News

Island superintendent picked to lead Amherst-Pelham region schools

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Ericilda Xiomara Herman, a superintendent of a school district in St. Croix, Virgin Islands, will be the next superintendent for the Amherst, Pelham and Amherst-Pelham Regional schools, pending successful contract negotiations.Citing...

Amherst council confirms Gabriel Ting as police chief

AMHERST — A near-unanimous Town Council this week confirmed Police Capt. Gabriel Ting as Amherst’s next police chief.Six days after Town Manager Paul Bockelman said he would name Ting, a 27-year veteran and interim police chief since last May, to the...

Amherst College store opens downtown in former Hastings space

By SCOTT MERZBACH

A new retail store carrying assorted Amherst College merchandise, as well as school supplies, tech accessories and snacks, is open at 45 South Pleasant St., as demolition of a building immediately to the south, and removal of an attached ell to the...

Amherst Regional School Committee proposes new budget that lowers assessments for towns

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — The Amherst Regional School Committee has agreed to a new budget proposal for the Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools next year that is nearly $500,000 less than a spending plan approved in March. The new budget means smaller 6% assessment...

Granby man admits guilt, gets 2½ years in vehicular homicide

By JAMES PENTLAND

BELCHERTOWN — A Granby man pleaded guilty Monday in Eastern Hampshire District Court to motor vehicle homicide and reckless assault charges stemming from a motor vehicle crash that killed his longtime partner and the mother of his child last July, the...

Around Amherst: Primary schools piloting foundational reading program

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A foundational skills reading program, known as Magnetic Foundations, is being piloted by eight teachers in the four Amherst and Pelham elementary schools as the focus of an elementary literacy curriculum review this school year.Mary Kiely,...

Regional farming alliance strengthens educational, networking opportunities for apprentices

By CHRIS LARABEE

In 1994, a new movement began to grow out of the Pioneer Valley, Berkshires and Hudson Valley, as a group of organic farmers banded together to form a cooperative educational program for farm apprentices.That year marked the birth of the Collaborative...

Amherst officials outline vision for Hickory Ridge: fire station, community center, affordable housing among options

By SCOTT MERZBACH

A fire station, possibly combined with a new community center, or an affordable housing development are among the concepts unveiled for the front portion of the former Hickory Ridge Golf Course on West Pomeroy Lane, the 150-acre town-owned site where...

Boards balk at limiting use of Hadley Town Common

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HADLEY — Significant work and time for municipal staff associated with preparing for New England Public Media’s annual Asparagus Festival is prompting Hadley officials to examine whether fees should be increased and other adjustments made to how...

The Lehrer Report: May 3, 2024

Cinco de Mayo greetings for all our Mexican friends and neighbors. The day marks the military victory over Napoleon III in 1862.***Reminder — take down your bird feeders.***Nancy Blair of Amherst sent me an email about an open house at Cherry Hill...

$100,000 theft: Granby Police seek help in ID’ing 3 who used dump truck to steal cash from ATM

GRANBY – Granby Police are asking for the public’s help in identifying three suspects who allegedly used a dump truck to steal $100,000 from a PeoplesBank stand-alone ATM machine in January. On Tuesday, Jan. 16, at 1:26 a.m., police responded to 77...

The Beat Goes On: A trombone celebration in Holyoke, Lord Russ shifts gears, and the Hampshire Young People’s Chorus turns 25

By STEVE PFARRER

The Holyoke Civic Symphony has titled its 2023-2024 season “The Brass Menagerie,” not to be cute but to highlight a series of concerts dedicated to celebrating the family of brass instruments: the horn, the tuba, the trumpet, and the trombone.On May...

Leverett residents back Gaza cease-fire resolution at Saturday’s Town Meeting

By AALIANNA MARIETTA

LEVERETT — Residents elected town officials, signed off on a $7.56 million budget for fiscal year 2025 and passed a resolution calling for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza during their Annual Town Meetinglast Saturday.After uncontested elections, the...

Pro-Palestinian encampment disperses at UMass, but protests continue

By ALEXA LEWIS

AMHERST — At 6 a.m. on Tuesday, representatives of the University of Massachusetts administration arrived at the pro-Palestinian encampment that went up the previous day on the school’s South Lawn and issued a warning to protesters — take down their...

Flair and flavor: Couple draws on European, regional travel and food expertise to bring gourmet Aster + Pine Market to Amherst

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — From their own journeys in Europe and across New England and the Northeast, and their experience in the hospitality industry, a Northampton couple is creating a market featuring wines, pantry staples and fresh local produce in downtown...

Sole over-budget bid could doom Jones Library expansion project

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A lone $42.7 million bid by a general contractor for expanding and renovating the Jones Library building, coming in more than $7 million over cost estimates, could be putting the entire project at risk.“We are disappointed to have received...

First look at how little Amherst’s police alternative being used called troubling

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — The tiny number of emergency dispatch calls directed to the Community Responders for Equity, Safety and Service since mid-December, when the department began taking 911 calls, is prompting worries by members of the Community Safety and...

Quabbin region studied for MWRA expansion

By SAM DRYSDALE

As House Democrats eye the expansion of its public drinking water service area, the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) is considering whether the communities where that water comes from should finally get to reap the benefits of the...

Amherst officials examine Quincy shelter for ideas to develop former VFW property

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A Quincy-based temporary shelter that includes transitional housing, along with a resource center for people to find jobs, medical care and permanent homes, is being eyed as a model for how Amherst might redevelop the former VFW site at 457...