration is any indication, they will also drastically shrink and slow down legal immigration in every way they can think of.

By CAROLYN BROWN

Finding love is all about finding someone on your wavelength. A radio show at the University of Massachusetts Amherst wants to help the local queer community make romantic connections, one guest DJ at a time.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — An illustrated strip of her life story shows her cats, the cello she practices, and an imaginative dragon, but commences with a depiction of woods.

By CAROLYN BROWN

Most people don’t see local bars as venues for classical music, but a concert series at The Drake in Amherst is helping redefine and expand where classical music belongs.

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Before the Jones Library’s expansion and renovation gets underway, the Massachusetts Historical Commission is requesting that library officials reconsider use of synthetic shingles in replacing the existing slate roof, and to not cut into the front of the 1928 building for installing a book drop.