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By RICHARD MCCARTHY

I was biking in the countryside of Montague one summer day (remember those?), and I pedaled past a house with a substantial side yard furnished only with a small table and two simple chairs. Later, when I was home, I watched the sunset from my back porch, and found myself envisioning two people sitting at that side yard table in the twilight.

Hear the heir to cumbiaThe Drake in Amherst will kick off its 2025 programming with an exciting show on Jan. 9, presenting cumbia accordionist Yeison Landero.Landero grew up in Colombia, immersed in cumbia music; his grandfather, Andrés Landero, was a...

By CAROLYN BROWN

The album “Free to Be… You and Me,” released by Marlo Thomas in 1972, inspired a generation to think beyond gender stereotypes. Now, the Eric Carle Museum in Amherst is celebrating the “Free to Be...” project’s lasting legacy and impact in a new...

By RICHARD MCCARTHY

Recently I had an appointment with my primary care provider, and after checking in with the receptionist, I looked to find a seat in the waiting room.One of the only seats available was perpendicular to a young woman with a child about 5 or 6 months...

By CAROLYN BROWN

Thousands of University of Massachusetts Amherst students have learned from percussion instructor Thom Hannum, whose 40-year career at the college included a tenure as the assistant director, then associate director, of the Minuteman Marching Band...

Staff Report

Collectors and fans of rare books and the book arts will find good company at an upcoming book fair in Northampton.The eighth Northampton Antiquarian Book, Ephemera, and Book Arts Fair (also known simply as the Northampton Book Fair) will be at 33...

By CAROLYN BROWN

Inside a plain brick building on South Street is an organization that’s taught thousands of students — children and adults — to sing, play instruments and find connections through music over the last 38 years.For the last 21 of them, executive...

By MELISSA KAREN SANCES

As the sun sets over the Hidden Temple in Florence, 14 adults in their comfiest pajamas sprawl on a generous bed of quilts. Outside on a crisp October Saturday, the foliage is just starting to turn, its pops of color complementing the painted columns...

By CAROLYN BROWN

Gilbert and Sullivan’s classic operetta “The Mikado” has landed at the Academy of Music — this time, with a Scottish twist.Amherst-based Valley Light Opera opened “The McAdo,” an adaptation of “The Mikado,” last weekend, and offers performances this...

By MELISSA KAREN SANCES

“And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.” — Friedrich NietzscheI have never liked ghost stories. But when I heard about Half-Hanged Mary of Hadley, I was spellbound. Not that long ago, right around here, a woman, thought...

By ALEXA LEWIS

Imaginary creatures large and small lurk among the leaves as visitors wander through the secret garden that has sprouted in Eastworks. Standing within the Monster Arts Project, it’s easy to forget that the mystical paintings, sculptures, oddities and...

UMass Libraries to honor founder of Black Feminist ArchiveAMHERST — The University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries will celebrate Irma McClaurin, the founder of the university’s Black Feminist Archive (BFA), at its annual reception on Saturday,...

By CAROLYN BROWN

Cartoonist Hilary Price, who lives in Florence, won the 2023 Reuben Award for Cartoonist of the Year, the highest honor awarded by the National Cartoonists Society, in August of this year.Price draws the comic “Rhymes with Orange,” which is syndicated...

Turning trash containers into art BELCHERTOWN — If making visual art (rather than just appreciating it at gallery shows) is your thing, this call for artists may be for you. Artists are invited to submit proposals for designs to decorate three...

By RICHARD MCCARTHY

Last year I challenged Artificial Intelligence to produce a column in my style of writing, and the results were published in this newspaper. This year I repeated the experiment to see what advances AI had made.Working with Matthew Berube, head of...

By EMILEE KLEIN

GRANBY — While making its journey to the Barnes Air National Guard Base in Westfield, a piece of a New York fire truck that melted and warped from the flaming aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks snapped in half from the vibrations from travel.Matt Bail,...

By BILLY SPITZER

We are all experiencing the impacts of climate change more each day, in our own communities and around the world. Recent data from the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication shows that 72% of Americans understand that climate change is real,...

By CHRIS LARABEE

SOUTH DEERFIELD — Months after two residents gathered more than 220 signatures, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) will take a look at how it can improve the intersection of Routes 5 and 10, North Main Street and Mill Village...

By CHRIS LARABEE

SUNDERLAND — The newest member of the Sunderland Fire Department meets all of the criteria: he’s specialized in search-and-rescue operations, he works well with the public, and to top it all off, he’s a very good boy.Ranger, a 4-year-old German...

By ALEXA LEWIS

Michael Haynack is alive today because of what he calls a “cascade of miracles.”The first of those miracles was the presence of his longtime friend Frank Grindrod when an unexpected heart attack threatened his life. The second, and perhaps most...